The Turkic Peoples in Medieval Arabic Writings

Translating a collection of the most important descriptions of the Turks found in medieval Arabic texts into English, this book aims at delineating the coming of the Turkic people in the eleventh century, their military successes in Iran and Iraq, and the emergence of the sultanate.

The book introduces the reader to the history of the Islamic Caliphate and the Turkic people. This introduction is followed by annotated translated sources which illuminate; the view of the Eurasian steppes in Muslim-Arabic geographical writing from the pre-Saljuq period, the self-image and ideology of the victorious Saljuqs and their fundamental claim to legitimacy, and the conventional narrative of the coming of the Saljuqs in later Arabic historiography.

Illustrating the variety of sources available on the history of Turkic tribes in the Eurasian steppes and in central Islamic lands, ranging from geographical writing, to chronicles, to mythological legends, this book will be an essential resource for students and scholars with an interest in Turks and image, History, and Middle East Studies.

Yehoshua Frenkel is a Senior Lecturer in Middle Eastern History, University of Haifa and is currently engaged in a research project entitledThe Environmental History of Mamluk Bilad al-Sham.