Turks in the Early Islamic World

C. Edmund Bosworth is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Manchester, UK.

’For students of the Seljuq period, this collection of scholarly papers is long overdue... This collection forms a solid bank of knowledge and support for any researcher into or student of the early history of the Turks and their contacts with the Islamic world... Though some of the papers date back decades their ideas have withstood subsequent scholarship and they are as relevant now as when they first appeared. This book will doubtless become a fixture and of any library, public or private, aspring to cover the history of the Turks.’ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society ’Preceding the sixteen papers reprinted (or translated, where necessary, into English) in this volume is a lucid introduction by Edmund Bosworth... Since the majority of the papers themselves, classics as they are, are some decades old, the frequent references made here to more recent scholarly literature are especially valuable. ... The volume is a welcome addition to a fine series, and constitutes a valuable guide to a range of scholarly literature on the subject.’ Journal of Islamic Studies

• Contents: Introduction; The steppe region in world history, Kaare Grønbech; A geographical history of Central Asia, K. de B. Codrington; Tribal names and titles amongst the Altaic peoples, Omeljan Pritsak; The oldest mentions of the Turks in Arabic literature, Tadeusz Kowalski; The Turks in the Shah-nama, Tadeusz Kowalski; Khazar Turkish ghulams in caliphal service, Peter B. Golden; Al-Xwarazmi on the peoples of Central Asia, C.E. Bosworth and Sir Gerard Clauson; Turks in the Middle East before the Saljuqs, Richard N. Frye and Aydin M. Sayili; The Turks in the Islamic lands up to the mid-11th century, C.E. Bosworth; Barbarian incursions: the coming of the Turks into the Islamic world, C.E. Bosworth; Notes on the Risala of Ibn-Fadlan, R.N. Frye and R.P. Blake; Mu`tasim and the Turks, Osman S.A. Ismail; Aspects of the early history of the Central Asian guard corps in Islam, C.I. Beckwith; The founding of a new capital: Samarra', Osman S.A. Ismail; The Malik-nama and the history of Seljuqid origins, Claude Cahen; The Turkish tribes of Western Asia during the Seljuqid period, Claude Cahen; Index.