As with all general history, Islamic history is conventionally approached in terms of evolutionary trends and continuities. This study in historical sociology of the millennial or Mahdist movements and their long-term impact, in contrast, focuses on abrupt discontinuities in the form of revolutions as apocalyptic breaks, and on the reaction of the ruling authorities as counter-revolution aiming at routinizing these charismatic irruptions into history by absorbing their impact within the prevalent structure of authorities, and thereby re-establishing the continuity that is taken for granted by future historians. For the framework of this analysis of the dynamics of revolution, and reaction within a single world region, it chooses the civilizational zone defined by its cultural unity as the Persianate world.
