Medieval Persianate Political Ethic

Saïd Amir Arjomand

Medieval Persianate Political Ethic

In: Studies on Persianate Societies: Volume 1 (2003/1382)

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Saïd Amir Arjomand

Saïd Amir Arjomand State University of New York at Stony Brook

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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 3–28

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004732711_003

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The prevalent interpretations of medieval Islamic political thought are inordinately influenced by one particular genre of juristic writing in the form of systematic deduction of political authority from the caliphate, which H.A.R. Gibb regarded as defining the “constitutional organization” of medieval Muslim polity. The historicity of this view, however, is open to serious questions. The juristic theory of the caliphate emerged fairly late in the eleventh-century, and cannot be taken as representative of medieval Islamic political thought, which drew heavily on the Perso-Indian tradition of statecraft and was formally influenced by the Greek practical philosophy. Rather than focusing on the caliphate and the sacred law (shari‘a), the typical conception of political order found in the Persian literature of the medieval period on statecraft and the political ethic was that of a world order constituted by the two powers of prophecy (nobovvat) and monarchy (saltanat). From the end of the twelfth century onward, this idea of the two powers constitutive of order was developed into a type of political theory that is called “Islamic royalism” in this essay. Islamic royalism came to represent the constitutional organization of Muslim polities after the Mongol overthrow of the Abbasid caliphate.

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Studies on Persianate Societies: Volume 1 (2003/1382)

پژوهش در جوامع فارسى‌زبان: ۱ (۲۸٣۱/٣٠٠٢)

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004732711

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 20 Jan 2003

Subjects
- Middle East and Islamic Studies
  - Iran & Persian Studies

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Medieval Persianate Political Ethic

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Studies on Persianate Societies: Volume 1 (2003/1382)

پژوهش در جوامع فارسى‌زبان: ۱ (۲۸٣۱/٣٠٠٢)

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