Transformation of the Islamicate Civilization: A Turning-Point in the Thirteenth Century?
In: Eurasian Transformations, Tenth to Thirteenth CenturiesSearch for other papers by Said Amir Arjomand in
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Abstract
The possibility of a Eurasian ecumenical renaissance is examined in relation to the transformation of the Islamicate civilization in the East in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The focus of the analysis is on the possibilities and limits for self-government and role of civic associations. The long-term effects and transformative potential of the urban and constitutional reforms of the late ‘Abbasid Caliph al-Nāsir at the beginning of the thirteenth century are assessed in the context of instances of city government during the half century following the disintegration of the Il-Khanid Empire in the latter part of 1330s. The final section of the essay on urban politics in fourteenth-century Iran highlights the hindrances on the Islamicate path to political modernity.