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Giancarlo Casale offers an annotated bibliography of further resources for the Connected Histories theme.

In this video, Giancarlo Casale introduces the "Connected Histories" theme against a background of images and music. He discusses an illustration from the Tarih-I Hind-I garbi or "Iklilm-I Cedid," a 16th century Turkish manuscript.

1489 Leo is born in Granada as Hassan al-Wazzan 1494 Leo/Hassan leaves Granada in exile to settle in Fez 1504 Leo/Hassan begins his travels with his uncle, a diplomat for the Sultan of…

To view places on the Sub-saharan itinerary of Leo Africanus, Harvard University’s WorldMap "Leo Africanus' Places" website includes a set of map overlays on a 16th century map, with descriptive information and contemporary photographs from the…

With the Faqih Muhammad b. ‘Isa as his source, al-Razi stated that when the Muslims conquered al-Andalus, they followed the examples of Abu ‘Ubayda and Khalid (may God be pleased with them), according to the instruction of the Commander…

Fifteenth century map by Piri Reis of the coastline of Andalusia and the city of Grenada

In an Antique Land One of the most difficult topics addressed in Amitav Ghosh’s book is the issue of slavery in the medieval Muslim world. How does the slavery experienced by Bomma differ from the system of chattel slavery known to us from…

Leo Africanus What do you think about the opening paragraph of Leo Africanus? In what ways does this particular statement of identity—or perhaps “anti-identity”—inform the rest of the book?How does it relate to the overall…

The Ornament of the World In the history of al-Andalus, there seems to be a surprising correlation between rising political disunity (following the dissolution of the Caliphate) and rising cultural florescence.Why might this be?Can you think of…

The House of Wisdom Having read Al-Khalili’s book, what would you identify as the most critical elements that led to the florescence of Islamic science?In what ways are these the same as other moments of great intellectual creativity in world…

Khulays has a spring of abundant waters to which are joined underground conduits whence water is drawn... At these men renew their supplies of water, for there is little of it upon the way on account of the continuous drought. May God send rains in…

The achievements of the weavers, dyers, embroiderers, and pattern designers in the lands of Islam have been acclaimed for more than fifteen hundred years. Textiles were the mainstay of many premodern societies, and they continue to be important in…

The mathematical sciences occupy a prominent place in Islamic intellectual history. Historically called ʿulūm riyāḍīyah (mathematical sciences) or ʿulūm taʿlīmīyah (pedagogical sciences), they comprised the four main…

Because of its immediate social significance, medieval sources provide a wealth of information on the theory and practice of Arabic medicine. In addition to numerous medical treatises, many sources also shed light on the lives of scientists, the…

The Persian word for “market” (bāzār) refers to a range of economic and architectural forms from covered bazaars, periodic rural markets, and small neighborhood strips of shops in alleys to abstract understandings of markets as sectors…

Traditional Forms Islamic gardens from India to Morocco have fascinated architects, historians, and travelers since the fifteenth century C.E. and have been the subject of exuberant descriptions and representations. Today, unfortunately, few of the…

Transnational Connections on the Old Silk Road Although scholars once believed that the early civilizations of the Eurasian continent were fairly isolated from each other, recent archaeological, textual, and historical evidence suggests that the…

The Cairo Genizah, mostly discovered late in the nineteenth century but still resurfacing in our own day, is a collection of over 200,000 fragmentary Jewish texts (which may well equal three times that number of folios). Many of these were stored in…

Gordon Stewart’s When Asia Was the World includes accounts of various travelers on land and sea. Among the travelers mentioned in the book, Xuanzang, Ibn Fadlan, Abraham bin Yiju, Ibn Battuta, Ma Huan, and Tomé Pires all traversed Indian…

Of the region of Sous. Now comes the region of Sus to be considered of, being situated beyond [the] Atlas, over against the territorie of Hea, that is to say, in the extreme part of Africa. Westward it beginneth from the Ocean sea, and southward from…

Muslim writers argue that the international and diplomatic realms are incorporated in the very comprehensiveness of Islam, and analogues to the concepts of international relations exist in Islamic history. The Prophet's compacts with the Medinans…

In 1550, a remarkable book about Africa, La Descrittione dell’Africa, came off the Giunta press in Venice, as the first volume of Giovanni Battista Ramusio’s celebrated series of Voyages. It had been written by an African, Ramusio assured…

When Asia Was the World: Traveling Merchants, Scholars, Warriors, and Monks Who Created the "Riches of the East" Were you surprised to find that When Asia Was the World—a recommended for a reading liston the history of Islam—actually…

The Alhambra is the name given to the Red Castle (al-Qasr al-Hamrāʿ) built by fourteenth-century rulers of the Nasrid dynasty atop the Sabikah hill overlooking Granada, in southern Spain. The architectural complex consists today of three parts: the…

The Moors were the Muslim inhabitants of Islamic Spain, or al-Andalus. The term Moor is a late-antique and medieval Western European usage to indicate dark-skinned North Africans of Arab and/or Berber origin who were responsible for the invasion of…

The name “Andalusia,” for Muslim Spain, is derived from “al-Andalus,” the name used in Arabic sources to indicate those parts of the Iberian peninsula under Muslim control between the initial invasion of 711 C.E. and the fall…

A prevalent institution of the Islamic world throughout its history,slavery (ʿubūdīyah, riqq) had a crucial influence on societies and cultures of Islam. Slavery was common in pre-Islamic and contemporary societies in the Mediterranean basin,…

In 914 (1508-09), I had constructed a charbagh garden called the Bagh i-Wafa on a rise to the south of the Adinapur fortress. [A charbagh garden is a rectangular garden divided into four parts by paths or waterways.] It overlooks the river, which…

This noble dome, this magnificent college, and blessed hospital was ordered by our Lord and Master, the August Sultan al-Malik al-Mansur, the Wise, Just, God-assisted, Victorious, Champion of the Faith, Conqueror, Sword of the World and True…

The Chinese pottery (porcelain) is manufactured only in the towns of Zaytun and Sin-kalan. It is made of the soil of some mountains in that district, which takes fire like charcoal, as we shall relate subsequently. They mix this with some stones…