Women in the Medieval Islamic World

by Gavin R.G. Hambly

Overview

Women often appear invisible in what is widely perceived as the male-oriented society of Islam. Women in the Medieval Islamic World seeks to redress the balance with a series of original essays on women in the pre-modern phase of Islamic history. The reader will encounter here a colourful portrait gallery of rulers, politicians, poets and patrons, as well as some larger than life fictitious females from the pages of Arabic, Persian and Turkish literature. No less authentic are the accounts of quiet or troubled lives of ordinary women preserved in the court records of Mamluk Egypt and Ottoman Turkey, reminders that historical research can resuscitate the lives of subaltern as well as elite women from the past. For people who believe that Muslim women, especially medieval Muslim women, have no history, this book demonstrates the ways in which research by twenty international scholars - sometimes working in their own distinct fields and sometimes in overlapping areas - can bring into focus the role and contribution of women in the development of Islamic history. There will no longer be an excuse for their exclusion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312224516
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication date:	11/25/1999
Series:	The New Middle Ages
Edition description:	1999
Pages:	566
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

GAVIN R.G. HAMBLY is Professor of History at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Becoming Visible: Medieval Islamic Women in Historiography and History; Gavin R.G.Hambly Three Queens, Two Wives, and a Goddess: The Roles and Images of Women in Sasanian Iran; J.Rose Women in Pre-Islamic Central Asia: The Khatun of Bukhara; R.N.Frye Zaynab Bint ‘Ali and the Place of the Women of the Households of the First Imams in Shi'ite Devotional Literature; D.Pinault The Bold and the Beautiful: Women and ‘Fitna' in the 'Sirat Dhatal-Himma'; R.Kruk Sayyida Hurra: The Isma'ili Sulayhid Queen of Yemen; F. Daftary Women's Lamentations as Protest in the Shahnama; O.M.Davidson Heroines and Others in the Heroic Age of the Turks; G.Lewis Female Piety and Patronage in the Medieval Hajj; M.Tolmacheva Sultan Radiyya Bint Iltutmish; P.Jackson Timurid Women: A Cultural Perspective; P.P.Soucek Conjugal Rights Versus Class Prerogatives: A Divorce Case in Mamluk Cairo; C.F.Petty Invisible Women: Residents of Early Sixteenth-Century Istanbul; Y.J.Seng 'She Is Trouble...and I Will Divorce Her': Orality, Honor, and Representation in the Ottoman Court of ‘Aintab; L.Peirce Women and the Public Eye in 18th Century Istanbul; F.Zarinebaf-Shahr The 'Jewels of Wonder': Learned Ladies and Princess Politicians in the Provinces of Early Safavid Iran; M.Szuppe The 'Aqa'id al-Nisa': A Glimpse at Safavid Women in Local Isfahani Culture; K.Babyan Women in Safavid Iran: The Evidence of European Travelers; R.W.Ferrier Contributors to the Urban Landscape: Women Builders in Safavid Isfahan and Mughal Shahjahanabad; S.P.Blake Armed Women Retainers in the Zenanas of Indo-Muslim Rulers: The Case of Bibi Fatima; G.R.G.Hambly Private Lives and Public Piety: Women and the Practice of Islam in Mughal India; G.C.Kozlowski Women and the Feminine in the Court and High Culture of Awadh,1720-1856; M.H.Fisher Embattled Begams: Women as Power Brokers in Early Modern India; R.B.Barnett Sitt Nasra Bint ‘Adlan: A Sudanese Noblewoman in History and Tradition I. S.al-Hasan & N.McHugh

Editorial Reviews

Americans and Europeans have long harbored a stereotype of the Islamic woman as a passive creature, without rights, veiled and locked away in a harem. While some contemporary Islamic regimes have helped foster this image, the true portrait of Islamic women is far richer and more diverse. This volume, to which 20 scholars have contributed, is part of "The New Middle Ages," a series of transdisciplinary studies of medieval cultures with an emphasis on recovering women's roles in these societies. It shows that the range of activities that medieval Islamic women engaged in was not inferior to that pursued by women in Europe. We are presented with stories of fictitious and historical women as tribal warriors, rulers of states, builders of religious and cultural edifices, and armed retainers guarding the families and property of male Muslim rulers. Most overviews of Islam have offered little coverage of the lives of Muslim women, but this work goes a long way toward rectifying that oversight. Both students of Islam and of women's studies should find this anthology useful and interesting. Recommended for academic and large public libraries with significant holdings in Islamic and women's studies.--Robert Andrews, Duluth P.L., MN

Library Journal

Draws women from behind the veil of male-oriented society in the pre- modern phase of Islamic history with 23 original essays, challenging the assumption that Moslem women have no history. Among the figures portrayed are rulers, politicians, poets, patrons; larger-than-life- fictitious females from Arabic, Persian, and Turkish literature; and quiet or troubled lives of ordinary women preserved in the court records of Mamluck Egypt and Ottoman Turkey. No index. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

“A tantalizing glimpse into the forgotten world of women in Islamic history.” —Choice

“This collection is a welcome contribution to the study of women and medieval Islam.” —MELA Notes

From the Publisher