The History of al-Tabari, vols. 27, 29, 30, 32, 33.

• Author: Daniel, Elton L.

From a thematic point of view, Tabari's famous History of the Prophets and Kings, the whole of which is now being published in an English translation totaling 38 volumes, consists of three parts: semi-legendary accounts of pre-Islamic rulers and religious figures; narratives of the heroic age of Islam from the birth of the Prophet Muhammad to the end of the civil wars; and the history of the high caliphate from the consolidation of the Umayyad empire down to Tabari's own time. The five volumes from the translation series which are reviewed here cover a major sub-section of the last of these topics. Taken together, the volumes present a broad overview of the Abbasid caliphate at the zenith of its power and prestige. They do not give a complete picture, of course, since two periods when the Abbasid caliphate was suffering severe difficulties--one during al-Mansur's early years when he was struggling with Abu Muslim and the Alid rebels and another during the conflict between al-Amin and al-Ma mun--are to be included in as yet unpublished volumes of the translation series. With those exceptions, however, English readers now have access to all of Tabari's chronicle from the establishment of the dynasty through the caliphate of al-Mutasim.

The title of each individual volume provides at least a vague guide to its contents. Volume XXVII, The Abbasid Revolution, deals with the years A.H. 127--136/745--754 A.D. and describes the progressive disintegration of the Umayyad polity under Marwan b. Muhammad; various insurrections, notably a series of Kharijite revolts; Abu Muslim and the successful Abbasid revolution in Khurasan; and the reign of Abu'l-Abbas al-Saffah. Volume XXIX commences in 146/764, dealing with the last half of the caliphate of al-Mansur and all of the caliphate of al-Mahdi, down to his death in 169/785. Volume XXX, The Abbasid Caliphate in Equilibrium, continues with the accession of al-Hadi in that same year and ends with the death of Harun al-Rashid in 193/809. Volume XXXII, The Reunification of the Abbasid Caliphate, begins with events late in 198/814 and is essentially a history of the reign of al-Mamun down to his death in 218/833. These three volumes do contain some very readable and interesting narratives about major topics, such as the fail of the Barmakids or the institution of the mihna. For the most part, however, they are episodic and disjointed in their chronicling of events. In that sense, they will be difficult for the "non-Arabist" audience, for whom the translation is ostensibly intended, to appreciate, unless that reader has a good background in and understanding of Islamic history. By contrast, volume XXXIII, Storm and Stress Along the Northern Frontiers of the Abbasid Caliphate, presents an exceptionally detailed, focused, and relatively easy to comprehend account of the major crises during the reign of al-Mutasim (218-227/833-842): the purge of the Abbasid military, the revolts of Babak and Mazyar, and the Byzantine war. It is very suitable for general readers and use in seminars; perhaps not surprisingly, this is the only substantial section of Tabari's history to have been previously translated into English.(1)

It would be difficult if not impossible to have found more suitable and capable translators for these volumes than Williams, Kennedy, and Bosworth. All three clearly...