Islamic History: A Framework for Inquiry.

• Author: Hillenbrand, Carole

The aims of this work are two-fold; it presents the range of bibliographical materials available to the scholar and student of medieval Islamic history, and it then confronts wider problems of methodology. Its frame is the period A.D. 600-1500.

Part 1 (pp. 4-65) presents a bibliographical survey. Chapter 2, which gives an analytical survey of the sources, is admirably full and clear and it is refreshing to find that Humphreys accords excellent coverage to numismatic, epigraphic, art-historical, and archaeological evidence. It is difficult to single out for special praise individual sections of part l, which is of an overall high standard, and a few examples will have to suffice to pinpoint its many merits. Humphreys is not too lofty to have forgotten the difficulties experienced by beginners in the field; often his advice is practical, explaining, for instance, how to use Brockelmann, whose Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur continues to perplex generations of research students (pp. 26-27). There is valuable advice also on how to edit manuscripts (pp. 34-36).

Part 2 (pp. 69-308), which contains ten chapters, focuses on wider problems of research and certainly asks the right questions. It is not devoted exclusively to political history; indeed, half of the chapters belong to the socio-economic sphere. Each chapter in part 2 identifies problems associated with the theme of the chapter, discusses the sources available to tackle these problems, analyzes how the resources may best be utilized and surveys the existing secondary literature on the subject of the chapter. The book also contains a very useful bibliographical index listing the works cited and evaluated in the preceding chapters.

Chapter 7, which deals with the complex issue of the fiscal administration of the Mamluk empire, exemplifies Humphreys' approach; it looks both backward and forward, assesses present scholarly achievements on this topic and provides bibliographical data as well as his own pithy comments. The result is a mine of information and a thought-provoking discussion. Humphreys is not afraid to criticize some of the Orientalist giants of previous generations. It is a relief to find that in his discussion of the thorny question of iqta (p. 179), he describes Cahen's Makhzumiyyat as "indispensable (albeit sometimes maddening)." Moreover, in chapter 8, which tackles the role and status of the ulama in Islamic society, he writes a finely tuned assessment of Massignon (pp...