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Dr. John Curry [email protected] http://faculty.unlv.edu/curryj5 Room B-326 (History Conference Room) Class meets: 4:30-7:30pm Office Hours: Tuesday 2:30-4:00pm Columbia University (1976) Early contributor to world history; Camel and Wheel Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period (1979) World History textbook Earth and its Peoples Controversial theses: View from Edge and Case for Islamo-Christian Civ. Maps of major cities in Iran and its northeast Early Islamic conquests and provincial structure Note Khorasan and Gorgan (Jurjan) at upper right Map showing collapse of Abbasid power over time Central Asian populations in modern times What is the basic narrative that Bulliet advances for Iran’s history from the 600s through 1200s? Why does cotton matter? Why does climate matter? Why do camels matter? What kinds of evidence does Bulliet advance, and how does it relate to his earlier work? Why a “moment in world history,” and what are potential consequences for a wider audience? 400-650 (Period of Sasanid dominance) 650-900 (Gradual introduction of cotton) 900-1000 (Heyday of “dual agriculture”) 1000-1050 (Arrival of the “Big Chill” and Turkmen nomadic peoples) 1050-1150 (End of cotton growing and flight of Iranian scholarly classes) 1150-1250 (Failure to recover; Mongol era) 622-750 (Islamic conquests; Umayyad rule) 750-860 (Classical Islamic civilization under the Abbasids) 860-945 (Abbasid decline) 945-1040 (Decentralization/competition) 1040-1100 (Great Saljuq reconsolidation) 1100-1220 (Institutional finalization) 1220-1405 (Turco-Mongol invasions) Conversion models for various regions of Near East Expanding production of cotton + religious tensions Silk of earlier times limited to non-Muslims Lack of arable land leads to Muslim involvement with qanat-building What is a fulanabad? Result: trade boom and monetarization (silver) New tools in historical study: dendrochronology and climate change Various medieval chroniclers corroborate tales of cold and shortage Weakening of cotton market coincides with cultural/ religious shifts Shift to nomadic goods The Oghuz, the Ghaznavids and the Saljuq Turks Explaining the sudden collapse of Mahmud’s state after 1030 C.E. Issues of “ecological determinism”—did camelherding cause migration? Saljuqs inherit economic decline, intellectual flight Extent of the Ghaznavid empire ca. 1030 C.E. Reading the intellectual genealogy of the work: begins with Camel and Wheel Links new ecological-historical advances into early work on conversion in medieval Persia Seeks to cover some of the weak or poorlysources elements in Islam: View From the Edge Introduces world historical significance grounded in textbook writings and comparison of Islamic and Christian civilizations All October classes (7th, 14th, 21st, 28th) will focus on the writing process Be prepared to present at least 2-3 pages of writing for evaluation to the class Make 4 copies for me and your fellow three members of the class (or e-mail in advance) November 4: status report going into final phase November classes on the 11th, 18th, and 25th will be cancelled for holidays Presentations on Dec. 2, final paper on Dec. 9