Islamic Historiography By Chase F. Robinson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. 264 pages.)

Abstract

In this introduction to the large, unwieldy, and complex topic of Islamic historiography,
the author has limited himself to historical works written in
Arabic, primarily in the central Islamic lands, before 1500. This choice can
be justified in that the field’s formative works written early on in Iraq, Iran,
Egypt, and Syria and all in Arabic, served as models for historians writing
later on in peripheral regions and in other languages. Nevertheless, it is a bow
to convenience and necessity, given the vast amount of material involved. As
a result, the Arabic historiography of North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and
other peripheral regions are largely ignored, as are the Turkish histories of the
Ottoman Empire and the Persian histories of Iran, Central Asia, and India.
Within these admitted and understandable limitations, the book provides an
excellent thematic overview, while, at the same time, introducing the reader
to some of the Islamic world’s most fascinating histories and historians.
This book is divided into three parts, including ten chapters and a
conclusion. A glossary, five plates of manuscript folios, three maps, two
chronologies of prominent historians, and suggestions for further reading
contribute to making this a useful and accessible text.
In part 1, chapters 1-4, Robinson presents a tripartite typology of historical
works: chronography, biography, and prosopography. These are ideal
types, which serve as broad categories within which to classify a huge body
of texts. Chronography refers to annals, works organized into year-by-year
sections; biography refers to texts that treat the lives of famous or exemplary
individuals; and prosopography refers primarily to biographical dictionaries,
works in which biographical notices are devoted to large numbers of individuals
who all belonged to a particular scholarly or professional group. All
of these types of historical works, Robinson writes, had emerged by the
ninth century and were consolidated by the early tenth century. The end of
this formative period was characterized by large synthetic works, such as
Abu Ja`far al-Tabari’s History of Messengers and Kings. In part because of
such works, many earlier historical monographs, including the works of
such historians as Abu Mikhnaf and al-Mada’ini, were abandoned by the tradition
as unnecessary ...