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Books > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history > General
The pre-Islamic warrior-poet 'Antarah ibn Shaddad, a composer of
one of the Mu'allaqat, attracted the attention of the philologists
who were active in Iraq at the nascence of the scholarly study of
Arabic. These philologists collected and studied the diwan of
'Antarah as part of their recovery and codification of the
Jahiliyyah: 'Antarah became one of the Six Poets, a collection of
pre-Islamic poets associated with al-Asma'i, "the father of Arabic
philology." Two centuries later, in al-Andalus, al-Shantamari and
al-Batalyawsi composed their commentaries on the diwans of the Six
Poets. This study uncovers the literary history of 'Antarah's diwan
and presents five editions, with critical apparatus, of the extant
recensions, based on an extensive collation of the surviving
manuscripts. An Arabic edition with English scholarly apparatus.
The third in a new series, the Contemporary Archive of the Islamic
World (CAIW), this title draws on the resources of Cambridge-based
World of Information, which since 1975 has followed the politics
and economics of the region. Kuwait's documented history begins in
the mid-19th Century. Its location established it as an important
entrepot at the head of the Arabian Gulf. Notionally under Ottoman
rule, it became a de facto protectorate of Great Britain. The
discovery of oil changed Kuwait beyond recognition. It gained full
independence in 1971 and was long considered the most developed
state in the Gulf. Coveted by Iraq, it was invaded in 1990. It also
played a part in the2003 invasion of Iraq.
The qasidah and the qit'ah are well known to scholars of classical
Arabic literature, but the maqtu', a form of poetry that emerged in
the thirteenth century and soon became ubiquitous, is as obscure
today as it was once popular. These poems circulated across the
Arabo-Islamic world for some six centuries in speech, letters,
inscriptions, and, above all, anthologies. Drawing on more than a
hundred unpublished and published works, How Do You Say "Epigram"
in Arabic? is the first study of this highly popular and adaptable
genre of Arabic poetry. By addressing this lacuna, the book models
an alternative comparative literature, one in which the history of
Arabic poetry has as much to tell us about epigrams as does Greek.
The 500 year old community of Portuguese descendants in Malabar,
now called Kerala, is composed of an interesting group of people.
This book is an attempt to go deep into the history of European
interaction with Malabar, concentrating on the Portuguese period
from the end of the fifteenth century to present times, exploring
their commercial and religious interventions in Malabar and the
resultant political polarisation and social changes. The Portuguese
found it necessary to create a social group faithful to them for
the protection of their trade centres and in the bargain there
occurred an inevitable creation of an ethnic social group of
Portuguese descendants. The blockade of Constantinople by Ottoman
Turks in 1453, practically prevented Europeans from trading with
Asian countries. So, it became a necessity for Europeans to find a
new sea-route to India. Several European powers tried for this,
especially Spain and Portugal. Finally, Vasco da Gama, the
Portuguese navigator reached Calicut in 1498. Vasco da Gama was
followed by Pedro Alvares Cabral in 1500 and the creation of the so
called Estado da India Portugesa (Portuguese State of India) by the
posting of Francisco de Almeida as the first Viceroy in 1505. The
policy of Politica dos Casamentos (politics through marriages)
introduced by Afonso de Albuquerque, the second Viceroy, by
marrying Portuguese soldiers with Indian women and the resultant
mixed race or mestices which eventually formed the Luso-Indian
community in Malabar. The casados (married Portuguese men) and
their role in Portuguese trade in Malabar forms an important part
of this volume. The Dutch invasion of Cochin in 1663 and the mixing
of Luso-Indians with the Dutch, English and other Europeans who
came to Malabar in later years and the present structure of the
Anglo-Indian community, their settlements, institutions, cultural
influences, attachment with Catholic Church is discussed in detail
in this volume, making it a valuable document for scholars as well
as the lay readers.
In Historicizing Emotions: Practices and Objects in India, China,
and Japan, nine Asian Studies scholars offer intriguing case
studies of moments of change in community or group-based emotion
practices, including emotionally coded objects. Posing the
questions by whom, when, where, what-by, and how the changes
occurred, these studies offer not only new geographical scope to
the history of emotions, but also new voices from cultures and
subcultures as yet unexplored in that field. This volume spans from
the pre-common era to modern times, with an emphasis on the
pre-modern period, and includes analyses of picturebooks, monks'
writings, letters, ethnographies, theoretic treatises, poems,
hagiographies, stone inscriptions, and copperplates. Covering both
religious and non-religious spheres, the essays will attract
readers from historical, religious, and area studies, and
anthropology. Contributors are: Heather Blair, Gerard Colas, Katrin
Einicke, Irina Glushkova, Padma D. Maitland, Beverley McGuire, Anne
E. Monius, Kiyokazu Okita, Barbara Schuler.
In this complete guide to modern China, Michael Dillon takes
students through its social, political and economic changes, from
the Qing Empire, through the civil war and the Communist state, to
its incarnation as a hybrid capitalist superpower. Key features of
the new edition include: - A brand new chapter on the Xi Jinping
premiership - Coverage of the recent developments in Hong Kong -
Unique analysis of Tibet and Xinjiang - Teaching aides including
biographies of leading figures, timelines and a glossary Clearly
and compelling written, this textbook is essential for any student
of the history or politics of modern China.
This innovative study explores the interface between
nation-building and refugee rehabilitation in post-partition India.
Relying on archival records and oral histories, Uditi Sen analyses
official policy towards Hindu refugees from eastern Pakistan to
reveal a pan-Indian governmentality of rehabilitation. This
governmentality emerged in the Andaman Islands, where Bengali
refugees were recast as pioneering settlers. Not all refugees,
however, were willing or able to live up to this top-down vision of
productive citizenship. Their reminiscences reveal divergent
negotiations of rehabilitation 'from below'. Educated refugees from
dominant castes mobilised their social and cultural capital to
build urban 'squatters' colonies', while poor Dalit refugees had to
perform the role of agricultural pioneers to access aid. Policies
of rehabilitation marginalised single and widowed women by treating
them as 'permanent liabilities'. These rich case studies
dramatically expand our understanding of popular politics and
everyday citizenship in post-partition India.
From the Greeks to the Arabs and Beyond written by Hans Daiber, is
a six volume collection of Daiber’s scattered writings, journal
articles, essays and encyclopaedia entries on Greek-Syriac-Arabic
translations, Islamic theology and Sufism, the history of science,
Islam in Europe, manuscripts and the history of oriental studies.
It also includes reviews and obituaries. Vol. V and VI are
catalogues of newly discovered Arabic manuscript originals and
films/offprints from manuscripts related to the topics of the
preceding volumes.
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