A Short History of the Saracens, Being a Concise Account of the Rise and Decline of the Saracenic Power and of the Economic, Social and Intellectual Destruction of Bagdad, and the Expulsion of Moors

by Syed Ameer Ali

Of all the older nations that have carried their arms across vast continents, that have left ineffaceable marks of their achievements on the pages of history, and enriched the world of thought by their discoveries and speculations, the Saracens stand to us the closest in time. Modern Europe is still working with the legacy they left behind, with the intellectual wealth they stored for their successors. It is, therefore, a matter of regret that in the West a knowledge of their history should be more or less confined to specialists; whilst in I ndia, a country which was at one time peculiarly subject to the influence of their civilisation, it should be almost unknown. Much of this no doubt is due to the absence of a proper work on the subject. To arrest attention, to enlist sympathy, to evoke interest, something more is needed than a bare narration of wars and conquests, more especially in the case of a people whose name, un Hke the Romans and Greeks, has not been made familiar from childhood. In order to prove attractive and interesting, a history of the Saracens should contain not merely a description of their military successes, but also tell us something of their inner life and their social and economic development. Such a work, by tracing the afifinity of modern civilisation to theirs, might serve to remove many prejudices and some of the bitterness engendered by the conflict and quarrels of centuries.
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.

Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancin

Genres: History, Collections

716 pages, Paperback

First published September 24, 2004

About the author

Syed Ameer Ali Order of the Star of India[3] (1849 – 1928) was an Indian/British Indian jurist hailing from the state of Oudh from where his father moved and settled down at Orissa. He was a prominent political leader, and author of a number of influential books on Muslim history and the modern development of Islam, who is credited for his contributions to the Law of India, particularly Muslim Personal Law, as well as the development of political philosophy for Muslims, during the British Raj. He was a signatory to the 1906 Petition to the Viceroy and was thus a founding-member of the All India Muslim League.

(wikipedia)

Reviews

[Isaac Miftuv]

বেশ নিরপেক্ষ লেখা। ইসলামের ইতিহাস নিয়ে অনেক কন্সেপ্ট ক্লিয়ার হয়েছে।লেখকের স্পিরিট অফ ইসলামটাও পড়তে হবে।
কিছু তথ্য মুঘদ করেছে।যেমন- রাতে মদিনার অবস্থা পর্যবেক্ষণের সময় হযরত উমর রা(:)-এর মাঝে মাঝেই গানের আড্ডাই উপস্থিতি, অ্যাসাসিন/হাসিসিনদের উদ্ভব ইত্যাদি।
বইটা বেশ সুখপাঠ্য,অন্তত ইতিহাস যাদের ভাল্লাগে...

[Qb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book on the subject particularly of medieval ages.

[Ayman Sabir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sir Syed Ameer Ali really a distinguished man.I knew his amazing role as the justice of kalkata high court but doesn’t have a idea that the writer behind him.When I finished this book book I became more suspicious about his other litarery works, then I found "The spirit of islam" as one of the major book for educated bengali muslims that time.If you ask me about this book its narration was quite good and essential definitions are also attached for understanding.But it can be more interesting.

[Rafiul Ahsan]

Excellent🥰

[Zubair Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written by Syed Ameer Ali, looking forward to completing reading it this year IA ^^

[Umar Farooq · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply amazing. The writer acts an expert guide, not missing anything but also not spending too much time on one thing. The writing is a little biased towards Hashimites but I think its justified considering the atrocities committed against them. The depth of research is also amazing.

[Shakir Sharfraz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A scholarly work provides a sweeping assessment of saracen civilisation. One of the most unbiased books which tackles both the ups and downs of this civlisation.