Christian Armed Violence under the Early Abbasids: Syriac Perspectives

This article argues that Syriac sources were mostly written from the perspective of the higher clergy who often owed their appointment to senior Muslim governors or caliphs. Their accounts were therefore framed to discourage and downplay violence by Christians. But occasionally we find signs of Chri...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Wood, Philip (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 2025
In: Arabica
Year: 2025, Volume: 72, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 47-75
Further subjects:B rébellion
B Abbasids
B Minorities
B rural history
B histoire rurale
B Minorités
B syriaque
B Abbasides
B Revolution
B Syriac
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Description
Summary:This article argues that Syriac sources were mostly written from the perspective of the higher clergy who often owed their appointment to senior Muslim governors or caliphs. Their accounts were therefore framed to discourage and downplay violence by Christians. But occasionally we find signs of Christian populations living in difficult terrain such as highlands or marshland who did deploy armed rebellion as a negotiating tool against the Abbasid state. In some cases, the response of the caliph and his governors was not to crush these rebels, but to co-opt them as poachers turned gamekeepers.
ISSN:1570-0585
Contains:Enthalten in: Arabica
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700585-20246913