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Article: Life in a rough neighborhood: Byzantium, Islam and the Rawwadid Kurds.
- Article from:
- International Journal of Kurdish Studies
- Article date:
- January 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Kurdish Library. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE RISE OF THE RAWWADIDS
Warriors for God are made, not born. Such was the case of the Kurdish Rawwadids, who first rose to prominence over a millennium ago as border guards on the northwestern marches of the Muslim world.
The medieval Islamic caliphate, ruled first by the Umayyad and then the Abbasid dynasties, extended in the early eighth century from Spain and southern France to the heart of Central Asia. Few empires have seen its equal. Its high-water mark was the siege of Constantinople from August 15, 717 to August 15, 718, led by Maslama, son of the Ummayad caliph 'Abd al-Malik. The siege failed disastrously by land and sea, with the twofold ...