Embedding Conquest: Naturalizing Muslim Rule in the Early Islamic Empire (Project Report)

Abstract

The ERC-funded research project »Embedding Conquest«, based at Leiden University, studies the mechanics by which early Islamic rule took root in a tapestry of diverse territories and different social contexts. Based on a large corpus of documentary and literary texts, especially letters, the research team has identified elements of political, territorial, and institutional cohesion stemming from interpersonal ties of loyalty and dependency binding individuals to each other and to the state. This contribution presents the project’s main scope and achievements. Additionally, it focuses on multilingualism, highlighting the participation of people from different religious groups in shaping early Islamic rule, in line with this special issue’s focus on collaboration among Muslims, Jews, and Christians as colleagues in the early Islamic period.