Michael Brett: Explorer of the History of the Maghreb, a Crossroads Between Europe, the Middle East and Africa

Abstract

The Maghreb Review, Vol. 40, 1, 2015 © The Maghreb Review 2015 This publication is printed on longlife paper INTRODUCTION MICHAEL BRETT: EXPLORER OF THE HISTORY OF THE MAGHREB, A CROSSROADS BETWEEN EUROPE, THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA ALLAN CHRISTELOW∗ Through the colonial era, European language studies of the Maghreb were largely in the hands of the French, who came to control most of this region, and many of these studies were tied to developing a rationale for French domination of the region, or advancing policies to improve its control. It was only in the era of decolonization, starting in the mid-1950s, that English language scholars began to focus on the Maghreb. An important figure in this endeavor was Michael Brett, who covered this region for the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, starting in the early 1970s. Brett’s own research and publications have focused mainly on the medieval period. This was a time of extraordinary vitality for the Maghreb. One of his most important works, The Rise of the Fatimids: the World of the Mediterranean and the Middle East in the Fourth Century of the Hijra,1 focuses on a religious-political movement which emerged in eastern Algeria and Tunisia in the 900s and eventually conquered Egypt. This was the only historical event in which a force based in the Maghreb moved on to become a major player in the Middle East. The focus of an English language scholar on the Fatimids can be seen as a logical choice in the age of decolonization. The Fatimids brought North Africa into a remarkable era of prosperity, driven in part by their development of the gold trade with sub-Saharan Africa. While they were Shi’ites they showed an ability to work with individuals from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, and to negotiate with the Christian Byzantine Empire. Prosperity and tolerance were hallmarks of the post-colonial English speaking vision. Another of his books focuses on the world-renowned historian and philosopher `Abd al-Rahman Ibn Khaldun 2 , whose famous work of the late fourteenth century, al-Muqadimmah, put forward an explanation for the rise and fall of empires in the Maghreb. His work would have a strong influence on Western thinkers observing the decline of colonial empires in the mid-twentieth century, notably Arnold Toynbee. It was after Ibn Khalldun’s time, starting in the fifteenth century, that the Maghreb began to be pushed to the margins of ∗ Idaho State University 1 Michael Brett, The Rise of the Fatimids: the World of the Mediterranean and the Middle East in the Fourth Century of the Hijra, Tenth Century C.E. Leiden: Brill, 2001 2 Michael Brett, Ibn Khaldun and the Medieval Maghreb, London: Ashgate, 1999. 4 ALLAN CHRISTELOW history as gunpowder empires emerged to the north and east. While Brett’s research focused on what can be seen as the Maghreb’s most vibrant era, in both political and intellectual terms, he taught courses with a broader focus in both chronological and geographical terms, and he has been involved in the management of scholarly journals that cover both the Maghreb and Africa. As a professor, he prepared many students to pursue research on the Maghreb and Africa from the medieval era to modern times. And he has recently published a book with a broad focus on Africa, Approaching African History.3 THEMES IN THE ARTICLES The articles in this issue of the Maghreb Review cover the Maghreb mainly in the period after its marginalization by emerging gunpowder empires, and they show the shortcomings of those empires’ efforts to control this region. Brett’s work on the Fatimids and Ibn Khaldun brings to mind that the Maghreb should not be seen as a backward region: indeed it had been very dynamic from the 800s through the 1400s. The one element of power that it lacked, advanced weaponry such as cannons and rifles, was by no means an effective substitute for what Ibn Khaldun called `asabiyya, the sort of effective interlinking of broad diverse social and political elements that had been achieved by the most effective rulers of the medieval Maghreb. This marginalization might also be attributed...