We are delighted to announce the publication of a new book (edited volume) on "Ports and Fortifications in the Muslim World" by AKU-ISMC's Professor Stephane Pradines.
Abstract
Ports have been extremely important locations in Muslim memory since the time of the Prophet. Islam was spread through trading networks such as the overland Silk Road and the maritime Spice Route, and also by pilgrimage that combined travel by land with sea voyages. The coast is a contact zone between land and sea. A distinct coastal culture develops in ports, since they are stops on travel routes and centres of contact and exchange between civilisations. Fortifications were built at ports to protect trade as well as safeguard the traders and the merchandise. These fortifications played an active role in the economy, both as fortified gateways serving as customs houses and as city walls enclosing cargo depots. The walls and citadels of coastal cities were major symbols of prestige and wealth. Politically, ports are strategic points subject to conquest. The study of coastal military architecture helps us to understand the Muslim expansion from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean on the longue durée from the Arab conquest to the Ottoman period.
Editor
Stephane Pradines is an archaeologist, Professor of Islamic art and architecture at the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations in London. He is a specialist of trade and Islamisation in the Indian Ocean, from the Swahili coast to the Maldives. He is also a specialist of warfare in medieval Africa. He was the director of the excavations of the Walls of Cairo in Egypt from 2000 to 2016. He is now in charge of the excavations of the fort of Lahore in Pakistan. From 2008 to 2015, Stephane Pradines, Abbes Zouache and Mathieu Eychenne were co-directors of an international research programme on War in the Medieval Middle East organised by the French Institute of Archaeology in Cairo (IFAO) and the French Institute in Near East, Beirut-Damascus (IFPO). Professor Pradines has published many articles and books on military architecture, fortifications, arms and armour from the Fatimid to the late Ottoman period.
Purchase your copy by clicking here.
We are delighted to announce the publication of a new book (edited volume) on "Ports and Fortifications in the Muslim World" by AKU-ISMC's Professor Stephane Pradines.
Abstract
Ports have been extremely important locations in Muslim memory since the time of the Prophet. Islam was spread through trading networks such as the overland Silk Road and the maritime Spice Route, and also by pilgrimage that combined travel by land with sea voyages. The coast is a contact zone between land and sea. A distinct coastal culture develops in ports, since they are stops on travel routes and centres of contact and exchange between civilisations. Fortifications were built at ports to protect trade as well as safeguard the traders and the merchandise. These fortifications played an active role in the economy, both as fortified gateways serving as customs houses and as city walls enclosing cargo depots. The walls and citadels of coastal cities were major symbols of prestige and wealth. Politically, ports are strategic points subject to conquest. The study of coastal military architecture helps us to understand the Muslim expansion from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean on the longue durée from the Arab conquest to the Ottoman period.
Editor
Stephane Pradines is an archaeologist, Professor of Islamic art and architecture at the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations in London. He is a specialist of trade and Islamisation in the Indian Ocean, from the Swahili coast to the Maldives. He is also a specialist of warfare in medieval Africa. He was the director of the excavations of the Walls of Cairo in Egypt from 2000 to 2016. He is now in charge of the excavations of the fort of Lahore in Pakistan. From 2008 to 2015, Stephane Pradines, Abbes Zouache and Mathieu Eychenne were co-directors of an international research programme on War in the Medieval Middle East organised by the French Institute of Archaeology in Cairo (IFAO) and the French Institute in Near East, Beirut-Damascus (IFPO). Professor Pradines has published many articles and books on military architecture, fortifications, arms and armour from the Fatimid to the late Ottoman period.
Purchase your copy by clicking here.