SKETCHES FROM EASTERN HISTORY
MORRISON AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
SKETCHES
FROM
EASTERN HISTORY
BY
THEODOR NÖLDEKE
PROFESSOR OF ORIENTAL LANGUAGES IN THE
UNIVERSITY OF STRASSBURG
Translated by
JOHN SUTHERLAND BLACK, M.A.
AND REVISED BY THE AUTHOR
LONDON AND EDINBURGH
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK
1892
PREFACE.
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Of the following studies, three have already appeared inGerman periodicals, and one (that on the Koran) forms partof the article Mohammedanism in the 9th edition of theEncyclopædia Britannica. But all four have been considerablyrevised. The remaining essays were written in thecourse of last year. The fourth, fifth, and sixth, and to someextent the second and third also, may be regarded as supplementingAug. Müller’s excellent History of Islam. Ihave made careful use of all the sources that were accessibleto me, but have cited them only rarely. I hope I have beenfairly successful in obliterating the traces of laborious study,while, at the same time, I trust that the book may be foundto be of some value, even to the specialist.
The account of Mansúr’s reign is preceded by a brief résuméof the antecedent history, and of the beginnings of the Abbásidsdynasty; it was impossible otherwise to exhibit the personalityof Mansúr in a proper light. Less organicallyconnected with their context are the paragraphs at the closeof the essay upon King Theodore. But the interest whichAbyssinia now has, even for the ordinary newspaper reader,justifies, I think, the few words on its history after the deathof that king, and the forecast of its future. I take thisopportunity of mentioning that an Italian of thorough insightand information has expressed to me his entire concurrencewith the opinions indicated in the paragraphs in question.But I must earnestly beg those who read what I have theresaid not to leap to the conclusion that I have the sameopinion about the German as about the Italian enterprisesin Africa.
My old friend, De Goeje, of Leyden, has frequently givenme valuable assistance in the history of the servile war,e