Researcher ORCID Identifier
0009-0006-9590-859X
Graduation Year
2025
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Late Antique-Medieval Studies
Second Department
Religious Studies
Reader 1
Jamel Velji
Reader 2
Daniel Watling
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2025 Grayson D Shaw
Abstract
Few historical events have received the same attention in the formative years of Islam as the so-called “‘Abbāsid Revolution” in 132 AH/750 CE. In both the medieval and modern contexts, this event has been recognized as a monumental formation from which the rest of Islamic history comes downstream from. Problematically, there are no cohesive historical sources from the losers of this conflict; the Umayyads. Utilizing numismatic and architectural evidence, I argue that the alleged rupture between the Umayyads and their ‘Abbāsid successors is overblown by historiography two centuries after the fact. Then, I further analyze what this continuity means for broader historiographical practices, namely in light of Shahzad Bashir’s “On Islamic Time” wherein Islamic historical traditions are (improperly) mapped onto Eurocentric ideas of singular timelines. I conclude with a recommendation for a comprehensive, potentially contradictory, and multi-temporal understanding of Islamic history with the continuities between the Umayyads and ‘Abbāsids serving as a model to understand these overlaps.
Recommended Citation
Shaw, Grayson D., "Disrupting the Timeline: Challenging Notions of a Singular, Linear Early Muslim Historiography" (2025). Pomona Senior Theses. 362.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/pomona_theses/362
Included in
Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture Commons, Islamic Studies Commons, Islamic World and Near East History Commons, Medieval History Commons, Political History Commons, Theory and Criticism Commons
