A Preliminary Bibliography of Medieval Arabic Military Literature

Abstract

BEFORE Islam, the Arabs of the Peninsula had their own local system of warfare, that was not of big armies, but of small battles and skirmishes among the tribes. After the death of Muhammad (632), the caliphs established their rule in Arabia, and started their conquests towards Iraq and Persia in the East; and towards Syria, Egypt and North Africa in the West. After the conquest of Spain (711), the Arabs had already built a vast empire extending from the Atlantic shores to the Indus in about one hundred years. While the Arabs began to develop their warfare system, they did not disdain to learn many lessons from the nations they already defeated. Accordingly the Byzantine army served as a model for their land forces. Arab writers and translators began to contribute invaluable treatises on war, archery and chivalry. It is a pity that very few of these have survived, whether Arabic or Persian. Some of the treatises were the translations of books written in Latin, Greek, Persian or Sanskrit. One can say that by the tenth century, the Arabs had an art of war of their own.