This thesis is a study of the oldest Islamic chronological history still extant: the Tārīkh (‘Chronicle’) of the Basran ḥadīth scholar and historian Khalīfa b. Khayyāṭ al-ʿUṣfurī (d. 240/854), which covers the political and administrative history of the Muslim polity between year 1/622 and 232/847. Despite its early date, Khalīfa’s Tārīkh has received little attention in modern scholarship and its value for understanding the development of early Islamic historiography has generally been disregarded. The purpose of this study is, therefore, to reassess the Tārīkh by analysing both the text and its context of compilation. After outlining Khalīfa’s biography (Ch. 1) and his social and intellectual context (Ch. 2), the thesis examines different aspects of Khalīfa’s Tārīkh in comparison to the wider Islamic historical tradition: his sources (Ch. 3), methods (Ch. 4), arrangement of material (Ch. 5) and narrative treatment of key themes in the early tradition (Chs. 6–7). The thesis thereby provides an in-depth study of one of the earliest Muslim historians and his methods of compilation, which is important for both the study of Islamic historiography and the usage of such sources in historical scholarship on early Islam. It is argued that Khalīfa’s role as a ḥadīth scholar and his early Sunnī outlook is reflected throughout the content of the Tārīkh. This is particularly evident in Khalīfa’s selection of sources, which consist of mainly Basran transmitters including numerous major ḥadīth scholars, and in his narration of controversial events such as the early civil wars, which displays an early Sunnī perspective. It is also suggested that Khalīfa’s particular selection and arrangement of material was largely determined by his aim to compile a critical and concise chronology of the political and administrative history of the Muslim community. Moreover, the thesis shows that, while the Tārīkh differs from many other early histories, it bears some resemblance to other chronographies compiled by early ḥadīth scholars—such as the works of al-Fasawī (d. 277/890), Ibn Abī Khaythama (d. 279/892) and Abū Zurʿa al- Dimashqī (d. 282/895) as well as the sections on post-Prophetic history in some ḥadīth collections such as Ibn Abī Shayba’s (d. 235/849) Muṣannaf. By comparing Khalīfa’s Tārīkh with these works, the thesis draws attention to this type of historical writing among some early ḥadīth scholars, which has so far been neglected in modern studies on early Islamic historiography.

The Kitāb al-Aghānī (the Book of Songs) is one of the most important sources for Arabic literature and history. While its compiler, Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī (died after 356/967), is generally viewed as a “Zaydī Shīʿī”, no study has engaged in depth with the manifestation of his sectarian perspective in the Aghānī. This thesis addresses the question of whether al-Iṣfahānī’s sectarian perspective can be discerned in the Aghānī via literary analysis based primarily upon redaction criticism. By examining the compiler’s interventions (which took place by means of selecting, repeating, and juxtaposing source material, as well as by his comments and editorial remarks), this thesis argues that al-Iṣfahānī indeed presents past people and events central to the Shīʿī worldview in accordance with his sectarian affiliation. Furthermore, this thesis questions the label “Zaydī” that has been attached to al-Iṣfahānī. Based on textual analyses of the Aghānī, as well as evidence from his Maqātil al-Ṭālibīyīn (“The Ṭālibid Martyrs”) and other evidence for the tenth-century context, this thesis suggests that al-Iṣfahānī’s religious thought can be construed as a “mild” form of Shīʿism ― in the sense that it does not entail belief in a specific lineage of imams and repudiation of most of the Companions including the first three caliphs ― but cannot necessarily be identified with any sect, as set down in the heresiography. It is also suggested that this kind of Shīʿism may have been promoted by al-Iṣfahānī’s patron, the Būyid vizier, Abū Muḥammad al-Muhallabī (291–352/903–963) in the complex sectarian context of mid-tenth century Iraq. This thesis comprises seven chapters. Chapters One and Two introduce the life of the compiler, the wider historical context, the Aghānī, its textual problems, and its overarching structure. These two chapters lead to three conclusions: first, the Aghānī, in all likelihood, was dedicated to Abū Muḥammad al-Muhallabī; second, the view that al-Iṣfahānī was a Zaydī is untenable; third, it is very likely that the Aghānī retains its original form (as designed by al-Iṣfahānī). Chapter Three investigates the sources used by al-Iṣfahānī in the Aghānī with regard to their transmission in order to establish that the published text can indeed be subjected to redaction criticism for the purpose of better understanding the compiler’s agenda (or agendas). Chapters Four and Five present the results of the literary analysis of the Aghānī, which demonstrate the articulation of a Shīʿī past in the Aghānī, as well as highlighting the limits of redaction criticism and al-Iṣfahānī’s other editorial concerns. Building upon Chapter Five, which concludes that the Aghānī reflects al-Iṣfahānī’s sectarian vision, Chapter Six characterizes al-Iṣfahānī’s Shīʿī beliefs by examining his treatment of Ghulāt, Imāmīs, Sunnīs, ʿAlids, and the Companions, including the first three caliphs. Chapter Seven puts the results of the analyses into their historical context, specifically in light of the career of his patron, al-Muhallabī. The Conclusion outlines the key findings of this thesis, with remarks on potential avenues for future research.

This thesis is a study of the pre-Islamic passages of Abū Ḥanīfa Aḥmad ibn Dāwūd ibn Wanand Dīnawarī's Kitāb al-Aḫbār al-Ṭiwāl. This is to say that it stops at the beginning of the Arab conquest of Iran. It is intended for scholars of Late Antiquity. Special emphasis is placed on Dīnawarī's exposition of the rule of the Sasanian dynasty and questions relating to the mysterious Ḫudāynāma tradition which are intimately connected with it. Beginning with a discussion of Dīnawarī and his work, the thesis moves into a discussion of indigenous Iranian historiography. Speculation on the sources of Kitāb al-Aḫbār al-Ṭiwāl follows, and the historiographical investigation of the most substantial portion of Kitāb al-Aḫbār al-Ṭiwāl's notices on the Sasanian dynasty comes next. The conclusion summarises the findings of the thesis. The final section (an appendix) is a translation of the relevant part of Kitāb al-Aḫbār al-Ṭiwāl running from the beginning of that text to the reign of Šīrūya. This thesis was written with one main question in mind: what does Dīnawarī's Kitāb al-Aḫbār al-Ṭiwāl have to say about pre-Islamic Iranian history? A host of other questions arose immediately: who was Dīnawarī; when did he live; what did he do; how was his work perceived by others; where did Dīnawarī get his information and how did he present it; is Dīnawarī's information reliable? These questions are addressed one by one in my thesis.

This dissertation is a study of the Futūḥ Miṣr (Conquest of Egypt) of Ibn 'Abd al-Ḥakam (d. 257/871), the earliest extant Arabic history of Egypt. Its primary aim is not to assess whether its information is 'authentic' - i.e. corresponding to an objective historical reality - though my findings are of relevance for those engaged in debates over authenticity. My goal instead is to explore the ideas about the past which are conveyed by this particular conglomeration of historical information and to propose methods through which we can expose and analyse different layers and types of authorial activity within a multi-vocal text like Futūḥ Miṣr. Ultimately, I use this analysis as the basis of a case study suggesting how we might more effectively historicise the generation and transmission of historical ideas in the early Islamic period. Part I of the thesis consists of three chapters which explore Futūḥ Miṣr as a whole, literary text which can be understood as an instantiation of the historical worldview of its composer. Part II of the thesis contains three chapters which each illuminate features of Ibn 'Abd al-Ḥakam's historical practice which are important prerequisites for the stratigraphic reading of Futūḥ Miṣr performed in Part III. Part III of the thesis uses the understanding of Ibn 'Abd al-Ḥakam's authorial techniques developed in Part II to expose the earlier packages of historical information which underpin Futūḥ Miṣr. These final three chapters demonstrate how Ibn 'Abd al-Ḥakam reinvested these pre-existing narratives with meaning at a micro-level - by interjecting commentary and accounts from other sources - and at a macro-level - by integrating them into the larger narrative structure of Futūḥ Miṣr. In sum, this thesis is the first systematic study of the sources, structure, and authorship of an early Arabic history, which both tests and expands our current understanding of the dynamics of early Islamic historical writing, and sheds light on numerous aspects of the changing uses of the past among the Muslim scholars of Umayyad and 'Abbāsid Egypt.

The thesis examines the level of historical analysis in the works of two third/ninth century Muslim historians, al-Baladhuri and at-Tabari, including their underlying legal, political and socio-economic concerns as manifested in their narratives. By comparing and contextualising their histories regarding the caliphate of ‘Umar, in relation to their social institutions and scholarly disciplines, the purpose is to highlight the subjective agency of the historians as well as the structure of the historiographical discourse in which they formulated their narratives. Based on the notion of discourses as well-defined areas of social fact that defines the forms of (historical) knowledge in societies, the thesis applies de Certeau’s theory of discourses in order to analyse the formation of historical discourses in relation to social institutions and scholarly traditions. By linking the narrative differences to the historians’ scholarly contexts and political concerns, the thesis also show their subjective agency to form certain narratives of history depending on political and scholarly interests, although expressed in the form of the khabar-tradition of ‘Abbasid period. It is argued that the narratives represent attempts to explain social and economic factors involved in civilisational history by means of the accumulated body of what in modern scholarship is labeled “religious knowledge”. Thereby, it also problematises current debates on the level of analytical thinking in early Muslim historiography and suggest new approaches to the subject by discourse analysis.