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The community of scholars : an analysis of the biographical data from the Taʻrīkh Baghdād

The biographical details of the 7828 individuals listed in the biographical dictionary known as the Ta'rikh Baghdad were entered in a database and used to create a profile of the hadith community of Baghdad. The thesis explains how the database was constructed and shows how the data can be used. Evidence derived from the many references to colleagues and relatives in the biographies made it possible to date most of the undated biographies, and to construct a chronological framework within which information on the origins, occupations, tribes and other personal attributes of the Khatib's subjects could be analysed. Changes in the frequency of these attributes over time were related to conversion rates, immigration, and the popular appeal of hadith study. The thesis also demonstrates the usefulness of the fortuitously dated topographical references found in the biographies. These were used with maps to show changes in residence patterns over the 320 years covered by the Ta'rikh Baghdad.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:496422
Date January 2005
CreatorsAhola, Judith
ContributorsKennedy, Hugh N.
PublisherUniversity of St Andrews
Source SetsEthos UK
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Sourcehttp://hdl.handle.net/10023/7093

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