Authority Beyond State and Tribe in the Early Medieval Maghrib

The Impact of Climate on the Economic, Social and Political Reorganisation of the Maghrib al-Aqṣā in the Eighth–Ninth Centuries: The Case of Sijilmāsa (Morocco)

Bibliographic Data

ID21590500
AuthorsChloé Capel (Schlumberger (Ireland), corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume33
Issue1
Pages47-65
Publication date2021-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAl-Masāq (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0950-3110 • E-ISSN: 1473-348X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09503110.2020.1868052
OpenAlexW3123952799
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited8

The rise of Islam in the Maghrib al-Aqṣā in the eighth and ninth centuries and the simultaneous onset of deep and lasting political, economic, cultural and social upheavals across the region have led historians to focus on Islamisation as the principal cause of this revolution. This article will explore the possible contribution of environmental factors to economic change, and consequently to social and political development. This discussion relates to the field of historical climatology which has been limited in Africa, and especially in the western Maghrib. It focuses on a case study of the caravan city of Sijilmāsa (Morocco) and argues that an important climate oscillation between the eighth and ninth centuries may have been a decisive factor in its foundation. Finally, it suggests that this climate fluctuation may have been a driving factor in the urbanisation that the Maghrib al-Aqṣā experienced more widely in this period

Ancient history · Archaeology · Development economics · Economic growth · Economic history · Economics · Islam · Ninth · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Tribe · Urbanization · Historical and Architectural Studies · Historical Studies of Medieval Iberia · History · Law · Water management and technologies