The circle of the world

The global diplomacy of Caliph al-Manṣūr

Bibliographic Data

ID2816335
AuthorsSam Ottewill-Soulsby (0000-0002-8214-7254, University of Oslo, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume88
Issue3
Pages1-16
Publication date2025-04-11
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0041-977X • E-ISSN: 1474-0699
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0041977x25000217
OpenAlexW4409365386
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited7

Between 757 and 768, the second ʿAbbāsid caliph, al-Manṣūr, engaged in an unprecedented set of foreign relations which stretched across Afro-Eurasia, from Tang China to Carolingian Francia. The unique scale of this activity has previously gone unnoticed because much of the evidence comes from the caliph's diplomatic partners. Al-Manṣūr's dealings with these polities tend to be taken on a case-by-case basis, resulting in often-unconvincing explanations of his motives. By instead taking all of this activity together as a whole, we can see a deliberate policy of "prestige diplomacy", in which the caliph sought to legitimize his regime to a domestic audience by bringing envoys and gifts to his court, following Sasanian models of universal kingship

Ancient history · Diplomacy · Political science · Historical and Linguistic Studies · History · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Medieval History and Crusades

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