The community of scholars : an analysis of the biographical data from the Taʻrīkh Baghdād
Abstract
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.
Type
Thesis, PhD Doctor of Philosophy
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