ABSTRACT
It is impossible, within the space of a few pages, to present a synthesis of the monarchies and systems of government in the Islamic world in the pre-modern era. Such a study would encompass more than a thousand years of history and include the evolution of politics, institutions, administrations and ideologies. It would downplay the infinite diversity of solutions invented by very different societies ranging from China to sub-Saharan Africa to central Asia, southeast Asia and al-Andalus, the latter the southern part of the Iberian peninsula conquered in 711 in the name of the Umayyad rulers of Damascus and an integral part of the Islamic world until the end of the fifteenth century. In addition, we must acknowledge the scarcity of sources for the earlier periods, the uncertainty of our knowledge of many situations and the vigour of historiographical debates. Indeed, any synthesis would, in fact, deny the history of these societies and apply an unduly reductionist approach to Islamic political systems.
