In preparation for the peace conference that was expected to follow World War I, in the spring of 1917 the British Foreign Office established a special section responsible for preparing background information for use by British delegates to the conference. <em>Mohammedan History</em> is Number 57 in a series of more than 160 studies produced by the section, most of which were published in 1920, after the conclusion of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. Part I of the book is an overview of the history of Islam from the time of the Prophet Muhammad to the early modern era. Topics covered include the expansion of Islam in Asia and Africa, the Sunni–Shiite division, Islamic law, and relations with subject, non-Islamic peoples, such as Christians and Jews. Part I concludes with an analysis of the Pan-Islamic movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Part II is devoted primarily to the Pan-Turanian movement, which was based on the now-discredited idea of a linguistic and racial unity among the Turkic peoples of the Ottoman Empire along with certain other peoples, including the Turcomans, Tatars, Hungarians, Finns, and a number of peoples living in Siberia. Part III contains studies of the history of Islam in India (i.e., the Indian Empire, which encompassed not only present-day India but also Pakistan and Bangladesh) and of Islam in Africa. The book contains several chronologies, bibliographies of works consulted, and lists of maps.
<br>Ethnic groups; Handbooks and manuals; Islam; Islamic Empire; Islamic law; Muḥammad, Prophet, died 632; Ottoman Empire, 1288-1918; Panislamism; Religion
Great Britain. Foreign Office. Historical Section
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