Limits of Empire: The Jazīran North before the Tenth Century

Abstract

This article traces the history of the northern Jazīra in the early Islamic period, from the beginning of Umayyad rule until the 870s. It reviews the material and written evidence for this territory, using as case studies the main cities of Āmid, Mayyāfāriqīn, and Arzan. It argues that there is little evidence for a systematic integration of the Jazīran north into the imperial fabric before the (re-)establishment of caliphal authority over this region at the end of the ninth century, a process that culminated in the creation of the provincial subdivision of Diyār Bakr around the mid-tenth century. The paper suggests that the history of the Jazīran north in the early Islamic period should be studied with reference to its Armenian connection: the entire region had strong historical ties to Armenia that carried over at least partially into the Islamic period. Approaching the north from a Jazīran as well as Armenian perspective thus improves our understanding of the complex and understudied history of this region before the tenth century.