Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad

Consorts of the Caliphs was originally written between the 7th and 13th centuries by Tj al-Dn ‘Al ibn al-S’, a scholar of Baghdad during the final years of the Abbasid dynasty. In it, he describes 38 women who were concubines of the early Abbasid caliphs and wives of the later caliphs and sultans, giving details on their good works as well as their poetry, singing, and teaching. In the book’s introduction, editor Shawkat M. Toorawa traces the life and scholarship of Ibn al-S’ and discusses the early-Abbasid consorts as culture heroines. Annotation ©2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)