[Bilimsel Haber] Call for Papers: Diplomatic Conventions Islamic World (Annales Islamologiques no 41 (June2007))

[Onur İnal]

Call for Papers: Diplomatic Conventions Islamic World

Call for Papers 

Annales Islamologiques no 41 (June2007)

Aspecial issue of Annales Islamologique swill be edited in June 2007 dedicated to The Diplomatic Conventions in the Islamic World. Researchers are kindly invited to submit their proposals for articles (title and maximum one page summary) by e-mail tomfavereau at ifao.egnet.net until June15th,2006. They will be informed before June30th, 2006 whether their paper is accepted (or not). The completed articles should be written in French, Arabic or English and have to betransmitted to the coordinator October 1st,2006 at the latest. A committee, should the occasion arise, will ask the authors for modifications. 

The Diplomatic Conventions in the Islamic World:
TosharetheUmma
(1258-1517)

After the Mongol conquest, countries of ancient Islamic traditionsare suddenly confronted with new  social codes. They have to submit to an unknown power and its ownnon-islamic symbolical structures. For the first time, a non-Islamicauthority rules over numerous Muslim populations.Dâral-islâmis about toturn Dâr al-harb.

However, in a short time, new rulers convert to Islâm,as well as their courts and their peoples, which arrived with theTurkic-Mongol armies. At thexvth c.,only 150 years after the gengiskhanid conquest, the territories ruledby the Mongols returned toDâr al-islâmand, moreover,  new converted peoples start playing an active role in the revival ofthe Islamic culture and its diffusion. A great majority of thosepopulations come from east and south-east Asia: Turkic- andMongol-speaking natives from Baikal Lake, as well as Malaysian, Indonesian and Indian peoples. At the beginning of thexvith, Islam has reached a new dimension, becoming an uncontested worldreality. Contacts between new and ancient Muslim populations areincreasing. Peoples' movements for commercial, religious or political matters, lead to exchanges of knowledge and practices.Historians agree to recognize the fundamental role of Sufism andmerchants organizations in propagation of faith, Arabic language andthe traditions of classical Islam. The existence of a supra-linguistic and over-state culture, as a complex interlacingbetween Malaysia, China, Iran, Yemen, Bengal, Anatolia,North-Africa...is also attested in historiographical literature.

On the one hand, we can perceive those mutual influences throughsources, on the other hand, we cannot deny the extreme diversity ofcultural, administrative and political centers in the islamic worldbetween the xiiith c. and thexvith c.

So, what could be the reality of these relationships between thestates, which are united only by the idea of being a part of the samecommunity of faith? Could we perceive, through the variety ofpractices and discourses, the transcendence of the Umma?

To develop this matter, we suggest to start with a common discussionon the communication between the states of theDâr al-islâm andtheir diplomatic conventions which allow such exchanges. Our interestis to survey the numerous kinds of sources: manuscripts (treaties,commercial concessions, diplomatic letters...); coins and archaeological material (reception places, gifts ofhonor, ceremonial objects...).

Even if we find specific studies on administrative or diplomaticdocuments, historic researches suffer from a lack of coordination.For that reason, the project intends to put together commonresearches and results. Our purpose is to collect works on Persian,Malaysian, Arabic, Turkic and Turkish manuscripts in order to make asynthesis. We must particularly gather all documents written on rotulus/volumen (todistinguish fromcodex), which were  the typical form of the diplomatic letter. Our only way to overcomethe gaps, as a result of vanished archives, is to collect andconfront those types of documents. This will lead us to draw somevaluable historic conclusions and to establish a helpful synthesis based on the archives contents.

Furthermore, we choose to focus our research on a period, which is,too often, neglected, being considered as a transition between twoages: the end of the "classical Islamic times"with the rise of the Seldjukid and crusader"threats" (fromxith c. until the Mongol conquestof Baghdad) and the time of the Ottoman hegemony (from the conquestof the Mamluk Sultanate in 1516-1517).

The centuries in between, which means the period from the Mongolinvasion to the end of the Mamluk power, can square in a very interesting way with thethematic we intend to develop. At that time, Muslim populations are,in majority, not Arabic. Languages and cultures in the Ummahave never been so diverse.Dâr al-islâmhas grown considerably and the ways of communication are extendingfrom China to Spain. Furthermore, the overlapping of Dâral-harb/Dâr al-islâm,which is then in a decisive process, will have deep consequences uponMuslim society and will influence the discourse of the intellectualelites.

A reflection on "diplomatic conventions"can be a way to understand situations of tension, conciliation orpolitical negotiations. It permits us to discuss specific topicsabout chancery's practices and techniques like the decisive question of theadministrative languages. We will have to identify why and when theArabic language is used, what have been the standard diplomaticexpressions and the most recurrent coranic formulas. We will deal with written languages (scriptures, styles, alphabets) as well asspoken languages, with original texts and translations. Didambassadors have to carry on two messages: a written one and a spokenone? In that case, did they need translators? How can we  perceive the oral character of some diplomatic matters? Do we havesources on that topic?

All these subjects lead to one very important question: theidea of "authenticity" which is a fundamentalpoint in diplomacy, especially during wars.

Whatwere themain factors they took into account to authenticate a letter or anembassy? To answer this question, we have to study papers, inks,seals...their supply, their making and,afortiori, the revolutionary use of watermarks. This explains the necessity toconfront our sources and work together to establish a common corpus.

This subject concerns also some larger fields, like the question of socialconsensusat a state level. Can we perceive an "Islamicreality"  through the multiplicity of practices and discourses of thediplomatic exchanges? What can be the foundations of a war decisionbetween two Muslim States? Can we find "diplomaticpatterns" through diplomatic practices? How to recognize at that time the existence of a real political thought in foreignaffairs? What was the role of Arabic language in publicmanifestations? We must discuss the questionable existence of astandard diplomatic language (sort of linguafranca) between Muslim States. Do we have to consider this, or mostprobably, these "inter-languages" like "mixed idioms" or like"autonomous linguistic units"? These languages,which are not mother tongues and seem to belong to every one, aremostly used by travelers and expatriated communities. Can they become a source of identity betweenMuslims of different States, countries and cultures?

To the idea of a decadent and sufferingUmma, held by some scholars focused on the so-called "golden age of Islam", we prefer the hypothesis of a"sharingUmma". Difference of cultures, like a mirror of identity, inducescrystallizing and liberating process in societies. By studying the"diplomatic conventions" we will learn more aboutthe link, which joins and reconciles two positions withinDâral-Islâm: to confront tensions and open conflicts, but also to find a commonIslamic discourse, which can afford an Umma stretched from Grenada toMalacca. 

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