THE QUESTION OF CONTINUITYtinuity and change. The reader will be asked to absorb discrete chunks
of material on different subjects which, hopefully, will be tied together
by the several common interpretive themes running through them. But
the use of categories to present information and to organize discussion
in a topical way has its own problems. The imposition of an Aristo-
telian topical structure on material tends to give it an architectonic
appearance, and makes circumstances appear to be more stable, or-
dered, and coherent than they actually were. It is important to re-
member, therefore, that the issues were really more complex and dy-
namic than they are treated here.
Since this presentation will be topical rather than chronological,
readers may wish to refer to some of the more chronological treat-
ments. Among the more useful recent works are R. N. Frye, The
Golden Age of Persia: The Arabs in the East (New York, 1975), and
M.G.S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in
a World Civilization, vol. I, The Classical Age of Islam (Chicago,
1974), both of which treat pre-Islamic and early Islamic conditions in
a broader geographical context. The Cambridge History of Iran, vol.
IV, From the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs (London, 1975), in partic-
ular pp. 1-56, "The Arab Conquest of Iran and its Aftermath," is as
much about Iraq as it is about Iran. A chronological approach is also
followed by M. A. Shaban, Islamic History A.D. 600-750 (A.H. 133);
A New Interpretation (Cambridge, 1971), and by F. E. Peters, Allah's
Commonwealth (New York, 1973), especially pp. 15-136; both of
these deal with some of the issues under consideration here. Repre-
sentative examples of the formerly standard interpretation of early
Islamic history are provided in a simple, concise form by J. J. Saunders,
A History of Medieval Islam (London, 1965), and by The Cambridge
History of Islam, vol. I (London, 1970), especially pp. 3-103.
SUBJECTSBecause of the nature of the information available concerning Iraq
from the sixth to the eighth centuries, the most immediately productive
subjects for discussion are administrative traditions, patterns of eth-
nographic distribution, social and religious organization, and religious
belief and practice. Whenever possible, attitudes and behavior will be
taken into account. The first section will deal with administration.
The remaining two sections will deal with the people of Iraq according