RESOURCEScompeting pressures of acculturation and Arabism by R. Blachere
in"Regards sur l'acculturation des Arabo-Musulmans jusque vers 40/
661," Arabica 3 (1956): 247-65. For suggestions about the role of
Islamic legal ideas in the detribalization of Arabs, see R. Brunschvig's
"Considerations sociologiques sur le droit musulman ancien," SI 3
(1955): 61-73, and his article on "A~ila," EI(2), I: 337-40. Standard
treatments of the unequal relationships between Arabs and mawali
are provided by M. T. an-Najjar's al-Mawaltfi-l-'asr al-umawt (Cairo,
136811949) and M. B. Sharif's Beitrage zur Geschichte der Mawali-
Bewegung im Osten des Chalifenreiches (Basel, 1942), especially its
expanded Arabic form, a$-$ira' bayna-l-mawali wa-l-'arab (Cairo,
1954).
Other Ethnic Groups
Since scholars and historians tend to overlook the ethnic diversity
of late Sasanian and early Islamic Iraq, it is not surprising that very
little literature is devoted to the smaller ethnic populations. For Kurds
one can consult B. Nikitene's "Les Kurds et le Christianisme," RHR
85 (1922): 147-56; V. Minorsky, "Kurds," EI(1), 11: 1132-55; and
pages 20 to 47 of W. Jwaideh's "The Kurdish National Movement:
Its Origins and Development" (Ph.D. diss., Syracuse Univ., 1960) on
early history and religion. T. Bois, "Bulletin raisonne d'etudes Kurdes,"
Mashriq 58 (1964): 529-70, is a topical bibliography and survey of
literature and issues which includes early history. W. Behn's bibliog-
raphy called The Kurds in Iran (London, 1977) identifies work on the
Kurdish language, literature, and society. Although its emphasis is
heavily modern, there are some works which cover the early history
of Kurds. Some idea of Byzantine cultural influences in Sasanian Iran
via commerce is provided by N. Pigulevskaja's Vizantira na putrakh
v Indim (Moscow, 1951), which is translated into German as Byzanz
auf dem Wege nach Indien (Berlin, 1969), and by J. Duneau's "Quel-
ques aspects de la penetration de l'hellenisme dans l'empire perse
sassanide," in Melanges offerts Cl Rene Crozet (Poitiers, 1966). Con-
cerning the Qadishaye, see T. Noldeke's "Zwei Volker Vorderasiens,"
ZDMG 33 (1879): 157-65; for Indians and Indonesians, see G. Fer-
raud, "Sayabiga," EI(1), IV: 208-9.
Magians
There is almost no theoretical literature on the sociology of ascrip-
tive, communal social formations during Late Antiquity and in early