A Study on the History of the Great Seljuk Empire (1037 CE - 1194 CE) in Light of the Cyclical Theory of Social Change of Ibn Khaldun and Vilfredo Pareto
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7187/GJAT072020-6Keywords:
Cyclical theory, Ibn Khaldün, Vilfredo Pareto, The Great Seljuk Empire, Islamic history.Abstract
The history of human society is the history of change and there are many different theories which look at change and development. This paper intends to investigate the history of the Great Seljuk Empire (1037-1194 CE), the events that led to its rise and decline in light of the cyclical theory, especially those propounded by two sociologists: Ibn Khaldun and Vilfredo. Pareto. The former is a medieval thinker while the latter a contemporary. In doing so, the paper aims to make a comparison between Ibn Khaldun and Vilfredo Pareto. The principles of thematic content analysis are followed on the translated works of the authors to achieve the objective. The rise of the Seljuks is understood with the concept of 'asabiyah in the nomadic pastoral society ("umran badawn) and its disappearance in the sedentary society (umran hadari). Similarly, the struggle of power within the Seljuk Empire is deconstructed with the understanding of the concepts of lions' and 'foxes' as propounded by Vilfredo Pareto in his explanation on the circulation of elites.
References
Akhmetova, E. (2013). Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406): His Contribution to the Science of Civilisation. IAIS, Malaysia.
Alatas, S. F. (2013). Ibn Khaldun and the Good Madina. Islam and Civilisational Renewal (ICR), 4(4).
Boudon, R. (1986). Theories of Social Change: A Critical Appraisal Berkely: University of California Press.
David, D. A., & Orenstien, M. (2012). Sociological theory: Classical statements (6th ed.). New Delhi: Pearson Education Ltd.
Donner, F. M. (1999). Muhammad and the Caliphate: The Political History of The Islamic Empire up to The Mongol Conquest. In J. L. Esposito (Ed.), The Oxford History of Islam (pp. 1-62) New York: Oxford University Press.
Haralambos, M. (2013). Sociology: themes and perspectives. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Hourani, A. (2013). A History of the Arab Peoples. London: Faber & Faber.
Khaldun, I. (2015). The Muqaddimah: An introduction to history (Translated by Franz Rosenthal). New Jersey: Princeton University press.
Lapidus, I. N. (2002). A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lenski, G. (1976). History and Social Change American Journal of Sociology, 82(3), 548-564.
Mozetic, G (2007) Pareto, Vilfredo (1848-1923). In G. Ritzer (Ed.), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (pp. 3360-3362) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Nisbet, R. A. (1969). Social change and history: Aspects of the western theory of development New York: Oxford University Press.
Peacock, A. C. S. (2016). Seljuk Empire, Great. In J. M. MacKenzie (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Empire (First, pp. 1-8). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118455074.wbeoe339
Peacock, A C. S. (2015). The Great Seljuk Empire. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Powers, C. H (1987). Vilfredo Pareto, Sage Publications.
Sztompka, P. (1993). The sociology of social change. Oxford: Blackwell.
V.M. Zaporozhets. (2012). The Seljuks (Translated). Hannover: European Academy of Natural Sciences.
GJAT provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
