markellion's video: Was Yaqut prejudiced

The Spread of Islam and the Nubian Dam by David Ayalon http://books.google.com/books?id=LcsJosc239YC&lpg=PA18&pg=PA18 =onepage&q=&f=false The absolutely unambiguous evidence and unanimous agree of the early Muslim sources is that the Arabs abrupt stop was caused solely and exclusively by the superb military resistance of the Christian Nubians. That is what I call the Nubian Dam. The array of those early sources includes the two most important chronicles of early Islam, al-Tabari (d. 926) and al-Yaqubi (d. 905); the two best extant books on the Muslim conquests, al-Baladhuri (d. 892( and Ibn al-A tham al-Kufi (d. 926); the most central encyclopedic work of al-Masudi (d.956); and the two best early sources dedicated specifically to Egypt, Ibn Abd al-Hakim (d. 871) and al-Kindi (961). On page 19 he quotes Al-Masudi The people of Hijaz and Yemen and the rest of the Arabs learned archery from them (The Nubians) Bellow on page 20: This act carries a lot of weight for one cannot see any reason for the Arabs to praise the Nubians so highly, along with their admission of their own failure in the field of battle. At the same time it is a great tribute to the objectivity in the case of the Muslim sources, and it also enhances considerably the chances of the reliability of their accounts, at least about the Muslim expansion in other fronts, and perhaps much more beyond that. . .3. The awe and respect that the Muslims had for their Nubian adversaries are reflected in the fact that even a rather late Umayyad caliph, Umar b Abd al- Aziz (Umar II 717-720), is said to have ratified the Nubian-Muslim treaty out of fear for the safety of the Muslims (he ratified the peace treaty out of consideration for the Muslims and out of [a desire] to spare their lives) Page 22 Already Yaqut (d. 1229), in his classical geography dictionary, dilutes the unequivocal statements of the early sources almost beyond recognition. In his entry under Dunqula all he has to say is that the eye of one of the Muslim leading fighters was hit. In his entry under Nuba he says about its inhabitants: They shoot with arrows from Arab bows "Views from Arab scholars and Merchants" Jay Spaulding and Nehemia Levtzion http://www.amazon.com/Medieval-West-Africa-Scholars-Merchants/dp/155876304X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241409685&sr=8-1 P. 40 quote from Yaqut 13th century The king of Zafun is stronger than the veiled people of the Maghreb and more versed in the art of kingship. The veiled people acknowledge his superiority over them, obey him and resort to him in all important matters of government. One year the king, on his way to the pilgrimage, came to the Maghreb to pay a visit to the commander of the Muslims, the veiled king of the Maghreb, of the tribe of Lamtuna. The Commander of the Muslims met him on foot, wheras the king of Zafun did not dismount for him. He was tall, of deep black complexion and veiled." Ibn Said page 45 In the same latitude is Zafun, which belongs to pagan Sudan and whose ruler enjoys a good reputation among (other) kings of the Sudan