Feb 2022

Episode 41: Al Saffah

The Abbasid revolution showed what it took to overthrow a dynasty; establishing a new one brought a whole other set of challenges. The clan’s first caliph, al Saffah, took an aggressive posture to scare off any would-be challengers to his power. Legitimacy was his chief concern, ... Show More

25m 29s

Feb 2022

Episode 42: The triumphant

Succession once again warrants its own episode. Al Saffah relied on three commanders to oversee different parts of his caliphate, and while the setup kept the new dynasty safe and stable, the ambitions of these three leaders clashed soon after the caliph passed away.

28m 11s

Mar 2022

Episode 43: Al Mansur

Much of what people associate with the idea of a medieval Arab caliphate is rooted in the reign of our upcoming caliph. The foundation he laid for his dynasty is so solid that it makes the Umayyad era seem like little more than a formalized extension of the early Arab raids again ... Show More

25m 27s

Jan 2021

Yemen's 2011 uprising

Inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt young Yemenis took to the streets in January 2011. Ishraq al-Maqtari was a lawyer and women's rights activist from the southwestern city of Taiz. She took her two young daughters on the first demonstration in her home town. She has been spe ... Show More

8m 57s

Jun 2009

Sunni and Shia Islam

Melvyn Bragg and guests Amira Bennison, Robert Gleave and Hugh Kennedy discuss the split between the Sunni and the Shia. This schism came to dominate early Islam, and yet it did not spring at first from a deep theological disagreement, but rather from a dispute about who should s ... Show More

42m 34s

Oct 2023

376. Baghdad: The Forging of Islam (Part 1)

A story of great myth and of huge historical significance, the foundation of Baghdad is a fundamental episode in the development of Islam. The Umayyad Caliphate, the first great Islamic empire, stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the borders of China; no dynasty had ever preside ... Show More

51m 3s

Dec 2023

106. The Rise of Islam

With the Sassanian Empire defeated and the Byzantine Empire exhausted, there is a power vacuum in the centre of the world. Both of these superpowers have drained their resources fighting each other over the past 30 years, consuming many of the great cities of antiquity. To the so ... Show More

44m 55s

Aug 2023

عَمْرو بن كُلثوم.. حرب الشّعر

<p>ورث السّيادة والشّرف عن أبيه، فقِيل إنّه تزعّم قومه وهو ابن خمسة عشر عاماً. أبوه كُلثوم بن مالك، مِن أسياد بني تغلِب، أقوى القبائل العربية. أمّا أمّه فهي ليلى بنت المُهلهِل صاحبة الحسَب والنّسَب، وهذا ما جعله ينشأ على الفخر والاعتزاز بأصله ونسَبه، عاش عُمراً طويلاً أمضاه في شر ... Show More

17m 48s

Nov 2023

Yemen: From Civil War to World War?

The state of Yemen in 2023 is precarious. After the Arab Spring revolution descended into civil war, the Houthis have cemented their power over large swathes of Northern Yemen, while the traditional ruling parties have fractured and, in many cases, disintegrated. In this final ep ... Show More

1h 6m

Jan 2012

The Safavid Dynasty

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Safavid Dynasty, rulers of the Persian empire between the 16th and 18th centuries.In 1501 Shah Ismail, a boy of fifteen, declared himself ruler of Azerbaijan. Within a year he had expanded his territory to include most of Persia, and founde ... Show More

42m 8s

Feb 2024

125. The Origin of the Houthis

Since November 2023, the Houthis have been attacking international shipping lanes in the Red Sea. They set off from the Yemeni coastline on speedboats, armed with guns and unmanned drones, often supplied by Iran, and cause havoc. Such has been the chaos of these attacks that Brit ... Show More

56m 38s

Episode 40: The Abbasid revolution