Social Classification and the Arabs in Early Islamic History: Its Credit and Debit Aspects

Abstract

The expansion of the Islamic polity brought in its wake the cosmopolitisation of society due to the interaction with the diversified strata of the other civilisations, Empires, states, ethnic and racial communities, and the bearers of different cultures like the Byzantines, the Persians, the Africans, the Indians, the Soghdanians of Central Asians, the Magians, the Zoarastrians and the Azeries, etc. Due to the newly emerged multifaceted society and culture, the social fabric and classification took a new turn, giving birth to new and novel issues and questions. But those at the helm of affairs addressed them meticulously and very shrewdly through an effective administrative network of plans, policies, and programmes affecting the social, political, and economic setup of the newly conquered territories having both positive and negative implications with far-reaching consequences.