<![CDATA[Fustat and Qairawan were two garrison cities founded during the Arab-Muslim conquests of North Africa in the seventh century CE, and both grew into important centres of Islamic civilization. Fustat, founded in Egypt after the conquest of 641 CE, gradually replaced Alexandria as the administrative centre, whereas Qairawan, founded by Uqbah ibn Nafi‘ in present-day Tunisia, became a centre of Islamic learning and a channel for the transmission of knowledge between al-Andalus in the West and Baghdad in the East. Previous studies have mostly examined the two cities separately. This article therefore compares them in order to analyze their historical development, socio-religious conditions, economic activities, and educational roles from the seventh to the twelfth centuries CE. This is qualitative library research that uses the historical method, consisting of heuristics, source criticism, interpretation, and historiography. The data consist of books, journal articles, ethnoarchaeological reports, and other credible secondary sources, which were analyzed through thematic and comparative narrative analysis. The findings show that (1) Fustat developed as an administrative, commercial, and multi-religious urban centre, while Qairawan developed as a political, educational, and Maliki centre; (2) both cities had heterogeneous and stratified societies, but the main social dynamics differed, namely relations among Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Fustat, and relations among Arabs, Berbers, and Sunni scholars under shifting dynastic rule in Qairawan; and (3) the two cities declined for different reasons: Fustat was deliberately burned in 1168 CE to prevent its capture by the Crusaders, whereas Qairawan declined in the eleventh century amid political instability and conflict among the Zirids, the Fatimids, and surrounding groups.]]>
Copyrights © 2026
