Chiefdom, Vassalage and Empire: The Political Structures of Arabia from the First CE to the Advent of Islam

No political system could ever evolve in isolation fr om the environment in which it emerged. Similarly, no particular system can be understood as stagnant. It is actually the culmination or an improved form of a long historical growth. Keeping in view this synopsis, Islamic political institutions could be placed in the time and space in which the salient political features and social trends of the Jahiliyah Arabia and the neighboring political cultures contributed to their foundation and evolution. In addition to the compact political structures of Aksum, Rome and Persia, and then Byzantine and Sassanid on the borders, internally the pre-Islamic Arabs had a diverse mechanism for managing their affairs. The Arabian South experienced organized governance as compared to the north and central regions. This diversity can be attributed to the geo-strategic location and ecological environment of the peninsula. The fertile South was more supportive to the growth of a political mechanism than the arid, geopolitically more vulnerable north and central regions. In a nutshell, a proper study of the less discussed Jahiliyah politics could minimize assumptions about the complete lawlessness and political unawareness of the Arabs in politics and governance.