#  Crawford H. Toy first to teach Islamic history 

 



Orientalism and the study of Islam 1889-90

### Crawford H. Toy First to Teach Islamic History 

 

The division of “Semitic Languages” founded by Professor Toy was re-named “Semitic Languages and History” and his “History of the Spanish Califate” became the first course on Islamic history taught at Harvard. This course and “Political and Literary History of the Bagdad Califate” were then offered in alternate years and were both expanded over time to include topics such as the Qur’an, the history of Islam in India and Egypt, the Crusades through Muslim sources, the Barbary States, and Muslims in Sicily. Professor Toy’s Arabic offerings also expanded in subsequent years to include the study of Wright’s *Grammar, The Thousand and One Nights*, the Muʿallaqāt, Mutanabbī, Ibn Khaldūn, and *Kitāb al-Aghānī*.



 [ Previous: Crawford H. Toy joins Harvard arrow\_circle\_right ](/crawford-toy) [ Next: Museum of the Ancient Near East arrow\_circle\_right ](/museum-ancient-near-east) 

 



    ![Harvard Catalog with Spanish Califate course](/sites/g/files/omnuum9401/files/styles/hwp_1_1__720x720_scale/public/aisptimeline/files/1889-90_semitic_14_history_of_spanish_califate_cropped_.jpg?itok=ktHpvOUo) 

 

 

 *Harvard University Course Catalog, 1889-1990, in which the "History of the Spanish Califate" course is first listed under Semitic Languages and History*