Antarah ibn Shaddad

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and role of one of the most significant figures in early 20th Century German history. Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) had been famous since 1914 as the victorious commander at the Battle of Tannenberg against Russian invaders, soon burnish ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Korea's brief but significant period as an empire as it moved from the 500-year-old dynastic Joseon monarchy towards modernity. It was in October 1897 that King Gojong declared himself Emperor, seizing his chance when the once-dominant China lost t ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life, works, context and legacy of Antarah (525-608AD), the great poet and warrior. According to legend, he was born a slave; his mother was an Ethiopian slave, his father an elite Arab cavalryman. Antarah won his freedom in battle and loved a ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Mamluks, who ruled Egypt and Syria from about 1250 to 1517. Originally slave soldiers who managed to depose their masters, they went on to repel the Mongols and the Crusaders to become the dominant force in the medieval Islamic Middle Easte ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of the Arab philosopher al-Kindi. Born in the early ninth century, al-Kindi was heavily influenced by Greek philosophy and supervised the translation of many works by Aristotle and others into Arabic. The author of more than 2 ...  Show more

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 ...