Migration and innovation in early modern Islamic societies. The case for firearms

Abstract

The objective of this article is to review the historiography of the relationship between migration and firearms technologies in the early modern Islamic World. By examining historiographical debates on the role of firearms in early modern Islamic societies, we will look at the place of migrants in the historical literature of firearms. During the colonial period, debates shifted from the alleged conservatism of Islamic societies regarding firearm technologies to their respective agencies in the diffusion of firearms in the early modern world. In this article, I will show that the historiography of firearm technologies in Islamdom exhibits a shift from essentialist arguments towards a history of technology transfers and the role of migrants in this process.