DIVERSIONS OF PLEASURE: SINGING SLAVE GIRLS AND THE POLITICS OF MUSIC IN THE EARLY ISLAMIC COURTS (661-1000CE): THEIR INFLUENCE, HISTORY AND CULTURAL ROLES AS SEEN THROUGH THE KITĀB AL-MUWASHSHA (BOOK OF BROCADE) OF IBN AL-WASHSHA, THE RISALA AL-QIYĀN (EP

Diversions of Pleasure: Singing slave girls and the politics of music in the Early Islamic Courts (661-1000CE): Their influence, history and cultural roles as seen through the Kitāb al-Muwashsha (Book of Brocade) of Ibn al-Washsha, the Risala al-Qiyān (Epistle on the Singing Girls) of al-JāhIẒ, and the Dhamm al-Malāhī (Censure of Instruments of Diversion) of Ibn Abi’l Dūnya

By

Lisa Emily Nielson

Thesis Advisor: Dr. Michael Grillo

A Lay Abstract of the Dissertation Presented

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

(Interdisciplinary in Historical Musicology)

August, 2010

In this thesis, I examine themusical and social performance of the class of musicians known as singing slave girls in the early Islamic court at Baghdad from approximately 661 to 950CE as seen through their representation in three 9^th century texts.  The singing slave girls, called qayna in Arabic (pl. qiyān), were well trained and prized slaves who were traded at enormous cost and kept as concubines for those who could afford them.  Beginning in the Umayyad (661-750CE) and later the Abbasid dynasties (750-1258CE), references to them are found in a variety of primary documents, including historical accounts, treatises, literature, exegetical commentary and trade records.  As slaves, courtesans and musicians, singing girls presented a visible challenge to the developing Islamic social order, eventually becoming part of the rhetoric of social commentary.

The documents for this study were chosen because they were all written within 30-40 years of each other by authors who were intimately familiar with the inner workings of the court.  They are: the Risala al-Qiyān (Epistle on the Singing Girl) by Jāhiz, the Dhamm al-Malāhī (Censure of Instruments of Diversion) by Ibn Abi’l Dūnya, and the Kitāb al-Muwashsha (The Book of Brocades) by Ibn al-Washsha.  Each text contains details not only about the musical and social performances of singing girls, but their trade, training and patrons. 

I begin by establishing the cultural and social parameters of singing girls through a brief look at the historical roots of gendered musical practices in the Ancient Near East and the 500 years prior to the advent of Islam, then demonstrate their continuance in music practices of the early Islamic court.  In the second section, I address each text, with discussion of the authority and influence of the authors, the context in which the texts were written, and briefly summarize the essential points of each text and their representation of singing girls.  Through these depictions, I discuss the possible roles singing girls played in the culture physically as courtesans and symbolically as part of a developing language of music discourse.