Library Research Guides: REL/MES 359: Seminar: Power, Authority, and Legitimacy in Muslim Societies: Find Primary Sources

How do I find primary sources?

Q: I don't read Latin/Old High German/Medieval Arabic/etc. How can I find sources in English?

A: You're in luck! There are many resources in English right here in the library and online.

For example, I searched for a book I knew about, Medieval worlds: a sourcebook. You can start with a book in your syllabus! In SuperSearch, you can click on the record title (pictured below) and scroll to see the subjects listed, including subjects with "source" in them. These typically have translated or transcribed primary sources.

The Holy Qur'an
An electronic, open-source created version of the Qur'an that includes searching, browsing, and interactive audio files. Many recitations available with translation, very user-friendly.
The Internet Archive
This free resource brings together millions of digitized books, moving images, graphics, and many more. It contains many secondary and primary texts on religion.
Hathi Trust
HathiTrust is a partnership of academic & research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world.

Artstor
Digitized images of art, architecture, and other forms of visual culture from around the world, from museums, archaeology, photo archives, slide collections, and art reference works.
Dates: BCE to present

Bodleian Digital Image Library
A number of collections of digitized images from the Bodleian Library, including collections of images from early, rare, and/or important Islamic, South Asian, and East Asian books as well as Western sources.
Abdul-Hamid II collections of photographs of the Ottoman Empire
These photographic albums portray the Ottoman Empire during the reign of one of its last sultans, Abdul-Hamid II. They highlight the modernization of numerous aspects of the Ottoman Empire. Most of the places depicted are within the boundaries of modern-day Turkey, but buildings and sites in Iraq, Lebanon, Greece and other countries are also included.
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Historical map collection at Stanford University.
Al-Bab Maps of the Arab World
General maps of the Arab world, sorted by country.
Arabic Collections Online
Arabic Collections Online (ACO) is a publicly available digital library of public domain Arabic language content. ACO currently provides digital access to 10,242 volumes across 6,427 subjects drawn from rich Arabic collections of distinguished research libraries.
Avestan Digital Archive
The Avestan Digital Archive (ADA) seeks to be a digital archive containing all Avestan manuscripts spread all over the world.
Internet Islamic History Sourcebook
Links to primary texts, online archives, and more from the pre-Islamic Arab and Persian worlds to present.

Islamic Heritage Project
A digital collection of Islamic manuscripts, published texts, and maps from across Harvard's libraries and museums.
Digital Library of the Middle East
Find texts, images, maps, sound, video, and more from 622-1924 CE. Browse by Islamic or Gregorian date or by keyword.

Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan, 1834-1922: From Silk Road to Soviet Rule
Historical documents including correspondence, intelligence reports, agents' diaries, maps, and newspaper excerpts from the British perspective on Russian and British struggle for political control in the region, as well as the region's societies.
Dates: 1834-1922 CE

The Minassian Collection of Qur'anic Manuscripts
This database catalogues the holdings of over 200 Qur’anic manuscript folios dating from the 9th to the 16th centuries housed within the special collections of the Brown University libraries.
ShariaSource
SHARIAsource includes sources and scholarly commentary on Islamic law from the earliest periods of Islam to the modern era, covering both Muslim-majority and Muslim-minority contexts.
ArchNet
Large portal of archaeology-related web sites.

Confidential Print: Middle East, 1839-1969
British government documents concerning UK colonial holdings in the Middle East and North Africa, covering the mandate in Palestine, Western economic ties to the region, Cold War conflict, and more.
Dates: 1839-1969 CE

Digital Persian Archive
The Database includes "public" and "private" documents: royal decrees and orders, official correspondence, and shari'a court documents, such as contracts of sale and lease, vaqf deeds, marriage contracts, and court orders.

Find More Primary Sources

Explore many more primary source portals here:

Primary Sources: Middle East and North Africa