The Caliphate. Its Rise, Decline, and Fall from original Sources.

Edinburgh, John Grant, 1915. 8vo. Original maroon cloth, spine lettered in gilt; pp. xix, 633, [3, advertisements], three colour-printed folding maps; a very good copy. New and revised edition of a rare classic, first published in 1883. Sir William Muir (1819–1905) was an administrator in India, and Islamicist of Glaswegian origin, as well as head of the intelligence department inside Agra Fort during the 1857 'Mutiny'. After his Indian service Muir became principal of Edinburgh University. 'The Muir Institute, where oriental languages are still taught, commemorates the encouragement given by the Muir brothers, through the endowment of chairs and prizes, to the study of these languages in Edinburgh University' (ibid.). - See Avril Ann Powell, Scottish Orientalists and India: The Muir Brothers, Religion, Education and Empire, (2010). This new edition had become necessary as British involvement in the Middle East and on the Gulf seemed inevitable in 1915.