Databases: Middle East and Africa: Middle East and Africa Databases

The Index Islamicus database indexes literature on Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world. (With links to full-text where available.)

Bibliographic index of research, policy, and scholarly discourse on the countries and peoples of the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa.

The database provides access to over 528 million current and archived articles from thousands of global and U.S. news sources, most only available through this resources. Each source provides unique coverage of local and regional news, including companies, politics, sports, industries, cultural activities, and people in the community, as well as a distinctive focus offering a variety of viewpoints on local and world issues. Paid ads are excluded. Search interface includes a world map.

Africa Development Indicators (ADI) is the most detailed collection of data on Africa, containing over 1,600 indicators, covering 53 African countries and spanning the period 1961 to 2008. Data include social, economic, financial, natural resources, infrastructure, governance, partnership, and environmental indicators. The ADI Data Availability Query shows where data is available for a given country, series, and year. It contains the value "1" for available data and ".." for missing data.

Africa Intelligence is an independent news site covering African politics, diplomacy, and economics; areas of emphasis include local and regional politics, geopolitical strategy, and oil, infrastructure, banking, and security sectors. Access includes daily publications and archives from 1992 to present.

This resource features 64 fully searchable newspapers published in Africa before 1900 and originally archived by the British Library. Students and researchers will find news and analysis covering the European exploration of Africa, colonial exploitation, economics, Atlantic trade, the mapping of the continent, early moves towards self-governance, the growth of South Africa and much more. This database along with Readex sister databases African Newspapers, Series 1 and 2 can be searched concurrently via a single interface for access to nearly every newspaper published on the African continent in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

This resource features over 60 searchable African newspapers published in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Content includes English and foreign-language titles from Angola, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This database along with Readex sister databases African Newspapers, British Library Collection can be searched concurrently via a single interface for access to nearly every newspaper published on the African continent in the 19th and early 20th centuries. See: Africa's Historical Newspapers

Al-Ahram (الأهرام‎, “The Pyramids”), from 1875 to 2014. Later years will be added as they become available. The title is regarded as Egypt’s most influential newspaper, and one of the most important newspapers in the Arab world. Prior to 1960, the newspaper was an independent publication. Since 1960, Al-Ahram has been the de facto voice of the Egyptian government, today managed by the Supreme Council of Press. Al-Ahram has featured writings by some of the most important political and literary voices of the day.

Al Manhal is a major full-text searchable database of scholarly and analytical publications from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Material is primarily in Arabic, with selected material in English. Includes ebooks, peer-reviewed journals, theses, and think tank publications covering the arts, architecture, biography, business, culture, economics, classical and contemporary languages and literatures, education, history, geography, Islamic studies, Islamic finance and banking, law, media and communications, political science and international relations, science and technology, and the social sciences.

This database provides searchable, primary source documents held by the National Archives, Kew (U.K.) that chronicle the politics, wars, administration, and diplomacy surrounding the Palestine Mandate and the Arab Israeli conflict.

On 22 March 1945 the Pact of the Arab League States was signed in Cairo by Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Transjordan and Saudi Arabia. Its objectives were closer unity between members, the safeguarding of their sovereignty and coordinated political action. Here now in facsimile are the authentic documents of that time, and the following 20 years, following the aims and the progress of the main organ of Arab unity this century.

This study presents an account of the exercise of extra-territorial jurisdiction by Britain in the Arab Gulf States during the period before the Gulf States gained full sovereignty and independence. It provides avaluable analysis of the working of the British Court System in the Arab context. The material is based on the author´s original research among thejuridical records of the British Court for Bahrain and on interviews with judges and lawyers of the period.

This collection consists of correspondence and telegrams received and sent by the American consular post in Jerusalem pertaining to the protection of interests of American citizens,foreign trade, shipping, and immigration.

Brockelmann in English Online consists of both original volumes Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur (GAL) by Carl Brockelmann (1868-1956), as well as the three supplement volumes, including the indexes. Brockelmann’s Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur offers bio-bibliographic information about works written in Arabic and their authors, with an emphasis on the classical period.

Digital access to official British government records relating to the region, from the decline of the Silk Road, through the diplomatic confrontation between the British and Russian Empires known as the “Great Game”, to the influence of the emergent Soviet Union in the 20th century.

Access to scholarly materials related to international affairs, including working papers, conference proceedings, journal articles, case studies, and other resources.

The Confidential Print series, issued by the British Government between c. 1820 and 1970, is a fundamental building block for political, social and economic research. This collection consists of the Confidential Print for the countries of the Levant and the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Sudan. Beginning with the Egyptian reforms of Muhammad Ali Pasha in the 1830s, the documents trace the events of the following 150 years, including the Middle East Conference of 1921, the mandates for Palestine and Mesopotamia, the partition of Palestine, the 1956 Suez Crisis and post-Suez Western foreign policy, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Unique collection of India Office Records from the British Library, London. Containing royal charters, correspondence, trading diaries, minutes of council meetings and reports of expeditions, among other document types, this resource charts the history of British trade and rule in the Indian subcontinent and beyond from 1599 to 1947.

A comprehensive research tool dedicated to the study of Iranian civilization in the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.

The Encyclopaedia of Islam First Edition was originally published between 1913 and 1936. The demand for an encyclopaedic work on Islam was created by the increasing (colonial) interest in Muslims and Islamic cultures during the nineteenth century. The scope of this still unique reference work is philology, history, theology and law until early 20th century. Such famous scholars as Houtsma, Wensinck, Gibb, Snouck Hurgronje, and Lévi-Provençal were involved in this scholarly endeavour.

The Encyclopaedia of Islam Online sets out the present state of our knowledge of the Islamic World. It is an authoritative source not only for the religion, but also for the believers and the countries in which they live. Includes access to the First, Second and Third Editions, the Second Edition Glossary, and the Historical Atlas of Islam.

The Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics Online comprehensively covers all aspects of Arabic languages and linguistics. It covers pre-Classical, Classical, Modern Standard, vernaculars and mixed varieties of Arabic.

The Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures crosses history, geographic borders and disciplines to create a reference work reflecting research on gender studies and the Islamic world. Useful for researchers in the fields of gender studies, Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, as well as scholars of religion, history, politics, anthropology, geography and related disciplines.

Provides access to approximately 2,000 hours of previously unpublished historic audio recordings from field expeditions around the world, and their supporting field materials. The collection is primarily from the 1960s through the 1980s—the dawn of ethnomusicology as a codified discipline.

The Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) was a United States government operation which translated the text of daily broadcasts, government statements, and select news stories from non-English sources. Succeeded by World News Connection after 1996; scope of coverage may be significantly different.

Digital collection of British Foreign Office documents from the National Archives of the UK. Material types include: Diplomatic dispatches, Telegrams, Newspaper cuttings and transcripts, Maps, Photographs, Political and economic reports, Accounts of visits and tours, Minutes of meetings, Conference proceedings, Letters, leaflets and other ephemera. Content covers: 1947-1964, Independence, Partition and the Nehru Era; 1965-1971, South Asian Convicts and Independence for Bangladesh; 1972-1980, Afghanistan and the Cold War, Emergency Rule in India, and the Resumption of Civilian Rule in Pakistan.

Offers a significant collection of British diplomatic correspondence, minutes, reports, political summaries and personality profiles addressing the policies, economies, political relationships and significant events of every major Middle East power. Conflicts such as the Arab-Israeli War, the Lebanese Civil War and the Iranian Revolution are examined in detail, as are the military interventions and peace negotiations carried out by regional and foreign powers like the United States and Russia. Commercial interests are also scrutinized, with in-depth analyses of Middle East nations’ economic stability and reviews of international arm sales policies. The activities of oil producing nations such as Saudi Arabia are closely monitored, with particular reference to the Gulf States and members of OPEC.

Global Think Tanks is a growing digital repository providing access to more than 3 million reports, working papers, policy briefs, and data sources drawn from over 21,000 IGOs, NGOs, internationally-based think tanks and research organizations, along with document histories of 450 defunct organizations. Content is harvested (and indexed) on trending research topics across a wide range of disciplines and includes hard-to-find local and regional collections and at-risk content.

Covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present, including world history, military history, women's history, history of education, and more. The database indexes more than 1,800 academic historical journals in over 40 languages back to 1955, provides full text for more than 349 journals and more than 120 books.

The Siraj al-tawarikh is the most important history of Afghanistan ever written. The roots of much of the fabric of Afghanistan's society today - tribe and state relations, the rule of law, gender issues, and the economy - are elegantly and minutely detailed in this immense work.

An index of English-language articles, book reviews, and feature stories on Jewish history, thought and activity from more than 160 journals on Jewish affairs. Most references are not found in standard periodical literature guides. Intended for students of Jewish thought and others interested in contemporary Jewish and Middle Eastern affairs.

This database compiles news about corporate and government intelligence in France, Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia.

Provides a comprehensive, current bibliography of articles in journals and miscellany volumes (conference proceedings, essay collections or Festschriften) covering Europe, North Africa and the New East (300-1500).

Full-text periodicals, news, reports, books, and proprietary background information summaries relating to terrorism and security. Combines deep background from scholarly sources with expert commentary from a range of organizations, agencies, and publishers and reviews of recent developments across the international political, military, economic, social, and technical spectrum.

This Cambridge Archive Editions title is a comprehensive series of British administration reports for Mesopotamia (Iraq) from the outset of World War I up to the independence of Iraq.

These are the collected British government political and economic reports on the State of Israel from its creation in May 1948 to the end of the first Premiership of David Ben Gurion during the first 5 years of the Israeli State, throughout the War of Independence, the first wave of immigration, the implementation of mass settlement, development projects and the signing of a reparations agreement with Germany.

Features ongoing full-text academic journals that are locally published by scholarly publishing organizations and educational institutions in the countries of these regions. Subject areas include business, science, technology, engineering, social sciences, education, and humanities.

Mideastwire.com offers a daily email newsletter of concise, translated briefs covering some of the key political, cultural, economic and opinion pieces appearing via the print, radio and television media of the 22 Arab countries, Iran, and the Arab Diaspora.

Providing current news pertaining to all branches of the military, this database covers about 400 titles, with the full text of nearly 300 journals and periodicals and 245 pamphlets. Includes CountryWatch's Country Review.

This large collection of primary source material consists of original political despatches, correspondence and reports covering Christian communities in the Levant: the affairs of the Assyrian communities, the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Jacobite, Chaldean and Syrian Catholic communities, and Protestant communities in the Levant and Iraq, in particular. Includes further detail about the Maronite communities in the Levant, and Coptic Christian communities in the Levant and Egypt. Includes further detail about the Maronite communities in the Levant, and Coptic Christian communities in the Levant and Egypt.

This six-volume Cambridge Archive Editions set covers the arrangements and conditions for Jewish communities living under Islam, throughout the Arab world, from 1840 to 1974. Although they cover more than 100 years the papers do not form a continuous record of events but rather provide a series of snapshots of history.

These Cambridge Archive Editions volumes of original dispatches, correspondence and reports chart the modern history of the Kurds in theMiddle East, starting with the aspirations of the Kurds before the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and ending with the plans for Kurdish autonomyannounced in 1974 by the Revolutionary Command Council in Iraq.

These Cambridge Archive Editions volumes, concerning Muslim minority communities from 1843 to 1973, consist of contemporary political despatches, correspondence and reports composed by British diplomats. The evidence found in these volumes provides a series of glimpses of conditions within different Arab states over more than a century.

In these Cambridge Archive Editions volumes, the selection of documents combines to give an overview of the interplay within and between the different faiths existing in Jerusalem. The 2400 pages contain documents exploring the treatment and position of the diverse religious minorities within Jerusalem and more generally in Israel after 1948.

Oxford Bibliographies in Islamic Studies offers exclusive, authoritative research guides that combine the best features of an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia.

Covers journal articles, books, conference proceedings, and other literature on the full range of political, social, and public policy issues. Also included is information about websites, publications and organizations.

The various different types of report gathered together in this Cambridge Archive Editions collection, ranging from 1920-1965, capture in great detail the convulsions wrought within the old land area of Palestine by the agreements at the end of the World War I, in particular the Balfour Declaration of 2 November 1917; the Anglo-French Declaration of 7 November 1918 and the recommendations of the King-Crane Commission of 28 August 1919.

Qur’ānic Studies Online is a set of three encyclopaedic dictionaries of qur’ānic terms, concepts, personalities, place names, cultural history and exegesis extended with essays on the most important themes and subjects within qur’ānic studies. The Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān Online is the first comprehensive, multi-volume reference work on the Qur’ān to appear in a Western language.

This Cambridge Archive Edition is a comprehensive collection oforiginal British government documents detailing the history of Bahrain between 1966 and 1971. The years 1966-71 are of particular interest toresearchers because of the intense political and diplomatic activity engendered by the announcement of the British, in 1968, of their intention to withdraw from the Gulf States by 1971.

In tracing the massive effort made to stop the sea trade, this collection of documents also conveys the scale of the diaspora out of East Africa. It includes naval reports and diplomatic records to convey both the actions that took place and the background political guidance on which this was based; interviews with captured slave dealers, informants and freed slaves as well as correspondence between British officials and their counterparts; and documentary evidence of the efforts made to monitor and deter the slave trade.

Since 1945, the U.S. intelligence community has had to cover a half dozen major wars and several dozen smaller but equally bloody armed conflicts in the Middle East, as well as innumerable civil wars, border clashes, armed insurgencies, and terrorist attacks. This comprehensive document set sheds light on the U.S. intelligence community's spying and analytic efforts in the Arab world, including the Middle East, the Near East, and North Africa. It covers the time period from the end of World War II to the present day, up until the 2002-2003 Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) assessments, the Global War on Terror, the Iraq War, and Iran's nuclear program.

Offers translated and English language news and information compiled from non-United States media sources. Coverage includes political, environmental, scientific, technical, and socioeconomic issues and events. Coverage: 1995-2013. Continued "Foreign Broadcast Information Service Daily Reports," published in print from approx. 1944-1996.

Provides citations to the international periodical literature in political science and its complementary fields.