“Governing institutions relied more on religious law than on secular law.” Discuss with reference to two dynastic states.

Candidates will offer a considered and balanced review of the hypothesis with reference made to two dynastic states. While the focus of the response must be within the timeframe of this topic, the two dynastic states need not be contemporaneous with each other and may or may not be chosen from different regions. Candidates must identify the governing institutions and discuss the relationship between these and the relevant legal systems to determine how far they were reliant either on religious or secular law. Candidates may determine the primacy of secular or religious law, suggest that both were of equal importance or that the boundaries between these legal systems were fluid and not always easy to distinguish. Each dynastic state may be considered separately or a thematic approach may be used if candidates chose to address the reliance of both states on one type of legal system before moving onto the next.