Butlerian Jihad
Encyclopedia
The Butlerian Jihad is an event in the back-story
of Frank Herbert
's fictional Dune universe
. Occurring over 10,000 years before the events chronicled in his 1965 novel Dune
, this jihad
leads to the outlawing of certain technologies, primarily "thinking machines
", a collective term for computers and artificial intelligence
of any kind. This prohibition is a key influence on the nature of Herbert's fictional setting. Herbert may have coined the name from 19th-century author Samuel Butler
, who wrote the utopian satire Erewhon
. Butler claimed in his satires that "it was the race of the intelligent machines (AI) and not the race of men which would be the next step in evolution."
Herbert refers to the Jihad many times in the entire Dune series, but did not give much detail on how he imagined the actual conflict. In God Emperor of Dune
(1981), Leto Atreides II
indicates that the Jihad had been a semi-religious social upheaval initiated by humans who felt repulsed by how guided and controlled they had become by machines:
In the series, Herbert illustrates how the Jihad leads to many profound and long-lasting effects on the socio-political and technological development of humanity. The known universe is purged of all forms of thinking machines, resulting in not only a ban on the re-creation of similar devices (which remains in effect throughout the periods described in the original six Dune novels), but also a great technological reversal for humanity. The chief commandment from the Orange Catholic Bible
, "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind", holds sway, as do the anti-artificial intelligence laws in which the penalty for owning an AI device or developing technology resembling the human mind is immediate death. This leads to the rise of a new feudalistic
galactic empire which lasts for over ten thousand years, until the rise of the God Emperor Leto II in 10,217 A.G.
To replace the analytical powers of computers without violating the commandment of the O.C. Bible, "human computers" known as Mentat
s are developed and perfected, their mental abilities ultimately honed to the point where they become superior to those of the ancient thinking machines. Similarly specialized groups of humans which arise after the Jihad include the Bene Gesserit
, a matriarchal order with advanced mental and physical abilities, and the Spacing Guild
, whose prescience makes safe, instantaneous space travel possible. Fringe societies such as the Ix
ians and Bene Tleilax
eventually begin to develop mechanical and biological technology that, if not actually transgressing the commandments of the Jihad, at least come extremely close. Prohibitions spawned by the Jihad also include artificial insemination
, as explained in Dune Messiah
(1969) when Paul Atreides
negotiates with the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam
, who is appalled by Paul's suggestion that he impregnate his consort Princess Irulan in this manner.
Herbert's death in 1986 left his vision of the actual events of the Butlerian Jihad unexplored and open to speculation.
presents an extended chronicle and analysis of the Butlerian Jihad. According to McNelly, he and Frank Herbert had planned to expand this version into a prequel novel to Dune, but Herbert's death two years later prevented the work from being completed. The Dune Encyclopedia version was later declared non-canonical
by the Herbert estate.
In this version, the Jihad is named for Jehanne Butler. Trained as both a priestess and a Bene Gesserit on the planet Komos, Jehanne marries Thet'r Butler late in life. Due to her Bene Gesserit training, a pregnant Jehanne is in contact with her developing fetus and knows the state of its health and development. After waking from the anesthesia
given during delivery, she is shocked to be told that the fetus had been malformed and the infant therapeutically aborted
. She later discovers through investigation that her child had in fact been healthy, but that the hospital director, the first self-programming computer on the planet, had been secretly carrying out a policy of unjustified abortions.
This discovery triggers further investigation into the extent to which such machines had been controlling society and altering the emotional and intellectual characteristics of planetary populations over a course of centuries. During the course of these investigations, the chief priestess of Komos, Urania, interrogates one of the chief computer engineers, Doctor G. Demlen. She observes that he is an arrogant and unrepentant man, and she is shocked to witness his pride in his machines. Urania tells him that his work violates the fundamental principles of respect for human life and is an offense to the worship of the Goddess.
Jehanne argues against it, knowing the horrors that a jihad would bring. In spite of this, she lets her name be used and serves as the jihad's leader for its first twenty years. During this time, the battles are "planned and led by a tactical genius, whose concern for the lives of her soldiers and of her enemies is the dominant element." After her death, this element of the campaigns disappears.
prequel
trilogy
(2002–2004) by Brian Herbert
and Kevin J. Anderson
, set over 10,000 years before the events of Dune, chronicles the struggle between humans and thinking machines that would eventually become known as the Butlerian Jihad. The series explains that mankind had become entirely complacent and dependent upon thinking machines; recognizing this weakness, a group of ambitious, militant humans calling themselves the Titans
use this widespread reliance on machine intelligence to seize control of the entire universe. The Titans soon make the transition into cyborg
s called cymeks; through the use of specialized interfaces, their brains are installed inside giant, mobile, mechanized "bodies." These fearsome, weaponized bodies make the Titans virtually immortal — and unstoppable. They later convert a number of subservient humans into an army of "neo-cymeks" to enforce their rule over the universe, and this so-called "Time of Titans" lasts for a century.
Eventually the Titan Xerxes lazily grants too much access and power to the AI program Omnius, which usurps control from the Titans themselves. Seeing no value in human life, the thinking machines – now including armies of robot soldiers and other aggressive machines, with the Titans as their commanders – dominate and enslave nearly all of humanity in the universe for 900 years, until a jihad is ignited by the independent robot Erasmus's murder of Manion Butler, the young son of Serena Butler
. This crusade against the machines lasts for nearly a century, with much loss of human life, ending in human victory at the Battle of Corrin. The Jihad also gives rise to the Bene Gesserit, the Spacing Guild, the Sardaukar
army, the Landsraad
, and even House Corrino
, whose Padishah Emperor
s rule the universe for the next 10,000 years, until the events of Dune and the ascension of Paul Atreides
.
Back-story
A back-story, background story, or backstory is the literary device of a narrative chronologically earlier than, and related to, a narrative of primary interest. Generally, it is the history of characters or other elements that underlie the situation existing at the main narrative's start...
of Frank Herbert
Frank Herbert
Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...
's fictional Dune universe
Dune universe
Dune is a science fiction franchise which originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel of all time, Dune is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history...
. Occurring over 10,000 years before the events chronicled in his 1965 novel Dune
Dune (novel)
Dune is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert, published in 1965. It won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel...
, this jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
leads to the outlawing of certain technologies, primarily "thinking machines
Thinking machines (Dune)
Thinking machines is a collective term for artificial intelligence in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The Butlerian Jihad a human crusade against thinking machines is an epic turning point in the back-story of the Dune universe...
", a collective term for computers and artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
of any kind. This prohibition is a key influence on the nature of Herbert's fictional setting. Herbert may have coined the name from 19th-century author Samuel Butler
Samuel Butler (novelist)
Samuel Butler was an iconoclastic Victorian author who published a variety of works. Two of his most famous pieces are the Utopian satire Erewhon and a semi-autobiographical novel published posthumously, The Way of All Flesh...
, who wrote the utopian satire Erewhon
Erewhon
Erewhon: or, Over the Range is a novel by Samuel Butler, published anonymously in 1872. The title is also the name of a country, supposedly discovered by the protagonist. In the novel, it is not revealed in which part of the world Erewhon is, but it is clear that it is a fictional country...
. Butler claimed in his satires that "it was the race of the intelligent machines (AI) and not the race of men which would be the next step in evolution."
The original Dune series
In Terminology of the Imperium, the glossary of 1965's Dune, Frank Herbert provides the following definition:JIHAD, BUTLERIAN: (see also Great Revolt) — the crusade against computerComputerA computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s, thinking machinesThinking machines (Dune)Thinking machines is a collective term for artificial intelligence in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The Butlerian Jihad a human crusade against thinking machines is an epic turning point in the back-story of the Dune universe...
, and conscious robotsCognitive roboticsa robot is a robot device that is built from inanimate matter. Its behavior in response to the environment is deterministic, based on how the robot was designed. Cognition is the process of acquiring and using knowledge about the world for goal-oriented purposes, such as survival...
begun in 201 B.G. and concluded in 108 B.G. Its chief commandment remains in the O.C. BibleOrange Catholic BibleThe Orange Catholic Bible is a fictional book from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert...
as "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind."
Herbert refers to the Jihad many times in the entire Dune series, but did not give much detail on how he imagined the actual conflict. In God Emperor of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
God Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert published in 1981, the fourth in the Dune series. It was ranked as the #11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly.-Plot introduction:...
(1981), Leto Atreides II
Leto Atreides II
Leto Atreides II is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Born at the end of Dune Messiah , Leto is a central character in Children of Dune and is the title character of God Emperor of Dune . The character is brought back as a ghola in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J...
indicates that the Jihad had been a semi-religious social upheaval initiated by humans who felt repulsed by how guided and controlled they had become by machines:
"The target of the Jihad was a machine-attitude as much as the machines," Leto said. "Humans had set those machines to usurp our sense of beauty, our necessary selfdom out of which we make living judgments. Naturally, the machines were destroyed."
In the series, Herbert illustrates how the Jihad leads to many profound and long-lasting effects on the socio-political and technological development of humanity. The known universe is purged of all forms of thinking machines, resulting in not only a ban on the re-creation of similar devices (which remains in effect throughout the periods described in the original six Dune novels), but also a great technological reversal for humanity. The chief commandment from the Orange Catholic Bible
Orange Catholic Bible
The Orange Catholic Bible is a fictional book from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert...
, "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind", holds sway, as do the anti-artificial intelligence laws in which the penalty for owning an AI device or developing technology resembling the human mind is immediate death. This leads to the rise of a new feudalistic
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
galactic empire which lasts for over ten thousand years, until the rise of the God Emperor Leto II in 10,217 A.G.
To replace the analytical powers of computers without violating the commandment of the O.C. Bible, "human computers" known as Mentat
Mentat
A Mentat is a profession or discipline in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Mentats are humans trained to mimic computers: human minds developed to staggering heights of cognitive and analytical ability.- Overview :...
s are developed and perfected, their mental abilities ultimately honed to the point where they become superior to those of the ancient thinking machines. Similarly specialized groups of humans which arise after the Jihad include the Bene Gesserit
Bene Gesserit
The Bene Gesserit are a key social, religious, and political force in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. The group is described as an exclusive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of physical and mental conditioning to obtain superhuman powers and...
, a matriarchal order with advanced mental and physical abilities, and the Spacing Guild
Spacing Guild
The Spacing Guild is an organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. With its monopoly on interstellar travel and banking, the Guild is a balance of power against the Padishah Emperor and the assembled noble Houses of the Landsraad...
, whose prescience makes safe, instantaneous space travel possible. Fringe societies such as the Ix
Ix (Dune)
Ix is a fictional planet featured in the Dune series of science fiction novels written by Frank Herbert, and derivative works. In Dune it is noted that Ix is classed with the planet Richese as "supreme in machine culture," and that Ixian solido projectors "are commonly considered the best." In...
ians and Bene Tleilax
Bene Tleilax
The Bene Tleilax or Tleilaxu are an extremely xenophobic and isolationist society in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. Genetic manipulators who traffic in biological products such as artificial eyes, gholas, and "twisted" Mentats, the Tleilaxu are a major power in the Imperium...
eventually begin to develop mechanical and biological technology that, if not actually transgressing the commandments of the Jihad, at least come extremely close. Prohibitions spawned by the Jihad also include artificial insemination
Artificial insemination
Artificial insemination, or AI, is the process by which sperm is placed into the reproductive tract of a female for the purpose of impregnating the female by using means other than sexual intercourse or natural insemination...
, as explained in Dune Messiah
Dune Messiah
Dune Messiah is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the second in a series of six novels. It was originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in 1969. The American and British editions have different prologues summarizing events in the previous novel...
(1969) when Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Paul is a prominent character in the first two novels in the series, Dune and Dune Messiah , and returns in Children of Dune . The character is brought back as two different gholas in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J...
negotiates with the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam
Gaius Helen Mohiam
Gaius Helen Mohiam is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. She is a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother, and initially appears in the 1965 novel Dune and its 1969 sequel, Dune Messiah. Mohiam also has a major role in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert...
, who is appalled by Paul's suggestion that he impregnate his consort Princess Irulan in this manner.
Herbert's death in 1986 left his vision of the actual events of the Butlerian Jihad unexplored and open to speculation.
The Dune Encyclopedia
The Dune Encyclopedia (1984) by Willis E. McNellyWillis E. McNelly
Willis Everett McNelly was a professor and writer best known for The Dune Encyclopedia, the 1984 companion to Frank Herbert's classic Dune series of science fiction novels....
presents an extended chronicle and analysis of the Butlerian Jihad. According to McNelly, he and Frank Herbert had planned to expand this version into a prequel novel to Dune, but Herbert's death two years later prevented the work from being completed. The Dune Encyclopedia version was later declared non-canonical
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
by the Herbert estate.
In this version, the Jihad is named for Jehanne Butler. Trained as both a priestess and a Bene Gesserit on the planet Komos, Jehanne marries Thet'r Butler late in life. Due to her Bene Gesserit training, a pregnant Jehanne is in contact with her developing fetus and knows the state of its health and development. After waking from the anesthesia
Anesthesia
Anesthesia, or anaesthesia , traditionally meant the condition of having sensation blocked or temporarily taken away...
given during delivery, she is shocked to be told that the fetus had been malformed and the infant therapeutically aborted
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
. She later discovers through investigation that her child had in fact been healthy, but that the hospital director, the first self-programming computer on the planet, had been secretly carrying out a policy of unjustified abortions.
This discovery triggers further investigation into the extent to which such machines had been controlling society and altering the emotional and intellectual characteristics of planetary populations over a course of centuries. During the course of these investigations, the chief priestess of Komos, Urania, interrogates one of the chief computer engineers, Doctor G. Demlen. She observes that he is an arrogant and unrepentant man, and she is shocked to witness his pride in his machines. Urania tells him that his work violates the fundamental principles of respect for human life and is an offense to the worship of the Goddess.
"At the mention of the Goddess, Demlen exploded in a fit of acid and honest outrage, and in his fury, after suggesting that there was more worth reverence in one of his machines than in the worship of 'a supposed "goddess" invented by a clutch of bucolic bumpkins on a pigsty of a planet,' Demlen turned to the icon of Kubebe as if to spit on it. Before he could commit the act, Urania had killed him with her ceremonial knife." That moment of sacrilege was the beginning of the Jihad. The priestesses of the planet met that night, and the next day, the Jihad began to be preached to the faithful of Komos, against "the thinking machines and all who find their gods within them."
Jehanne argues against it, knowing the horrors that a jihad would bring. In spite of this, she lets her name be used and serves as the jihad's leader for its first twenty years. During this time, the battles are "planned and led by a tactical genius, whose concern for the lives of her soldiers and of her enemies is the dominant element." After her death, this element of the campaigns disappears.
Legends of Dune
The Legends of DuneLegends of Dune
Legends of Dune is a prequel trilogy of novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe.* Dune: The Butlerian Jihad * Dune: The Machine Crusade * Dune: The Battle of Corrin...
prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
(2002–2004) by Brian Herbert
Brian Herbert
Brian Patrick Herbert is an American author who lives in Washington state. He is the elder son of science fiction author Frank Herbert....
and Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author with over forty bestsellers. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequels...
, set over 10,000 years before the events of Dune, chronicles the struggle between humans and thinking machines that would eventually become known as the Butlerian Jihad. The series explains that mankind had become entirely complacent and dependent upon thinking machines; recognizing this weakness, a group of ambitious, militant humans calling themselves the Titans
Titan (Dune)
The Titans are a group of fictional characters in the Legends of Dune series of novels, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson and set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert...
use this widespread reliance on machine intelligence to seize control of the entire universe. The Titans soon make the transition into cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
s called cymeks; through the use of specialized interfaces, their brains are installed inside giant, mobile, mechanized "bodies." These fearsome, weaponized bodies make the Titans virtually immortal — and unstoppable. They later convert a number of subservient humans into an army of "neo-cymeks" to enforce their rule over the universe, and this so-called "Time of Titans" lasts for a century.
Eventually the Titan Xerxes lazily grants too much access and power to the AI program Omnius, which usurps control from the Titans themselves. Seeing no value in human life, the thinking machines – now including armies of robot soldiers and other aggressive machines, with the Titans as their commanders – dominate and enslave nearly all of humanity in the universe for 900 years, until a jihad is ignited by the independent robot Erasmus's murder of Manion Butler, the young son of Serena Butler
Serena Butler
Serena Butler is a character in Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's Legends of Dune series, a trilogy of novels set during the Butlerian Jihad, the war against thinking machines only vaguely referred to in Frank Herbert's original Dune series....
. This crusade against the machines lasts for nearly a century, with much loss of human life, ending in human victory at the Battle of Corrin. The Jihad also gives rise to the Bene Gesserit, the Spacing Guild, the Sardaukar
Sardaukar
The Sardaukar are a fictional fanatical army from Frank Herbert's Dune universe, primarily featured in the 1965 science fiction novel Dune, as well as Brian Herbert and Kevin J...
army, the Landsraad
Landsraad
The Landsraad is a fictional organization in Frank Herbert's Dune universe. It is the assembly of all noble Houses in the Imperium.-Overview:...
, and even House Corrino
House Corrino
Imperial House Corrino is a fictional noble family from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The Corrinos come to power after mankind's victory against the thinking machines at the Battle of Corrin , and rule until deposed by Paul Atreides approximately 10,000 years later during the events...
, whose Padishah Emperor
Padishah Emperor
Padishah Emperor is the title given to the hereditary rulers of the Old Empire in the science fiction Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.-Original series:...
s rule the universe for the next 10,000 years, until the events of Dune and the ascension of Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Paul is a prominent character in the first two novels in the series, Dune and Dune Messiah , and returns in Children of Dune . The character is brought back as two different gholas in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J...
.