Post on 04-Jan-2016
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Ch. 2, Sec. 2 Notes – Islamic Empires
The Caliph• When Muhammad
died in 632 A.D., conflicts over who should be his successor erupted
• Caliph = successor to the Messenger of God
• First four caliphs all had direct ties to Muhammad
The Spread of Islam• Abu Bakr,
Muhammad’s father-in-law and first caliph, put down a rebellion and began to invade Syria until he died in 634 A.D.
• By 661 A.D., the Islamic empire included all of Arabia, Persia, Palestine, and Egypt
Why did Islam spread so quickly?
• Arabs were skilled fighters on horse, camelback
• Many fought to spread the Islam
• “People of the Book” policy allowed Christians, Jews to freely practice as long as they pay the tax
• Muslims encouraged and attracted people to accept Islam, learn Arabic
Islamic Dynasties• Umayyad dynasty ruled
from 661 to 750 A.C.E. – Their capital was Damascus, Syria
• Umayyads lost power in 750 A.C.E. after angering many Persians
• Abbasid dynasty next took power, ruling until 1258 A.C.E.
• The Abbasids ruled from Baghdad and devoted much of their time to trade, scholarship, and the arts
Sunnis & Shiites• The quarrel over who
should succeed Muhammad eventually split Islam
• Shiites (also known as the Shi’a) thought that the caliph should be descendants of Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law and the fourth caliph
• Sunnis accepted the Umayyad dynasty’s rule even though they did not always agree with them
• Most Muslims today are Sunni; most Shiites can be found in Iran or Iraq
Muslims in Spain• Muslims reached
Spain from North Africa, bringing their religion, customs, and culture
• Córdoba was the capital
• Córdoba became world famous a center of learning
Other Islamic Empires• For more than 200
years, Seljuk Turks of Central Asia took over Iran, Turkey, and even Baghdad from the Abbasids
• The Ottomans sacked Constantinople, ending over 1,000 years of the Byzantine Empire
• During the 1500s, the Moguls created a Muslim empire in India