PersiaStevi Cameron and Caleb McGrath

Arrival of Islam● Islam entered Persia circa 632-656

● Islam spread during the Era of Rightly Guided Caliphs

including Ali, Muhammad’s son-in-law.

Conversion to Islam● Conversion was easier for Zoroastrians because of similar

monotheistic ideals but harder for those who worshipped

pagan deities

● Some persians fled muslim rule

● Between 750 and 900, 80% of persians had converted to Islam

Government Organization● Complex Bureaucratic techniques influenced and were used in the islamic

imperial state that originated in Persia

● Majority of the people were Shia, impacting structure of the government

and how power was passed on in Persia

● caliphs and leadership continued through dynasties

Religious Institutions● Persian government had many court rituals

● Mosques and prayer rituals we established in Persia

● Madrassas provided Persian education of Islam

Before Islam…

● Mostly zoroastrian

● Traded on the silk roads

● Patriarchy and social hierarchy

After Islam...

● Mostly shia muslim

● Trade is interconnected through Islamic caliphates

● Patriarchal

● Agricultural products and practices were spread with Islam

● Persian style reservoirs and irrigation became very important

throughout the Islamic world due to the arid environment

Sunni Islam vs Shia Islam

Sunni Islam

● Argued that since Muhammad

did not appoint a successor any

learned member of the

community can lead

● Majority of Muslims

Shia Islam

● Argue that a leader should come

from a direct descendent of

Muhammad

● Persecuted for their beliefs and

many of their leader were

assassinated

● Ali was rightful successor to

Muhammad

● People of Persia were mostly Shia

Cultural Developments

● Persia was Islamicized but not

‘Arabized’

● Poetry is part of persian muslim

culture as well as book/epic

Shahnama

Diffusion ● Weren’t culturally ‘Arabized’

● They kept their language, lifestyles, and social

interactions (language called Farsi)

● Muslims often borrowed technological ideas and even

language from the Persian culture

Islamization of Persia

● This region also had significant cultural and

technological diffusion with the greater Islamic world

● This region embraced Shia Islam while the majority of

the Islamic community is Sunni Islamic

● Embraced the Islamic Hierarchy as well as religious

beliefs