MAJOR ISLAMIC DYNASTIES

UMAYYAD DYNASTY

• Founded in A.D. 661, ruled from Damascus until A.D. 750. continued in Spain from A.D. 755 until 1027.

• Founder: Mu’awiyah. Governor of Syria. Made caliph upon death of Ali.

• The state was run by a rigid bureaucracy which emphasized the Arab rather than the Islamic nature of the empire, making Arab the official language.

• Under the Umayyads, the Arab empire reached its greatest extent from southern France in the west to Afghanistan and India in the east.

• Result: interaction among Arabs and people of other cultures, contributing to Islam’s multicultural nature and encouraging its spread.

• The emphasis on expansion led to the criticism that the empire was too secular. This created problems with the pious Muslims. This combined with the Shi’a and Khariji’I opposition led to the downfall of the empire.

• In 747 a revolt led to the death of all of the Umayyads except one prince that fled to southern Spain of Andalusia, where he reestablished the Umayyad rule in 755.

Andalusia

• Under the Umayyads, Andalusia became the center of intellectual and cultural activity unsurpassed in Europe at this time.

• The Iberian Peninsula was overrun by Berber tribes, from Morocco. This brought down the Umayyad Dynasty of Spain in the eleventh century.

ABBASID DYNASTY

• Founded in A.D. 750; ruled effectively from Baghdad until A.D. 945; continued nominal control until 1055, religious authority until 1258.

• During the Abbasid era, the Islamic empire assumed a more universal character. All Muslim citizens of the empire were considered equal, and as a result, many non-Muslims were given positions of authority in the new government.

• Persians rose to high ranks in the civil service.• Turks dominated the army.• Abbasid accomplishments: extensive

bureaucracy, efficient banking and postal systems, and they expanded trade and commercial activities.

• The court of Baghdad patronized the study of medicine, astronomy, mathematics, literature, art, and philosophy.

• Arabic language standardized in the 9th century.

• Paper factory in Baghdad established in A.D. 795.

• Abbassid scholars translated many important Greek, Sanskrit, Syriac, and Pahlavi texts. These were later translated into Latin and added in the European Renaissance. Known as the Golden Age of Islam.

• Empire too big to effectively control. • As early as the ninth century A.D. provinces in

North Africa and Persia came under local control. This fragmentation continued until 1055 when Baghdad was invaded by the Seljuq Truks.

• The Seljuq seized control political power, yet allowed the caliph to maintain his position as a religious figure.

• This continued until 1258 when the Mongols killed the caliph and destroyed Baghdad. The Abbasid line was continued in Egypt by the Mamluks, who hoped to gain religious legitimacy as supporters of the caliph, but by this time the caliphate just had symbolic religious authority.

FATIMID DYNASTY

• Founded in A.D. 969, ruled from Cairo until 1171.

• Unique: Shi’a not Sunni.• Economy based on agriculture and sea

commerce.• At height controlled North Africa, Sicily, parts of

Syria, and western Arabia.• Cairo became a major center of learning with

the establishment of al-Azhar University.

• Al-Azhar is the world’s oldest university and one of the most influential Islamic institutions in the Muslim world.

• Fatamid power declined due to internal schisms and the Berber opposition.

• Fatamids taken over by the Kurdish leader of the Ayyubids, Salah ad-Din (Saladin).

• Fatamid rule ended in 1171.

SELJUQ DYNASTY

• Founded in 1050: ruled from Baghdad until 1194.

• Seljuq Turks were a nomadic people from the steppes of Central Asia who began moving into Persia in the early 11th century.

• The Abbasids hoped that the Seljuqs,renowned as able warriors would help them reassert the caliph’s authority.

• The Seljuqs seized Baghdad in 1055, and while recognizing the religious authority of the caliph, they claimed political and military power for themselves.

• Tughril Beg assumed the title of sultan, and formalized the division between religious and political affairs.

• Short – lived yet produced important administrators.

• 1. Nizam al-Mulk: a minister that tried to develop a theory of government that would incorporate the masses.

• 2. al-Ghazali: philosopher, tried to bridge the gap between the Sunni establishment and Sufism. Sufism was a popular movement at the time

• Seljuq Empire became fragmented and by the end of the eleventh century, it was merely a

• Confederation of regional principalities, lacking central control and vulnerable to the Crusader armies and the Muslim forces of the Counter-Crusade.

MONGOL INVASIONS• Began in 1220 under Ghengis (Chingiz) Khan• Ghengis Khan rose to power in the beginning of the 13th century as the leader of a

group of Mongolian and Turkish tribes in Central and Eastern Asia. He conquered China and then came into conflict with the local rulers (shahs )of Persia

• Next he turned on Russian and Poland, European Crusaders considered a Christian-Mongolian alliance in order to defeat the Muslims, but this was never achieved.

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• By the mid-thirteenth century Mongols known for brutality. Destroyed Baghdad and killed hundreds of thousands of people. Destroying palaces, colleges and libraries. They killed the Abbasid caliph. Then Mongols overran Syria, but their westward advance was halted in 1260 by the Mamluks.

• The Mongol invasions destroyed much of the intellectual and artistic legacy of the Abbasid Golden Age.

• In time the Mongol Khans became regional leaders similar to other regional leaders similar to other dynastic rulers, but they lacked religious authority.

• The Sufi brotherhoods grew more popular at this time due to the general insecurity of the time.

• Sufi leaders were the real authority with the masses.

MAMLUK DYNASTY

• Founded in 1260: ruled from Cairo until 1517• The Mamluks started as a caste of slave-soldiers

for the protection of the Ayyubid Dynasty in Egypt which was founded by Saladin after he defeated the Fatamid Dynasty.

• Mamluks (one who is owned) were usually Turks, purchased as boys and then trained and educated. They became an efficient military class, and some became very powerful administrators.

• They gained power as the Ayyubids were preoccupied with the Mongols. In 1250, the Mamluks seized power and after defeating the the Mongol invaders in Palestine in 1260, the Mamluk leader Baybars established the first Mamluk Dynasty.

• The Mamluks continued the revival of learning initiated under the Ayyubids, supporting scholars in the medical and scientific fields.

• The Mamluks never really accepted.

OTTOMAN DYNASTY

• Founded in 1299; ruled from Constantinople (Istanbul) from 1453 to 1922

• Had its origins in the Turkoman tribal groups which moved into Anatolia (Turkey) during the Mongol invasions. These tribes set up regional emirates or principalities dedicated to the ghazi (warrior of the faith) tradition.

• One of these emirates, the House of Osman, emerged as the supreme ghazi state after its victory over the Byzantines in 1301. Known today as the Ottomans, the followers of Osman established a centralized government and initiated economic reforms in order to support their military campaigns. Ottoman power was consolidated in 1453 with the capture of Constantinople, which became the new capital.

• The early Ottoman period was characterized by an Islamic veneer over the existing administration of Byzantine, Greek, and Persian elements. These elements help create a unique culture. Eventually Turkish became the dominant language.

• Janissaries: created by Sultan Murad I, this was a system of Turkish slave-soldiers similar to the Mamluks.

• In theory, the janissaries were designed to an isolated elite military class loyal only to the sultan. In practice; they developed other loyalties through intermarriage and business activities.

• At its height, the Ottoman Dynasty built magnificent palaces, mosques, and fortresses.

• Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-66) considered the Golden Age in Ottoman history.

• The scholarly elite were trained in the classical Islamic tradition at the Sultan’s residence in Istanbul – the Topkapi Palace, one of the most extensive and beautiful palace complexes in the Muslim world. The curriculum included study of the Qur’an, languages, music, calligraphy, mathematics, law, and logic as well as warrior skills of horsemanship, archery, and wrestling.

• In general, the Ottoman were known for their gift of administration which enabled them to successfully govern a vast and divers empire.

• By the 17th and 18th centuries, the delicate balance between the military and the economy shifted. The sultan was gradually forced to cede more and more territory to Europe, and a worsening economic crisis

• Compelled him to grant economic concessions to the European powers as well. Reforms were attempted in the 19th century but they were only a temporary solution to the internal problems and external pressures. Throughout the empire, nationalist movements resulted in the Ottoman Empire shrinking. The empire was dissolved after W.W. I and in 1922 the sultanate was formally abolished.