Territory
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Transcript of Territory
Territory
• Mesopotamia
• North Africa
• Spain
• Crete, Sicily, and Sardinia
• Northwest India
• Dominated eastern Mediterranean Sea
• Capital at Damascus
Islamic Expansion
Subjects
• Only Muslim Arabs first-class citizens and shared in booty
• Local populations converted to Islam (Mawali). What was motivation?
• Non-Arab Muslims- discrimination
• Number of conversions during Umayyad low
• Dhimmis- “People of the Book.”
Family and Gender
• Islam under Muhammad stressed family and equality of women
• Women had some freedom under Umayyads- pursued wide range of occupations
• Rising Arab urbanization = decline of women’s rights
• Persian custom of seclusion / harem
Decline and Fall
• Umayyad became soft and corrupt due to increasing wealth and power
• Warrior lifestyle declined
• Decadent living sparked revolts
• Indian frontier - warrior settlers revolted under banner of Abbasid party - aided by Shi’ites and Mawali
• 750 CE victory over Umayyads
Decline and Fall
• Umayyads wiped out
• Grandson of Umayyad caliph escaped to Spain- founded Caliphate of Cordoba
The Abbasids
• Abbasids turned on Shi’ite allies• Built centralized state- absolute power• Capital at Baghdad• Bureaucracy under Wazir• Royal executioner - intimidation• Revenues in form of tribute and taxes• Abbasids grew less powerful at
distance
The Abbasids
• Caliphs placed themselves above Islamic law
• Rulers called themselves “Shadow of god on Earth” Divine rule?
• Caliphs became remote from people
• Practice of dividing booty discarded
• New emphasis on conversions
The Abbasids
• Mawali gained equality with Arab Muslims
• Persians became powerful force in Abbasid court
Commerce and Urbanization
• Wealth and status of merchant and landlord class grew
• Muslims and Tang China became engines behind revival of world trade
• Technology - Arab Dhows & lateen (triangular) sails
• Business partnerships between Muslims, Christians, and Jews.
The Astrolabe
Commerce and Urbanization
• Increase in handicraft production (furniture, carpets, glass, etc)
• Guild associations formed
• Wealthy landed elite formed called Ayan
• Many farmers were tenants, sharecroppers, or migrant laborers
• Towns flourished despite political instability
A shop in a bazaar
Slavery
• Unskilled labor done by slaves - some brutality
• Slaves could gain freedom and/or serve in positions of power
• Most drudge labor slaves were Zanj slaves (non-Muslim Africans)
• Beautiful / educated slaves prized
• Slave women had more freedom than Muslim women
Zanj Slaves
Slavery
• Caliph had up to 4,000 slave concubines
• Most slaves from Balkans, Central Asia, and Sudanic Africa
• Word “slave” derived from “Slav” A caliph and his concubine
Women
• Women increasingly subjugated to men (harem / veil)
• Women from lower classes worked to help support family
• Rich women had no outlets
• Marriage age at puberty (legal age= 9)
Purdah: wearing of the veil and seclusion
Islamic Culture
• Muslims influenced by conquered peoples
• Islamic technological advances
• Despite decline of Abbasids, professional classes expanded (towns)
• Persian culture dominated Abbasid court
• Persian court and cultural language
• Poetry - Rubiyat- Omar Khayyam The Rubiyat
Religious Trends
• Religious scholars (ulama) became increasingly reactionary
• Sufi movement- wandering mystics- factor in spread of Islam
Whirling Dervish – Sufi whirls himself into trance-like state
Abbasid Decline
• Shi’ite revolts plagued Abbasids
• Decadent living strained revenues
• Problem of succession• Court intrigue- wives,
concubines, ministers, eunuchs, etc
• Increasing influence of Persian ministers over caliphs
Abbasid Decline
• Harun al-Rashid – most famous caliph
• Rashid’s death resulted in civil wars over succession
• Successors created bodyguard of slave mercenaries - Turks (70,000)
• Turks became power behind throne- murdered and replaced caliphs.
Abbasid Decline
• Turkish mercenaries became violent force in Muslim society- source of constant riots
• Expense of putting down Turks, paying other mercenary forces, construction projects caused financial crisis
• Villages placed under rule of mercenaries in lieu of payment
A Turkish warrior
Abbasid Decline
• Pillaging led to destruction / abandonment of villages
• Irrigation structure collapsed• Peasants fled, died, or turned to banditry• Loss of territory as regions split from
Abbasid rule• Buyids of Persia (breakaway region)
captured Baghdad- caliphs became puppets (945 CE)
Seljuk Turks
• Buyid control broken in 1055 by Seljuk Turks
• Turkish military rulers ran empire in name of caliphs
• Turks crushed Byzantine army and opened Anatolian Peninsula to settlement
• Crusades
End of the Caliphate
• Mongol assaults on Muslim Persia by Chinggis Khan
• Hulegu Khan (grandson) completed conquest of Baghdad in 1258
• Last Abbasid caliph executed• Mongols turned back by Mameluk
Turks (rulers of Egypt)• Islamic center of gravity shifted to
CairoIslam Islamic Civilization