New Forms of Political Authority
Carl Ernst
Reli 180, Introduction to Islamic Civilization
Challenges to Islamic civilization, 950 - 1260
Sophisticated cultural, religious, intellectual, and economic achievements
Three CaliphsSunni Umayyad in Córdoba
Shi`i Fatimid in North Africa
Powerless Sunni `Abbasid in Baghdad, under “protection” of Shi`i Buyid princes
Three centuries of immense cultural productivity marred by spectacular violence
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Quick outline
1. Buyid Sultanate
2. Turks, especially Saljuqs
3. Fatimid Empire
4. Western Mediterranean: Almoravid Berbers
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1. Buyid Sultanate
“sultan” (Arabic “proof” [of God on His earth]), title adopted by sub-caliphal rulers
Use of tax farming to pay military
Public rituals of Shi`ism10 Muharram (`Ashura), marking Karbala = 8 January 2009
18 Dhu al-Hijjah (Ghadir Khumm) = 16 December 2008
Prosperity in Persia, nomadic resurgence
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2. Arrival of Turks, 950-1050
A quasi-ethnic term for nomadic groups from Central Asia
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Mahmud of Ghazna’s state (998-1030)
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Characteristics of Turkish states
Waves of migration
Mahmud raids India’s temple cities (loot)
Seeks recognition from the Caliph: Sunni legitimacy
Patronage of Persian culture and poetry: Persian kingship
Commissions Shah Namah (Book of Kings) by Firdausi (1010), longest epic by a single author (100,000 lines)
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illustrations
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Gayumars, the first man in Iranian myth, enthroned in his kingdom (from the Shah Tahmasp album of 1522)
Saljuqs, from nomads to empire builders
Gradual conquest of Persia and Iraq
Internal conflicts of Turkish elite
Opposition from Fatimid agents
Tughril captures Baghdad 1057
Nomadic raiders on Byzantine frontier: Battle of Manzikert (1071)
Turkish penetration of Anatolia
Persian traditions: Nizam al-Mulk’s Book of Government
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3. Fatimid Empire
Consolidation in Maghrib (“the West”) leads to conquest of Egypt in 969
Isma`il now the official ancestor of Caliphs
Wide-ranging missionary program in Central Asia and Indus Valley
Christians and Jews have opportunities
Al-Hakim claims divinity Druze faith (concealment)
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Problems for Fatimids
Growth of trade in Mediterranean, Red Sea route to India
Import of Turkish cavalry, friction with Berbers
Succession dispute: Nizar vs. Musta`li
Nizari Isma`ilis (“Assassins”) create revolutionary state and fortresses (Alamut)
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“Omar Khayyam” with Assassin chief, Hasan-i Sabah
Cheesy Hollywood “Omar Khayyam” film (1957) depicts Isma`ilis as commies
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4. Western Mediterranean
Norman invasion of Arab Sicily 1034, brief cultural synthesis
Hilali Arab tribes migrate west from Egypt
Maghrib turns Sunni
Economic decline
Religious empire of Almoravids among Berbers
Collapse of Umayyad caliphate, rule of Andalus from Maghrib
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Internal fractures of the post-caliphate world
1. Buyid Sultanate
2. Turks, especially Saljuqs
3. Fatimid Empire
4. Western Mediterranean: Almoravid Berbers
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