Spread of Islam

Muslim Empires

Islamic Law

Islamic Culture and Contributions to Western Culture

Heir to Rome

• Muslim empires are one of 3 heirs to the legacy of Rome, the other two being the Byzantines and the Germanic Kingdoms.

• All three built upon the Greco-Roman culture that was the legacy of the Roman Empire.

Germanic Kingdoms

Byzantine Empire

Muslim Empires

Heirs to RomeGermanic Kingdoms

Muslim Empires

• Arab

• Umayyad

• Abbasid

• Fatimid and Seljuk

• Mongol

Arab Empire - 640s-660s• Capital - Mecca

• Suppress tribal rivalries to unite Arabs under Islam

• Expand empire to include north Egypt, Mesopotamia, rest of Arabian Pen. And Persia

People:

• Muhammad

• Abu Bakr

• Ali

Umayyad - 660s-750• Capital moved to Damascus

• Expand to north Africa (Berbers), Gibraltar, Spain

• Stopped at Battle of Tours

• New ethnic groups (non-Arabs) become Muslim

• Battle of Karbala – Hussein, son-in-law of Muhammad, and small army massacred – split in Islam

People

• Mu’awiyah

• Hussein

Abbasid• 750-973(Egypt) and 1258

(Baghdad) Non-Arabs become equal

• Capital moved to Baghdad

• Increased Persian influence

• Support for learning

• Prosperity due to conquest of rich provinces of old Roman Empire and control of trade routes

• More complex gov. bureaucracy – creation of “vizier”

People

• Harun al-Rashid

Seljuk and Fatimid• Seljuk

• 1055-1258

• Fatimid = Egypt;

• Seljuk = Turks, slowly took over eastern Abbasid Empire

• New position “Sultan” – Baghdad capital in east (Seljuk)

• Defeat Byzantines at Battle of Manzikert 1054 – add most of Asia Minor to empire

• Crusades

People

• Saladin

Seljuk Caliphate

Mongol - 1258-1300s• Highly destructive

at first

• Destroyed Abbasid dynasty once and for all 1258

• Converted to Islam, built cities

People

• Genghis Khan

Similarities• Toleration of Jews and Christians (with some limits…)

• Expansion of territory

• Conflict over succession to Caliphate

• Empires end by breakup into smaller, independent states only to be reunified by the next

• Huge wealth from conquering rich lands and controlling trade routes

• Islam expands to non-Arabs through conquest and trade routes

• Arabic alphabet used to write

• Shariah law basis of law

Golden Age

Relate one important contribution of the Golden Age of Islam in each of the following domains:

Mathematics

Medicine / Science

Art / architecture

Literature

Ibn Rushd

• Commentary and translation of Aristotle’s works

Mathematics• Numerical system

of India

• Use of zero

• Algebra

• Astronomy

• astrolabe

Ibn Sina• Medical

encyclopedia

• Understanding of contagious nature of disease

• Translated to Latin – became basic text for European docs in Middle Ages

Ibn-Khaldun• Historian

• Muqaddimah (Intro to History text)

• Saw history as cyclical – civs go through cycles of birth, growth, and decay

• Looked for scientific factors to describe history

Omar Khayyam• Rubaiyat

• 1001 (Arabian) Nights

• poetry

Art

• Blend of Arab, Turkish, and Persian influences

• Major art form: mosques

Great Mosque of Samarra

Mosque at Cordoba

Alhambra Palace Spain

Cultural Diffusion

• Explain the role of Islam in preserving Greco-Roman culture.

• Describe the historical circumstances associated with Islamic Spain. Describe the culture there up to the Reconquista.

Preservation of Knowledge• Translation of works

of Rome and Greece preserved amid possible destruction and loss from disintegrating empires

• Paper technology imported from China

Reconquista• 800 year project

• Completed by Ferdinand & Isabella

• Conquest

– Moors

– Grenada 13th century vassal of Castile, 1492 conquered

• Repopulation, Encomienda

• Expulsion Jews & Muslims

Effects of the Reconquista• Spain (temporarily)

world power

• Expulsion of Jews and Moors leads to “brain drain”

• Model for conquest of Americas soon after

– Encomienda system

Trade

• Explain the means and role of trade within the Islamic world during the spread of Islam.

Huge Prosperity

• Control of trade routes

• Conquest of wealthy territories

• Connections to the entire Eurasian world!

• Cities and markets make it happen