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