Islam & Cultural Encounter in the

Post Classical World

Southern SpainIndiaAnatoliaWest AfricaEast AfricaMongols

Umayyad Conquest: tremendous Speed! Similar to earlier Mediterranean & Middle Eastern Empires

Disintegration of the Abbasid Caliphate

• By 1238 little political unity remained… Regional sultans challenged central power.

• 1258 – Mongols sacked Baghdad, leaving Baghdad without a Caliph.

• … But Islamic Civilization flourished and continued to spread. Let’s see where and how..

1. Al Andaluz

• 711 CE – Moors, under their leader Tariq ibn-Ziyad, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar from northern Africa and invaded the Iberian peninsula ruled by the the Visigoths.

• “T]he reins of their (Moors) horses were as fire, their faces black as pitch, their eyes shone like burning candles, their horses were swift as leopards and the riders fiercer than a wolf in a sheepfold at night . . . The noble Goths [the German rulers of Spain to whom Roderick belonged] were broken in an hour, quicker than tongue can tell.”

Al Andaluz• Spread as far as Tours/Poitiers,

732 – Charles Martel

• Vibrant civilization

– Harmony & tolerance– Muslims, Christians, Jews

• Christian converts & Mozarabs in upper class

• Freedom of worship, opportunity in bureaucracy

– Brilliant high culture• Astronomy, Medicine, Arts, Greek

Philosophy, Architecture, Literature, Poetry

• City building: Cordoba one of largest, most splendid in world

• Universities taught in Arabic, Latin & Hebrew; Madrasas taught reading in all three languages

Conquest: early 8th c.Capital: Cordoba

• Most prosperous European Agricultural Economy, 9th – 10th c.

• Moors introduced new crops: the orange, lemon, peach, apricot, fig, sugar cane, dates, ginger and pomegranate; saffron, sugar cane, cotton, silk, and rice;

• And the beautiful Spanish horse which was bred from the Arabian.

Córdova

“At its height, Córdova, the heart of Moorish territory in Spain, was the most modern city in Europe.

The streets were well-paved, with raised sidewalks for pedestrians. During the night, ten miles of streets were well illuminated by lamps. (This was hundreds of years before there was a paved street in Paris or a street lamp in London.)

Cordova had 900 public baths - we are told that a poor Moor would go without bread rather than soap!”

Al Andaluz

Late 10th -11th c.“The era of harmonious interaction between Muslim and Christian in Spain …[was] replaced by intolerance, prejudice, and mutual suspicion.”

• Warfare with Northern Christian states

• More rigid forms of Islam arrived from N. Africa– Plundering of Churches– Persecution of Christians

• Legislated avoidance of contact between Christians & Muslims

La Reconquista

Began in 914 – Completed in 1492

• Los Reyes Catolicos,

Fernando y Isabella

3 Choices for Muslims & Jews

Where did the Moors go?

• Morocco,

• Algeria,

• Tunisia…

Some families

still hold the keys

to their ancestors’ homes in Granada…

Eugène Delacroix - The Sultan of Morocco and his Entourage

The Spanish Inquisition

1478 – Fernando y Isabella Originally intended in large part to ensure the orthodoxy of converts from Judaism and Islam. Brought to New World with Spanish conquest.Definitively abolished in 1834. Auto-da-Fe,

1683, Madrid

2. India1000 CE began… • Invasions by recently

converted Turkic- speaking warrior groups from central Asia

• Smashing Hindu & Buddhist temples /monasteries –carrying off of great wealth

• Buddhism left India, going east along the Silk Road to China…

Mahmud of Ghazni

• 17 expeditions – Fast! Horseback!– Plunder, not religious

conquest (NOT a ghazi) – Not Empire-building. – Robbed & destroyed Buddhist

monasteries & Hindu temples

• 1010 – 1187 Ghaznavid Rule – Northern India– Not allied with Caliphate

Delhi Sultanate: 1206 - 1526

• Turkic speaking invaders from Central Asia and Persia… Laws based on Quran & Sharia; non-Muslims paid the jizya. Ghazi? Maybe so.

• Ruled from urban centers; military camps and trading posts became towns…

• Insulated India from the devastation of the Mongol invasion (13th c)

• "Indo-Muslim" fusion - architecture, music, literature, and religion. (Urdu, literally meaning "horde" or "camp" in various Turkic dialects, born during the Delhi Sultanate.)

Delhi Sultanate• Muslims chose to live apart from Hindu society, remaining a

distinctive ruling minority.

• Delhi was sacked n 1398 by Timur, and later conquered by Zahiruddin Babur in 1526, beginning the Mughal Dynasty that ruled from the 16th century to the 18th century arrival of the British.

Timur“Tamerlane the Whirlwind”

• 1370-1405• Turko-Mongol bandit turned

Islamic warlord • Held court in Samarkand

• Attacked Delhi Sultanate on pretext that the Delhi Sultanate was too tolerant toward its Hindu subjects. In reality he sought to acquire fame as a descendant of GhengisKhan and to amass the wealth of the Delhi Sultanate.

• Victories still proudly celebrated in Uzbekistan; NOT a ghazi.

Spread of Islam in India

Why Convert?

• Lure of Egalitarianism?– Disillusioned Buddhists– Low-caste Hindus– Escape Jizya?

• Sufi missionaries “popularized” Islam– Detached from worldly

affairs: “aflame with love of God”

– Accommodated local gods & festivals

• Northeast & far northwest only

Why Refrain from Conversion?• Strong monotheism vs. proliferation of

divinity in Hinduism, lack of divinity in Buddhism.

• No artistic representation vs. rich artistic religious heritage.

• Equality of believers vs. Hindu Caste System

• Quran & Law as basis for Islam, vs. Experience as Buddhist basis.

• Extreme sexual modesty vs. open eroticism of some Hindu art/literature

• Decentralized state system of Rajas softened the blow of the centralized outside empire, helping absorb shock of external invasion while supporting core values and identity.

• Sheer numbers- Population: 48 Million people!! Not many Muslims relocated there.

Conversion rate: 20-25%

Sikhism

Elements of Islam

• Such as devotion to one universal God

Elements of Hinduism

• Such as Karma and Samsara.

Guru Nanak Dev1469-1539

“There is no Hinduand no Muslim. All are children of God.”

3. Anatolia900:

• Mostly Orthodox Christians, part of Byzantine Empire: 8 million people. Wealth from Trade.

11th Century:

• Byzantine authority failed – Weak Theme System so ineffective military. Schism in 1054.

• Siege , Warfare, Famine, Enslavement…Serbians, Bulgarians, Turks continually laid siege to city, conquered territory, strangled trade.

1204 – 4th Crusade

• Sack of Constantinople by W. Europeans - Crowned Emperor Baldwin of Flanders new Byzantine Emperor.

1386- 1389 – Black Plague

1453 – BATTLE of MANZIKERT• Seljuk Turks Conquered City re-named Istanbul

• Some Christians left, went to Italy, etc.

• Sufi Missionaries

By 1500:

• 90% Muslim population.

• Turkic-speaking.

• Heart of Ottoman Empire

“Islamization” of Anatolia• Converts welcome!

– Material rewards, opportunity for high office– Few cultural barriers to conversion (eastern culture,

merchants)– Both were Religions of the Book – Some Sufis claimed

Christianity and Islam were the same religion, just different sects!

– Replaced failing Byzantine institutions with Sufi schools, mills, orchards, hospices, caravanserai and inns…. Banking institutions…

• Culture = Turkish… FAMILIAR to traveling Byzantines & immigrants– Turkic languages, not Arabic– Dervish practices similar to central Asian shaminism– Freer, more gender-equal life for women (pastoral)

than in Arab/Moroccan Islam. – Trade, trade, trade along the Silk Roads and

Mediterrannean ! Allowed continued competition with Venice.

– End infernal sieges of Constantinople: Peace at Last!

“Better the Sultan’s turban than The Bishop’s mitre!” - popular sentiment of populace

3. West Africa

• Islam arrived with the salt trade across the Sahara rather than through conquest.

Gold, Ivory & Slaves for SALTGhana, Mali, Songhai

Early Acceptance in Urban Centers by Merchant Elite: • Religion and Language = Important links to Muslim trading

partners• “Monotheistic” tradition of “one creator god” was

widespread.

Rulers accepted Islam:• Rulers taxed trade to pay for their government and elite

status. • Source of literate officials for Monarchs’ courts. • Religious legitimacy for rule through International God, rather

than just local deities & ancestral spirits.• Legitimization through wealth • Legitimacy through connection to outside political power.

Timbuktu

• Religious Center

– 150+ lower level Madrasas

– Mosques built by monarchs

• Trade Center

• Universities

– International students

• Libraries

– 10’s of thousands of books, manuscripts

Islamic Influence on West African Society

• West African languages continued in everyday use: Arabic became their language of religion and trade.

• No massive wave of Arab immigrationsuch as in Anatolia or North Africa.

• Scholars, merchants, and rulers established Islam, rather than Sufi mystics/missionaries.

• No religious transformation of society -Most people, including women, continued to practice African religions and rulers did not try to impose the new religion or govern by Sharia.

SundiataFounder of the Kingdom of Mali.

Celebrated as a hero of the Mandinkapeople of West Africa in the “Epic of Sundiata.”

Passed down by Mandinka GRIOTSas an Oral Tradition.

First MUSLIM Ruler of Mali, defeated the wicked wizard king of Ghana… Of MALI

Mansa Musa 1280 – 1337, First “King” of Mali to go on Hajj ( 1324)

• He took 60,000 men, plus 12,000 slaves who each carried 4-lb. gold bars, and heralds dressed in silks who bore gold staffs.

• He brought 80 camels, carrying between 50 and 300 pounds of gold each. He gave away the gold to the poor he met along his route.

• Musa also gave golden gifts to his hosts in the cities he visited on the way to Mecca, including Cairo and Medina.

• He is reputed to have built a mosque each and every Friday.• It is rumored that he gave out so much gold that it caused inflation that ruined the

economies of these great cities for years to come.

Sunni Ali• 1464- 1492- Ruler of Songhai, Conqueror of Timbuktu

• Ruled city dwellers and rural people, so…

• “Nominally Muslim” - Adhered to African animism while also professing Islam

– Observed Ramadan, built mosques.

– Consulted traditional diviners and performed customary local sacrifices.

Swahili City States

• Gold, Ivory & Slaves traded for products from Arabia, Persia, India, China…

Swahili City States• Swahili = syncretic

language, between Arabic / Farsi and Bantu languages.

• Monsoon Winds –Merchants stayed for 6 months

• Rulers taxed trade.

• Wealthy wore silk or other beautiful imported textiles, ate on porcelain plates, with European crystal chandeliers overhead…

Primary Source: Ibn Battuta

• 1304 – 1369• Moroccan qadiWrote about his extensive travels over thirty years (about 7300 miles) to most of the known Islamic world and beyond: • North Africa & Horn of Africa• West Africa• Eastern Africa (Swahili Coast)• Eastern Europe• Middle East• Central Asia along the Silk Road• India• China and Southeast Asia

How do we know?

History’s First Global Civilization

“…the Civilization of Islam, like Western Christendom and the Hindu world, operated without a single political center, bound more by a shared religious culture than by a shared state.

Unlike the other civilizations, however, the Islamic world by 1500 embraced at least parts of virtually every other civilization in the Afro-Eurasian hemisphere. It was in that sense “history’s first truly global civilization” …as it spread throughout the “known world.”

- Strayer, page 495