Arab Empires Unit 2 Extension of Islamic Notes

From your Reading… What was the Ka’ba? Explain the split between the Sunni & Shi’ite. How did the Umayyad first respond to Muhammad’s new religion What are the five pillars? Arab Empires

Technology etc Arab scholars read translated Western works philosophy (like Plato, Aristotle), mathematics from India etc Got papermaking from China Perfected Astrolabe (device for sailing using stars) Study medicine, medical encyclopedias, attributed spread of disease to unsanitary conditions Arab Empires

Umayyad and Muhammad Initially worried about Muhammad’s influence War with Muhammad and Medina Muhammad wins; Umayyad convert to Islam After Muhammad’s death = Four Rightly Guided Caliphs Umayyad take over Caliphate after Ali is assassinated

Umayyads

Umayyads Mu’awiyah became caliph  Made position hereditary, started dynasty Moved capital from Medina to Damascus Conquered the Berbers, pastoral North Africans Occupied Spain; defeated in France in 732 Internal struggles cause revolts by son of Ali Abu al-Abbas led a revolt in the northeast…Umayyads overthrown…WHY?

Expanded rapidly through North Africa, Spain, Middle East, South Asia Created capital in Damascus Treated non-Arab converts (Mawali) poorly Instituted Sharia Law Umayyads did not seek to convert people (tax reasons) Women given high status through Islam Dhimmis treated better by Umayyads than in Byzantium or Sassanian empires. Umayyads

Abbasid

Abbasid Dynasty Overthrow Umayyad b/c corruption New Capital Bagdad (on Tigris) Increased Persian influence (Iran) All Muslims, Arab or not, could hold military and civilian positions Women in harems, covered to ‘protect men from their lust’; married very young Required slavery for soldiers and service but not allowed to enslave Muslims

Center of trade empire extending to Asia, Africa and Europe Caliph became more regal Expanded bureaucracy Vizier, prime minister, and council advised the caliph Even more control and centralized than Umayyad Politics Abbasid Dynasty

Harun al-Rashid Dynasties golden age Charity, patronage of the arts Not provide for an heir Learning at the Baghdad House of Wisdom Abbasid Dynasty cont

Disintegration Sons of al-Rashid fought to take control Financial corruption Non-Arabs fill key gov’t positions Rulers of provinces began to break from central gov’t Retention of regional identities Largeness of Empire Abbasid Dynasty

Seljuk Turks Nomadic people from central Asia Converted to Islam (Sunni); prospered as soldiers to Abbasid 1055 leader captured Baghdad Sultan- ‘holder of the power’; political/military power in Abbasid Empire 1071 Byzantines challenged them; Turks took over Anatolian Peninsula  Byzantine asked for help; started the crusades

Crusades… Saladin took control of Fatimid dynasty in Egypt; 1187 went on offensive to take back Jerusalem after 1 st Crusade won because of political strife between Islamic powers Most to be learned when discuss Middle Ages in Europe Stay tuned… Crusades breed mistrust between Muslims and Christians; Christians take Islamic technology

The Mongols Pastoral people from Mongolia Destroyed mosques, invaded Abbasid caliphate Seized most of Asia, never made it to Africa b/c Mamluk resistance  Turk slave-soldiers who overthrew Saladin’s administration Mongols converted to Islam, integrated into lands By 1300s, split into separate kingdoms Again find elsewhere when discuss invasions during this time period…

Mongol Empire