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Chapter 7 Decline of Abbasid
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Decline Abbasid dynasty
Control over empire begins to slide in 9th century Reasons for decline Difficulty in communication and moving armies across the large empire Local administrators not always obeying Excess of court Regions of empire maintaining their local identites Disputes over succession Rise of mercenary armies became virtually independent Failure of agricultural economy Decline
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Al-Mahdi 3rd Abbasid caliph
Try to reconcile the moderates among the Shi’ i opposition Failed which meant Shi'as revolts and assassinations would continue to end of the dynasty Love the good life- excess of luxury Habit passed on to later caliphs Financial drain Fail to solve problem of succession Waiver between which son to succeed Civil war was avoided but his successor was poisoned within year.
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Harun al-Rashid One of most famous and enduring Abbasid caliph
Reputation for living the luxurious life One Thousand and One Nights based on his court Dependent on Persian royal advisors Young when he took the throne. Only 23 Will eventually resist their influence- reliance will become a trend Mid 9th century caliphs were pawns in court power struggles
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Harun al Rashid death will cause several full-scale civil wars over succession
Precedent set by struggle for throne deeply damaging Also end the real power of the Caliphs Convince candidates for the throne that they need a personal army Often slave soldiers Turkic speaking nomads from central Asia
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Mercenary Armies Leaders of slave mercenary armies will be the real power behind the Abbasid throne 4 caliphs will be murder or poison by the mercenary forces A disruptive force in life of Baghdad and other cities Bully Catalyst for food riots Be major players in the contest for control of the Capital and empire Consist largely of slave troops Help bring about the decline of the empire
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Imperial Breakdown Constant civil wars drain the treasury
Alienated the people Caliphs wanting to escape turmoil of Baghdad established new – capitals Add to already high cost of government Cost of maintaining the mercenary armies Spiraling taxation falling to peasants- least able to pay
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Agricultural economy will be disrupted by
Spiraling taxation Destruction of irrigation Mercenaries pillaging villages Often led to abandonment of the villages
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Decline in Position of Women
Women increasingly under complete control of men Harems seclusion of wives and concubines Concubines- slaves who sometimes could win freedom and gain power by having rulers sons Restricted to forbidden parts of imperial palace veiling Why? Men unable to resist the lures and temptations of women Segregation except in family household Decline in Position of Women
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Abbasid elite will have a great demand for slaves
Both male and female Most captured or purchased from non-Muslim regions Prized for beauty and intelligence.
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Busy with struggles at home and in the central provinces, caliphs were powerless to prevent loss of outer territorties Egypt Syria Buyids Persian Shi’ ites
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Buyids 945 CE Captured Baghdad
A regional splinter dynasty Captured Baghdad Caliph- puppet government Buyids even took the title of Sultans Arabic for victorious Muslim rulers Control the court but could not stop the disintegration of empire
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1055 Seljuk Turks Nomadic invaders from central Asia via Persia Brought down the Buyids Two centuries Turk military leaders rule the Abbasid Empire in name of caliphs Staunch Sunnis Purge Shi’ i officials Rid empire of Shi’ I influence
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Military machine will be successful for a while
End threat of Shi’ i dynasty in Egypt Defeat Byzantine attempt to regain long last land Important because it open the way to settlement of Asia Minor Later home to Ottoman Empire– now Turkey
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Seljuks faced challenge by Christian Crusaders
Knights from western Europe who wanted to control the holy lands Christian crusaders were successful between due to Muslim political divisions Element of surprise 1099 Jerusalem the main objective of the Christian Crusaders was capture
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8 Crusades over two centuries Seljuk Turks
United by Saladin Reconquered lost territory Last crusader kingdom was lost with the fall of Acre in 1291
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Impact on Greater on Christians than Muslims
Intensified European borrowing from the Muslims Weapons Building fortifications Words Games Chess Scientific learning Arabic numbers & decimal system Greek learning
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Of greater significance was the “exchange” was largely one way
Muslims show little interest in learning or institutions of the West
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Persian influence Persian language
replaced Arabic as primary written language at Abbasid court Arabic remain language of religion, law and natural sciences Persian was chief language of “high culture”
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Shah-Nama Book of Kings Written by Firdawsi
History of Persia from beginnings of time to Islamic conquest
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Science Islamic civilization ahead of others in scientific discoveries and technologies
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