Chapter 7: Abbasid Decline and the Spread of Islamic Civilization

to South and Southeast Asia

Harun al-Rashid• Shi’a revolts and assassination

attempts begin with the third caliph (al-Mahdi)

• Eldest son poisoned • Harun al-Rashid ascends to the

throne• Contact with Charlemagne’s

emissaries and Christians– Presents of an elephant and an

intricate water clock– Christians are dazzled by

Baghdad• The Thousand and One Nights

– Set in Baghdad– Stories reveal sources of

dynastic weakness• Relied on Persian advisors

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Wilayah_Abbasiyyah_semasa_khalifah_Harun_al-Rashid.jpg

Bronze Chess Piece of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid - AM.0098Origin: Central Asia Circa: 780 AD to 850 AD Dimensions: 3.4" (8.6cm) high Collection: Near EasternMedium: Bronze http://miniaturesinancientart.com/BronzeChessPieceCaliphHarunalRashidAM0098.html

 A painting made byJulius Köckert of Harun al-Rashid receiving the delegation of the leader of the Franks

Charlemagne.

http://www.muslims.eu/The_Islamic_Golden_Age.html

• Harun al-Rashid dies, civil war breaks out• Ma’mun becomes the caliph (813-833)

– His sons anticipate the civil war that would erupt when their dad dies

• Work on creating personal armies

– When the son wins the next round• Recruits body guards to maintain his status

– 4000 Turkish speaking slaves (had been nomads)– Once caliph, has mercenary force of over 70,000

Slave mercenaries

• 846 slave mercenaries murder the reigning caliph– Decade of four caliph assassinations and

poisonings

• From this time onward leaders of the slave mercenary armies were often the real power behind the Abbasid throne– Also a major source of unrest

Not Good.

• Taxation steadily increases

• Food riots

• Pillaging, disarray, rebellion, etc.

• Irrigation works of the Tigris-Euphrates falling apart

• Flood, famine,

The harem and veil

• Harem – tradition emerges during Abbasid era– Wives and concubines in Abb. Court were restricted to forbidden

quarters of the imperial palace– Concubines could earn freedom by bearing healthy sons

• Veil• Lower class women farmed, wove clothes or rugs, raised

silkworms• Rich women were not allowed careers• Slave women often have more freedom – can go to the

market, don’t have to wear the veil and robes• Marriage at puberty – legal set age: 9

– Devote lives to running the household and serving the husband

• Women’s freedom? Constrained.

Slaves, Concubines, and Eunuchs

• Female and male slaves existed by the tens of thousands in Baghdad

• 11,000 eunuchs• 4,000 concubines… • Slaves were captured or purchased from

Balkans, central Asia, and Sudanic Africa (non-Muslim areas)

• Sold in slave markets – beauty and intelligence

Buyids

• 945

• Buyids of Persia – army that invades Abbasid Empire – capture Baghdad– appoint themselves sultan (“victorious”)– Control the caliph and the court

Seljuk Turks• 1055• Nomadic invaders from

central Asia enter through Persia

• About 200 yrs• Turkish military leaders rule

Abbasid Empire in the name of caliphs (usually Persian or Arab)

• Staunch Sunnis, purge the Shi’a officials

• Begin harassing the Byzantines http://library.thinkquest.org/29369/Scholio/

Turk.gif

http://www.generationaldynamics.com/ww2010/seljuk.jpg

The Crusades

• Christian crusaders (knights from W. Europe) determined to capture the Holy Land launch a surprise attack between 1096-1099

• Very successful, capture and divide up much of the land into Christian kingdoms

• Jerusalem is taken – Muslim and Jewish inhabitants are massacred

http://www.history.org.uk/resources/primary_guide_1140,1162_53.html

Eight Crusades

• Success of each Crusade widely varies

• 12th century • Muslims, led by

Salah-uh-Din rapidly reconquered most of the crusader outposts

• Saladin• Salah-uh-Din

Impact of Crusades• Far greater impact on Christians because they launched the Crusades

(Muslims were just defending themselves)• Difficult to determine which aspects of cultural diffusion that occurred

between the Muslims and Europe as a result of the Crusades, because they were interacting for so many different reasons and in many different ways (trade!)

– Muslim weapons (really cool damascene swords)– Muslim techniques for fortifications (castes build in the 11th and 12th centuries

around William the Conqueror reflect this)– Muslim records of classical learning were found– Arabic numerals (originally from the Indians)– Oriental rugs and tapestries– Cloth (taffeta, muslin, damask, fustian)– Persian and Arabic words– The game of chess (from India)– Some of the troubadours songs– Muslims take little from the Europeans

Things the Muslims impart on others

• Windmills and water pumps

• Muslim science, law and philosophy

• Islamic art and architecture

• Art• Persian Literature

– Persian slowly replaces Arabic in the court, becomes the chief language of high culture

– Epic poem of the history of Persia from the beginnings of time to the Islamic conquests with details of battles, intrigues, and illicit love affairs “Shah-Nama”

– Everyday life• Sciences

– Sine, cosine, tangent– Animal, vegetable, mineral– Muslim traders bring papermaking from China

Attacks

• Mongols 1220s, 1250s– Chinggis Khan– 1258 Baghdad is captured and sacked by the

Mongols– 37th and last Abbasid caliph put to death

• Mamluks – Turkish rulers of Egypt who stop the invasion

• Baghdad never recovers, especially after 1401’s Tamerlane attacks

Onto South Asia

• India continually infiltrated by migrant groups and aggressors

• Muslims are the first group of people who bring in their own sophisticated civilization

Dhows

• Great for speed, dexterity, and exploration

• Poor for warfare – too small to hold cannons or lots of soldiers

Dar-al-Islam

• “Abode of Islam”

• Exists after the empire crumbles

• Term used to refer to all areas of the Muslim peoples

Delhi Sultanate• After the Gupta empire, India was

fragmented into local kingdoms with rival princes vying for control

• Hindu and Buddhist rulers spent huge sums building and decorating magnificent temples

• Trade continued to link to the ME, SE Asia, and China

• Arabs conquer the Indus Valley in 711• ~1000 CE Muslim Turks and Afghans

push into India, by 1100 they stop pillaging and fooling around and settle down a bit

• Sultan of Ghur defeated Hindu armies in the N and made Delhi his capital, successors organized a sultanate (land ruled by sultan)

• Delhi Sultanate 1206-1526 – marked the start of Muslim rule in N. India

• Muslims used archers against the war elephants

• Hindu princes wasted resources battling each other instead of uniting against a common enemy

Muslim Rule

• Sultans introduce Muslim traditions of government

• Turks Persians and Arabs migrate to India to serve as soldiers and officials

• Trade b/n India and Muslim world increases

• During Mongol raids many scholars fled from Baghdad to Delhi, bringing Persian art and architecture

Muslims and Hindus• Muslims conquest of N. India = disaster for Hindus and Buddhists• Destroyed many Buddhist monasteries

– Contributed to decline of Buddhism as a major religion in India• Violently attack Hindus• Some convert to escape death• Hinduism – ancient religion that evolved for thousands of years,

many sacred texts, prayers before statues representing many gods and goddesses

• Islam – new faith, single sacred text, devout monotheists, -- statues of gods are offensive to the one true God.

• Hindus – accepted caste status, honored Brahmans as a priestly castes

• Muslims – equality of all believers before God and no religious hierarchy

• Hindus – celebrate religious occasions with music and dance• Muslims – strictly condemn this practice

Improvements

• Dehli sultans slowly grow more tolerant of their subject population

• Some Muslim scholars acknowledge that behind the many Hindu gods and goddesses there was a single god and accepted Hinduism as a monotheistic religion

• Hindus remain second-class citizens, but as long as they pay a non-Muslim tax they can practice their own religion

• Some sultans even leave Hindu rajahs in place• Many Hindus convert to Islam

– Some lower-caste Hindus prefer Islam because it rejected the caste system

– Some convert to be able to serve in the Muslim government• Indian merchants were attracted to Islam because of the

strong trade network across Muslim lands

Blending of Cultures

• Indian Muslims absorb elements of Hindu culture– Marriage customs– Caste ideas

• Urdu – a language of Persian, Arabic, and Hindi emerges

• Persian and Indian art blends• Indian music and dance brought into the

sultans courts

Islam also spread through Southeast Asia

• Islam spread onward to Sumatra and Malaya and Borneo

• SE Asian products began to be exported to China, India, and the Mediterranean– Aromatic woods from the rainforests of

Borneo and Sumatra– Spices – cloves, nutmeg and mace

• Shrivijaya – far reaching trading empire between Malay and Sumatra– When Shrivijaya empire is in place

there are few converts to Islam• Shrivijaya officials were devout

Buddhists,• but after their decline, Muslims gain

influence

– Trading contacts pave the way for conversion

– Islam spreads gradually – all the way to the Philippines

– Java – slow progress, strong Hindu-Buddhist leadership

• But H-B had sometimes been limited to upper class, so Islam is well received

– Bali is one of the only regions that remains relatively impervious (extremely Hindu)

– Muslim converts blend many of their cultural traditions in with their beliefs

http://misterdeejay.net/indonesia/colonialism/before/Eempire.jpg

• Islamic world served as an avenue for the exchange of ideas, plants and medicines, commercial goods, and inventions both between centers of urban and agrarian life

• Muslim Merchants continually influenced the people they came in contact with along their vast trade network and continually gathered and shared more ideas