The Abbasid Era

From Arab to Islamic Empire: The Early Abbasid Era

• Abbasids slowly eliminate all enemies, become more righteous about their defense of Sunni Islam, and less tolerant of Shi’a sects. This leads to the building of a centralized, absolutist imperial order.

• Moved the capital to Baghdad• Huge and expanded bureaucracy- Symbol of

bureaucratization of empire in wazir- chief administrator and head of the caliph’s inner councils

Islamic Conversion and Mawali Acceptance

• Full integration of new converts, both Arab and non-Arab

• Mass conversions encouragedo Appeal of Islamic beliefso Muslims exempt from paying head taxo More opportunities for schooling and careers

Persians came to dominate

Town and Country: Commercial Boom and Agrarian Expansion

• Rise in growth and status of merchant and landlord classes

• Urban expansion linked to a revival of the Afro-Eurasian trading networko Arab dhows- sailing vesselso Joint ventures with Christians and Jewso Specialized trade in luxury items for the eliteo This growth encouraged handicraft productiono Unskilled labor left to slaves

First Flowering of Islamic Learning

• Arabs, from the desert at first, were illiterate and ignorant

• Land they took over was the site of ancient centers of civilization

• Arabs open to influences and very tolerant• Early Abbasid rule

o Focus on mosqueso Advances in science and mathematicso “saved” Greek scholarshipo Carriers of goods and inventions- eventually brought the Indian

number system to Europe, which would play a role in the Scientific Revolution

Losing Control of the Dynasty

• By mid-9th century CE Abbasid dynasty had begun to lose control over empire with rebellious governors and new dynasties to challenge them

• Ironically this was a time of creativity and expansion• From 10th-14th century Muslim warriors, traders, and

wandering mystics spread Islam, which would play a huge role in the extension and transformation of the Afro-Asian world

• Became conduits for exchange of ideas, medicine, inventions, etc.

The Islamic Heartlands in the Middle and Late Abbasid Eras

• 3rd Abbasid caliph- al-Mahdi (775-785) already signs of division, Shi’a revolts common, had a life of luxury, failed to fix the problem of successiono Eldest son was poisoned after al-Mahdi’s death

• Harun al-Rashid (786 – 809) – most famous of the Abbasid caliphs (only 23 when he ascended the throne)o Luxurious living- evident in Baghdad’s mosques, palaces-

immortalized in The Thousand and One Nightso Because of his youth very dependent on Persian advisors, which had

consequences later in that the royal court became more important than the caliph

o Problem of succession after his death- leads to civil war Sons of al Ma’mun (813-833) (he won the first civil war) armed themselves

in anticipation of their fight for successor . The son who won had 4,000 slaves from CAR, which he increased to 70,000. This would be a mistake since they would revolt and kill him and the next 4 caliphs

Imperial Breakdown and Agrarian Disorder

• Resources drained with constant civil disobedience and the building of extravagant palaces and mosques

• This leads to abandonment of many farming peasant villages and agricultural production in the Tigris-Euphrates basin fell into disrepair

• Increased Shi’a instigation of uprisings

Declining Position of Women in the Family and Society

• Harem was a creation of the Abbasid court• Growing wealth of the Abbasid elite created a

demand for female and male slaves (mostly from regions surrounding the empire like the Balkans, CAR, Sudanic Africa)

• Slave concubines had more freedom than freeborn wives

• Women’s freedom severely curtailed during this time

Nomadic Incursions and the Eclipse of Caliphal power

• Caliphs too preoccupied with struggles in the capital to control loss of territory on the outskirts of the empire

• In 945 armies of regional splinter dynasties- Buyids of Persia- invaded the heartlands and captured Baghdado Buyids took the title of Sultano Controlled the caliph and the court but couldn’t prevent the

disintegration of the empire 1055 Seljuk Turks took over the Buyids

Staunch Sunnis- purged remaining Shi’a officials Got rid of Byzantine threat

The Impact of the Christian Crusades

• Crusaders determined to capture portions of the Islamic world that made up the Holy Land of biblical times

• 1096-1099 crusader’s assault most deadly- captured holy land and divided it into Christian kingdoms - Jerusalem taken in June 1099

• Europeans mounted eight Crusades and for two centuries had a hold on the Mediterranean

• Salah-ud-Din in last decades of 12th century- strong leader- recaptured most crusader outposts 1291- end of crusader influence

• Crusades intensified European borrowing from the Muslim worldo Swords, building fortifications (castles), recovery of Greek learning,

mastered Arabic numbers, demand for rugso Muslims showed little interest in borrowing from the west

An Age of Learning and Artistic Refinements

• Expansion of professional classes• Artists and artisans prospered because of high demand for luxury

goods• Persian replaced Arabic as the primary written language at the

Abbasid courto Shah- Nama (Book of Kings) by Firdawsi in late 10th century- brilliant

work detailing history of Persia Islamic civilization outstripped others in scientific achievement

o Math- sine, cosine, tangento Chemistry- animal, vegetable, mineral classificationo Papermaking, silk-weaving, ceramic firing- from Chinao Great maps

• Ulama- orthodox religious scholars – increasingly suspicious of non-Muslim ideas

• Al- Ghazali- greatest Islamic theologian – tried to fuse the Greek and Qur’anic traditions

• Sufism- similar to ascetic movement in Hinduism/Buddhism- Sufis were wandering mystics who sought personal union with Allah- helped continue expansion of Islamic civilization b/c gained following

• Mongols (Chinggis Khan) first raided in the 1220so 1258 (Hulegu- Khan’s grandson) takes Baghdad