1. The Umayyad Period The Rise of the Abbasids
Umayyads and Abbasids
The Umayyad Period
The Rise of the Abbasids

2. Expansion under the Umayyads
Late 7th century: Islam spread to Asia
8th century: Spread to India, N. Africa, Spain
Threatened France, but Islamic armies were turned back by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours (also called Poitiers) in 732
Islam dominated the Mediterranean from Spain to central Asia

3. Quick Expansion center of control changes DBC

4. The Spread of Islam

5. Umayyad Rule Arab conquest state, ruled by an Arab elite
Army comprised of slave soldiers. Often not allowed to convert.
Muslim/Arab warrior elite ruled provinces
Rejected assimilation of converts
Kept governments intact, but staffed them with Muslims
Capital now Damascus

6. At first blocked by Byzantine & Sassanid

7. Defeat at Byzantium
717: Caliph Suleiman wanted to end the Christian empire once and for all.
Attacked Constantinople with 80,000 troops and a strong naval force.
Emperor Leo III beat off the attack. Besieging armies suffer through a cold winter
718: Must of the Muslim fleet destroyed by Greek Fire. Suleiman fled.
Leo III retook Asia Minor. Byzantium will last 500 years more.

8. Greek Fire - exact composition unknown
Greek Fire was the secret weapon of the Eastern Roman Emperors. It is said to have been invented by a Syrian Engineer, one Callinicus, a refugee from Maalbek, in the seventh century (673 AD). The "liquid fire" was hurled on to the ships of their enemies from siphons and burst into flames on contact. As it was reputed to be inextinguishable and burned even on water, it caused panic and dread. Its introduction into warfare of its time was comparable in its demoralizing influence to the introduction of nuclear weapons in our time. Both Arab and Greek sources agree that it surpassed all incendiary weapons in destruction. The secret behind the Greek fire was handed down from one emperor to the next for centuries. Rumors about its composition include such chemicals as liquid petroleum, naphtha, burning pitch, sulphur, resin, quicklimeand bitumen, along with some other "secret ingredient". The exact composition, however, remains unknown. For a thorough investigation of the weapon one can refer to Professor J.R. Partington's book, "A history of the Greek Fire and Gunpowder", Heffer, This volume quotes the ancient authorities extensively, with an excellent commentary. It also examines ancient and modern theories on the composition of the chemicals used in the Greek Fire. This is considered the most up to date source on the subject.
composition include such chemicals as liquid petroleum, naphtha, burning pitch, sulphur, resin, quicklimeand bitumen, along with some other "secret ingredient".

9. Umayyad Decline Series of weak self-indulgent rulers
c The Merv Revolt
50,000 Persian warriors settled in E. Iran
converted to Islam, fought in battles, but earned little booty
resented corrupt rule from Baghdad
When Umayyads sent troops to the area, revolt broke out!

10. The Abbasid Revolt Revolt spread through the eastern provinces
Resented Arab rule: the Mawali
Marched under the Black Abbasid banner
Abu al-Abbas, Muhammed’s uncle’s g.g. grandson
Alliance with Shi’ite factions
750: defeat the Umayyad caliph in the Battle of the River Zab

11. The end of the Umayyads Abu al-Abbas wanted to end the Umayyad family.
Murdered all surviving members at a feast of reconciliation
One escaped, the grandson of the last Umayyad caliph, and fled to Spain
He established the Cordoba Caliphate. It lasted until 1492 CE

12. The World and the Abbasids Map

13. The Early Abbasids Capital: Baghdad: Arabic court language
Influenced by the Near East idea of divine kingship: “Shadow of God on Earth”
Lots of court pomp and ritual
When the caliph appeared in public, his executioners were with him!
Bound by Shari’a : Islamic law but not enforced

14. Abbasid Wine Bowl

15. Abbasid Glass Work

16. Abbasid Government Caliph ruled with large, complex bureaucracy
Manned by Persians and Mawali
Some aspects of universalism
Diverse people united by Arabic language and Islam
End of wars of expansion

17. Society Under the Abbasids
Long Distance Trade with Banking and Letters of Credit along the Silk Road trade
Key: Export of Mesopotamia agriculture, Nile Agriculture, sheep, date palm.
East Asian crops spread westward, including rice, sugar cane.
Slave state: Many Africans working S. Iraq salt mines, or in military

18. Industry Textile Making Rug Weaving: High Art Armenia, Bokhara
Chinese trade. Learned paper making
Perfumes, medicines, cosmetics, art in ceramics, metals
Imported Indian “0” developed algebra and trigonometry

19. Intellectual Life Translated Greek and Roman classical works
Philosophy, science, astronomy, geography, math
No interest in mythology, drama or poetry
Preserved and made additional contributions
Worked particularly with Aristotle’s work

20. Abbasid Mosque in Nayin

21. Medicine al Razi (865-925) (Rhazes) 20 volume medical encyclopedia
Translated into Latin 1270
Printed in Europe 1486 onwards
“On the Fact that even Skilled Physicians Cannot Heal All Diseases”
“Why Frightened Patients Easily Forsake even the Skilled Physician”

22. Other Thinkers al-Biruni (973-1056) al-Kindi (d.870)
Geography, Travels in India
al-Kindi (d.870)
reconciled Islam with Neoplatonism
al Farabi (d.950), Ibn Sina (Avicenna d. 1036), Ibn Rushd (Averroes d. 1198)
All Islamic scholars of Aristotle

23. Map of the Abbasid Caliphate

24. The Islamic Empire

25. Trends Towards Decentralization
Eventually turned against their Shi’ite allies and other factions
Large empire lent itself to regionalism
Numerous violent harem conspiracies and civil wars followed by more stable rulers
Utilized slave armies of Africans, Slavs and Berbers that eventually became a political force known as Mamluks

26. Apex from which to spread the empire
Harunu r-Rashid is the most famous of the Abbasid Caliphs.
The Abbasid period, is recognized of being the one in Muslim history bringing the most elevated scientific works.
The Muslim world continued the achievements of classical Europe (especially the 9th and 10th centuries), India and former science of the Middle East, during a period when Europe was unable contribute much to the cultural and scientific fields.
The Abbasid era is often regarded as the golden age of Muslim civilization.

27. Weakened role in the region
In 1055 the Turkish Seljuks conquered Baghdad, but this had little influence to the position of the Caliphs, who continued to play only his limited symbolical role.
With the fall of the traditional Caliphate in 1258, when the Mongols took over Baghdad, a new line of Abbasid Caliphs continued in Cairo.
In Cairo they played the same type of role as in Baghdad, but now even the symbolical role was limited by geography.
This, the last branch of Abbasids, stayed in office until 1517.

28. Arabic Language & writing
calligraphy – beautiful writing is different from illuminated writing
Arabic script has been used much more extensively for decoration and as a means of artistic expression
Language identifies and connects “Arabs” more than Latin connects the “romanesque)
The basmalah ("In the name of God the Merciful the Compassionate" - the opening words of the Quran) is here done in an elaborate thuluth script with the letters joined so that the entire phrase is written without lifting the pen from the paper.

29. Arabesque
Quran does not prohibit the representation of humans or animals in drawings, or paintings, but as Islam expanded in its early years, it inherited some of the prejudices against visual art of this kind that had already taken root in the Middle East.
early Muslims tended to oppose figural art (and in some cases all art) as distracting the community from the worship of God and hostile to the strictly unitarian religion preached by Muhammad
all four of the schools of Islamic law banned the use of images and, declared that the painter of animate figures would be damned on the Day of Judgment.
Wherever artistic ornamentation and decoration were required, Muslim artists, forbidden to depict, human or animal forms, for the most part were forced to resort either to what has since come to be known as "arabesque"
These are designs based on strictly geometrical forms or patterns of leaves and flowers or, very often, to calligraphy.
Arabic calligraphy came to be used not only in producing copies of the Quran (its first and for many centuries its most important use), but also for all kinds of other artistic purposes as well
porcelain and metalware,
carpets and other textiles
Coins
architectural ornament (primarily on mosques and tombs but also, especially in later years, on other buildings as well).

30. Arabic language – the great legacy
Of those people who embraced Islam but did not adopt Arabic as their everyday language, many millions have taken the Arabic alphabet for their own, so that today one sees the Arabic script used to write languages that have no basic etymological connection with Arabic.
The languages of Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are all written in the Arabic alphabet, as was the language of Turkey until some fifty years ago.
It is also used in Kashmir and in some places in the Malay Peninsula and the East Indies, and in Africa it is used in Somalia and down the east coast as far south as Tanzania.

31. Influence of Islam up to the creation of the Arabic Empires
Centered in Mecca
Conflict between Mecca and Medina
Hasan and the schism

32. Concepts and terms from Ch. 6
Bedouin
Shaykhs
Mecca
Medina
Ka’ba
Umma
Zakat
Dhimmis
Wazir
Caliph
Abu Baker
Ridda
Jihad
Battle of Siffin
Karbala
Mawali
Jizya
Ayan

33. Concepts and terms from Ch. 7
al-Razi
Ulama
al-Gh
azali
Sufis
Harsha
Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghur
Sati
Demak
Malacca
Harun al-Rashid
Buyids
Seljuk Turks
Saladin
Ibn Khaldun
Rubiyat
Shah-Nama
Sa’di
Bhaktic cults
Shrivijaya
Maleluks

34. Succession: Abu Bakr (632-34)
632 Muhammed died without warning
Abu Bakr elected Caliph (deputy, successor). Friend and early convert.
Ali, son in law to Muhammed was passed over: Too young
Bakr worked and led the movement.
Success: Ridda Wars: fought off Bedouin led by other Charismatic leaders.

35. Islam Spreads Bakr continued the Arab unification process
Recognized the weakness of the Persian/Byzantine Empires
They were at constant war with one another
Began to take Byzantine territory
Christians and Jews respected: people of the book
Social restrictions, extra taxes
Some Christians saw Muslims as liberators

36. Uthman (644-54)
From the old Umayyad family. Former Meccan enemies of Muhammed now converted!
Codification of the Qu’ran: Variants destroyed
651 Expansion deep into Sassanian territory (Persia)
654 Uthman assassinated.

37. Division and Schism Ali’s supporters name him Caliph
The Ummayyads rejected him
Ali refuses to prosecutes the assassins Ummayads later declare an open vendetta against him
Mecca vs Medina Clan tensions
Syrian and Iraqi factions
N/S Arabian tribal tensions

38. Hasan Retired for 19 years to enjoy the good life
When Mu’awiya died, he went to Mecca with several followers expecting to be named Caliph.
But the Umayyads appointed a new caliph, who surrounded Ali with an army.
679 Hasan led a great suicide charge. His head was sent to the capital.
This would result in the Sunni-Shi’ite split

39. But expansion continued....
674: Besieged Constantinople
700: Umayyads ruled from N. Africa almost to China: An empire! Why?
Surplus of military energy and religious zeal and well qualified generals
Weakness of the Byzantium and Persian states, and their poor rule over provinces.

40. Sunnis
Sunnis 90% of Islam Recognize 4 caliphs as legitimate No Iman

41. Shiites
Shiites 10% of Muslims (mainly in Persia, Lebanon, Yemen, Afghanistan) recognize only Ali and blood relatives as successors Imans: infallible, divinely guided, leaders of the faith Green turbans: indicate a blood relative of the Prophet Cult of Martyrdom

42. Quiz
What was the fictional account of life at the court of the Caliph al-Rashi?
Give one 3 causes of the disruption of agricultural economy of the Abbasid Empire.
What two practices that began in the Abbasid Empire are indications of the changing role of women?
What was the religious splinter dynasty that captured Baghdad in 945?
Who was the Muslim leader responsible for the reconquest of most of the territories belonging to the Christian Crusaders?

43. Quiz
What was the fictional account of life at the court of the Claliph al-Rashi? -The Thousand and One Nights
Give one 3 causes of the disruption of agricultural economy of the Abbasid Empire.
Spiraling taxation
Destruction of the irrigation works
Pillaging by mercenary armies which led to the abandonment of many villages
What two practices that began in the Abbasid Empire are indications of the changing role of women?
Seclusion
veiling
What was the religious splinter dynasty that captured Baghdad in 945?
Buyids
Who was the Muslim leader responsible for the reconquest of most of the territories belonging to the Christian Crusaders?
Saladin