1. Aim: What were the developments in Dar al-Islam 1200 – 1450?
Unit 1: 1200 – 1450 CE
Left: A doctor visits a patient in this vibrantly colorful miniature from a 14th-century Persian copy of the Maqamat. Right: A medieval Western European being bled for medical purposes.

3. I Age of Conquest and Division
A) Muhammad, the founder and prophet of Islam died in 632 CE. When he died he had not named a successor, which led to a major division within Islam. B) The Sunni branch believes that the first four caliphs--Mohammed's successors--rightfully took his place as the leaders of Muslims. C) Shiites, in contrast, believe that only the heirs of the fourth caliph, Ali, are the legitimate successors of Mohammed. D) Sufis developed separately from Shiites and Sunnis. Through meditation they try to have a spiritual connection to Allah.
Whirling dervishes twirl, often for hours, as an act of ecstatic devotion.

5. Age of Conquest and Division Continued…
F) Islam offered the possibility of an end to the feuds amongst the tribal peoples of Arabia with the umma (community of the faithful). Also all believers were seen as equal under Allah. G) Payment of the zakat, a tax for charity, was obligatory. H) Sharia law (Islamic law) regulated all aspects of a Muslim’s life. I) “People of the book” applied to Jews and Christians, and occasionally even Zoroastrians; they were monotheistic and read the Old Testament (Jews) and the New Testament (Christians). They all had to pay a tax, but they were not forced to convert. Must-Know Vocab: Caliphate: The government of a Muslim Dynasty or Empire Dar Al-Islam: Any land under Islamic control Emirate/Sultanate: Subordinate member state of a caliphate

6. Age of Conquest and Division Continued…

7. VIII Islamic Dynasties
Umayyad Empire ( CE)
Conquered North Africa, Iberia (Spain) and Palestine. Capital at Damascus. Built the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount (former site of the Jewish Temple). Allowed freedom of religion to “people of the book” if they paid a tax.
Abbasid Dynasty ( CE)
Conquered the Umayyad Empire. Moved the capital to Baghdad. Mongols executed the last Abbasid caliph.
Tamerlane’s Empire (1370 – 1405)
Tamerlane conquered India. Created capital at Samarkand. Death toll approx. 19 million. He died in 1405 before he could conquer the Ming Dynasty in China.

8. Islamic Dynasties Continued…
Ottoman Empire (1299 – 1922) “Gunpowder Empire”
Begun by Osman. In 1453 the Ottomans captured Constantinople and renamed it Istanbul. Rulers were called Sultans. The Ottomans forced many Christian boys to convert to Islam and serve in the army; they were called janissaries. Most famous ruler was Suleiman the Magnificent.
Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror's Law of Governance: "Any of my sons ascend the throne, it acceptable for him to kill his brothers for the common benefit of the people. The majority of the ulama (Muslim scholars) have approved this..."
Suleiman the Magnificent (1495 – 1566) was also known as “the lawmaker”. Conquered Hungary and Vienna in Eastern Europe. Built the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, hammams (Turkish baths), and schools. Famous for his law code and poetry. Expanded navy.

11. Tamerlane’s Empire 1336 – 1405
Tamerlane, a Tatar warlord, was named Timur at birth but was given the nickname Timur the Lame (due to a disability on his right side). Building up a force of several hundred horsemen, Timur took service under an invading Mongol chieftain, seized Samarkand, took a wife descended from Genghis Khan and conquered Damascus, Delhi, the Golden Horde, Persia, and Mesopotamia. 1000s of women were carried off as slaves. At Baghdad he had 90,000 beheaded so that he could build towers with their skulls. At Sivas in Turkey, where he promised no bloodshed in return for surrender, he had 3,000 prisoners buried alive and pointed out that he had kept to the letter of his oath. He was a Muslim and he justified his campaigns against Christians and Hindus as spreading the true faith. When he died prior to attacking the Ming Empire in 1405, he was undefeated in 35 years of constant campaigning.

13. IX International Muslim Trade
In the Middle Ages, trade in Western Europe had fallen. However..
During the same time, Muslim led camel caravans crossed the Sahara and the Silk Road.

14. X Achievements in the Arts and Manufacturing
1. Steel swords from Spain
2. Leather from Iberia (modern day Spain)
3. Cotton textiles from Egypt
4. Carpets from Persia

15. Leather Manufacturing In Morocco

16. Arts and Manufacturing Continued…
B) As Muslims are forbidden from creating images of people or animals, they developed a new style of art known as arabesque; geometric patterns that resemble floral shapes. For the same reason, Muslims also developed a form of calligraphy.

17. Blue Arabesque Tiles, Samarkand

18. Blue Mosque, Istanbul

19. The Alhambra Palace, Grenada, Spain

20. Turkish Hamam A relic from ancient Roman Bathhouses

21. Arts Continued…
C) One of the most famous works of Islamic literature is The Thousand and One Nights, author unknown.
The Plot: King Shahryar’s wife is unfaithful to him. He has her killed. Then, loathing all women, he marries and kills a new wife each day afterward. Shahrazad, a daughter of the King’s vizier, insists on marrying him so to end his terror. She begins to tell the king a tale, leaving it incomplete at the end of the night…which she continues to do until she has given birth to his children, when he finally abandons his plan.

22. Persian Telescope, 13th century
XI Math and Science
A) Muslim scholars translated Greek, Roman, and Hindu texts, preserving them. B) Muslims spread the Hindu number system (Arabic numerals) to Europe C) Al-Khwārizmī improved upon ancient Greek algebra D) Built astronomical observatories
Persian Telescope, 13th century

23. Math and Science Continued…
The purpose of algebra according to Al-Khwarizmi was to solve problems of inheritance, legacies, partition, lawsuits, trade, measuring of lands, and the digging of canals. Impact on Western Europe: His algebra book became the standard mathematical text at European universities until the 16th century. He also made important contributions to astronomy, and developed the first quadrant (an instrument used to determine time by observations of the Sun or stars).

24. Math and Science Continued…
D) Ibn Sina wrote the Canon on Medicine; an encyclopedia of all medical knowledge. He created a system of medicine that today we call “holistic” in which physical and psychological factors, drugs, and diet were combined in treating patients. E) Funded by charity, public hospitals treated the sick, housed the mentally ill, and provided shelter to the elderly. Jewish and Christian doctors, in addition to Muslim physicians, worked in these institutions.
Left: Cataracts Surgery Right: Cauterization for a tooth

25. House of Wisdom, Baghdad
“The Arab empire was hugely powerful by late 8th and early 9th century; its rulers were getting taxes from across the empire and had money to spend on translations and patronage of scholarship. About this time the House of Wisdom was set up in Baghdad by one of the Abbasid caliphs, al-Ma'mun. It began as a translation house, translating Greek texts into Arabic and rapidly started to attract the greatest minds in the Islamic world, while Arabic became the international language of science. There was also a strong influence from Persia; an Arab scholar once said, "We Arabs have all the words but you Persians have all the ideas." In this context, a widely held misconception claims that the Islamic world did no more than act as steward of Greek science. However, "an incredible number of important and original advances were made by Arab scientists, who were the first to undertake real science - theory and experimentation - several hundred years before the scientific revolution in Europe.“
Jim al-Khalili, Professor of Physics
The Round City of Medieval Baghdad

26. ʿĀ’ishah bint Yūsuf al-Bāʿūniyyah 1460 -
ʿĀ’ishah bint Yūsuf al-Bāʿūniyyah was a female Sufi master and poet. Born in Damascus.
God, may He be praised, granted me a vision of the Messenger when
I was residing in holy Mecca. An anxiety had overcome me by the
will of God most high, and so I wanted to go to the Holy Sanctuary. It was Friday night, and I reclined on a couch on an enclosed
veranda overlooking the holy Kaʿbah and the sacred precinct. It so
happened that one of the men there was reading a mawlid of God’s Messenger, and voices arose with blessings upon the Prophet. Then,
I could not believe my eyes, for it was as if I was standing among
a group of women. Someone said: “Kiss the Prophet!” and a dread
came over me that made me swoon until the Prophet passed before
me. Then I sought his intercession and, with a stammering tongue,
I said to God’s Messenger, “O my master, I ask you for intercession!”
Then I heard him say calmly and deliberately, “I am the intercessor
on the Judgment Day!”

28. XI Fragmentation of the Abbasid Empire
A) The Abbasids’ empire (4000+ miles) was impressive, but difficult to maintain. As people converted to Islam, tax revenue collected from non-Muslim subjects dwindled, and the Abbasid court could no longer sustain its costs. Additionally a powerful class of religious scholars challenged the legitimacy of the caliphate. B) Ultimately, the centralized Abbasid caliphate fragmented into multiple smaller, independent political structures, diminishing Abbasid power. C) This allowed Islam to spread beyond the Abbasid empire’s borders and to non-Arabs. Muslim Kurdish, Persian, Turkish, Mongol, and Afghan leaders secured power in Anatolia (Turkey), India, Malaysia and Indonesia. D) The official end of the Abbasid dynasty happened with the Mongol sacking of Baghdad in 1258.

29. Focus Questions
1. How did the Abbasid caliphate gain, consolidate, maintain and lose its power ?
2. Why did Islam not spread further into Western Europe beyond Iberia?
3. How would history have been different had Islam spread to Western Europe?
4. How/why did Muslims preserve knowledge of the classical world?
5. Did Islam limit or help advance knowledge and achievements?
6. How did the role of women change from pre-Islamic Arabia to post-Islamic Arabia?
7. How did the split of Shia and Sunni Muslims effect the development of Islamic civilization?

30. Key Vocabulary A’ishah al-Ba’uniyyah Muhammad Abbasid Dynasty Muslims
Al-Khwārizmī
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi
Arabesque
Ottoman Empire
Arabic
People of the Book
Arabic numerals
Sufi
Caliphate
Suleiman the Magnificent
Cataracts surgery
Sultanate
Dar Al-Islam
Sunni
Dome of the Rock
Shia
Emirate
Tamerlane
Haddith
The Thousand and One Nights
House of Wisdom
Umayyad Dynasty
Ibn Sina
Umma
Imam
Zakat
Janissaries