Transcript Chapter 7

Chapter 7
Abbasid Decline and the Spread
of Islamic Civilization to South
and Southeast Asia
Extent of Abbasid Empire at it’s height
I. The Islamic Heartlands in the Middle
and Late Abbasid Eras
• Abbasid empire
weakened, 9th-13th
centuries
– peasant revolts
• Al-Mahdi (775-785)
– Shi-a unreconciled
– succession not
secure
The Abbasid Empire at Its Peak
I. The Islamic Heartlands in the Middle
and Late Abbasid Eras
• A. Imperial Extravagance
and Succession Disputes
– Harun al-Rashid
• son of al-Mahdi
• The Thousand and One
Nights
• Barmicides
– Persian advisors
• death followed by civil war
– al-Ma'mun
• B. Imperial Breakdown
and Agrarian Disorder
– Civil unrest
– Caliphs build lavishly
• tax burden increases
• agriculture suffers
I. The Islamic Heartlands in the Middle
and Late Abbasid Eras
•
C. The Declining Position of Women
in the Family and Society
– Seclusion, veil, harem
– Diff b/t rich and poor women?
•
D. Nomadic Incursions and the
Eclipse of Caliphal Power
– Former provinces threaten Abbasids
– Buyids, Persia
• take Baghdad, 945
• Sultans
– Seljuk Turks
• 1055, defeat Buyids
• Sunnis
– Shi'a purges
• defeat Byzantines, Egypt
•
E. The Impact of the Christian
Crusades
– 1096, Western European Christian
knights
• small kingdoms established
– Saladin retakes lands
• last in 1291
Buyid Empire
II. An Age of Learning and Artistic
Refinements
• Urban growth
• Merchants thrive
• A. The Full Flowering of
Persian Literature
– Persian now the court
language; replaces Arabic
as primary written language
• administration, literature
– Arabic in religion, law,
sciences
– Calligraphy
– Firdawsi (author)
• Shah-Nama
– epic poem
II. An Age of Learning and Artistic
Refinements
• B. Achievements in the
Sciences
– Math
• build on Greek work
– Chemistry
• Experiments
• Al-Biruni
– specific weights of 18
minerals
– Medicine
• Hospitals
• courses of study
II. An Age of Learning and Artistic
Refinements
• C. Religious Trends and the New Push
for Expansion
– Sufis
• Mysticism
• Much of religious vitality centered on this
movement
– Ulama
• Conservative
• against outside influence
• Greek philosophy rejected
– Qur'an sufficient
– Al-Ghazali (thinker; theologian)
• synthesis of Greek, Qur'anic ideas
• opposed by orthodoxy
• D. New Waves of Nomadic Invasions and
the End of the Caliphate
– Mongols
• Chinggis Khan
• Hulegu (grandson)
• 1258, Baghdad falls
– last Abbasid killed
III. The Coming of Islam to South
Asia
•
•
By 1200,
Muslims rule
much of
north, central
Conflict
between two
different
systems
1. Hindu
religion v.
Muslim
monotheism
2. Muslim
egalitarianis
m v. Indian
caste
system
The Spread of Islam, 10th-16th Centuries
What did India encounter when Muslims entered India?
Why were they not used to this?
• India used to absorbing peoples into their empire;
results from the strength and flexibility of India’s
civilizations and from the fact that India’s peoples
usually enjoyed a higher level of material culture
than migrant groups entering subcontinent
• This changes in last years of 7th century
• When Muslims arrive, peoples of India encounter, for
the 1st time, a large influx of bearers of a civilization
as sophisticated, if not as ancient, as their own
• Hinduism:
– Open, tolerant, inclusive of widely varying forms of religious
devotion
– Validate caste hierarchy
• Islam:
– Doctrinaire, committed to the exclusive worship of a single,
transcendent god
– Highly egalitarian
III. The Coming of Islam to South Asia
• A. Political Divisions and
the First Muslim
Invasions
– First Muslims as traders,
8th century
• attack lead to invasion
– Muhammad ibn Qasim
• Umayyad general (17 yrs
old)
• takes Sind, Indus valleys
• Indians treated as dhimmi
• B. Indian Influences on
Islamic Civilization
– Math, medicine, music,
astronomy
– India influences Arab
III. The Coming of Islam to South Asia
• C. From Booty to Empire: The
Second Wave of Muslim
Invasions
– 10th century, Turkish slave
dynasty established in
Afghanistan
• Mahmud of Ghazni
– begins invasion of India
– Muhammad of Ghur
• Persian
• Estb. Political state in Indus
valley
• his lieutenant, Qutb-ud-Din Aibak
– forms state capital at Delhi
– Delhi sultanate rules for 300
years
• D. Patterns of Conversion
– Converts especially among
Buddhists, lower castes,
untouchables
• also conversion to escape taxes
III. The Coming of Islam to South Asia
• E. Patterns of
Accommodation
– High-caste Hindus remain
apart
• Muslims also often fail to
integrate
• F. Stand-off: The Muslim
Presence in India at the
End of the Sultanate
Period
– Brahmins v. ulama
• > separate communities
IV. The Spread of Islam to
Southeast Asia
• Shrivijaya
– Trading empire that
collapses
• A. Trading Contacts and
Conversion
– Trading leads to peaceful
conversion
• starting with Sumatran
ports in NE (13th century)
– Malacca
• Powerful trading city
• Islam spread from here
– Coastal cities especially
receptive
• Buddhist elites, but
population converts to
Islam