Transcript Tactics and Weapons of Islamic Warfare during the Middle Ages

Tactics and Weapons of Islamic Warfare
during the Middle Ages (AD 600-750)
M. Michael Morita
Period 5
1/10/08
Introduction
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Islamic rules of war
Islamic tactics
Islamic weaponry
Islamic armor
How Islamic warfare tied into
government
Rules of war
• “War can only be declared if general
call to Islam was issued and ignored”
• “Muslim troops forbidden to kill
women, children, and old men”
• And “trees, crops, and farm animals
cannot be destroyed, but could be
used for food”
Weapons
• Muslims used swords, single
edged and double edged axes,
maces, balls and chains, and
bows and arrows
• Archers considered light
Calvary armed with bows and
arrows held in a quiver, a
shield, and rode on horses
Tactics
• Surprise and outmaneuver enemy
• Avoid charging knights armed with Lances
• Lead enemies into ambushes with false
retreats
• During open battles infantry be placed
behind soft sand and rocky ground to
slowdown the knights horses in hope that
enemy charge into headwind and get sand
into eyes
Armor
• Muslim troops wore light weight
armor that allowed them to move
freely
• One type armor is leather boiled
in paraffin and wax and then
covered in rectangular metal
plates
• Another type of armor is a short
chain-mail coat, sometimes
horses would wear this type of
armor
Warfare tied into government
• Warfare tied into gov. because
government run by Islam religion
• Gov. created peaceful and prosperous
environment for own people by
conquering many lands and peoples.
• Allowed non-Muslims to live in
community but had to pay special taxes
Summary
Muslim warfare tactics and weapons
during middle ages more advanced
than others at the time. This allowed
Muslim empire to conquer many
lands. The Muslim people lived in
prosperity during middle ages
Bibliography
• “Birth and the spread of Islam”. The world book
Encyclopedia of people and places. 2007 ed. pg.172.
• Fregosi, Paul. Jihad. Amherst: New York. Prometheus
Books, 1998. pg. 275, 276, 278, 288, 296.
• Hilliam, Paul. Islamic Weapons, Warfare, and Armies
Muslim Military Operations Against the Crusaders. New
York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 2004 pg. 9, 15,
16, 17, 18, 20, 40, 41
• “Islamic Warfare”. Umich.12/10/07.
http://www.umich.edu/~eng415/topics/war/islamic_warfare.html.
• Nevins, Allan. Builders of the World. Boston: D.C. Health
and Company, 1959. pg. 212, 220.
• Nicolle, David. Historical Atlas of the Islamic World. New
York, NY: Thalamus Publishing, 2003. pg. 75, 121, 177.
• “The rise of Islam” World Atlas of the past. The Medieval
World. 1999 ed. pg. 25.