Transcript Abbasid Decline and Spread of Islamic Civilization

Abbasid Decline and Spread of
Islamic Civilization to South and
Southeast Asia
Spread of Islamic Civilization
• 1. The Islamic heartlands in the Middle and
Late Abbasid Era
• 2. An Age of Learning and Artistic Refinements
• 3. The Coming of Islam of South Asia
• 4. The Spread of Islam to Southeast Asia
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 Islamic Heartlands in the Middle
and Late Abbasid Eras
• Imperial Extravagance and Succession
Disputes
– Harun al-Rashid
• Son of Al-Mahdi
• The Thousand and one Nights
• Barmicides
– Persian Advisors
• Death followed by the civil war
– Al-Ma’mun
Imperial Breakdown and Agrarian
Disorder
• Civil Unrest
• Caliphs Build Lavishly
– Tax Burden increase
– Agriculture suffers
The Declining position of Women in
the Family and Society
• Seclusion, veil
• Polygyny
Nomadic Incursions and the Eclipse of
Caliphal Power
• Former Province threaten Abbasids
• Buyids, Persia
– Take Baghdad, 945
– Sultans
• Seljuk Turks
– 1055, Defeated the Buyids
– Sunnis
• Shi’a Purges
– Defeat Byzantines, Egypt
The Impact of the Christian Crusades
• 1096, western European Christian Knights
– Small Kingdoms established
• Saladin retakes lands
– Last in 1291
The Full Flowering of Persian Literature
• Persian the court Language
– Administration, literature
• Arabic in religion, law, science
• Calligraphy
• Firdawsi
– Shah- Nama
• Epic Poem
• Sa’di
• Omar Kayyan
– Rubaiyat
Achievements in Science
• Math
– Build on Greek work
• Chemistry
– Experiments
• Al-Razi
• Al-Biruni
– Specific weights
• Medicine
– Hospitals
– Courses of Study
Religious Trends and the New Push for
Expansion
• Sufis
– Mysticism
• Ulama
– Conservation
– Against outside influences
– Greek Philosophy rejected
• Qur’an Sufficient
– Al-Ghazali
• Synthesis of Greek, Qur’anic Ideas
• Opposed by Orthodoxy
New Waves of Nomadic Invasions and
the ne of the Caliphate
• Mongols
– Chinggis Khan
• Hulegu
• 1258, Baghdad falls
– Last Abbasid Killed
The Coming of Islam to South Asia
• By 1200, Muslims rule much of north, central
• Conflict between two different system
– Hindu religion v. Muslim monotheism
– Muslim Egalitarianism v. India cast system
Political Divisions and the First
Muslim Invasion
• First as traders, 8th century
– Attacks lead to invasion
• Muhammad ibn Qasim
– Umayyad general
– Takes Sind, Indus Valley
– Indian treated as Dhimmi
Indian Influences on Islamic
Civilization
• Science, math, medicine, music, astronomy
– India influences Arab
From Booty to Empire: The
second wave of Muslim Invasions
• 10th century, Turkish dynasty established in Afghanistan
– Mahmud of Ghazni
• Begin invasion of India
• Muhammad of Ghur
– Persian
– State of Indus
– Thence of Bengal
– His Lieutenant, Quta-ud-Din Aibak
• Forms state at Delhi
• Delhi Sultanate rules for 300 years
Patterns of Conversion
• Converts especially among Buddhists , lower
castes, untouchables
– Also, conversion to escape taxes
• Muslim fleeing Mongols, 13th, 14th centuries
Patterns of Accommodation
• High-Caste Hindus remain apart
– Muslims also often fail to integrate
Islamic Challenge and Hindu
Revival
• Bhakti
– Devotional Cults
– Emotional Approach
– Caste Distinctions dissovled
– Shiva, Vishnu, Kali especially
• Mira Bai, Kabir
– Songs in regional languages
Stand off: the Muslim Presence in
India at the End of the Sultanate
Period
• Brahmins v Ulama
– Separate communites
The Spread of Islam to Southeast
Asia
• Shrivijaya
• Trading Contacts and Conversion
– Trading leads to peaceful conversion
• Sufis Important
• Starting with Sumatra ports
The Spread of Islam to Southeast
Asia
• Malacca
– Thence to Malaya, Sumatra, Demak (Java)
• Coastal Cities especially receptive
– Buddhist elites, but population converts to Islam
• Sufi Mystics and the Nature of Southeast
Asian Islam