THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE ARAB MUSLIM CIVILIZATION
6th Century
500 CE
595 CE
610 CE
622 CE
630 CE
632 CE
634 CE
640 CE
644 CE
650 – 800 CE
652 CE
655 CE
656 CE
657 CE
661 CE
7th Century
680 CE
684 CE
685 CE
692 CE
697 CE
8th Century
8th Century
711 – 713 CE
715 CE
718 CE
730 CE
732 CE
737 CE
750 CE
751 CE
754 CE
756 CE
786 CE
788 CE
789 CE
9th Century
830 CE
833 CE
836 CE
847 CE
850 CE
868 CE
869 CE
897 CE
Bedouin pastoralists; society = tribes, clans, kin, blood feuds; courage society plagued by warfare
Religious traditions include animism, gods, each tribe had a chief deity; society male oriented
Few oasis towns linked by trading caravans to SW Asia; some sedentary agriculture in oases, Yemen
Towns center of Christian, Jewish ideas; Mecca center of polytheistic pilgrimage to Kaaba
Muhammad married rich widow; women had economic roles, sat in councils; many female poets
Some evidence of matrilineal inheritance; men paid bride price
Muhammad gets message of Islam: Koran, 5 Pillars: preaching not accepted by polytheist Meccans
Muhammad flees to Medina, sets up Muslim state; decrees toleration of Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians
Conquered Mecca, destroyed Kaaba idols; creates absolutist theocracy backed by Bedouin army
Muhammad’s pilgrimage to Mecca set model required of all faithful Muslims
1st Caliph Abu Bakr becomes caliph after Muhammad’s death; conquest of Arabia complete
Arabs build garrison towns, cities; establish taxation: Muslims tithe, non-Muslims pay head, land tax
2nd Caliph Omar conquered Persian Empire; conquered Egypt, Syria from Byzantines;
Arabs form ruling, commercial elite; majority of subjects include free farmers, herdsmen, serfs, slaves
Arab maritime trade in Indian Ocean facilitates exchanges of ideas, diseases, people, goods, crops
Muslims establish peace treaty with Christian Nubians which lasts 500 years; trade, exchanges arise
Rise of Arab navy, maritime skills leads to Muslim conquest of Sicily, Crete, Sardinia, Cyprus
3rd Caliph Uthman moves capital to Damascus; ordered compilation of official Koran
Foundation of Kharijis sect of Islam: egalitarian form denouncing ethnic, class differences
4th Calpih Ali assassinated during civil war; new Umayyad Dynasty supports majority Muslims (Sunni)
Office of Caliph becomes hereditary; Arab conquest state, small Arab Muslim military aristocracy
Decentralized government, local governors; foreign bureaucrats, non-Arab Muslims denied influence
Wars with Byzantine Empire, Armenia reach relative stalemate; diplomatic relations, trade follows
Split of Shia, Sunni; Shia rejected traditions not in Quran, await messiah, popular with non-Arabs
Arabic official language of the empire, replaces Greek, Aramaic, Coptic; Quran only written in Arabic
Dome of the Rock Mosque completed, uses geometry as style; all prayers oriented towards Mecca
Gold, silver coins introduced for trade, tax; coins in Arabic, no images allowed on coins, in art
Growth of non-Arab Muslims; majority subjects were People of the Book, paid taxes, cultural autonomy
Elites were bureaucrats, merchants, landlords; Quran accepts wealth, merchants if they tithe to poor
Cities become manufacturing centers; industry dominated by textiles, leather, metal, glass, pottery
Muslim law based on Quran, teachings of prophet, analogy, consensus of scholars; governs life
Muslim conquest of river valleys of Central Asia, Indus River; no permanent settlement, raid and tribute
Grand Mosque in Damascus blended Arab austerity, geometric shapes with Byzantine dome, arches
Conquest of North Africa, Spain; Berber nomads convert to Shia Islam; North African merchants
Introduce Islam to West Africa; success leads to rise of Trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, slaves, ivory
Arab tribes migrate to North Africa, displaced Berbers in Egypt, Libya; Arab administrators settle cities
Franks stop Muslim invasion of Europe at Tours; Christian states in Northern Iberia resist Islam
War with Turkish Khazars in Southern Russia establish a raid, trade, tribute pattern for 200 years
Umayyad princes murdered; Abbasids establish new dynasty, revolution ended Arab caste supremacy
Empire reaches largest extent; extensive trade, commerce link increasingly urban culture
Battle of Talas – Muslims acquire paper from Chinese; Arabs establish paper factories, printing, books
Caliph al-Mansur centralized bureaucracy; used Persians as bureaucrats; Persian is language of elite
Muslim rival caliphate in Spain; beginning of breakaway Muslim states in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia
Harun al Rashid built new capital in Baghdad; government, bureaucracy dominated by Persians
Independent Shia caliphate in Morocco supported by Berber pastoralists resisting Bedouin migrations
Al-Khayzuran, wife of caliph, mother of two caliphs creates tradition of harem politics, influences state
Agriculture flourishes; great variety of crops; large estates; lands increasingly worked by serfs, slaves
House of Wisdom founded in Baghdad, translates Greek, Syriac into Arabic; world center of learning
Military units of Turks, slaves first used; replace Arab, tribal armies; becomes model in Muslim world
Government, caliph dependent on large Turkish bodyguards; government increasingly isolated
Al Khwarizmi died; great mathematician who introduced Arabs to Hindu numbers, zero, decimals
Hadith or sayings attributed to Muhammad compiled, used as part of Sunni tradition, denied by Shia
Independent caliphate in Egypt; Abbasids increasingly limited to rule of Fertile Crescent, Arabia
Black slave rebellion in Iraq; slaves labored in domestic, commercial, military occupations
In Quran, slavery permitted, only non-Muslims could be slaves; lucrative slave trade of all races
Rebellion of Shia Ismaili Muslims; demand social justice, use violence against other Islamic rulers
10th Century
912 CE
925 CE
934 – 940 CE
940 CE
945 CE
950 CE
969 CE
969 CE
980 CE
11th Century
1050 CE
1055 CE
1071 CE
1090 CE
1090 CE
1096 CE
1126 CE
1180 CE
1204 CE
1250 CE
1258 CE
1260 CE
50% of population Muslim; class of religious leaders, scholars (ulama) emerged
Great prosperity based on control of trade routes, internal trade; wide exchange of goods, products
New technologies, sugarcane, cotton, rice, citrus: improved farming yields, diets: population increases
Cordoba in Spain the intellectual center of Europe, center of Muslim learning, arts, culture
Merchants, scholars, artists, artisans, writers, professionals arise as a large, influential class in cities
Death of al-Razi: diagnosed many diseases, based studies on observation; taught women birth control
Caliphate bankrupt; hedonistic lifestyles overtax treasury; breakdown of irrigation in Iraq direct result
Semi-independent dynasties of Shia, Berber, Persians, Kurds fragment Arab empire, increase warfare
Persian Buyids reduce caliphs to puppets; decline of women in society; use of veil, harem common
Development of Sufi orders as centers of prayer, instruction, pilgrimage; worship of saints arises
Emergence of madrasa, Muslim religious college funded by wealthy; studies – religion, law, Arabic
Shia Fatimids in Egypt, rivals Abbasids; land prosperous, agriculture flourished; control spice trade
Cairo (Egypt) founded as military, government center; becomes commercial, cultural center of Muslims
Ibn Sina authority on medicine; cities had dispensaries, apothecaries, hospitals, medical schools
Migration of pastoral Turks into SW Asia; flocks ruin farmland, disrupt irrigation; agriculture declines
Travel, trade by caravan, ship – wheeled transport declines; goods, people, ideas move across borders
Muslim Seljuk Turks capture Baghdad, create military sultans as real power behind caliph
Seljuks drive Byzantines out of Anatolia; establish independent Muslim sultanate in modern Turkey
Seljuks pay troops with grants of serfs, land; grants become hereditary, practice spreads in SW Asia
Assassins (Shia Ismaili) sect spread terror through assassinations of leading Muslim leaders
1st of eight crusades by Christians; crusades revived commerce, exchanges between Europe, SW Asia
Ibn Rush leading philosopher; Muslims translate Greek classics of Aristotle, Plato into Arabic
Caliph al-Nasir supports brotherhoods, guilds organizing craftsmen, city workers around social justice
Death of Maimonides, Jewish scholar, doctor to Sultan of Egypt; Jewish community wealthy, influential
Mameluk slave soldiers come to power in Egypt; soldiers, administrators rule through local Arabs
Baghdad sacked by Mongols; last Abbasid caliph murdered; conquered Iraq, Anatolia, Iran, Caucasus
Mameluks of Egypt halt Mongol advance, seize Syria, Palestine, Holy Cities in Arabia
PERIODIZATION
Based on the Chronology Chart, determine the characteristics of each period as well as the reasons for each of the
beginning and ending dates.
Arabia to 622 CE
Arab World 622 to 868 CE
Arab World 868 to 1258 CE
CHANGE OVER TIME BY CHRONOLOGICAL PERIOD
THEME
Patterns, impacts of interaction amongst major societies:
trade, exchanges, diplomacy, war, and international organizations
EARLY MEDIEVAL
TO 622 CE
HIGH MEDIEVAL
622 to 868 CE
LATE MEDIEVAL
868 to 1258 CE
THEME
Changes in functions and structures of states, attitudes towards states, inc. identities,
political parties (the political culture) and emergence of the nation-state
EARLY MEDIEVAL
TO 622 CE
HIGH MEDIEVAL
622 to 868 CE
LATE MEDIEVAL
868 to 1258 CE
CHANGE OVER TIME BY CHRONOLOGICAL PERIOD:
THEME
Impact of demography on people and the environment including migration, population growth and decline,
disease, urbanization, environmental degradation, and agriculture
EARLY MEDIEVAL
TO 622 CE
HIGH MEDIEVAL
622 to 868 CE
LATE MEDIEVAL
868 to 1258 CE
THEME
Impact of technology including agricultural techniques, weaponry, manufacturing, transportation and
communications systems, and inventions
EARLY MEDIEVAL
TO 622 CE
HIGH MEDIEVAL
622 to 868 CE
LATE MEDIEVAL
868 to 1258 CE
CHANGE OVER TIME BY CHRONOLOGICAL PERIOD
THEME
Religious, intellectual, cultural, and artistic aspects, developments,
interactions among and within societies
EARLY MEDIEVAL
TO 622 CE
HIGH MEDIEVAL
622 to 868 CE
LATE MEDIEVAL
868 to 1258 CE
THEME
Systems of social, economic and gender structure
including inequalities and work or labor systems
EARLY MEDIEVAL
TO 622 CE
HIGH MEDIEVAL
622 to 868 CE
LATE MEDIEVAL
868 to 1258 CE
CHANGE OVER TIME BY CHRONOLOGICAL PERIOD
THEME
The relationship of change and continuity between chronological periods
What led to the changes or continuities between each periods?
EARLY MEDIEVAL
TO 622 CE
HIGH MEDIEVAL
622 to 868 CE
LATE MEDIEVAL
868 to 1258 CE
What would be a good thesis sentence to describe the change over time between the beginning of
the Post-Classical (Medieval) Period and the conquest of the Arabs by the Mongols, Turks, and
Mameluks? Write one using at least three of the themes.
NAME: _________________________ PERIOD: _______ DATE: ________________
CHART: CHANGE OVER TIME OF ROMAN WORLD
Summarize the time period – use SCRIPTED. Do at least three themes
BEGINNING
TIME
PERIOD:
Dates:
Key continuities from
previous period
INTERIM
TIME
PERIOD
Dates:
END
TIME
PERIOD
Date:
Key changes from
previous period
Explain why change or continuity
occurred