Abbasid Decline and
the Spread of Islam
Spread of Islam
 Spread
by Muslim armies to
conquered territories
 Spread by Sufis or Muslim religious
men who traveled via the Muslim
greater trade network on dhows.
They brought Islam to many
communities around the world and
also shared in Muslim advances such
as the water pump and windmills.
Problems with Abbasids
As early as the 3rd caliph, al-Mahdi,
problems were apparent within the
Abbasid rule
 He was decadent and had many wives and
concubines.
 He did not fix the issue of succession.
Instead he allowed his wives to fight over
the potential succession of their son. Place
intrigue occurred. After he died his eldest
son took the throne only to be
assassinated within the year!
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Harun al-Rashid
786-809 Hauren al-Rashid became the caliph
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After the assassination of his older brother, Harun became
caliph. As a young man Harun was in charge of many
military campaigns and named governor of a few provinces.
He was the son of a slave woman
He also enjoyed excess living like his father
His court was written about in The thousand and One
Nights
He and Charlemagne, the most powerful Christian emperor
in Europe, exchanged gifts
Harun became caliph at only 22 and relied on his mother
and other advisors (viziers). Eventually killed them because
the family became too powerful
The dependence on royal advisors became a problem for
later caliphs. Over time the advisors controlled the court
and caliphs lost power
Local uprising and rebellions and independent states start
to be formed under Harun’s reign
Harun led expeditions against Byzantine and forced them to
agree to paying money to Baghdad
www.princeton.edu/~humcomp/map3gif
Abbasid Decline
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Harun al-Rashid’s death prompted a civil war
between his two sons. They literally fought for the
throne.
Al-Ma’mun won (813-833)
His sons later were convinced that in order to get
the throne after the death of their father they
would have to amass larger personal armies.
On son had 4000 slave body guards. Eventually
after becoming caliph he had a mercenary force of
70,000 men.
846 slave mercenaries killed the reigning caliph and
placed one of his sons on the throne. From this
point on during the Abbasid reign the leaders of the
slave mercenary armies were the real power behind
the throne
Decline
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In order to try and control the mercenaries forces the
treasury had to be drained
Caliphs also started to move the capital to escape the
turmoil of Baghdad
This lead the peasants to pay for the new palaces and
imperial centers as well as the army
Heavy taxes were placed on peasants. Tax collectors
pillaged through villages. This led to some villages
being abandoned. Also many public projects such as
irrigation systems fell into disrepair. Some peasants
moved to new areas to avoid the Abbasid tax
collectors.
Some joined gangs or became vagabonds wondering
through the empire
Shi’a also supported and created some peasant
uprising against the Abbasids. They wanted them out
of power for official abuses!
Women
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Women became increasingly subjugated during the rule of the Abbasids
because of the development of the harem
Wives and concubines(slaves) of the caliphs were restricted to forbidden
quarters within the palace
The slave concubines could win their freedom by producing strong
offspring (sons)
The wealth of the Abbasids led to the demand for thousands of slaves.
Many performed domestic service roles.
There are stories of caliphs who had 11,000 eunuchs and even 4000
concubines!
Captured non-Muslims were typical slaves
Sold in large slave markets which every large town had
Slaves were valued for their beauty and intelligence
Caliphs and important men spent more time with their concubines than
their wives because they were many times better educated.
Had more freedoms than the wives and could go out into public without
wearing a veil or robes required of married women
Lower class women were typically married at puberty (legally age 9) and
were raised to run the household and serve their husband. They typically
did not have outlets beyond their homes for work like farming and
weaving
Upper class women like the wives and concubines of caliphs plotted to
advance the interests of their sons! Lots of infighting and intrigue!
Women overall lost much of their freedoms during this time period!
Decline of Abbasids
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Territories began breaking off and becoming
independent so caliphs attempted to curtail this
problem
But they could not and now other families were
plotting to replace the Abbaids
In 945 the armies of one of the regional dynasties,
the Buyids of Persia attacked and captured Baghdad.
The caliphs were now puppets controlled by powerful
families like the Buyids of Persia. Buyvids were Shi’a
Buyid leaders took on the title sultan (victorious)
Sultans became the title for then on out is the Muslim
West
The
Buyids couldn’t stop the disintegration of the empire
and by 1055 they were overthrown by the Seljuk
Turks from Asia
Turkic military leaders ruled the remaining Abbasid
Empire in the name of caliphs. The Seljuks were
Sunnis and began removing all Shi’a influence and
power from the government. They also defeated the
Byzantines which gave rise to Turks moving to settle
Asia Minor (Anatolia or Turkey today).
Crusades
 Knights
from western Europe sent by
the Catholic Church to retake the Holy
lands and save Christians who were
being tortured and killed by Muslim
conquerors according to Christian
Byzantium
 "Because he has laid down his life for
us: and we ought to lay down our lives
for the brethren," [1 John 3:16].
 The Crusades did help western Europe
that was divided by fighting between
and within countries. The Crusades
were something to unify Christians.
Crusades
 First
crusades 1096-1099 were the
most successful b/c of the element of
surprise and the Muslim political
divisions
 By 1099 Jerusalem was taken with
many Muslim and Jews killed in the
process
 Continued the Crusades for 2 more
centuries, they differed in success
 Muslims were united under Salah-unDin (Saladin). Muslims reconquered
Crusade
Dates of
Crusade
Crusades Timeline of Events
First Crusade
1096 - 1099
The People's Crusade - Freeing the Holy Lands. 1st
Crusade led by Count Raymond IV of Toulouse and
proclaimed by many wandering preachers, notably
Peter the Hermit
Second Crusade
1144 -1155
Crusaders prepared to attack Damascus. 2nd
crusade led by Holy Roman Emperor Conrad III and
by King Louis VII of France
Third Crusade
1187 -1192
3rd Crusade led by Richard the Lionheart of
England, Philip II of France, and Holy Roman
Emperor Frederick I. Richard I made a truce with
Saladin
Fourth Crusade
1202 -1204
4th Crusade led by Fulk of Neuil French/Flemish
advanced on Constantinople
The Children's
Crusade
1212
The Children's Crusade led by a French peasant
boy, Stephen of Cloyes
Fifth Crusade
1217 - 1221
The 5th Crusade led by King Andrew II of Hungary,
Duke Leopold VI of Austria, John of Brienne
Sixth Crusade
1228 - 1229
The 6th Crusade led by Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II
Seventh Crusade
1248 - 1254
The 7th Crusade led by Louis IX of France
Eighth Crusade
1270- 1291
The 8th Crusade led by Louis IX
Impact of Crusades
 There
had already been contact
between the Muslims and Europeans
via trade as well as the Berber Kingdom
 However the greater contacts due the
Crusades led to Europeans
rediscovering ancient and Muslim
knowledge
 Greek and Roman literature, math,
philosophy, technology and Muslim
achievements
 Also played a role in greater cultural
like chess, dates, coffee, and yogurt
Muslim Achievement
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Despite a decline in the Abbasids power and
wealth there were many very wealthy
merchants. Trade flourished.
Artists, architects, and engineers built
beautiful mosques and palaces. They made
tapestries
Science: corrections to Greeks in algebra
and geometry, trigonometry (sine, cosine,
tangent), objective experiments, material
substances into three categories: animal,
vegetable, and mineral by al-Razi,
astronomical tables and maps, hospitals
and doctors, paper making, ceramics, silk-
Persia
 Persians
started to play a greater
role in the Abbasid court which led to
Persian replacing Arabic as the
written language of the Abbasid
court
 Arabic language of law, religion, and
science
 Persian used for literature and
calligraphy
 Rubaiyat
.
http://www.caroun.com/Calligraphy/IranianAncientCalligraphers
.html
Religious Trends
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Contradictory trends: social strife and
political divisions vs. expanded trade and
intellectual creativity
Mysticism vs. growing orthodox religious
scholar (ulama)
Crusades supported growing hostilities of
non-Islamic ideas and thinking
Orthodox didn’t support the idea of Greek
questioning being applied to religion. The
Qur’an was final.
Sufist movement during Abbasid period:
wondering mystics who sought a personal
relationship with God. There were many
manifestations including Sunni and Shi’a
were against the abstract an impersonal
relationship with Allah taught by the
ulamas.
Invasions
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Invasions from the East!
Mongols started raiding in 1220’s
By 1258 Baghdad was sacked by the Mongols
The 37th and last Abbasid caliph was killed by
the Mongols
The Mongols also killed the Mamluks or Turkic
slaves in Egypt
In 1401 Baghdad again was captured by the
forces of Tamerlane. He was known for his
cruelty and for building pyramids of the skulls
those he killed when conquering a city.
Baghdad never recovered and became a
regional city and was no longer a world city
Islam to South Asia
 Previous
invaders had assimilated to
Indian culture because it was more
sophisticated than their own. However,
Muslims brought a sophisticated and
ancient culture equal to that of India
 Hinduism is more open to variations of
worship including gods while Islam is
exclusive to Allah
 Islam promoted the idea of equality
while Hinduism supported the caste
system
 Sometimes violent conflict between the
two groups
India and Islam
 711
first Muslim intrusion due to
trade
 Muslim merchants attacked by
pirates sailing from Sind in western
India. Umayyads launched an attack
on the king Sind under general
Muhammad ihn Qasim (17 yrs). He
won and the region as well as the
Indus valley became a province
under the Umayyads.
 Hindus and Buddhists became people
Indian Influences
 Through
trade and especially the
conquering of the Sind kingdom the
Muslims picked up great learning from
India
 Algebra, geometry, and instruments of
celestial observations
 Arab thinkers began using numerals
that Hindu scholars developed. These
numerals were passed on to Europe
and they were called Arabic numerals
even though they were first from India
 Art, chess
2nd wave of invasions to India
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Over time the Hindus started taking back
their lands from the Umayyads and Abbasids
New raids launched by Turkish slave dynasty
that in 962 seized power in Afghanistan under
their ruler, Mahmud of Ghazni. Primarily to
raid, but started going further in land to
pillage temples
12th century went from raids to seizing
political power. Much of north India came up
his command. After his assassination in 1206
a slave lieutenant, Qutb-ud-din Aibak, took
power.
Capital –Delhi
Over next 300 yrs various rulers of Afghan,
Persian, and Turkic descent came to power
and proclaimed themselves as sultans of
Delhi
Conversion
 Merchants
spread Islam
 Sufis were believed to have magic and
healing powers and they quickly
developed a following
 Mosques and schools became the
regional powers…Buddhist temples
raided
 Many Buddhist converted due to this
and misdirected Buddhism in India
 Low caste and untouchables attracted
to Islam
 Some converted not to pay the head
tax
Hinduism and Islam
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Hindus didn’t pay much attention to Muslims
and thought it polluted outcastes
They could work in Muslim administration or as
soldiers but didn’t socialize with them
Lived in separate quarters in villages where
Islam spread
Hindus thought like previous peoples that
Muslims would just accept their culture. Which
to some extend they did in regards to clothing
styles and the caste system
There were some upper class Hindu
conversions and Muslims adopted some of their
practices such as marrying girls at a very early
age and not allow widows to remarry, and sati
or the burning of widows in their husbands
funeral fires (found among some higher class
Islamic Challenge and Hindu
Revival
Muslims were not converting to Islam, but
some people of India, especially low caste
members were attracted to Islam
 Hindus then started to place greater
emphasis on devotional cults where caste
and gender did not matter (Bhaktic cults)
 Bhaktic mystics and gurus stressed the
emotional relationship between the
individual and the god/ goddess
 Chants, dances, and drugs were used to
achieve a state of ecstasy. Once this state
was reached all past sins and caste status
were rendered meaningless
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Converts to Islam in India
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Some tried to minimize the difference between
Islam and Hinduism
However there were still strict orthodox Muslims
and Hindus that believed the religions were too
different to ever mix
Brahmans denounced Muslims as infidel
destroyers of Hindu temples and polluted meateaters!
Although Muslims tried to advance their religion
in India, many still resisted
After centuries of Muslim political dominance and
missionary activities (Sufis) South Asia (India)
remained primarily Hindu
Spread of Islam to Southeast Asia
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Southeast Asia was a major route of trade
activities in the Indian Ocean Basin
They had many ports where they exported good
from China to the Mediterranean. They were
known for their wood, and spices: cloves,
nutmeg, and mace
Merchants and sailors from India came into
regular contact with them.
However until the 13th century the Shrivijaya
family was in control of the large trade empire in
southeast Asia and they were devote Buddhists
When the empire fell in the 13th century this
opened the way for Islam to be introduced into
the area via merchants and sailors from India
Trading Contacts and Conversions
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Peaceful conversion more important
Merchants brought religion and Sufis
Sufis spread the message of Islam
1st port to convert was Sumatra and then Islam
spread from there to Malaya
Port cities in coastal areas were receptive
Links between trading cities were important so once
one key city became Muslim it was in the interest of
other cities to convert to enhance personal ties and
have the common basis of Muslim law to regulate
business affairs
The cities were also now linked culturally to India,
the Middle East, and the Mediterranean
Islam did especially well in areas where Buddhism
and Hinduism conversion were mainly the elites in
society. The poor embraced it.
Islam did not do well in areas were Buddhism and
Hinduism had taken deep roots at the popular level
like in mainland southeast Asia and the island of Bali.
Sufi Mystics and Nature of
southeast Islam
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Sufis spread the message of Islam and were thought
to be mystical/ magical. They tolerated the beliefs of
earlier animist, Hindus, and Buddhists mixed with
Islam
Orthodox Muslims would have had a really big
problem with the type of Islam seen in southeast
Asia
Also they were not regulated by Muslim laws
(business) for the most part. They keep pre-Islamic
laws.
Women retained a much stronger position within the
family and society!
Female buyers and sellers dominated local markets
Lineage and heritage traced though the mother
Pre-Islamic religious beliefs and rituals incorporated
into Muslim ceremonies
Islam: Bridge between Worlds
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In spite of successional problems within the
Muslim community, the position of the
Islamic Empire as a global civilization was
created during the Abbasid dynasty
Islam enriched the lives of peoples from
around the world by sharing their
knowledge
They had wonderful achievements in arts,
science, and literature
They were the place to exchange ideas
They also had some problems in that they
were divided many times and they also had
a rift between the Sufis and orthodox
Muslims
They were also not open to outside
influence
This eventually led to European Christians
exploiting the weaknesses of the Muslim
world.