1
AP WORLD-BROWN-Chapter 7 LECTURE NOTES
Abbasid Decline and the Spread of Islamic Civilization to South and Southeast Asia
Chapter Summary
apwhch 7-1
By mid 9th century - Abbasids losing control over huge Muslim empire. Distance hurt troop movements and
control of local administrators. Subjects retained local loyalties. Shi'is often caused trouble. Slave and peasant
uprisings used up empire’s resources. 13th century Mongol invasions finally ended a painfully slow decline.
Despite political decline, Islamic civilization reached new cultural heights. Islam expanded widely in the AfroAsian world.
Long Abbasid Decline The Abbasid Empire fell slowly between the 9th and 13th centuries. Peasant and
slave revolts increased. Art and scholarship flourished but women’s status eroded. Decline started Caliph alMahdi (775-785). He failed to reconcile moderate Shi'i to Abbasid rule. He also abandoned the frugal
ways and surrounded his court with expensive luxury. He left no succession system for his many rival
sons, leaving a lasting problem to future rulers.
Extravagance and Succession Disputes. Al-Mahdi’s son, Harun al-Rashid, became a famous Abbasid
caliph. His decadent, scheming court was immortalized in The Thousand and One Nights (which was
compiled much later in its final version byt eh Ottomans). He heavily depended on Persian advisors, a
trend that would make later caliphs puppets in court struggles. Al-Rashid's death led to the first of many
civil wars over succession. The sons of the civil war winner, al-Ma'mun, built personal armies, that included
Turkic nomads, to safeguard their power. These armies became power brokers, removing and selecting
caliphs; their uncontrolled power caused social unrest.
The Thousand and One Nights
2
An excerpt for the first page of The Thousand and One Nights
……….To proceed, the lives of former generations are a lesson to posterity; that a man may review the
remarkable events which have happened to others, and be admonished; and may consider the history of people
of preceding ages, and of all that hath befallen them, and be restrained. Extolled be the perfection of Him
who hath thus ordained the history of former generations to be a lesson to those which follow. Such
are the Tales of a Thousand and One Nights, with their romantic stories and their fables……….
Imperial Breakdown and Agrarian Disorder. Ongoing civil violence drained the treasury. Caliphs
increased the debt by building newer and bigger imperial centers. Peasants were severely taxed. Farm
villages were abandoned, irrigation systems fell apart. Bandits were everywhere; they aided peasant
rebellions instigated by dissident religious groups.
The Declining Position of Women. Women’s freedom and influence maintained during the 1st centuries of
Islam severely declined. Male-dominated Abbasid society imagined women possessed incurable lust, and
men must be segregated from all but their family women. The harem and the veil symbolized subjugation to
males. Seclusion of elite women, wives and concubines, continued. Veiling spread to all. Abbasid class
wealth created a large demand for concubines and male slaves. Most came from non-Muslim neighboring
lands. Poor women remained economically active, the rich were kept at home. Elite women married at
puberty and spent their lives in domestic work and childbearing. At the highest political levels women
practiced intrigue for their sons' careers.
Nomadic Invasions and the Loss of Caliphal Power. By the mid-10th century breakaway former
provinces began to break away. The Buyids of Persia captured Baghdad in 945. From then on, the caliphs
became puppets controlled by sultans, the true rulers. The Abbasid Empire was in name only. The
Seljuk Turks defeated the Buyids in 1055 and ruled the deminished Abbasid Empire for two centuries.
The Seljuks were staunch Sunnis who purged the Shi’i. For a time Seljuk military power restored much of
the original caliphate. Egyptians and Byzantines were conquered , opening Anatolia, the heart of the
future Ottoman Empire, to be settled by Turkic nomads.
3
Buyid Invasions
4
Apwhch7-2
The Impact of the Christian Crusades. West European Christian knights in 1096 invaded Muslim territory
to capture the Holy Land. They created small, Christian kingdoms around the Holy land. Most were recaptured
near the close of the 12th century by Saladin. The last fell in 1291. The Crusades intensified the borrowing
by Europe of the more sophisticated technology, architecture, medicine, mathematics, science, and general
culture of Muslim civilization. Europeans recovered much Greek learning lost after the fall of Rome. Italian
merchants remained in Islamic centers after the Crusaders left and were the key carriers of Islamic advanced
knowledge. Muslim peoples were little interested in European civilization.
5
Golden Age of Learning. The turmoil of late Abbasid times did not stop Muslim thinkers and
craftsmen from Spain to Persia produce one of the great ages of human creativity. Rapid urban growth and
prosperity persisted. Jobs for skilled individuals were abundant. Merchants amassed fortunes supplying
urban needs and from long-distance trade to India, Southeast Asia, China, North Africa, and Europe. Artisans
created mosques, palaces, tapestries, rugs, bronzes, and ceramics.
Persian Literature. Persian replaced Arabic as the primary written language of the Abbasid court.
Arabic remained the language of religion, law, and the natural sciences, but Persian became the language of
"high culture," used for literary expression, administration, and scholarship. With no human forms allowed,
beautiful calligraphy made literature a visual art form. Perhaps the greatest work was Firdawsi's epic poem,
Shah-Nama, a history of Persia from creation to Islamic conquest. Other writers, as the great poet Sa’di and
Omar Khayyam in the Rubiyat, blended mystical and commonplace themes in their work.
Science. During the Abbasid Empire Muslim society surpassed all others in scientific and technological
discoveries. In mathematics thinkers corrected ancient Greek theories. In chemistry they created the objective
experiment. Al-Razi classified all material substances into three categories: animal, vegetable, mineral. AlBiruni calculated the exact specific weight of 18 major minerals. Sophisticated astronomical instruments, like
the astrolabe, mapped the heavens. Much Muslim achievement was practical. In medicine formal courses of
studies accompanied important experimental work. Hospitals continued to improve. Traders and craftsmen
introduced Chinese paper making, silk weaving, and ceramic firing. Cartographers made the most accurate
maps to date.
Religious Trends and Expansion. Sufis developed vibrant mysticism, but ulama (religious scholars)
became more conservative and suspicious of non-Muslim influences. They feared Greek rationalism and
insisted that the Quran was the only required source of knowledge. However, al-Ghazali struggled to fuse
Greek and Quranic traditions. He often was opposed by orthodox scholars. The Sufis created the most
innovative religious movement. They reacted against the arid teachings of the ulama and sought personal
union with Allah through asceticism, meditation, songs, dancing, or drugs. Many Sufis gained reputations as
healers and miracle workers; Sufism was key to the continuing expansion of Islam.
More Nomadic Invasions and the End of the Caliphate. In the early 13th century central Asian nomads, the
Mongols, threatened Islamic lands. Chinggis Khan destroyed the spin-off Turkic-Persian kingdoms east of
Baghdad. His grandson, Hulegu, continued the assault. The last Abbasid ruler was killed when Baghdad fell
in 1258. The once great Abbasid capital became a backwater in the Muslim world
.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Islam in South Asia. 7th century Muslim invasions made Indian civilization more complex. Previous
nomadic invaders had blended into India’s advanced civilization. Muslims, with their own advanced culture,
were a new factor. Comparing the two cultures, Hinduism is open, tolerant, and inclusive, but based in a rigid
social caste system.. Islam was doctrinal, monotheistic, evangelical, egalitarian and often militaristic. Initial
contact brought conflict , but eventually, while tensions persisted, peaceful commercial and religious exchange
occurred in a society where Muslim rulers in the north governed Hindu subjects.
Apwhch7-1
North India prior to Muslim Invasion. North India remained politically divided between regional rival
dynasties after the 5th century fall of the Gupta until Harsha in the 7th century created a smaller, temporary,
6
but stable successor empire in the central and eastern Ganges plain. While bigger than any
European kingdom of the time, Harsha failed to unite India’s subcontinent. Harsha's reign was peaceful and
prosporous. He built roads, rest houses, and hospitals; he endowed temples and Buddhist monasteries.
Urban areas, like the capital at Kanuji, flourished and artistic creativity revived. Harsha, a Hindu, was tolerant
of all faiths and strongly attracted to Buddhism.
The First Muslim Invasions. Harsha's empire collapsed with his death in 646. Hindu culture flourished, but
political divisions left north India open to Umayyad Caliphate invasions beginning in 711. The Umayyad
general Muhammad ibn Qasim conquered and annexed Sind, and , despite quarrels among successor Muslim
dynasties, the occupation endured. Many Hindus now "people of the book," welcomed the new rulers
because they offered religious tolerance and lower taxes. Most Hindu officials kept their positions, and
brahmin castes were respected. Few Arabs resided in the areas cities or garrison towns, and minimal
conversion to Islam took place.
Indian Influences on Islam. Although Islam's impact in India was minimal, Islamic civilization was enriched
by Indian culture. Indian achievements in science, mathematics,, medicine, music, and astronomy passed to
the Arabs. Indian numerals were accepted, later to pass to Europe as "Arabic" numerals. Colonies of Arabs
settled along India's coasts, adopted local customs, and later extended Islam to island and mainland Southeast
India and Asia.
The Second Wave of Muslim Invasions. After initial Muslim conquests, internal divisions weakened
Muslim rule and allowed limited Hindu reconquest. In the 10th century a Turkish dynasty gained power in
Afghanistan. Its third ruler, Mahmud of Ghazni, began two centuries of incursions into northern India. In
the 12th century the Persian Muhammad of Ghur created an extensive state in the Indus valley and northcentral India. Later campaigns extended it along the plains of the Ganges to Bengal. A lieutenant to
Muhammad, Qutb-ud-Din Aibak, later formed a new state, with its capital at Delhi on the Ganges plain. The
succeeding dynasties, the Sultanates of Delhi, were military states; their authority was limited by factional
strife and dependence upon Hindu subordinates. They ruled much of north-central India for the next 300
years.
Patterns of Conversion . While conquerors, Muslim interaction with Indians early was through peaceful
exchanges. The main carriers of Islam were traders and Sufi mystics, the latter drawing followers because
of similarities to Indian holy men. Their mosques and schools became centers of regional political power
providing protection to local populations. Low and outcast Hindus were welcomed. Buddhists were the
most numerous converts. Buddhist spiritual decline had debased its practices and turned interest to the
vigorous new religion of Islam. Others converted to escape taxes or through intermarriage. Muslim
migrants fleeing 13th and 14th century Mongol incursions also increased the Islamic community.
Patterns of Accommodation. Islam initially had little impact on the general Hindu community. High-caste
Hindus did not accept the invaders as their equals. Although serving as administrators or soldiers, they
remained socially aloof, living in separate quarters and not intermarrying. Hindus thought the Muslims, as
earlier invaders, would be absorbed by Hindu society. Muslim communities did adopt many Indian ways; they
accepted Hindu social hierarchies, foods, and attitudes toward women.
Apwhch7-4
Islamic Challenge and Hindu Revival. Even under Hindu influence, Muslims did not change the basic
principles of Islam. Hindus, loosing followers, responded by opening up their faith to all individuals from all
castes. They increased emphasis on devotional cults of gods and goddesses (bhakti). These cults, open to all,
stressed the importance of strong emotional bonds to the gods. MiraBai- ca early 1500s, -a low-caste woman
(who later married a prince) who will be devoted all her life to Sri Krishna in ecstasy through song and poem,
and Kabir, a Muslim weaver, composed songs and poems in regional languages accessible to common people.
7
Ecstasy brought removal of past sins and made caste distinctions meaningless. Shiva, Vishnu,
and the goddess Kali were the most worshipped gods. The movement helped, especially among low-caste
groups, to stop conversion to Islam.
Stand-off: Muslim Presence at the End of the Sultanate Period. Similarities in style and message between
Sufis and bhaktic devotees led to efforts to fuse Islam with Hinduism. But, orthodox Brahmins denounced
Muslims as temple destroyers and Muslim ulama saw the two faiths as incompatible. By the close of the
sultanate period there were two distinct religious communities. The great majority remained Hindu. They
were convinced of the capability to absorb the Muslim invaders. South Asia remained the least converted
region under Muslim political control.
The Spread of Islam to Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia was middle of global trade where Chinese products
and culture met the Indian Ocean zone. By the 7th and 8th centuries Southeast Asian sailors and ships were
active in trade. When Muslims, from the 8th century, gained control of Indian commerce, Islamic culture
reached Southeast Asia. The 13th century collapse of the trading empire of Shrivijaya, ruled by devout
Buddhists and located on the Straits of Malacca and northern Sumatra, made possible large-scale, peaceful,
Muslim entry.
Trading Contacts and Conversion. Voluntary conversion was more important to Islam’s spread in S.E>
Asia than force. Trading contacts prepared the way carried forward by Sufis. The first conversions occurred in
small northern Sumatran ports. On the mainland the key was the city of Malacca, the smaller successor to
Shrivijaya. From Malacca Islam went to Malaya, Sumatra, and the state of Demak on Java's north coast.
Islam spread into Java and moved on to Mindanao in the southern Philippines. Coastal cities were the most
receptive. Their conversion linked them to a profitable Muslim global trade system and Indian Ocean ports.
Buddhist dynasties were present in many regions, but since Buddhist conversions were limited to the elite,
the mass of the population was open to the massage of Sufis. The island of Bali and mainland Southeast Asia,
where Buddhism had gained popular support, remained predominantly Buddhist.
Sufi Mystics and the Nature of Southeast Asian Islam. The mystical quality of Islam in Southeast Asia was
due to Sufis. They were tolerant of Buddhist and Hindu beliefs and converts kept pre-Islamic practices,
especially for regulating social interaction. Islamic law ruled legal transactions. Women held a stronger
position than they had in the Middle East or India. They dominated local markets, while in some regions
matrilineal descent persisted. Many pre-Muslim beliefs were incorporated into Islamic ceremonies.
The Legacy of the Abbasid Age. Despite the political instability of the Abbasids, Islam's central position in
global history was solidified. The expanding Muslim world linked ancient civilizations through conquest and
commerce. Islam made nomadic peoples in Asia and Africa literate. Its cultural contributions diffused widely
from great cities and universities. However, the growth of the ulama caused Muslims to become less receptive
to new ideas and technologies at a time when Europe was being transformed into a global power of its own.
This close-mindedness would make global Islam less competitive after 1500 CE.
KEY TERMS
al-Mahdi: 3rd Abbasid caliph (775-785); failed to reconcile Shi’i moderates to his dynasty and to resolve the
succession problem.
Harun al-Rashid: most famous of the Abbasid caliphs (786-809); renowned for sumptuous and costly living
recounted in The Thousand and One Nights;.
Buyids: Persian invaders of the 10th century; captured Baghdad; and as sultans through Abbasid figureheads.
8
Seljuk Turks: nomadic invaders from central Asia; staunch Sunnis; ruled from the 11th century in
the name of the Abbasids.
Crusades: invasions of western Christians into Muslim lands, especially Palestine; captured Jerusalem and
established Christian kingdoms enduring until 1291.
Saladin: 12th century Muslim ruler; reconquered most of the Crusader kingdoms.
Ibn Khaldun: Great Muslim historian; author of The Muqaddimah; sought to
uncover persisting patterns in Muslim dynastic history
Rubiyat: epic of Omar Khayyam; seeks to find meaning in life and a path to union with the divine.
Shah-Nama: epic poem written by Firdawsi in the late 10th and early 11th centuries; recounts the history of
Persia to the era of Islamic conquests.
Sa’di: a great poet of the Abbasid era.
al-Razi: classified all matter as animal, vegetable, and mineral.
al-Biruni: 11th century scientist; calculated the specific weight of major minerals.
ulama: Islamic religious scholars; pressed for a more conservative and restrictive theology; opposed to nonIslamic thinking.
al-Ghazali: brilliant Islamic theologian; attempted to fuse Greek and Quranic traditions.
Sufis: Islamic mystics; spread Islam to many Afro-Asian regions.
Mongols: central Asian nomadic peoples; captured Baghdad in 1258 and killed the last Abbasid caliph.
Muhammad ibn Qasim: Arab general who conquered Sind; and made it part of the Umayyad Empire.
Arabic numerals: Indian numerical notation brought by the Arabs to the West.
Harsha: 7th century north Indian ruler; built a large state that declined after his death in 646.
Mahmud of Ghazni: 3rd ruler of a dynasty in Afghanistan; invaded northern India during the 11th century..
Muhammad of Ghur: Persian ruler of a small kingdom in Afghanistan; invaded and conquered much of
northern India.
Qutb-ud-din Aibak: lieutenant of Muhammad of Ghur; established kingdom in India with the capital at Delhi.
sati: Hindu ritual for burning widows with their deceased husbands.
bhaktic cults: Hindu religious groups who stressed the importance of strong emotional bonds between
devotees and the gods or goddesses - especially Shiva, Vishnu, and Kali .
MiraBai: low-caste, woman poet and song-writer in bhaktic cults.
9
Kabir: 15th century Muslim mystic who played down the differences between Hinduism and
Islam.
Shrivijaya: trading empire based on the Malacca straits; its Buddhist government resisted Muslim
missionaries; when it fell southeastern Asia was opened to Islam.
Malacca: flourishing trading city in Malaya; established a trading empire after the fall of Shrivijaya.
Demak: most powerful of the trading states on the north Java coast; converted to Islam and served as a
dissemination point to other regions.
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
1. Compare and contrast the initial spread of Islam throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle East
with the Islamic incursions into India and Southeast Asia.
2. Discuss the political, cultural, and economic characteristics of the Abbasid Empire
CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What were the causes for the weaknesses of the later Abbasid Empire?
2. What was the position of women in the Abbasid Empire?
3. Describe the economy of the later Abbasid Empire.
4. Discuss theological developments within Islam during the Abbasid Empire.
5. Discuss the stages of Islamic incursion into India.
6. To what extent were Muslims successful in converting Indians to Islam?