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Chapter 7
Abbasid Decline and the
Spread of Islamic Civilization
to South and Southeast Asia
Islamic Heartlands
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Court conditions:
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Shi’i revolts, assassinations
Luxuries
Wives, concubines, courtiers
Succession???
Harun al-Rashid
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Thousand and One Arabian Nights
Dependent on advisors (Persian)
Death→civil wars, need for personal armies
Slave mercenary armies (caused more problems)
Internal problems
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Constant civil violence (costs $$)
Peasants heavily taxed
Villages destroyed/abandoned
Shi’i also caused problems
Women
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Harem and veil
Concubines/slaves
Slaves from surrounding regions
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Prized for beauty and intelligence
Very educated
Leaders spend more time with them
Slave and lower-class women – usually had
more freedom
Upper-class had “behind the scenes”
power
Nomadic problems
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Buyids (Persian Shi’i)
• Invaded and captured Baghdad
• Caliphs were “puppet rulers”
• “sultans”
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Seljuk Turks (Sunnis)
• Purged Shi’i influence
• Good military
• Opens way for Ottomans later
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Mongols later end the Abbasids
Impact of Crusades
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Seljuks not unified, surprised so 1st
Crusade was Christian success
Eventually Muslims unite under Saladin,
reconquer area
Little impact on Muslims
Much impact on Christians
• Technology, weapons, science, medicine,
regained Greek learning, textiles
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Exchange was mostly one-way
Culture 
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Expansion of trade and professional
classes
Urban prosperity (artisans)
Literature-Persian
Science-math, chemistry, astronomy,
medicine, maps (practical things)
Religious trends: orthodox/Sufis
Islam in South Asia
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Carried by invaders/traders/Sufis/etc
Earlier migrants to India had been
absorbed into culture-Muslims didn’t
Muslim civ. = Indian civ.
Much interaction, both peaceful and
violent
Harsha (north India)
• Forged alliances, united central and east
• Period of peace and prosperity
• Dies without successor
Muslim invasions
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Political divisions result
First wave (711)
Muslim traders vs. pirates
Muhammad ibn Qasim- Umayyad
Little change for people – most did
not convert (no reason to)
Exchange of info (esp. science/math)
Second wave
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Turkish slave dynasty (Mahmud of
Ghazni)- 200 yrs. raiding in N. India
Muhammad of Ghur-capital at Delhi
Controlled Indus valley and N. India
Next 300 yrs-succession of Muslim
dynasties reign (sultans of Delhi)
Based on military machines
Patterns of
conversion/accommodation
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Most conversions-peaceful
Merchants/traders!!!!!!
Sufi mystics
Most from lower castes
Buddhism declines
Hindus took gov’t positions
Muslims adopted some Hindu ideas
“bad” for women
Hindu revival
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Response to Muslims
More emphasis on devotional
cults(bhakti)
Open to all (women/untouchables)
Stressed strong emotional bond to
gods
Proves adaptability
Results
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Brahmans vs. ulama
Large Muslim community on Indian
subcontinent
Hindus still majority
Hindus still thought Muslims would
be absorbed (NOT!)
SE Asia
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Carried by traders/Sufi mystics
Shrivijaya collapses, opening for Muslims
Peaceful and voluntary conversions
Trade was key
Malacca
Conversion helped business
Sufis adapted Islam to fit areas
Women stronger position
In Depth
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World religions –broad and flexible
Islam-peaceful converts, adopted,
flexible
Accommodated diverse aspects