Download File - AP World History

Case Study #1: Fatimid Empire
The Fatimid dynasty, which was in power during 909-1171, was a Shiite dynasty centered initially in southern
Arabia and then in North Africa and finally in Egypt. Throughout the dynasty's history, one of its central
concerns was the spread of Shiite Islam throughout the Islamic world. Initially, this agenda took the form of a
desire to replace the Abbasid dynasty and take over leadership of the Islamic world both politically and
religiously. At the height of the dynasty's power, the Fatimids controlled not just the vast wealth of Egypt, but
also the lands of the Jazira, Levant, and North Africa as well.
The Fatimid dynasty began as a missionary movement whose goal was the spread of the Ismaili branch of the
Shiite sect of Islam. Missionary work is especially important in Ismaili Islam, and the movement enjoyed a
series of successes (as well as a good number of setbacks) until, in A.D. 909, the first Fatimid imam was
proclaimed in Tunis. He was Ubayd Allah, who claimed descent from Muhammad's daughter Fatima (hence
the name "Fatimid"), who was also the wife of the murdered caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib. It was Ali, of course, to
whom all Shiite groups trace their spiritual lineage. As imam, or leader of the Shiite community on earth, Ubayd
Allah took the name al-Mahdi, a title that means "the rightly guided one" and that carries messianic
implications. For the next 60 years, Fatimid power emanated from North Africa, but in 969, the fourth caliph, alMuizz, oversaw the conquest of Egypt by Fatimid forces.
At the end of the 10th century, the new rulers of Egypt built a new city for their capital, Cairo. Under the
Fatimids, Cairo grew into a crucial center of commercial, cultural, and intellectual life within the Islamic world.
The al-Azhar mosque, in particular, became a richly funded university where missionaries were trained and
scholars from around the Muslim world were drawn. Cairo also became a center for seekers of patronage and
so attracted such thoroughly secular intellectuals as the scientist Ibn al-Haytham. From Cairo, they expanded
their missionary activities, seeking to spread Shiite Islam throughout the world, specifically their own Ismaili
interpretation of it. This mission was underwritten by the ancient wealth of Egypt and augmented by Fatimid
trade ventures that sought to provide an alternate route for goods from the east to the Mediterranean.
Traditionally, most eastern trade goods had come via the land route that led through modern Iran and Iraq. The
Fatimids promoted a Red Sea route and used the profits for training and supporting missionaries, as well as
military missions and other affairs of state.
The Fatimid dynasty reached its height during the 10th and 11th centuries under the caliphs al-Aziz (reigned
976-996), al-Hakim (reigned 996-1021), and al-Zahir (reigned 1021-1036). The dynasty was strong enough
during this period to remain in power even after al-Hakim declared that he was the reincarnation of God in
1020 and began persecuting Christians and Jews. The Fatimids' power base later began to decline because of
factional fighting between local tribes. In 1073, a soldier named Badr al-Jamali gained power. He and his
immediate successors were able to prevent the collapse of the dynasty for the time being. Eventually,
however, power in the Fatimids' empire shifted to the local viziers, until the death of the last Fatimid caliph in
1171. Thereafter, the Fatimid empire came under the control of Saladin, the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty.
In their religious policies, the Fatimids did not resort to coercion of belief and—with the notable exception of alHakim's reign—largely respected diversity of opinion within Islam, even if they did work to persuade Muslims of
the truth of Shiite doctrine. However, they did not have any great success in this area; at the end of the
dynasty, the Egyptians were still largely Sunni, and Christian and Jewish communities remained strong.
CITATION: MLA STYLE
"Fatimid dynasty." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2009. Web. 6 Nov. 2009.
<http://www.ancienthistory.abc-clio.com>.
Case Study #2: Berber Empire
The term Berber refers to any of the originally nomadic peoples of North Africa. The word "Berber" derives
from the Latin term "barbarus", which denoted all that was non-Roman and non-Greek. The Berbers
consistently played important roles in the history of the Mediterranean basin, taking part in ancient imperial
power struggles and later producing powerful Muslim dynasties.
In the classical period, Berber tribesmen who lived within the orbit of the city of Carthage existed in symbiosis
with the Punic (originally Phoenician) population of that city and its empire. By the third century B.C., powerful
Berber chieftains had assembled vast tribal confederations that allied with the great powers of the
Mediterranean, Carthage and Rome, but those confederations were always shaky and subject to betrayal and
sudden switches in loyalty. After the Roman defeat of Carthage, the Berbers proved formidable but
troublesome subjects for the Roman Empire. Berber tribesmen also played crucial roles in valuable transSaharan trade between inner Africa and the Roman-dominated Mediterranean.
With the gradual collapse of Roman power in North Africa in the fifth and sixth centuries, powerful and largely
independent tribal coalitions reemerged. In the sixth century, an alternate designation for the Berbers, Mauri,
became synonymous with rebels and bandits in Roman military parlance. After a series of inconclusive Roman
successes against the Berber forces, a Roman Army was annihilated in 547 by the tribes. Thereafter, the
Romans used diplomatic strategies and fortifications to contain the Berbers, although the regional power of the
tribesmen continued to grow.
In the seventh century, with the advent of the Muslim armies to North Africa, it was the Berber tribesmen rather
than the Roman forces that posed the greatest obstacle toward conquest of the region. Since the middle of the
sixth century, the Romans had worked toward the conversion of the Berber tribesmen to Christianity, and had
enjoyed a good deal of success. Faced with such formidable Berber opponents as Kasila ibn Lamzin, leader of
a great Berber tribal confederation known as the Baranis, Muslim leaders realized during the 670s and 680s
that their hold of the vast plateaus and high mountains of North Africa, now called the Maghrib, would never be
assured until the Berber tribesmen were converted to Islam and assimilated into Muslim military commands.
Slowly, with the help of Berber armies, the Muslims won control of North Africa. When, in 711, Muslim armies
moved across the sea to the southern Iberian Peninsula, it was a Berber commander named Tariq ibn Ziyad
who led the expedition (some say of his own accord). Arab control of the lands conquered in Iberia followed,
but later, in the 11th century, the Almoravids, a Muslim Berber dynasty, overthrew a weakened Arab regime
and began a period of cultural effervescence and firm resistance to armies of the Christian principalities of
Spain. The Almoravids were later replaced by another Berber dynasty, the Almohads, who conquered first
North Africa and then Muslim Spain between 1147 and 1172. The rulers of both of those dynasties, while
Berber in origin, were deeply immersed in the Arabic cultural traditions of medieval Islam.
CITATION: MLA STYLE
"Berbers." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2009. Web. 6 Nov. 2009. <http://www.ancienthistory.abcclio.com>.
Case Study #3: Moorish Empire
One of the most distinctive invasions of history was that of the Moors upon the Iberian Peninsula. The unusual aspect of the Muslim
conquest of Spain lay in the fact that it was a relatively peaceful invasion that permitted three distinct cultures—Christians, Muslims,
and Jews—to coexist and flourish. The Arab occupation of Spain was not a preconceived plan of conquest; they were able to convince
the natives of the many local tribes to surrender to attractive offers, which led to Arab control of three-fourths of Iberia for some 700
years.
The conquest began during the early eighth century when the Visigoth Empire in Spain suffered through a period of instability and
rebellions, instigated by the sons of Visigothic king Witiza. During Witiza's reign, which lasted from 701 to 709, Arab forces of the
caliphate had conquered northern Morocco and laid siege to Ceuta, the last Byzantine possession in the area. Julian, the imperial
governor of Ceuta, sent his daughter Florinda to the court of Toledo to be educated. Unfortunately, she caught the eye of Witiza's
successor, Roderick, who dishonored her. In retaliation, Julian ceded his control of the Ceuta to the Arabs and incited the Arab viceroy
in North Africa, Musa ibn Nusayr, to attack Spain and ally with Witiza's rebellious sons.
The Arab invasion began with a series of excursions by Tariq ibn Ziyad, the governor of Tangier. Under orders from the viceroy, he
attacked across the Straits of Gibraltar in May 711 with a force of 7,000 men, mostly Berbers. Reinforced by an additional 5,000 men,
Tariq moved to Laguna de la Janda to await the arrival of Spanish forces under Roderick. On July 19, 711, Roderick was defeated and
killed during the Battle of Río Barbate. Witiza's sons and supporters, who had withdrawn during the battle, now joined with Tariq and
encouraged him to advance northward to seize Toledo and Córdoba. In 712, Musa crossed from Morocco with an army of 18,000 Arabs
and captured Sevilla and Merida. Dispatching his son Abdul Aziz to the southwest, Musa joined forces with Tariq at Talavera, then took
up residence in Toledo. In 714, he captured Zaragoza and, with Tariq, made an expedition into Leon and Galicia before returning to
Damascus. After occupying Portugal, Abdul Aziz completed the conquest of Granada and Murcia.
On the whole, the invaders met with little opposition. The sons of Witiza and the other great Visigothic families, whether or not they
converted to Islam, paid tribute in return for extensive domains. Freed from persecution, the Jews were eager allies, and the serfs
gained a measure of freedom. Most of the population converted to Islam, and the converts, known as Muwallads, became active in the
general Moorish population. The unconverted, called Mozarabs, suffered little discrimination and formed prosperous communities in the
Muslim cities. Too few to colonize the country, the Arabs formed the administrative and military cadres in the Zaragoza region. The
Berbers settled mainly in the central and mountainous regions, which resembled their native Atlas Mountains and favored their anarchic
tendencies.
Viewed as a whole, the conquest was not a great calamity. In the beginning, there was a period of anarchy, but the Arab government
soon repressed racial and tribal discord. In many respects, the Arab conquest was beneficial. It brought about an important social
revolution and put an end to many of the ills that had engulfed the country under the Visigoths. The power of the privileged classes, the
clergy, and the nobility was reduced and, by distributing confiscated lands to the population, a peasant proprietorship was established.
The conquest ameliorated the condition of the peasants; the Moors provided many of the Christian slaves and serfs with an easy path
to freedom. They brought Iberia a comparatively advanced culture and new technologies and introduced economically important crops
and new agricultural techniques. Moorish culture influenced architectural styles and native music and dances, and ancient learning,
preserved by the Arabs, was reintroduced to that part of Europe.
CITATION: MLA STYLE
"Muslim conquest of Spain." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2009. Web. 6 Nov. 2009.
<http://www.ancienthistory.abc-clio.com>.
Case Study #4: Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire was the last and greatest of the three West African or merchant empires that existed
between A.D. 1000 and 1600. Centered on the trading city of Gao, Songhai reached beyond its predecessors'
boundaries and established a strong trading relationship with the Arab and European world before its own
demise.
Songhai was created out of the previous West African empires of Ghana and Mali, which ruled respectively
during the periods 800 to 1230 and 1230 to 1464. In 1464, Emperor Sunni Ali founded the Songhai Empire by
conquering the Malian cities of Timbuktu and Jenne and the area of the Niger River bend. In 1492, Ali died,
and rule fell to his son, Sunni Barou. However, Sunni Barou's reign was short-lived. Siding with the non-Muslim
population, he quickly alienated the merchants and aristocracy of Songhai. Fourteen months later, a rebellious
leader, Muhammad Ture, overthrew Sunni Barou and took over the throne.
Under Muhammad, Songhai expanded rapidly into the Sahara, Mali, and the West African coastal area of
Senegambia. To consolidate his new holdings, Muhammad instituted a centralized government, replaced local
chiefs with family members, established a taxation system, and required conquered peoples to pay tribute to
his court. As a Muslim ruler, Muhammad shrewdly expanded his power and influence into the Arab world. In
1497, Muhammad duplicated the legendary 1332 pilgrimage to Mecca by Malian ruler Mansa Musa and
established diplomatic relations with Morocco and Egypt. Additionally, he brought back Muslim scholars to
improve the university in Timbuktu and remodeled Songhai's laws and customs to adhere to stricter Muslim
guidelines. By the end of Muhammad's rule in 1528, Timbuktu had become a center of learning and
subsequently attracted African, Arab, and European scholars.
After Muhammad, there was a succession of rulers. Askia Musa, Muhammad's son, took over in 1528.
However, because of his harsh rule, he was killed in 1531. Three rulers—Bengan Korei, Askia Ismail, and
Askia Issihak I—had short reigns before Askia Dawud took over in 1549. Ruling from 1549 to 1582, Dawud
enjoyed a relatively peaceful and prosperous reign. After the rule of Dawud, Songhai fell on hard times under
the rule of several weak rulers—Askia Muhammad III, Muhammad Bani, and Issihak II. Inevitably, the country
fell into civil war and chaos. Additionally, Songhai's rule waned because of European traders from Portugal
who diverted gold resources from the more traditional trading relationship with the Arab empires. Moroccan
forces invaded the vulnerable empire in 1591, and a fractured Songhai soon fell to the Moroccans and the
preying forces of the increasing Atlantic slave trade.
CITATION: MLA STYLE
"Songhai Empire." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2009. Web. 6 Nov. 2009.
<http://www.ancienthistory.abc-clio.com>.
Case Study #5: Mali Empire
West Africa has been home to a number of civilizations that have prospered from the region's abundant gold deposits, its
stretch of fertile territory along the Niger River, and its strategic location as a nexus for trade between sub-Saharan Africa
and the Maghrib. During the 13th to 15th centuries, the trading empire of Mali ruled a large portion of West Africa.
By the beginning of the 13th century, the large gold-producing nation of Ghana had lost its power. Islamic attack by the
nomadic Almoravids from the Sahara had devastated Ghana's main trading centers, and tribes previously under Ghana's
dominance began to exert their independence. The Susu tribe was influential for a few decades, but ultimately it fell to the
growing power of the Keita clan of the Malinke people, from whom Mali takes its name.
The Malinke were originally pagan, but they saw the economic potential of Islam. Embracing the faith would not only give
them equality with Arabic traders, but it would also lessen the chance of being attacked by such aggressive Muslims as
the Almoravids. Thus, Malian traders spread Islam in their travels. The empire of Mali eventually claimed descent from
Islamic roots, as did most of the West African nations that embraced the religion. Most claimed descent from white
forebears, but Mali claimed black descent: Bilal ibn Rabah, a black slave, was the prophet Muhammad's first muezzin,
and his grandson supposedly settled in the territory that became Mali.
Sundiata, leader of the Malinke, came to power ca. 1230. The earliest recorded leader of Mali, he used his military ability
to bring the area's tribes under his direction and establish a capital city at Niani on the Niger River. Amid good farmland
and iron deposits, Niani was well placed for defense and trade. As the Malinke came to control territory previously
dominated by Ghana, they grew in influence and replaced Ghana as the main producer and distributor of gold.
While Mali's control over gold, salt mines, diamonds, and copper production assured it of economic prosperity, Mali also
made rapid agricultural advancements. Central to that economic output was a continuity of the slave-trading markets that
supplied the labor for systemic agrarian production. In addition, Mali's artisans in wood carving, jewelry making, and
ornament production and the cloth and textile industry all helped lead the empire to material greatness.
A succession of leaders of irregular quality managed to maintain dominance in the area, but the strongest and best
known, Mansa Musa, emerged as emperor around 1307. Contemporary Muslim writers widely reported on and praised his
25-year tenure. He became famous for making the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 and spending incredible amounts of gold
along the way.
Mansa Musa also extended the power of the empire by bringing the city of Timbuktu under Mali's control and turning it into
the major trade and intellectual center it would remain for generations. The prolific Muslim travel writer Ibn Battuta left a
detailed description of the wealth of Timbuktu after he visited Mali in 1352 and 1353.
Under the strong leadership of Sundiata and Mansa Musa, Mali extended its influence from the Niger River in the east to
the Atlantic Ocean in the west. Its power was based on the cooperation of vassal kings and chieftains rather than on
military control, apparently sufficient to maintain a peaceful and profitable empire. Mansa Musa was followed by Mansa
Sulayman, who maintained strong contracts with powers as far away as Morocco.
Internal tensions eventually weakened the Mali Empire in the 15th century. One of the populations that broke away from
Mali during this period, the Songhai established their own state around the city of Gao, downstream from Timbuktu on the
Niger River. In the 1460s, the Songhai leader Sunni Ali launched the Songhai Empire by conquering a series of West
African kingdoms, including the Mali Empire.
CITATION: MLA STYLE
"Mali." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2009. Web. 6 Nov. 2009. <http://www.ancienthistory.abcclio.com>.
Case Study #6: Ghana Empire
Measuring at least 800 miles from north to south and about 3,000 miles from west to east, the Sahara Desert
stretches across most of northern Africa. Crossing it is an arduous task, but for several hundred years, it was
the site of a set of flourishing trade routes controlled by rich empires.
The traders who crossed the desert were known as Berbers. They consisted of several groups of nomads who
traveled across the Sahara in camel caravans. There were several different camel routes, and each had
planned stops at specific oases—places with permanent access to water, generally with a settlement nearby.
The Berber tribes controlled (by force of arms) the oases on particular routes, as well as key territories both to
the north and to the south of the desert. One important route included the salt mine at Taghaza, in the middle
of the Sahara. At that mine, salt blocks were quarried from the ground in 200-pound blocks and transported,
two per camel, to the African nations to the south. Salt was such an important import in the region south of the
Sahara that some sources said it was exchanged for an equal weight of gold.
Just to the south of the Sahara were cities where the Berber caravans from the north met the routes of
Sudanese traders from the south. There, salt, horses, copper, and dates from the north were exchanged for
gold, ivory, kola nuts, and slaves from the rain forests and other regions to the south. Over time, those rich
cities became richer and more powerful, and they gained control of larger territories to form empires. Those
trading empires patrolled the trading routes in their territory to keep them safe from bandits and robbers. The
source of their wealth came from tariffs levied on goods traded in their cities and from their monopoly of much
of the gold trade.
Medieval Ghana
Ghana was located at the western end of Africa, just south of the Sahara in modern Mali and Mauritania
(medieval Ghana did not actually include any of the modern nation of Ghana). It controlled the most important
trading cities at the time. While the first historical reference dates from about AD 800, it is unknown when the
medieval kingdom of Ghana was first established. It is certain that by 1000, Ghana was a wealthy and powerful
empire.
Ghana's main item for trading was gold. The area near Ghana included many rich gold mines. (Historians are
uncertain whether the gold mines were within Ghana or if Ghana simply controlled the trade routes that led
from the mines.) The Soninke kings of Ghana strictly controlled the sale of gold: any gold nuggets transported
through or mined in Ghana became the property of the king. The miners and merchants directly traded only
gold dust.
Beginning in about 1054, the Almoravids, a group of Muslim Berbers, conquered many of Ghana's key trading
cities, including the capital itself. The Berber coalition did not remain united, and Ghana regained
independence within several years. However, Ghana was left weakened, both militarily and economically.
Several vassal states took advantage of Ghana's weak position to try to gain independence, and a struggle for
power resulted. The volume of trade in Ghana's principal cities declined. Furthermore, the central area
surrounding the capital had been so damaged by overgrazing by the invaders that it was no longer capable of
producing crops to support the cities.
CITATION: MLA STYLE
"Ghana and Mali: Trans-Saharan Trading Empires (Overview)." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2009.
Web. 6 Nov. 2009. <http://www.ancienthistory.abc-clio.com>.
Case Study #7: East African Trading Empires
Three miles off the coast of Tanzania lies an island with an extraordinary set of stone ruins. Among the
decaying monuments of stone and coral on the mostly deserted island, visitors can find the oldest standing
mosque in East Africa and a sprawling palace complex that was the largest stone structure in sub-Saharan
Africa for more than four centuries. The island is called Kilwa, and it was the center of the wealthiest and most
powerful trading empire on the East African coast from the 13th century until the arrival of Europeans in the
early 16th century. The site of ancient Kilwa is now known as Kilwa Kisiwani (Swahili for "Kilwa on the island"),
in order to distinguish it from later settlements on the mainland called Kilwa Kivinje and Kilwa Masoko.
Trade on the Swahili Coast
The first evidence of permanent settlement on Kilwa appears from around AD 800, although there are iron
tools and pottery shards on the island that suggest that it was inhabited seasonally by Bantu people from the
African mainland in earlier centuries. The permanent settlement in the ninth century probably came about
because the island presented an excellent base to conduct trade between the mainland and the expanding
Islamic mercantile world to the north. During that period, the economy of the pan-Islamic world, which
stretched from North Africa to India, was growing dramatically due to conquest and trade. Demand grew in the
wealthy Muslim cities for such African products as ivory, rhino horn, animal skins, copper, and most of all gold.
African markets, in turn, desired the fine textiles, spices, glassware, and jewelry produced in the Near East and
Asia. Trading communities grew up at such East African locations as Kilwa, Mogadishu, Zanzibar, and Pemba
Island to foster trade between those markets. The stretch of African coastline from Somalia to Mozambique
later became known as the Swahili Coast after the Swahili (or Kiswahili) language, a mix of Bantu dialect and
Arabic vocabulary that developed as a trading language in the region.
According to local tradition, the city-state of Kilwa was founded in the 10th century by a Persian nobleman
named Ali bin al-Hasan, who bought the island from a local Bantu chieftain for a large quantity of textiles.
Archaeological records suggest that the reign of Ali bin al-Hasan in Kilwa did not actually begin until the 11th
century, however. Silver and copper coins bearing his name start appearing in archaeological records of Kilwa
and nearby regions in the late 11th century, suggesting that his reign probably marked the beginning of an era
of prosperity on the island. Sultan al-Hasan established Islam as the official religion of the city-state. The blend
of Islam and local African spiritual beliefs that developed on the island was known as Shirazi Islam, after the
Shiraz region of Persia where al-Hasan supposedly was born.
The Gold Trade
An apparent scarcity of coins and building activity in the mid-12th century suggests that the island went
through a period of economic depression for some decades during that time. It is probable that Kilwa's relative
decline was due to competition from the trading states of Mogadishu and Zanzibar, which were farther north on
the African coast and, therefore, closer to the principal trading partners on the Arabian Peninsula. In the 13th
century, however, Kilwa appears to have secured control of the gold supply from the port of Sofala in what is
now Mozambique. That port provided the major outlet to the world markets in gold from medieval Zimbabwe, a
powerful kingdom in the African interior that was building the imposing stone city of Great Zimbabwe at about
that time. Through a combination of aggressive trade and a willingness to attack rival cities for control of their
markets, Kilwa soon became the wealthiest city-state on the East African coast.
Kilwa reached the height of its wealth and power during the reign of Sultan al-Hasan bin Sulaiman. The gold
trade expanded dramatically in the early 14th century to meet the increased demand from Europe, which
required gold both to finance its many wars and to support the emergence of a banking system. Sulaiman's
contemporary in West Africa, Mansa Musa of Mali, enjoyed a similar explosion of wealth. The wealth of
Sulaiman's court was recorded at its peak by the Muslim traveler and writer Ibn Battuta, who traveled to Kilwa
in 1331 because he had heard that Sulaiman was a generous supporter of Islamic scholars. Sulaiman offered
patronage to traveling scholars as a way to establish that his city-state, although on the outskirts of the Islamic
world, could be the equal in prestige and scholarship to the older Islamic states in the Near East and North
Africa.
Buildings of Stone and Coral
Travelers to Kilwa often remarked on how prosperous and well built the city appeared. In Ibn Battuta's time, the
homes were made primarily of wood, but as trade revenues flowed in over the following century, more houses
were made out of a sturdy combination of stone and coral. Local coral could be made into a kind of concrete
mortar to hold the stones in place. Some of the homes were two or three stories, which was remarkable in the
14th century. The wealthy merchants of Kilwa used the textiles, spices, and glassware, for which they had
traded in eastern markets. The wealthiest families ate on porcelain plates from China.
The most lasting reminders of the wealth of Kilwa are the large stone buildings constructed during the island's
glory days. The Great Mosque of Kilwa, which was first built around the time of Ali bin al-Hasan or perhaps
somewhat earlier, was expanded during Sulaiman's reign to include vaulted ceilings and a great dome. That
dome is thought to have been the first true dome constructed on the East African coast. Sulaiman also
oversaw the construction of the Husuni Kubwa palace, a vast complex that included more than 100 rooms and
terraces. Its highlights included a swimming pool and decorative wall and door carvings.
The Decline of Kilwa
Kilwa experienced another economic decline during the reign of Sulaiman's successor, his brother Daud bin
Sulaiman. The devastation of the Black Death in Europe and Asia depressed the world economy for decades,
leading to a substantial drop in the demand for gold. During that period, the Husuni Kubwa palace was
deserted, probably because the sultan could not afford to maintain such a large residence with his reduced
resources.
The gold market rebounded substantially in the early 14th century, leading to another period of prosperity in
Kilwa. Many of the stone houses and other buildings on Kilwa date from 1410 to 1440. The Small Domed
Mosque, one of the island's most interesting architectural remnants, was constructed during that period. Kilwa
remained prosperous throughout the end of the 15th century. In 1498, however, the people of Kilwa saw a
development that would have dire consequences for the control of trade on the Swahili Coast—the arrival of
Europeans in the Indian Ocean.
Using new navigational methods and advanced ships, the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama sailed around
the Cape of Good Hope and stopped briefly at Kilwa on the way to India. In 1502, da Gama led a Portuguese
fleet that attacked Kilwa and extracted tribute payments from the sultan. In 1505, a fleet led by Francisco
d'Almeida attacked and occupied Kilwa in order to gain control of its trade routes. The Portuguese occupied
Kilwa from 1505 to 1512, during which time they built the Gereza fortress that still stands on the island. Kilwa
was taken by an Arab mercenary in 1512 after Portuguese troops had decided to consolidate their power at
mainland locations, but the damage to Kilwa's status was already done. The Portuguese were to remain the
dominant trading power on the East African coast for the next two centuries, and Kilwa would never regain its
status as a major trading power.
CITATION: MLA STYLE
"The Economic and Cultural Life of Kilwa (Overview)." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2009. Web. 6 Nov.
2009. <http://www.ancienthistory.abc-clio.com>.
Case Study #8: Safavid Empire
The Safavid Empire was based in what is today Iran. This Islamic Empire was strong enough to
challenge the Ottomans in the west and the Mughals in the east.
Origins
The Empire was founded by the Safavids, a Sufi order that goes back to Safi al-Din (1252-1334). Safi
al-Din converted to Shi'ism and was a Persian nationalist. The Safavid brotherhood was originally a
religious group. Over the following centuries the brotherhood became stronger, by attracting local
warlords and by political marriages. It became a military group as well as a religious one in the 15th
century. Many were attracted by the brotherhood's allegiance to Ali, and to the 'hidden Imam'. In the
15th century the brotherhood became more militarily aggressive, and waged a jihad (Islamic holy war)
against parts of what are now modern Turkey and Georgia. The Safavid Empire dates from the rule
of Shah Ismail (ruled 1501-1524). In 1501, the Safavid Shahs declared independence when the
Ottomans outlawed Shi'a Islam in their territory. The Safavid Empire was strengthened by important
Shi'a soldiers from the Ottoman army who had fled from persecution. When the Safavids came to
power, Shah Ismail was proclaimed ruler at the age of 14 or 15, and by 1510 Ismail had conquered
the whole of Iran.
Religion in the Safavid Empire
One of Shah Ismail's most important decisions was to declare that the state religion would be the
form of Islam called Shi'ism, that at the time was completely foreign to Iranian culture. The Safavids
launched a vigorous campaign to convert what was then a predominantly Sunni population by
persuasion and by force. The Sunni ulama (a religious council of wise men) either left or were killed.
To promote Shi'ism the Safavids brought in scholars from Shi'ite countries to form a new religious
elite. They appointed an official (the Sadr) to co-ordinate this elite - and ensure that it did what the
Shah wanted. The religious leaders effectively became a tool of the government. The Safavids also
spent money to promote religion, making grants to shrines and religious schools. And most craftily of
all, they used grants of land and money to create a new class of wealthy religious aristocrats who
owed everything to the state. In specifically religious terms the Safavids not only persecuted Sunni
Muslims, but Shi'ites with different views, and all other religions. Alien shrines were vandalized, and
Sufi [/religion/religions/islam/subdivisions/sufism_1.shtml] mystic groups forbidden. This was
surprising, since the Safavids owed their origins to a Sufi order and to a form of Shi'ism that they now
banned. They also reduced the importance of the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), replacing it with
pilgrimage to Shi'ite shrines. The early Safavid empire was effectively a theocracy. Religious and
political power were completely intertwined, and encapsulated in the person of the Shah. The people
of the Empire soon embraced the new faith with enthusiasm, celebrating Shi'ite festivals with great
piety. The most significant of these was Ashura, when Shia Muslims mark the death of Husayn. Ali
was also venerated.
Because Shi'ism was now a state religion, with major educational establishments devoted to it, its
philosophy and theology developed greatly during the Safavid Empire.
Strengths
The Safavid Empire, although driven and inspired by strong religious faith, rapidly built the
foundations of strong central secular government and administration. The Safavids benefited from
their geographical position at the centre of the trade routes of the ancient world. They became rich on
the growing trade between Europe and the Islamic civilizations of central Asia and India.
Art and culture
Under Safavid rule eastern Persia became a great cultural centre. During this period, painting,
metalwork, textiles and carpets reached new heights of perfection. For art to succeed at this scale,
patronage had to come from the top. This was not entirely for love of beauty. Much of the early art
was devoted to celebrating the glories of the earlier Iranian kingdom, and thus, by implication, making
legitimate the Safavids as that kingdom's current heirs. The Safavids were often artists themselves.
Shah Ismail was a poet and Shah Tahmasp a painter. Their patronage, which included opening royal
workshops for artists, created a favourable climate for the development of art.
The artistic achievements and the prosperity of the Safavid period are best represented by Isfahan,
the capital of Shah Abbas. Isfahan had parks, libraries and mosques that amazed Europeans, who
had not seen anything like this at home. The Persians called it Nisf-e-Jahan, 'half the world', meaning
that to see it was to see half the world. Isfahan became one of the world's most elegant cities. In its
heyday it was also one of the largest with a population of one million; 163 mosques, 48 religious
schools, 1801 shops and 263 public baths.
Decline
Decline
The Safavid Empire was held together in the early years by conquering new territory, and then by the
need to defend it from the neighbouring Ottoman Empire. But in the seventeenth century the Ottoman
threat to the Safavids declined. The first result of this was that the military forces became less
effective.
With their major enemy keeping quiet, the Safavid Shahs became complacent, and then corrupt and
decadent. Power passed to the Shi'a ulama (a religious council of wise men) which eventually
deposed the Shahs and proclaimed the world's first Islamic Republic in the eighteenth century. The
ulama developed a theory that only a Mujtahid - one deeply learned in the Sharia. (Qur'anic law) and
one who has had a blameless life, could rule.
In 1726 an Afghan group destroyed the ruling dynasty. After the conquest a division of powers was
agreed between the new Afghan Shahs and the Shi'a ulama. The Afghan Shahs controlled the state
and foreign policy, and could levy taxes and make secular laws. The ulama retained control of
religious practice; and enforced the Sharia (Qur'anic Law) in personal and family matters.
The problems of this division of spiritual and political authority is something that Iran is still working
out today.
CITATION: MLA STYLE
"The Safavid Empire" Religion and Ethics. BBC. CLIO, 2002. Web. 6 Nov. 2009. < http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ >.
Case Study #9: Mughal Empire
The Taj Mahal houses the jewelled tomb of Mumtaz Mahal, much loved wife of emperor Shah Jehan.The
Mughal (or Mogul) Empire ruled most of India and Pakistan in the 16th and 17th centuries.
It consolidated Islam in South Asia, and spread Muslim (and particularly Persian) arts and culture as well as
the faith.
The Mughals were Muslims who ruled a country with a large Hindu majority. However for much of their empire
they allowed Hindus to reach senior government or military positions.
The Mughals brought many changes to India:
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Centralised government that brought together many smaller kingdoms
Delegated government with respect for human rights
Persian art and culture
Persian language mixed with Arabic and Hindi to create Urdu
Periods of great religious tolerance
A style of architecture (e.g. the Taj Mahal)
A system of education that took account of pupils' needs and culture
Muslims in India
There had been Muslims in India long before the Mughals. The first Muslims arrived in the 8th century.
Ahmedabads Jama Masjid (Grand Mosque) was built in the 15th century in Gujarat. In the first half of the 10th
century a Muslim ruler of Afghanistan invaded the Punjab 11 times, without much political success, but taking
away a great deal of loot. A more successful invasion came at the end of the 12th century. This eventually led
to the formation of the Delhi Sultanate. A later Muslim invasion in 1398 devastated the city of Delhi. The
Mughal Empire grew out of descendants of the Mongol Empire who were living in Turkestan in the 15th
century. They had become Muslims and assimilated the culture of the Middle East, while keeping elements of
their Far Eastern roots. They also retained the great military skill and cunning of their Mongol ancestors, and
were among the first Western military leaders to use guns.
Babur
Babur the first Mughal Emperor, was a descendent of Genghis Khan and Tamerlaine. Babur succeeded his
father as ruler of the state of Farghana in Turkestan when he was only 12, although he was swiftly deposed by
older relatives. Babur moved into Afghanistan in 1504, and then moved on to India, apparently at the invitation
of some Indian princes who wanted to dispose of their ruler. Babur disposed of the ruler, and decided to take
over himself. He captured the Turkic Ghur'iat Sultanate of Delhi in 1526, imposing his rule on most of Northern
India. The Empire he founded was a sophisticated civilisation based on religious toleration. It was a mixture of
Persian, Mongol and Indian culture. Under Babur Hinduism was tolerated and new Hindu temples were built
with his permission. Trade with the rest of the Islamic world, especially Persia and through Persia to Europe,
was encouraged. The importance of slavery in the Empire diminished and peace was made with the Hindu
kingdoms of Southern India. Babur brought a broad-minded, confident Islam from central Asia. His first act
after conquering Delhi was to forbid the killing of cows because that was offensive to Hindus. Babur may have
been descended from brutal conquerors, but he was not a barbarian bent on loot and plunder. Instead he had
great ideas about civilisation, architecture and administration. He even wrote an autobiography, The Babur Namah. The autobiography is candid, honest and at times even poetic. Babur was followed by his son
Humayun who was a bad emperor, a better poet, and a drug addict. He rapidly lost the empire. He did
eventually recover the throne but died soon afterwards after breaking his neck falling downstairs. While
Humayan was certainly disastrous as a ruler, his love of poetry and culture heavily influenced his son Akbar,
and helped to make the Mughal Empire an artistic power as well as a military one.
Abu Akbar
The third Emperor, Abu Akbar, is regarded as one of the great rulers of all time, regardless of country. Akbar
succeeded to the throne at 13, and started to recapture the remaining territory lost from Babur's empire. By the
time of his death in 1605 he ruled over most of north, central, and western India. Akbar worked hard to win
over the hearts and minds of the Hindu leaders. While this may well have been for political reasons - he
married a Hindu princess (and is said to have married several thousand wives for political and diplomatic
purposes) - it was also a part of his philosophy. Akbar believed that all religions should be tolerated, and that a
ruler's duty was to treat all believers equally, whatever their belief. He established a form of delegated
government in which the provincial governors were personally responsible to him for the quality of government
in their territory. Akbar's government machine included many Hindus in positions of responsibility - the
governed were allowed to take a major part in the governing. Akbar also ended a tax (jizya) that had been
imposed on non-Muslims. This discriminatory tax had been much resented, and ending it was a popular move.
An innovation was the amount of autonomy he allowed to the provinces. For example, non-Muslims were not
forced to obey Islamic law (as was the case in many Islamic lands), and Hindus were allowed to regulate
themselves through their own law and institutions.
Jahangir
Akbar's son, Emperor Jahangir, readopted Islam as the state religion and continued the policy of religious
toleration. His court included large numbers of Indian Hindus, Persian Shi'a and Sufis and members of local
heterodox Islamic sects. Jahangir also began building the magnificent monuments and gardens by which the
Mughals are chiefly remembered today, importing hundreds of Persian architects to build palaces and create
magnificent gardens. Jahangir's approach was typified by the development of Urdu as the official language of
Empire. Urdu uses an Arabic script, but Persian vocabulary and Hindi grammatical structure.
Jahan
The architectural achievements of the Mughals peaked between 1592 and 1666, during the reign of Jahangir's
successor Jahan. The Taj Mahal marks the apex of the Mughal Empire; it symbolises stability, power and
confidence. The building is a mausoleum built by Jahan for his wife Mumtaz and it has come to symbolise the
love between two people.
Jahan's son Aurangzeb was the last great Mughal Emperor.Aurangzeb ruled for nearly 50 years. He came to
the throne after imprisoning his father and having his older brother killed. He was a strong leader, whose
conquests expanded the Mughal Empire to its greatest size. He no longer allowed the Hindu community to live
under their own laws and customs, but imposed Sharia over the whole empire. Thousands of Hindu temples
and shrines were torn down and a punitive tax on Hindu subjects was re-imposed. Under Aurangzeb, the
Mughal empire reached the peak of its military power, but the rule was unstable. This was partly because of
the hostility that Aurangazeb's intolerance and taxation inspired in the population, but also because the empire
had simply become to big to be successfully governed. The Hindu kingdoms also fought back, often supported
by the French and the British, who used them to tighten their grip on the sub-continent.
CITATION: MLA STYLE
"The Mughal Empire" Religion and Ethics. BBC. CLIO, 2002. Web. 6 Nov. 2009. < http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/ >.
Case Study #10: SE Asia
The spread of Islam to various parts of coastal India set the stage for its further expansion to island
Southeast Asia. As we have seen, Arab traders and sailors regularly visited the ports of Southeast
Asia long before they converted to Islam. Initially the region was little more than a middle ground,
where the Chinese segment of the great Euroasian trading complex met the Indian Ocean trading
zone to the west. At ports on the coast of the Malayan peninsula, east Sumatra, and somewhat later
north Java, goods from China were transferred from East Asian vessels to Arab or Indian ships, and
products from as far west as Rome were loaded into the emptied Chinese ships to be carried to East
Asia. By the 7th and 8th centuries A.D., sailors and ships from areas within Southeast Asia particularly Sumatra and Malaya - had become active in the seaborne trade of the region. Southeast
Asian products, especially luxury items, such as aromatic woods from the rainforests of Borneo and
Sumatra, and spices, such as cloves, nutmeg, and mace from the far end of the Indonesian
archipelago, had also become important exports to both China in the east and India and the
Mediterranean area in the west. These trading links were to prove even more critical to the expansion
of Islam in Southeast Asia than they had earlier been to the spread of Buddhism and Hinduism.
As the coastal trade and shipping of India came to be controlled (from the 8th century onward)
increasingly by Muslims from such regions as Gujarat and various parts of south India, elements of
Islamic culture began to filter into island Southeast Asia. But only in the 13th century after the
collapse of the far-flung trading empire of Shrivijaya, which was centered on the Straits of Malacca
between Malaya and the north tip of Sumatra, was the way open for the widespread proselytization of
Islam. With its great war fleets, Shrivijaya controlled trade in much of the area and was at times so
powerful that it could launch attacks on rival empires in south India. Indian traders, Muslim or
otherwise, were welcome to trade in the chain of ports controlled by Shrivijaya. Since the rulers and
officials of Shrivijaya were devout Buddhists, however, there was little incentive for the traders and
sailors of Southeast Asian ports to convert to Islam, the religion of growing numbers of the merchants
and sailors from India. With the fall of Shrivijaya, the way was open for the establishment of Muslim
trading centers and efforts to preach the faith to the coastal peoples. Muslim conquests in areas such
as Gujarat and Bengal, which separated Southeast Asia from Buddhist centers in India from the 11th
century onward, also played a role in opening the way for Muslim conversion.
The Pattern Of Conversion
As was the case in most of the areas to which Islam spread, peaceful and voluntary conversion was
far more important than conquest and force in spreading the faith in Southeast Asia. Almost
everywhere in the islands of the region, trading contacts paved the way for conversion. Muslim
merchants and sailors introduced local peoples to the ideas and rituals of the new faith and
impressed on them how much of the known world had already been converted. Muslim ships also
carried Sufis to various parts of Southeast Asia, where they were destined to play as vital a role in
conversion as they had in India. The first areas to be won to Islam in the last decades of the 13th
century were several small port centers on the northern coast of Sumatra. From these ports, the
religion spread in the following centuries across the Strait of Malacca to Malaya.
On the mainland the key to widespread conversion was the powerful trading city of Malacca, whose
smaller trading empire had replaced the fallen Shrivijaya. From the capital at Malacca, Islam spread
down the east coast of Sumatra, up the east and west coasts of Malaya, to the island of Borneo, and
to the trading center of Demak on the north coast of Java. From Demak, the most powerful of the
trading states on north Java, the Muslim faith was disseminated to other Javanese ports and, after a
long struggle with a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom in the interior, to the rest of the island. From Demak,
Islam was also carried to the Celebes, tha spice islands in the eastern archipelago, and from there to
Mindanao in the southern Philippines. This progress of Islamic conversion shows that port cities in
coastal areas were particularly receptive to the new faith. Here the trading links were critical. Once
one of the key cities in a trading cluster converted, it was in the best interest of others to follow suit in
order to enhance personal ties and provide a common basis in Muslim law to regulate business
deals. Conversion to Islam also linked these centers, culturally as well as economically, to the
merchants and ports of India, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. Islam made slow progress in
areas such as central Java, where Hindu-Buddhist dynasties contested its spread. But the fact that
the earlier conversion to these Indian religions had been confined mainly to the ruling elites in Java
and other island areas left openings for mass conversions to Islam that the Sufis eventually exploited.
The island of Bali, where Hinduism had taken deep root at the popular level, remained largely
impervious to the spread of Islam. The same was true of most of mainland Southeast Asia, where
centuries before the coming of Islam, Theravada Buddhism had spread from India and Ceylon and
won the fervent adherence of both the ruling elites and the peasant masses.
Sufi Mystics And The Nature Of Southeast Asian Islam
The fact that Islam came to Southeast Asia primarily from India and that it was spread in many areas
by Sufis had much to do with the mystical quality of the religion and its tolerance for coexistence with
earlier animist, Hindu, and Buddhist beliefs and rituals. Just as they had in the Middle East and India,
the Sufis who spread Islam in Southeast Asia varied widely in personality and approach. Most were
believed by those who followed them to have magical powers, and virtually all Sufis established
mosque and school centers from which they traveled in neighboring regions to preach the faith. In
winning converts, the Sufis were willing to allow the inhabitants of island Southeast Asia to retain preIslamic beliefs and practices that orthodox scholars would clearly have found contrary to Islamic
doctrine. Pre-Islamic customary law remained important in regulating social interaction, while Islamic
law was confined to specific sorts of agreements and exchanges. Women retained a much stronger
position, both within the family and in society, than they had in the Middle East and India. Local and
regional markets, for example, continued to be dominated by the trading of small-scale female buyers
and sellers. In such areas as western Sumatra, lineage and inheritance continued to be traced
through the female line after the coming of Islam, despite its tendency to promote male dominance
and descent through the male line. Perhaps most tellingly, pre-Muslim religious beliefs and rituals
were incorporated into Muslim ceremonies. Indigenous cultural staples, such as the brilliant
Javanese shadow plays that were based on the Indian epics of the Brahmanic age, were refined, and
they became even more central to popular and elite belief and practice than they had been in the preMuslim era.
CITATION: MLA STYLE
"The Spread of Islam to SE Asia" The Spread of Islam World History Project. 2002. Web. 6 Nov. 2009. http://history-orld.org/islam4.htm>.