Download The Umayyad Empire

AP World History
The Islamic World
Presentation Outline
1)Mohammed and the origins of Islam
2)The split in Islam: Shi’a vs. Sunni
3)The expansion of Islam under the Umayyad
Caliphate (661-750 CE)
4)Decline of the Umayyad Caliphate
5)Rise of the Abbasid Caliphate(750-1258)
6)Decline of the Abbasid Caliphate
1) Mohammed and the Origins of Islam
Abrahamic Religion: Judaism, Christianity,
Islam
 Muslims are strict monotheists.

They believe in the JudeoChristian God, which they call
Allah.

Muslims believe that the Torah
and the Bible, like the Qur’an,
is the word of God.
Peoples of the Book
The Prophetic
Tradition
Adam
Noah
Abraham
Moses
Jesus
Mohammed
The Origins of the Qur’an
 Mohammed received his first
revelation from the angel
Gabriel in the Cave of Hira in 610.

622  Hijrah  Mohammed
flees Mecca for Medina.
* The beginning of the
Muslim calendar (1 A.H.)

Mohammed’s revelations were
compiled into the Qur’an after
his death in 632 CE
The Qur’an
 Muslims believe it contains the
word of God.

114 suras (chapters).

In the name of Allah,
the compassionate,
the merciful.

Written
in Arabic.
The Mosque
 The Muslim place of worship.
By the time of Mohammed’s death in 632 Islam had spread
throughout most of the Arabian Peninsula
2) The split in Islam: Shi’a vs.
Sunni
• After Muhammed's death in 632 Abu Bakr was
appointed the leader or caliph of Islam
• This created a division among Muslims
• Sunni Muslims believe that the most capable
Muslim should be elected or appointed caliph by
the community
• Shi’a Muslims believe that only a direct spiritual
descendant of Mohamed can be the leader of
the Islamic World
• Both Shi’a and Sunni accept all the basic tenets
of Islam
This division in Islam persists
today
Abu Bakr: First Islamic Caliph
and chosen successor after
Mohammed- considered first
Sunni leader after Mohammed
Ali: Shi’a spiritual
leader- considered the
direct successor of
Mohammed
3) The expansion of Islam under the
Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE)
Geography of the Caliphate
• Mesopotamia
• North Africa
• Spain
• Crete, Sicily, and Sardinia
• Northwest India
• Dominated eastern Mediterranean Sea
• Capital at Damascus
Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem built by the
Umayyad- today a site of dispute between religious
Jews and Muslims
Islamic Expansion
Subjects
• Only Muslim Arabs first-class
citizens could share in booty
(conquered wealth)
• Local populations converted to
Islam (Mawali). What was
motivation?
• Non-Arab Muslims faced
discrimination - inferior
• Number of conversions to
Islam during the reign of the
Umayyad was low
Family and Gender
• Islam under Muhammad
stressed family and
equality of women
• Women had some freedom
under Umayyads - pursued
wide range of occupations
• Rising Arab urbanization
= decline of women’s
rights
• Persian custom of
seclusion / harem was
adopted
Concubines in Umayyad
Harem
4) Decline and Fall of the Umayyad
Caliphate
• Umayyad became soft and
corrupt due to its increasing
wealth and power
• Warrior lifestyle declined
• Decadent living sparked revolts
• Umayyads wiped out
• Grandson of Umayyad caliph
escaped to Spain - founded
Caliphate of Cordoba
5) The rise of the Abbasid Caliphate
(750-1258CE)
• Abbasids turned on Shi’a allies who
helped to remove the Umayyads.
• Built centralized state- absolute power
• Capital at Baghdad
• Revenues were collected in the form of
tribute and taxes
The Abbasids
• Caliphs placed themselves above Islamic
law
• Rulers called themselves “Shadow of god
on Earth” Divine rule?
• Caliphs became remote from people
• New emphasis on conversions
• Malawi gained equality with Arab Muslims
• Persians became powerful force in
Abbasid court
Commerce and Urbanization
• Wealth and status of
merchant and
landlord class grew
• Muslims and Tang
China became
engines behind
revival of world trade
• Technology - Arab
Dhows & lateen
(triangular) sails
• Business partnerships
between Muslims,
Christians, and Jews
common (Sabbaths)
The
Astrolabe
Arab invention
which aided
navigation
Commerce and Urbanization
• Increase in handicraft
production (furniture,
carpets, glass, etc)
• Guild associations
formed
• Wealthy landed elite
formed called Ayan
• Many farmers were
tenants,
sharecroppers, or
migrant laborers
• Towns flourished
despite political
instability
A shop in a bazaar
Slavery
• Unskilled labor done by
slaves - some brutality
• Slaves could gain
freedom and/or serve in
positions of power
• Most drudge labor
slaves were Zanj slaves
(non-Muslim Africans)
• Beautiful / educated
slaves prized
• Slave women had more
freedom than Muslim
women
Zanj Slaves
Slavery
• Caliph had up to
4,000 slave
concubines
• Most slaves from
Balkans, Central
Asia, and Sudanic
Africa
• Word “slave”
derived from “Slav”
A caliph and his concubine
Women
• Women increasingly
subjugated to men
(harem / veil)
• Women from lower
classes worked to
help support family
• Rich women had no
outlets
• Marriage age at
puberty (legal age= 9)
Purdah: wearing of the veil and seclusion
It was believed that women were sex
maniacs that men had to be ‘protected’ from.
Religious Trends
• Religious scholars
(ulama) became
increasingly
reactionary
• Sufi movementwandering
mystics- factor in
spread of Islam
Whirling Dervish – Sufi
whirls himself into trancelike state
6) Decline of the Abbasid Caliphate
• Shi’ite revolts plagued
Abbasids
• Decadent living strained
revenues
• Problem of succession
• Court corruption- wives,
concubines, ministers,
eunuchs, courtesans, etc
• Increasing influence of
Persian ministers over
caliphs
• Harun al-Rashid – most famous caliph
• Rashid’s death resulted in civil wars over
succession
• Successors created bodyguard of slave
mercenaries - Turks (70,000)
• Turks became power behind thronemurdered and replaced caliphs. Muslim
Praetorian Guard?
A Turkish warrior
• Turkish mercenaries
became violent force in
Muslim society- source
of constant riots
• Expense of putting down
Turks, paying other
mercenary forces,
construction projects
caused financial crisis
• Villages placed under
rule of mercenaries in
lieu of payment
• Pillaging led to destruction / abandonment
of villages
• Irrigation structure collapsed
• Peasants fled, died, or turned to banditry
• Loss of territory as regions split from
Abbasid rule
• Buyids of Persia (breakaway region)
captured Baghdad- caliphs became
puppets (945 CE)
Seljuk Turks
• Buyid control broken in 1055 by Seljuk
Turks
• Turkish military rulers ran empire in name
of caliphs
• Turks crushed Byzantine army and
opened Anatolian Peninsula to settlement
• Fought against Christian Crusaders
End of the Caliphate
• Mongol assaults on Muslim Persia by
Chinggis Khan
• Hulegu (grandson) completed conquest
of Baghdad in 1258
• Last Abbasid caliph executed
• Mongols turned back by Mameluk Turks
(rulers of Egypt)
• Islamic center of gravity shifted to
Cairo, Egypt