(WIP) WHAP Unit 1.2 Developments in Dar al-Islam 1200-1450

After the death of Muhammad in 632, Islam spread rapidly into Spain and India through military conquest, as well as missions and merchants. When the Abbasid Caliphate fell, other Islamic nations replaced it.

Cultural Makeup

-Abbasid Caliphate = led by Arabs & Persians, Later states = led by Turks, but kept Sharia & centers for intellectual innovations

• Universities in Baghdad, Cordoba, Cairo, & Bukhara of Central Asia that spread ideas to Europe

  • Translated Greek classics (ex. Aristotle) into Arabic

  • Studied Indian math

  • Adopted Chinese paper-making

• Social Sphere: Merchants were higher class than in other societies & could grow rich

  • Islamic expansion to non-Arabs: Discrimination waned 800 & non-land owning military control & tribute to caliph (Byzantine empire) kept life unchanged

  • Enslavement: Okay to non-monotheists, typically Africa, Kievan Rus (East Europe), Central Asia

Egyptian Mamluks

-Enslaved Turks often bought by Arabs for military & bureaucracy, more mobility than other slaves

• Mamluk Sultanate: 1250-1517 Egypt, prospered by facilitating trade in cotton & sugar b/w Dar al-Islam & Europe

  • Declined in power b/c of new Euro sea-faring tech

Seljuk Turks

-1050s: Civil war b/w Harun al-Rashid’s sons + Disputes over succession → Provincial gov. take adv. of disorder & use taxes to build seceded bases of power + Peasant & heretical uprisings → Abbasid ally w/ nomadic Seljuk warriors, who overthrow caliph

• Sultan: Seljuk leader reduced role from Abbasid caliph to Sunni chief

Crusaders

-Unlike Abbasids, Seljuk Turks limited Christians’ travel b/w holy sites, so European soldiers fought to reopen access

Mongols

-1258: Conquered Abbasid empire & ended Seljuk rule

Baghdad

-House of Wisdom attracted scholars across Afro-Eurasia

-Center trade moved northwards = lost $ & pop = infrastructure decayed & not enough food

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi

-1201-1274 ~Most celebrated Islamic scholars

• Directed most advanced observatory w/ most accurate astronomical charts

• Trigonometry, law, ethics, philosophy

  • Med adv. = better hospital care & med. exams

Ibn Khaldun

-1332-1406 Est. historiography & sociology

A’ishah al-Ba’uniyyah

-1460-1507 Sufi poet, most prolific female Muslim writer atp

• Literature Adv.: Most poems described her journey towards mystical illumination

Sufi Muslims

-Possibily formed in response to Umayyad Caliphate’s love of luxury

• Emphasized introspection for truths that could not found in education

• Missionaries won converts by adapting local customs

Women’s status in Islam

-Muslim women enjoyed more freedom than Jewish & Christian women:

• Dowries to brides, not fathers

• No female infanticide

• Can initiate divorce/remarry & gain cash settlement & inherit property (Inheritance was patrilineal)

• Birth control

• Could est. businesses

-However, Quran est. patriarchal structures:

• Testimony was half of a man’s

• Sexual lives controlled by male guardians

• Harem: dwelling set aside for wives, concubines, & their children (Men = 4 wives; Women = 1 husband)

-Enslaved women served as concubines & had more independence than married women, could perform in front of men & buy their way out of slavery

-Central Asia & Byzantine brought hijab (modest dressing or covering) for women & turbans/skull caps for men, gender segregation in education

• Future interpretations of Quran limited women’s rights