Middle Eastern Islamic Empires: Political, Religious, and Cultural Developments

Discuss the relationship between religious and political authority in the Middle East. How did the Muslim theory of the caliphate and sultanate develop over time? Examine at least three of the following key polities in your response: the Prophet and the early Caliphate, the Umayyads, the Abbasids, the Fatimids, the Mamluks, the Ottomans, and the Safavids.

Thesis: Religious and political authority were united but unity broke down over time

Prophet and Early Caliphate

- Muhammad

- Rightly Guided Caliphs

- Cracks Appear

Abbasids

- Early Abbasids

- Seljuks

Ottomans

- Sultan = Supreme political and military ruler

- Institutional religious authority

- Caliphate political tool

Describe how sectarianism (Sunni/Shi'i) influenced the development of political entities and their relationships. Discuss the rise of opposition against the Umayyads and Abbasids, as well as the Ottoman-Safavid rivalry.

Sectarianism

- Devotion to an interpretation of political legitimacy

- Sunni vs Shia

Umayyads (Sunni)

- sideline Prophet's family

- Downfall (Kufa and Iraq)

Abbasids (Shia -> Sunni)

- Sunni to distinguish

- Downfall (Buyids and Fatimids)

Ottoman-Safavid Rivalry

- Safavid (Twelver Shia)

- Ottoman (Sunni)

- Battle of Chaldiran (1514)

Discuss the role of the Turks as slave soldiers, ruling elites, and empire builders. Analyze their impact on Middle Eastern history, culture, and institutions. Include institutions like the vizierate and military slavery, along with major states such as the Seljuks, Mamluks, and Ottomans.

Thesis: Turks entered Islamic world s slave soldiers but turned into ruling elites

Slave Soldiers:

- Recruited by Abbasids

- Mamluk caste system

Seljuks:

- Rise (Baghdad and Manziert)

- Key Institutions (Vizier, Sulta, Iqta)

- Impact

Mamluks:

- Rise (overthrow Ayyubids and solidify control)

- Key Institutions (Mamluk system, same as Seljuks)

- Impact (Protector of Islam lands)

Ottomans:

- Rise (Constantinople)

- Key Institutions (Janissaries, iqta/timar, vizier, madrassas)

- Impact (worldly empire and trade)

How did the status of women change from the early Muslim community to the Ottoman Empire? How did gender roles and relationships influence and shape the socio-political and economic aspects of the Middle East? What roles, spaces, and opportunities were available or restricted for women, and how did these change over time?

Thesis: Status of women in ME shifted from visible participation to hidden but crucial roles in vast empires

Original Perspective (pre-modern):

- Patriarchal

- Example

Qur'anic Interpretation

- Legal framing

- Access to public life

- Dowry (concubine)

- Education

Ottoman

- Harem (concubine, Suleiman wife example)

- Family/Children

- Ordinary women

Compare and contrast the Umayyads, Abbasids, and Fatimids. While responding, focus on the following: 1) the circumstances that led to their rise to power, 2) the strengths and weaknesses of their administration (discuss specific government and financial institutions they used, their treatment of non-Muslims, and the techniques they employed to legitimize their rule), and 3) their significance in Middle Eastern history.

Rise to power

- Umayyad (Mu'awiya I, first fitna)

- Abbasid (disdain to Umayyad)

- Fatimids (Shia movement, NA, Cairo)

Strengths and Weaknesses

- Umayyad (Abd al-Malik / Non-muslim taxes -> revolution)

- Abbasid (vizier system, diwan system, golden age, iqta / too big, turk slaves)

- Fatimid (Cairo and trade / internal, Nile, rising Sunnis)

Dhimmis (Treatment of Non Muslims)

- Umayyad (non tolerant)

- Abbassid & Fatimids (coexist but taxed)

Significance

- Umayyad (first empire)

- Abbasids (classical Islamic civilization)

- Fatimids (reshaped egypt, shia)

Compare and contrast the Mamluks, Ottomans, and Safavids. While answering the question, focus on the following: 1) the circumstances that led to their rise to power, 2) the strengths and weaknesses of their administration (discuss specific government, military, and financial institutions they used, their treatment of non-Muslims, and techniques they employed to legitimize their rule), and 3) their significance in Middle Eastern history.

Mamluks (1250-1517)

- Rise to power (overthrow Ayyubids in Egypt, defend mongols)

- Administration (Sultan + mamluk amirs / mamluk corps / cairo / tax but can practice)

- Significance

Ottomans (1300-1922)

- Rise to power (small village on Byzantine border, waging Holy war, Constantinople)

- Administration (Sultan + grand vizier / Jannisaries + Timar / TImar to tax farming / Millet system)

- Significance

Safavids

- Rise (Safavid Sufi order of Azerbaijan, Quizilbash (turk warriors)

- Administration (Shah / Quizilbash calvary / silk / harsh to sunnis)

How did the Islamic empires of the Middle East respond to and interact with the non-Islamic world, and how did these interactions evolve over time? Which contacts had the greatest influence on the region's history, and how did they shape the political, economic, and cultural landscape? What are some of the most significant turning points?

Important Info

- Spain (al-Andalus)

- Muslim vs not Muslim

Abbasids - Golden age

- Translation

- Baghdad

- Funduqs/caravansaries

Conquests/Mongols

- Crusades (hostile)

- Mongols (take over but convert to islam)

Ottomans/Europeans

- Venice

- War against Holy League

- Russia

Compare and contrast the significance and legacies of the Crusades and the Mongol invasion. Provide a brief narrative highlighting major turning points (clashes, treaties) and their impacts on Middle Eastern history.

Crusades:

- First (Jerusalem)

- Second (Zengi)

- Third (Saladin)

- Fourth (Constantinople)

- Takeaways

Mongols

- Ghengis Khan

- Halugu Khan (Sack of Baghdad)

- Ayn Jalut

- Ilkhanid-Mamluk wars

- Takeaways

Discuss the significance and the lasting legacies of the Ottoman-Safavid imperial rivalries. Provide a brief narrative highlighting major turning points such as clashes and treaties. Explain how these rivalries influenced the development of the two empires and shaped the history of the Middle East.

Safavid (1501-1722) and Ottoman (1300 - 1922)

- Twelver Shia

- Sunni

Major Dates

- Battle of Chadiran (1522)

- Baghdad (1508)

- Treaty of Amasya (1555)

- Treaty of Zuhab (1639)

Impacts of empires

- Ottoman (gunpowder, centralization)

Safavid (adopted Ottoman guns, less reliance on Qizilbash, prolonged fight)

Impact on ME

- Sunni/Shia divide

- Baghdad and Karbala

Discuss the significance and lasting impacts of the Ottoman-Habsburg imperial rivalries. Provide a brief narrative highlighting major turning points such as clashes and treaties. Explain how these rivalries influenced the development of both empires and the history of the Middle East.

Habsburg and Ottoman

- Habsburg (Christian)

- Ottoman (Muslim)

Major Dates

- Battle of Mohacs

- First Siege of Vienna

- Battle of Lepanto

- Long Turkish War

- Second Siege of Vienna

- Great Turkish War

Impact on empires

- Ottoman (expanded janissary)

- Habsburg (professionalized army and centralization)

Impact on ME

- Distract ottomans

- Muslim-Christianity tensions

Prophetic community & Rashidun Caliphate

622-661

Medina, then Kufa under ʿAlī

622 Hijra: Muhammad founds community in Medina; Abu Bakr (632) as first caliph

Ends with assassination of ʿAlī (661) & Ḥasan's abdication → Muʿāwiya becomes caliph

Umayyad Caliphate

661-750

Damascus

Founded by Muʿāwiya b. Abī Sufyān after ʿAlī's death and political settlement with Ḥasan

Overthrown by Abbasid Revolution at Battle of the Zab (750); last Umayyads killed/flee to al-Andalus

Abbasid Caliphate (central power)

750-ca. 945 (then figureheads) / 1258 (Baghdad falls)

Baghdad (from 762)

Founded by Abu al-ʿAbbās al-Saffāḥ leading Khorasani revolutionaries claiming family of the Prophet

Real power usurped by Buyids (945) and later Seljuks (1055); Baghdad sacked by Mongols (1258), last caliph killed

Buyid (Buwayhid) Emirate in Iraq/Iran

945-1055

Baghdad (as overlords), Shiraz, Rayy

Founded by three Daylamī brothers (ʿAlī, Ḥasan, Aḥmad b. Būya) who marched into Baghdad (945) and took control of Abbasid caliphs

Supplanted by Seljuk Turks when Tughril Beg enters Baghdad (1055) and removes Buyid control

Fatimid Caliphate (Ismaʿili Shiʿi)

909-1171 (in Egypt from 969)

Mahdiyya (earlier), then Cairo

Founded by ʿUbayd Allāh al-Mahdī, claiming descent from Fāṭima & ʿAlī; conquer Egypt (969) and found Cairo

Ended by Saladin (Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn) who, as vizier, abolishes Fatimid caliphate (1171) and restores Sunni Abbasid allegiance

Seljuk Sultanate (Great Seljuks in Iran-Iraq)

ca. 1037-1150 (Baghdad entry 1055)

Nishapur, Rayy, Isfahan; dominate Baghdad

Founded by Tughril Beg, Oghuz Turk leader; defeats rivals and enters Baghdad (1055), takes title sultan under

Abbasid caliph

Fragmented into regional sultanates; weakened by internal struggles and Crusades; replaced in Iraq/Anatolia by later dynasties (Zengids, Ayyubids, Rum Seljuks, then Mongols)

Crusader States (Frankish Levant)

1098-1291

Jerusalem (then Acre), Antioch, Tripoli

Created by First Crusade (1095-1099) capturing key cities

Gradually conquered by Zengids, Ayyubids (Saladin retakes Jerusalem 1187), finally wiped out by Mamluks (Acre, 1291)

Ayyubid Dynasty

1171-1250

Cairo, Damascus

Founded by Saladin, who ends Fatimids and rules Egypt-Syria in name of Abbasid caliph

Overthrown in Egypt by their own mamluk troops, who seize power (1250)

Mamluk Sultanate

1250-1517

Cairo

Founded by Turkish/Circassian mamluk military elite who depose Ayyubids; notable sultan: Baybars

Conquered by Ottoman Sultan Selim I in campaigns of 1516-1517; Ottomans absorb Syria & Egypt

Mongol Ilkhanate (in Iran/Iraq)

1256-1335

Maragha, Tabriz, etc.

Founded by Hülegü, Genghis Khan's grandson; destroys Baghdad (1258)

Dissolves into smaller dynasties; space later contested by Timurids, Turkmen, and eventually Safavids

Ottoman Empire

ca. 1299-1922 (your course cares 1300s-1700s)

Bursa → Edirne → Istanbul

Founded by Osman I on Byzantine frontier in NW Anatolia

Officially abolished after WWI; in your period, main checks are defeats by Habsburgs (Karlowitz 1699), Russians, internal decay

Safavid Empire

1501-1722 (sometimes extended to 1736)

Tabriz → Qazvin → Isfahan

Founded by Shah Ismāʿīl I, head of Safavid Sufi order; conquers Iran and imposes Twelver Shiʿism

Collapses after Afghan invasions (capture of Isfahan 1722); replaced by Nadir Shah and later Qajar Iran