History of Islam Quest Pt. 3 - Trade Institutions, Centers, and Innovations

Trade Institutions, inventions, and more that either helped traders or was influential to society

Trade Institutions (overview)

1. Pilgrimmage

2. Caravans

3. Caravanserais

4. Government

5. City

6. State Power

7. Funduq

8. Madrassa

9. Souq

Pilgrimmage

The trip that all Muslims must take at least once in their lifetime to Mecca → along the way, a lot of trading would occur between pilgrims

Caravans

Large groups in which people traveled for stability and safety → oftentimes people traveled in caravans for trade

Caravansaries

A place for merchants and pilgrims to rest and eat food on long journeys, and this was helpful so that they could replenish their energy before continuing on → caravansaries sort of acted as road-side inns

Government

Governments protected the cities from attackers, which helped people feel more safe when they were traveling. Taxes helped the empire to thrive, which allowed for trade to continue and made sure the goods people brought in were safe.

City

It protected travelers from immediate invasions and also helped them replenish resources → overall they felt safe

State Power

The strong government in control of the trade network led to a stable economy, and travelers could by and sell what they needed to without problems → the area was also very wealthy which was helpful for travelers

Funduq

It was a hotel that merchants stayed in, warehouses, business centers, and a place to receive advice about trading → they provided a place for rest and were helpful for advice

Madrassa

It was a college or school attached to a mosque → it taught things like religion, math, philosophy, science, medicine, and more → they were helpful for travelers to gain knowledge

Souq

They were marketplaces where travelers could purchase goods such as food, spices, and glassware → caused trade between many people and cultures and also were helpful to restock resources

Camel

• Mode of transportation for Arab traders

• Made travel easier and safer (through things like caravans)

Paper

• Helped the spread of knowledge

• Muslims armies encountered paper in Central Asia (~700, maybe 750CE)

• paper quickly became available in Islamic Caliphate

  • huge industry

• Tons more books being made

  • hundreds of scribes transcribed translations and new writings of Baghdad scholars

  • Books available to normal people

    • tons of bookstores

    • Population more educated as a whole

Sakks

• Checks that were a form of promised payment

  • they made trade a lot easier because merchants didn’t have to carry around large sums of money → this also made it a lot safer

Oases

• Source of freshwater in the desert → helpful to traders and their animals

Medical Advances

• Advanced study of anatomy (religion didn’t prevent study of corpses like christians)

• A lot of work on optics

  • Ibn Al-Haytham = father of optics (was muslim)

  • produced first treatise that tried to explain how the eye sees

  • Muslims docs removed cataracts surgically with a hollow needle thousands of years before the west even tried

Algebra

• Created by Islamic scientists

• Other mathematical and scientific breakthroughs also occurred

Minarets

• Tall, slender towers on mosques

• Once used to call Muslims to prayer

• Symbol and beacon of Islam in an area

Calligraphy

• Art of beautiful handwriting

• Often seen in Arabic script

• used for spiritual, artistic, and decorative purposes

• Fundamental element in Islamic art 

• Quran written in calligraphy

House of Wisdom

• In Baghdad

• Center of scholarship

• Scholars in it created many innovations

  • Arabic numerals still in use to this day