Unit 1.2

Topic 1.2: Developments in Dar al-Islam

Darl al-Islam

  • Islam spread outward from Arabia through military actions, merchants, and missionaries
  • House of Wisdom - center of learning in the Abbasid Empire that helped transfer knowledge through Afro-Eurasia
  • Mamluks - enslaved people for Arabs who were Turks from Central Asia; in Egypt, they established the Mamluk Sultanate and prospered with trade in cotton and sugar and were a threat to Abbasid Empire
  • Seljuk Turks - challenge to Abbasids from Central Asia after conquering the Middle East; highest-ranking Abbasid from the caliph to chief Sunni religious authority
  • Crusaders - Abbasids allowed Christians to travel to and from holy sites around Jerusalem until they limited travel and the Crusaders (Christian soldiers) reopened access
  • Mongols - central Asia; conquered the remaining Abbasid Empire, ending Seljuk rule and were stopped in Egypt by Mamluks
  • Abbasids became an important link connecting Afro-Eurasia until trade patterns shifted farther north; Baghdad stopped being the center of trade and lost wealth, population, canals, and food
  • Abbasid Caliphate - led by Arabs and Persians later shaped by Turkic people in Central Asia led to Islamic states with Turkic cultures: Ottoman Empire in Turkey, Safavid Empire in Persia, and the Mughal Empire in India
  • Islamic scholars followed Muhammad’s advice and translated Greek literary classics into Arabic, studied mathematics from India, and adopted paper-making from China
    • Nasir al-Din al-Tusi - astronomy, law, logic, ethics, mathematics, philosophy, trigonometry, medicine
    • Ibn Khaldun - historical accounts and historiography and sociology
    • ‘A’ishah al-Ba’uniyyah - prolific female Muslim writer; Sufi
  • Sufi - emphasized introspection to gather truths and incorporated local religious elements into Islam; played important role in the spread of Islam
  • Islamic society viewed merchants as prestigious as long as they maintained fair dealings, gave to charity, and kept in accord with the pillars of Islamic faith
  • Dhows - long, thin hulls made for carrying goods
  • Non-Arab states with Islamic caliphs showed discrimination against non-Arabs; people paid tribute to Islamic caliphs rather than to Byzantine rulers
  • Slavery - Islam allowed slavery of non-Muslims, Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians; imported from Africa, Kievan Rus, and Central Asia (who converted for freedom); slave women were concubines to Islamic men and had more independence than legal wives
  • Women -dressed modestly with a hijab; Muhammad raised the status of women by making dowries paid to the future wife and forbiding female infanticide
    • Islamic women had higher status than Christian or Jewish women (allowed to inherit property, retain ownership, remarry, cash settlement, birth control, etc.)
  • Islamic rule in Spain - the Umayyads rules in Spain after Muslims defeated Byzantines armies and invaded Spain, designating Cordoba as their capital; turned back after the Battle of Tours; maintained religious toleration, promoted trade, and made al-Andalus a center of learning