introduction period of regional islamic states distinctive political and cultural identities still...

IntroductionPeriod of regional Islamic states

Distinctive political and cultural identities

Still part of a larger civilizationGrowth of international Islamic communityUnited by shared norms of communal order

• Maintained by ulama

Influence of Sufism and Shi’ismPersian cultural renaissanceInvasions of Mongols and Turks

Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.

Sunni Orthopraxy

Ulama were entrenched religious, social and political elitesMadrasa – college of higher learning

Natural growth as experts came together to study the Qur’an and Hadith (“tradition”)Endowed by various rulers in attempt to control ulamaSupport institution for individual teachers

• Gave student individual certification


Orthopraxy (cont.)Popular “unofficial” piety

Local pilgrimages to saints’ tombsFolk celebrations of Muhammad’s birthdayVeneration of Muhammad in poetry

Most Muslims united by shared traditionsFasting in month of RamadanYearly Meccan pilgrimage

Muslims defined Islam in terms of practice rather than by beliefs


Orthopraxy (cont.)Basic Sunni orthopraxy discouraged religious or social innovationsConservative theological orientationHanbalites – Ibn Hanbal Sunni legal schoolNarrowed scope for creative doctrinal changeLiteralist reading of Qur’an and HadithSocially conservativeUlama and leaders tied to status quo


Sufi Piety and OrganizationSpiritual and mystical dimensions of Islam

Simplicity and humility

Emphasis on godly life over observance of Muslim duties

Some stressed ascetic avoidance of temptationOthers stressed loving devotion to God

Bridged abyss between human and DivineCreation of mystical poetryVery successful missionaries


Shi’ite Traditions

Crystallized in the tenth to eleventh centuriesFatamids in Egypt create important empire

Populations in Iran, Iraq and the Sind

Two influential Shi’ite groups“Seveners” – “Isma’ilis”

• Isma’il – d. 760

“Twelvers”• Mahdi – “Guided One”• State religion of the Safavids of Iran sixteenth century


Islamic SpainSplendor of Islamic (“Moorish”) culture in Spain

Chanson de Roland

Abd al-Rahman I – r. 756-788Founded Umayyad Spanish culture at Cordoba

CordobaCultural center for centuriesMedicine, science, literature, intellectual lifeMosque-university

Also growing religious exclusivism


Islamic North AfricaAfrican reform movementsAlmoravids

Berber religious-warrior brotherhoodPushed into SpainPersecution of Arabized Christians and JewsBegan last phase of Spanish “Reconquista”

AlmohadsEnded Almoravid rule in MoroccoBrilliant revival of Moorish culture


FatimidsShi’ite (Isma’ilis) empire centered in EgyptCapital at Cairo

Azhar mosque in Cairo

Two splinter groupsDruze

• Lebanon and Syria

Isma’ili Assassins

Fatimids fell to Salah al-Din in 1171Ayyubid dynasty


MamluksEgyptian heirs to Fatimids and Saladin

Elite Turkish and Mongol slave officersVictory over Mongols at Ain Jalut in 1260

Aybak – r. 1250-1257 – first Mamluk sultanBaybars – r. 1260-1277

Captured last Crusader fortressesExpansive conquests

Magnificent architecture in CairoIbn Khaldun – historian and philosopher


Ghaznavids

Subuktigin – r. 976-997Established state in Afghanistan

Mahmud of Ghazna – r. 998-1030Patronage of Persian literature and culture

• al-Biruni – scientist and mathematician• Firdawsi – d. 1020• Shahnama – masterpiece of Persian literature

Conquests in northwestern India

Beginning of lasting Muslim presence in India


Saljuqs

First major Turkish dynasty of IslamCaptured Baghdad in 1055

Tughril Beg – r. 1037-1063Took title of sultan

Extended Islamic control into Anatolian plateau

Captured Byzantine emperor in 1071

Captured Mecca and Medina from Fatamids

Saljuqs of Rum


Nizam al-Mulk

Vizier from 1063-1092Built new roads and caravanserais

First great Sunni madrasas

Accurate calendar reform

Patronized Muhammad al-Ghazzali• Greatest Muslim religious thinker ever

Patronized Umar Khayyam – d. 1123• Astronomer, poet – Ruba’iyat

Saljuqs later fell to Khwarizm dynasty


Mongols

Mongols conquered more territory than anyone else in history

Khwarizm massacre of Mongol ambassadors

Brought revenge from Genghis Khan

Destroyed entire cities 1219-1222

Transoxiana and Khorasan to the Indus

Hulagu Khan – r. 1256-1265Grandson of Genghis

Killed 80,000 in Baghdad


IlkhanidsEstablished by Hulagu’s conquest of Persia

Ruled old Persian empire from AzerbaijanRuled viceroys (Il-Khans) of Great Khan

Hulagu had conflict with kinsman BerkeBerke ruled Golden HordeFormal alliance and split of Mongol khanates

Initial religious toleranceEventually converted to Islam

Collapsed after 75 years


Timurids and Turkomans

Timur’s sons ruled Transoxiana, Iran 1405-1494

Shahrukh – r. 1405-1447Most successful Timurid ruler

United all of Iran for a while

Herat – was Shahrukh’s capital• Center of Persian culture and Sunni piety

Timurids shared Iran with TurkomansBoth eventually fell to Safavids

New Shi’ite era in Iran


TamerlaneTimur-i Lang – r. 1336-1405

Savage raids fueled by sheer conquestLeft behind ruin, disease, chaos

CapturedIran, Armenia, CaucasusMesopotamia, Syria, Central AsiaNorthern India, Anatolia

Samarkand – magnificent capitalLast great steppe invasion


Spread of Islam

Spread of Islam to new areas – 1000-1500Greece, Balkans, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, inland West Africa, coastal East Africa

Three foundations of spread and conversionSufi ordersMerchantsConquest

• In many conquered areas the native religious traditions survived


Spread of Islam to India

Early Islamic inroads into IndiaMuslim merchants settled in port cities

Converts to Islam attracted by business opportunitiesAlso Islam’s straightforward ideologyOfficially egalitarian, “classless” ethic

Sufi orders influential in IndiaMuslim refugees from Mongol attacks


Muslim-Hindu EncountersVery different cultural traditions

First Arab conquerors in Sind in 711 treated Hindus as “protected peoples”Just like Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians in other areas of Islamic expansion

Still – religious tensionsRajputs – (Kshatriyas) Hindu warrior caste

Chief obstacle to Islamic expansion

Failure to unify led to Muslim domination in the sixteenth century


Islamic States and Dynasties“Slave Sultans of Delhi” – 1206-1290

Series of Turkish-Afghan rulers in northDelhi sultanate continued until fifteenth century

• Khaljis, Tughluqs, Sayyids, Lodis

Dwindling central authorityBahmanids – 1347-1527

Important independent Islamic state

Vijayanagar – 1336-1565Independent Hindu state in south


Culture and Language

Islam became influential element of Indian cultureDelhi sultans fended off Mongol invasions

Provided basic political and social framework

Ruling class – Muslim minority of Persianized Turks and Afghans

Urdu-Hindi – emergence of new languageNeed for a shared language

Hindi – associated with Indian culture

Urdu – name for Muslim version


Reciprocal Influences

Muslims susceptible to Hindu influencesBut Muslims never swallowed up by Hindu culture like earlier invaders

Sufi devotion similar to bhakti movementsTheistic mystics in fourteenth and fifteenth centuries

Strove to transcend mutual antagonism

Devotion to a God who saves his worshipers without regards to Hinduism or Islam

Poets and reformers – Ramananda and Kabir


Hindu and Other TraditionsRemarkably complex traditions – 1000-1500Jain tradition flourishedMuslim conquests did end Indian BuddhismBhakti creativity

Vaishnava Brahman Ramanuja – d. 1137Reconciled bhakti ideas with Upanishads

JayadevaGita GovindaMasterpiece of Hindu mystical love poetry


Southern Indian TraditionsSouth continued to be center of Hindu cultural, political, and religious activityCholas – 900-1300

Tanjore – capitalFamous school of bronze sculpture

Kingdom of Vijayanagar – 1336-1565Resisted Muslims longer than anyoneVijayanagar – lavishly developed cityCenter of cult of Shiva


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