Topics:

Eurasian empires from 600-1100 CE

Intellectual life, government, and the economy

Questions:

What were the characteristics of Islamic empire in SW Asia?

What was the nature of intellectual life?

How does it, and the function of intellectuals, compare with China at this time?

What explains the cultural flourishing under the ‘Abbasids?

Lecture 18:The ‘Abbasid Empire

The Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE)

Great Mosque, Damascus (706-15 CE)

• Capital at Damascus (Syria)

• Conquered a vast empire by 711

• Governing elite = Arabs (military aristocracy)

• Separate garrison towns

• Non-Muslim monotheists allowed to practice religion

• dhimmi = protected status

• Polytheists not tolerated

• Cities and economy thrive

Dar al-Islam

Conversion to Islam

Ibn Tulun Mosque, Cairo (879 CE)

Mosque, Qairouan (Tunisia) (670 CE)

Great Mosque, Cordoba (late 8th c. CE)

Mosque

Qur’an(Arabic only)

Shari’a

• Non-Arab Muslims resented disenfranchisement

• Persian revolt led by Abu al-Abbas • Seized power from - and massacred -

Umayyads

• Except Spain

• Ethnically inclusive government

• No significant military expansion• Border skirmishes with Byzantines

• Battle of Talas River (751 CE) defeated expansive Tang Chinese

• Persian administrative techniques

• Tendency toward absolutism

• New capital at Baghdad (762 CE)

The ‘Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258 CE)

BaghdadCrossroads for wide-ranging trading network - land and sea

Artistic, cultural, religious center of the Muslim world

Dhow

Silver dirhamAgricultural production increasesManufacturing

Ease of transport and trade

Harun al-Rashid (786-809 CE)

Great patron of culture

One Thousand and One Nights

What is he like as a ruler?

Muslim Intellectuals

Ulama = religious scholars

Qadi = judge

Interpretation of Qur’an & Shari’a

Public observance of moral standards and social values

mandated by Qur’an and Shari’a

Not priests - Educated religious experts

Resolves disputes according to Islamic law

Astrolabe

Arabic Science

Diagram of an eclipseMedical treatise

Optical Diagram

• Astronomy

• Geometry

• Mathematics

• Optics

• Medicine

• Alchemy

Greek philosophers

Hellenistic inheritance

Map from Geography of al-Indrisi

Cultural crossroadsArabic numerals = Hindi

Practical knowledge & experimentation

Dar al-Islam

Empire of language, culture, inte"ectual life + commerce(even after began to %agment politica"y)

Writing as Art: Calligraphy

How do the Chinese and Islamic traditions of

calligraphy differ?

Why do they differ?

Calligraphy by Mi Fu (1052-1107)

What does this tell us about the different status

and function of intellectuals in Chinese

and Islamic society?