Abbasid Dynasty

Abbasid caliphate greatest extent

The Abbasids defeated the Umayyads to claim the caliphate and leadership of the Muslim world in 750. The Abbasids based their legitimacy as rulers on their descent from the prophet Muhammad’s extended family, not as with some Shi’i directly through the line of Ali and his sons.

The Abbasids attempted to reunify Muslims under the banner of the Prophet’s family. Many Abbasid supporters came from Khurasan in eastern Iran. Following the Arab conquest of the Sassanid Empire, a large number of Arab settlers had moved into Khurasan and had integrated with the local population. Consequently, many Abbasids spoke Persian but were of Arab ethnicity.

The New Capital of Baghdad

The first Abbasid caliph, Abu al-Abbas (r. 749–754), took the title of al-Saffah. His brother and successor, Abu Jafar, adopted the name al-Mansur (Rendered Victorious) and moved the caliphate to his new capital, Baghdad, on the Tigris River. Under the Abbasids the center of power for the Muslim world shifted eastward with an increase of Persian and, subsequently, Turkish influences.


Persian influences were especially notable in new social customs and the lifestyle of the court, but Arabic remained the language of government and religion. Thus, while non-Arabs became more prominent in government, the Arabization, especially in language, of the empire increased.

Mansur’s new capital, built between 762 and 766, was originally a circular fortress, and it became the center of Arab-Islamic civilization during what has been called the golden age of Islam (763–809). With its easy access to major trade routes, river transport, and agricultural goods (especially grains and dates) from the Fertile Crescent, Baghdad prospered. Agricultural productivity was expanded with an efficient canal system in Iraq.

Commerce flourished with trade along well-established routes from India to Spain and trans-Saharan routes. A banking and bookkeeping system with letters of credit facilitated trade. The production of textiles, papermaking, metalwork, ceramics, armaments, soap, and inlaid wood goods was encouraged. An extensive postal system and network of government spies were also established.

Harun Al-Rashid and the Abbasid Zenith

Harun Al-Rashid

The zenith of Abbasid power came under the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). Harun al-Rashid, his wife Zubaida, and mother Khaizuran were powerful political figures. Zubaida and Khaizuran were wealthy and influential women and both controlled vast estates. They also played key roles in determining succession to the caliphate.

Like the Umayyads, the Abbasids never solved the dilema of succession, and their government was weakened and ultimately, in part, destroyed because of rivalries over succession. Under Harun al-Rashid the Barmakid family exerted considerable political power as viziers (ministers to the ruler).

The Barmakids were originally from Khurasan and had begun serving the court as tutors to Harun al-Rashid. The Barmakids served as competent and powerful officials until their fall from favor in 803, by which time a number of bureaucrats and court officials had achieved positions of considerable authority.

The wealth of the Abbasid court attracted foreign envoys and visitors who marveled over the lavish lifestyles of court officials and the magnificence of Baghdad. Timurlane destroyed most of the greatest Abbasid monuments in the capital, and Baghdad never really recovered from the destruction inflicted by him.

Under the Abbasids, provinces initially enjoyed a fair amount of autonomy; however, a more centralized system of finances and judiciary were implemented. Local governors were appointed for Khurasan and soldiers from Khurasan made up a large part of the court bodyguard and army.

In spite of their power and wealth the Abbasids twice failed to take Constantinople. The Abbasids also had to grapple with ongoing struggles between those who wanted a government based on religion, and those who favored secular government.

Civil War Over Accession and the End of the Abbasids

Harun al-Rashid’s death incited a civil war over accession that lasted from 809 to 833. During the war, Baghdad was besieged for one year and was fought for by the common people, not the elite, in the city. Their exploits were commemorated in a body of poetry that survives until the present day.

The attackers finally won and the new Caliph Mutasim (r. 833–842) moved the capital to Samarra north of Baghdad in 833. During the ninth century the Abbasid army came to rely more and more on Turkish soldiers, some of whom were slaves while others were free men. A military caste separate from the rest of the population gradually developed.

In Khurasan, the Tahirids did not establish an independent dynasty but moved the province in the direction of a separate Iranian government. As various members of the Abbasid family fought one another over the caliphate, rulers in Egypt (the Tulunids), provincial governors, and tribal leaders took advantage of the growing disarray and sometimes anarchy within the central government at Samarra to extend heir own power.

The Zanj rebellion around Basra in southern Iraq in 869 was a major threat to Abbasid authority. The Zanj were African slaves who had been used as plantation workers in southern Iraq, the only instance of largescale slave labor for agriculture in the Islamic world.

Other non-slave workers joined the rebellion led by Ali ibn Muhammad. Ali ibn Muhammad was killed fighting in 883 and the able Abbasid military commander, Abu Ahmad al-Muwaffaq, whose brother served as caliph, finally succeeded in crushing the rebellion.

Under Caliph al-Muqtadir (r. 908–932) the capital was returned to Baghdad where it remained until the collapse of the Abbasid dynasty. By the 10th century any aspirant to the caliphate needed the assistance of the military to obtain the throne. The army became the arbiters of power and the caliphs were mere ciphers. A series of inept rulers led to widespread rebellions and declining revenues while the costs of maintaining the increasingly Turkish army remained high.

By the time the dynasty finally collapsed, it was virtually bankrupt. In 945 a Shi’i Persian, Ahmad ibn Buya, took Baghdad and established the Buyid dynasty that was a federation of political units ruled by various family members. A remnant of the Abbasid family, carrying the title of caliph, moved to Cairo where it was welcomed as an exile with no authority over either religious or political life.

Muslim Spain

Inside Alhambra, Granada, Spain

In 711 the Muslims had conquered the southern parts of the Iberian Peninsula. By 714 following the decline of the Visigoths, the Muslims had gained a strong grip on virtually the entire Iberian Peninsula. The parts in southern Spain that were under Muslim rule were called al-Andalus.

The vast region was divided into five administrative provinces—Lusitania, and the Ebro region. The administrative system was subject to change as the Christians regained more power over parts of Muslim Spain in the following centuries.

However Muslim Spain was not restricted to the region named al-Andalus. The Muslims also controlled parts of Aragon-Catalonia and Navarre. Parts of southern France fell briefly under Muslim rule but a strong French military force under Charles Martel managed to drive them away in 756.


Although Córdoba was not the capital city of previous rulers such as the Byzantines and the Romans, it lay at the crossroads of important trade routes. Moreover the city possessed rich agricultural resources. From there the caliphs ruled parts of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula.

The Muslims had, in fact, amassed a vast empire stretching from Spain to India and ruled diverse groups of people, who contributed to the later development of a sophisticated culture in a cosmopolitan setting found in Muslim capitals such as Córdoba. By 757 al-Andalus had been clearly established as a Muslim polity with a mainly Arab and Berber population, but also with many converts.

Within Muslim Spain, the Umayyad dynasty ruled over Arabs from various locations as well as Berbers, Jews, Christians. The lingua franca used by diverse groups of people within al-Andalus was Arabic.

Umayyad Dynasty

In 750 after a series of rival wars between various Muslim factions, the Umayyad Abd al-Rahman Mu’awiya, also known as Abd al-Rahman I, refused to acknowledge the Abbasid Sunni Caliphate based in Baghdad.

By this time the Abbasid dynasty was considered corrupt and weak. This led Abd al-Rahman to set up his own dynasty of emirs of Córdoba, first by ousting the previous ruler, Yusuf al-Fihri.

Abd al-Rahman proclaimed himself the first emir of Córdoba in the mosque of Córdoba on May 14, 756. The powerful Fatimid dynasty, based in Egypt, opposed the installation of the Umayyad Caliphate on Córdoba. The Fatimid dynasty had a strong hold over North Africa.

inside Cordoba (former) Mosque

Abd al-Rahman thus enlisted the help of the Zanata Berber tribe enemies of the Sinhaja tribe, allies of the Fatimids. Pro-Umayyad rebellions against the Fatimids were quashed and Abd al-Rahman was unable to advance into North Africa, as he was preoccupied with skirmishes with the Christians.

He ruled independently of the Abbasid Caliphate for 33 years, consolidating sufficient support for Umayyad authority to ensure the longevity of his dynasty. Abd al-Rahman succeeded in fending off Yusuf al-Fihri’s allies as well as the supporters of the Abbasid Caliphate within al-Andalus.

Later on the emirate became known as the Umayyad Caliphate, which was in fact modeled upon the older Abbasid Caliphate. The Umayyads, who were members of the prophet Muhammad’s tribe Qureish, claimed to be descendants from the prophet Muhammad.

Prior to conquering parts of the Iberian Peninsula the Umayyads had already ruled a huge part of the Muslim world including the important city of Samarkand at the eastern edge of their kingdom. Their conquests stretched to al-Andalus in the west with its capital in Córdoba.

By the time of Abd al-Rahman I’s death in 852, al-Andalus was already a major diplomatic power in the Mediterranean with emirates established over North Africa. Links had also been established with the Byzantine emperor, another major player in Mediterranean politics.

Visigoth Resistance

Visigoth Resistance

Initially the Muslim power that was responsible for the great wave of Muslim expansion was based in their distant capital city of Damascus. In Muslim Spain, however, Córdoba was made the capital, where the Muslim invaders settled down as property owners soon after their victory over the Visigoths.

One way land was acquired in Córdoba was through marriage with important members of the Visigothic aristocracy. This had the added advantage of staving off potential opposition from the Visigoths, who had been the ruling class in Córdoba before their defeat at the hands of the Muslims.

Despite the Visigoths’ apparent truce with the Muslims within Spain, members of the Visigothic aristocracy who had fled up north of the Iberian Peninsula continued to resist Muslim rule in the south.

This was an impetus for the Muslims to invade the northern mountainous region of the peninsula, as well as France. The Muslim invaders were especially looking to gain resources in France rather than the inaccessible regions in northern Spain. This expansion came to an end when the three major military expeditions to France during the eighth century ended in disastrous defeats.

Umayyad caliphs in al-Andalus had a policy of tolerance toward the non-Muslims under their rule. Non-Muslim residents had to pay a poll tax (jizya) and a land tax. Thus the greatest source of tax revenue, was the non-Muslim inhabitants of al-Andalus. This contributed to the policy of tolerance of the Christian and Jewish population. Conversion to Islam escalated under the reign of the Umayyad Caliphate.

During the ninth century mass conversions took place. The benefits of conversion included employment opportunities in government. Not only did Muslims pay significantly less tax than non-Muslims, they could also gain better positions in the bureaucracy.
In fact the unifying bonds between the various groups of people were culture and literature, rather than religion, which created a harmonious setting. There was a large Christian group within Muslim Spain known as the Seville.

They adopted a Muslim lifestyle, in terms of fashion, architecture, and literature, without converting to Islam. These Mozarabs suffered religious persecution in 1139 by fellow Christians after the raids of King Afonso I (Henriques) of Portugal on Seville, as they were not considered true Christians.

Umayyad Dynasty of Cordoba

Umayyad Dynasty of Cordoba

The caliph of Córdoba, formerly known as the emir of Córdoba, ruled Spain for slightly more than a century, from the year 929 to 1031, beginning with the reign of the most powerful Muslim ruler, Abd ar-Rahman III, who claimed the caliphate in 929.

The caliph was especially skilled at projecting his image as a powerful Arab leader. Abd ar-Rahman III made sure he was visible to his people in the many ceremonies and processions organized for him. The caliph presented himself as an effective leader of his own military troops. In his image campaign, newsletters and poems were glowingly written of his military prowess and piety.

During this period, in addition to having a reputation as an illustrious commercial center, al-Andalus also became an eminent center of knowledge and learning. Al-Andalus was a great civilization, compared with the rest of Europe at that time. Many Islamic works of art were produced during this kala of Muslim rule.

Umayyad caliph Abd Al-Rahman III had a keen interest in the arts, as well as the religious and secular sciences. He amassed many books from other intellectual centers such as Baghdad, which were then stored in the library. Scholars were also hired to supplement further the amount of written knowledge imported.

Drawn to the bastion of knowledge and culture, many philosophers and scientists began to migrate to al-Andalus, making it a renowned center of learning. Intellectual life in Córdoba peaked during the reign of Al-Hakam II, who was in power from 961 to 967.

He was responsible for establishing a massive library filled with hundreds of thousands of volumes, a useful repository of knowledge in the Mediterranean world. During this period several intellectuals achieved prominence in Muslim Spain.

Spanish Muslim intellectuals excelled in the fields of mathematics, medicine, and astronomy. The most famous example is Ibn Rushd, otherwise called Averroës, who was a philosopher, theologian, physician, and sometime royal consultant, born and educated in Córdoba.

Christian Reconquest

Simultaneously the territories owned by the caliph of Córdoba decreased just as aspects of commerce and culture thrived. Internal dissension among different Arab factions weakened the Umayyad power base in Córdoba as they disintegrated into warring divisions.

The lack of Muslim unity proved crucial to Christian success. During the reign of Hisham II, the Umayyad Caliphate disintegrated into party-kingdoms in 1009. He was executed in 1013, only to be succeeded by another weak ruler, Hisham III, the last caliph of Córdoba.

Hisham III was exiled to Lerida. Nominal rule continued under the short-lived Hasanid dynasty until 1054. The further remaining territories dwindled into mere Muslim principalities, better known as independent taifas, ruled by mainly Berber rulers, though there were also non-Berber rulers.

With their defenses weakened because of lack of unity, these taifas often had to hire mercenaries from North Africa or Christian mercenaries to protect their principalities, which were constantly at war with each other. This chaotic situation in the Muslim states was conducive to Christian reconquest.

Christians in the northern parts of the Iberian Peninsula had already begun to consolidate their military and political power as early as the eighth century, and into the latter half of the ninth century.

Under the reign of Alfonso II (791–842), the Christians in the northern region had stabilized themselves. He was able to install Visigothic institutions in his kingdom with his capital in Oviedo.

The Christians viewed the reconquest of southern Spain (al-Andalus) as justified, since they were reclaiming what rightfully belonged to the Visigoths. Further impetus was provided by the discovery of the tomb of St. James the apostle, a patron saint around whom the Christians could rally.

From the eighth to the 10th century the Christian north had possessed an inferior economic system and cultural milieu compared to al-Andalus in the south. However they were already clearly formed political entities with military forces that were able to stave off attacks from their enemies from the south. This enabled them to reconquer Muslim Spain upon its disintegration during the 10th and 11th centuries.

In 1056 the Almoravid Empire took over as the rulers of Muslim Spain. They were replaced by the dynasty of Almohads in 1130. The decline of the Almohads in 1269 enabled the Christians to conquer parts of Muslim Spain with more ease.

The important cities of Córdoba and Seville had already fallen into Christian hands in 1236 and 1248, respectively, leaving only Granada as the last Muslim stronghold. In 1469 through the union of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille, much of Spain was united. By 1492 a stronger Christian Spain finally took over Granada.

Baghdad

Baghdad

The Abbasid dynasty founded the city of Baghdad as a new capital in 762, shortly after the overthrow of the Umayyad dynasty. This shift of the center of power in the Muslim world from Syria toward the Abassid support base in Persia allowed the young dynasty to establish its dominance under the leadership of the caliph, al-Mansur.

However, the move from Syria also saw the caliphate’s influence in Mediterranean affairs decline and rival dynasties emerge as far away as Spain, where the Umayyad dynasty regrouped, and as near as Egypt, from where the Fatimid dynasty dominated much of North Africa from the 10th through the 12th century.

The first two centuries of Baghdad’s history were marked by political strife as the Abassids repressed revolts; the dynasty underwent civil war from 811 to 819. During this civil war the caliph Amin besieged the city. Despite this unrest, Baghdad found itself at the center of a Muslim cultural golden age during these centuries.


In the 940s a group of soldiers, the Buyid princes, who had been gaining in strength for a decade, took power in Baghdad; lacking legitimate claim to rule, they become protectors of the caliphate and ruled through Abbasid puppet caliphs.

In 1055 the Seljuk Turk Toghrulbeg came to Baghdad and ultimately relieved the caliph of the Buyid protectorate. Toghrulbeg was named sultan, and the caliph was again reduced to little more than a puppet. But the Seljuk leader’s ambitions led him to rule from outside of Baghdad, visiting only on occasion, and this would give future caliphs at least some small measure of freedom.

The Crusades and internal turmoil challenged the Seljuks’ control of the region, and the caliphs began to challenge their overlords. The breakup of Turkish rule in the late 12th century saw a renewal on a regional scale of the city’s importance, but the city and the region were continually plagued by conflicts between Sunnis and Shi’i.

The Mongols

In faraway Mongolia, warring Turko-Mongol tribes were uniting under the leadership of one man, Temuchin. In 1206 an assembly of tribal nobility awarded him the title Genghis Khan—Universal Ruler. From central Mongolia, Genghis set out on a mission of world conquest.

He immediately began consolidating his power for an attack against the Chinese kingdoms to the south, but full control of China was far off. The Mongols would invade western Asia and establish a dynasty in Iran before they unified China under their rule.

During the early years of Mongol expansion Genghis Khan led armies against the sultan Ala ad-Din Muhammad, Khwarazm Shah, as a punishment for his challenge to Mongol authority in the region of Central Asia. Genghis’s punishment of the Persian leader helped establish a reputation for Mongol brutality.

The caliph in Baghdad, al-Nasr, felt threatened by the onslaught against Sultan Muhammad and appealed to the Ayyubids in Syria for aid. The Ayyubids were battling the crusaders and did not send aid, but the threat of Genghis Khan never materialized. Genghis died in 1227, and Ogotai Khan, his son, succeeded him.

In 1232 Mongol forces had penetrated as far as Azerbaijan, and the caliph annexed Arbela in Upper Mesopotamia, possibly as a defensive measure. In 1236 the caliph mobilized his armies against the Mongols, who were moving south into Upper Mesopotamia, and in 1238 the caliph went to Baghdad’s great mosque and called for holy war against the invaders.

This time Ayyubid reinforcements arrived, but the ensuing battle was a defeat for the caliph. The Mongols withdrew deep into Persia, and terms were reached, though raids into Mesopotamia continued with accounts of the period reporting various Mongol harassments of Baghdad.

The Mongol conquest of the Middle East began during the reign of Mongke Khan. In 1252 Mongke dispatched his brother Hulagu Khan to take control of the region. Some sources suggest that the arrival of Hulagu in Azerbaijan was instigated by a mission by the Qadi of Qazvin, in an attempt to subdue the Isma’ilis, known as the Assassins for their frequent tactic of the same name.

The Isma’ilis operated from their stronghold in the mountainous region of northern Iran. The repression of the Isma’ilis was one of Hulagu’s first goals. Hulagu dispatched Baichu to the west to repress the Seljuk’s in Rum, and in 1256 Mongol forces defeated the sultan and recognized his younger brother, establishing Mongol overlordship of Rum. In the same year, the Mongols completed their mission against the Isma’ilis, destroying the last of their mountain strongholds and executing their leader, Khurshah.

Having secured his base and the vicinity to its west, Hulagu focused his attention on the caliphate in Baghdad. Hulagu sought to dominate both Baghdad and its caliph, despite their dramatic decline in prestige. The court of the caliph, al-Musta‘sim, was divided over how to respond.

The caliph, presented with an ultimatum, could surrender—saving his life, his position, and his city—or resist. Indecision left al-Musta‘sim largely unprepared for the onslaught that would follow his disregard and disrespect of Hulagu and his armies. The Mongol forces besieged the city for several weeks before storming it on February 6, 1258.

The damage to the city was extensive. Al-Musta‘sim, his sons, and much of their entourage were killed; as it was against Mongol belief to shed royal blood on the ground, the caliph was rolled into a carpet and trampled to death by horses. Al-Musta‘sim was the last Abbasid caliph of Baghdad.

From Baghdad, Hulagu’s forces moved into northern Syria, taking Aleppo in January of 1260. The Ayyubid ruler in Damascus, An-Nasir Yusuf, fled his capital, and the city surrendered to Hulagu’s general Kitbuqa. Hebron, Jerusalem, and Ashkalon were raided, and various Ayyubid princes submitted to the invaders. Again, much of the Mongol army was unilaterally withdrawn to Azerbaijan, where Maragheh was chosen as the capital of the new Il-Khanate (one of four khanates of the Mongol Empire).

The Ayyubids’s conquest by the Mongols marked the end of their dynasty, as they had already been replaced in Egypt by the Mamluk dynasty. General Kitbuqa remained to solidify the new conquests in Syria, while Hulagu became embroiled in the Mongol succession crisis and began to battle the Golden Horde to his north.

In the eastern Mediterranean region the crusaders in Jerusalem were not prepared to surrender to the Mongols and issued calls for reinforcements to the western European kingdoms, while they temporarily tried to appease Kitbuqa. When the crusaders did not dismantle their fortresses, however, Kitbuqa retaliated, sacking Sidon in August 1260.

The crusaders responded by allowing the Mamluks of Egypt to dispatch troops through their territory and even provided the Muslim forces with supplies to battle the Mongols. In September 1260 the Egyptian army defeated the Mongols in Galilee, and Kitbuqa was either killed in the battle or executed after his defeat.

The Il-Khanid Mongols retreated beyond the Euphrates to their power base. Within the Il-Khanate, Hulagu and his son Abaqa would enjoy stability despite threats at the border. The Il-Khanids continued to work diplomatically against their Mamluk enemies in Syria, at times approaching the crusaders to propose coordinated attacks.

In 1299 Ghazan Khan, a Muslim convert, attacked the Mamluk forces, which retreated to Egypt in defeat. Syria and Palestine were briefly reoccupied until Ghazan withdrew to Mesopotamia, and it was not until 1320 that the Mongols made peace with the Mamluks. After the death of Abu Sa‘id in 1235, the Il-Khanate disintegrated into rival, mostly non-Mongol, dynasties.

The Mongol leader Timurlane emerged as a great force in the region at the end of the 14th century, regaining Mongol control of Persia and doing battle as far east as the Ottoman Empire. But Timurlane’s death in 1405 saw the Mongolian empire in Persia again disintegrate and effectively ended Mongolian influence in the region of the Middle East.

The immediate and lasting effects of the Mongols in the Middle East are varied in degree. The Mongol conquest of Hulagu ended two institutions of Islamic rule, finally ending the Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad and Ayyubid dynasty, the realm of which was already confined to Syria and parts of Palestine. This allowed Mamluk rule to fill the power vacuum.

A century and a half later that power vacuum would be re-created by Timurlane’s temporary conquests and the subsequent disintegration of Mongol rule in the Middle East following his death, only to be filled by the Ottomans. Culturally, the impact of the Mongols was minimal, with the exception of Persia, to which area their lasting presence in western Asia was confined. It is in the period of the Il-Khanate that the greatest impact of far eastern culture on Persia is witnessed.

Harun Al-Rashid - Abbasid Caliph

Harun Al-Rashid - Abbasid Caliph

Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809) came to power as the fifth Abbasid caliph after his brother Musa al-Hadi died under mysterious circumstances, perhaps on the order of al-Khaizuran, al-Rashid’s mother. While still in his teens al-Rashid had led successful military advances against the Greek Byzantine empire in Anatolia.

He ruled at the zenith of Abbasid power and wealth. The Abbasid capital, Baghdad, with 1 million inhabitants, was a center for learning, the arts, and conspicuous consumption. A keen patron of the arts, especially poetry, al-Rashid maintained a lavish court with vast palaces and gardens adorned with jewel-encrusted tapestries and fountains.

The lavish lifestyle of the royal court was popularized in the long series of fanciful tales in The Thousand and One Nights, known in the West as the Arabian Nights. Although his court enjoyed poetry, music, and sumptuous feasts, Harun al-Rashid was a practicing Muslim who made the pilgrimage to Mecca accompanied with a large entourage.

According to legend, he also went out on the streets of Baghdad in various disguises to talk with his subjects and learn their opinions and reactions to the government. His mother, Khaizuran, who had been a Yemeni slave, exerted considerable influence in the political life of the court and was a rich landowner in her own right. His favorite wife, Zubaidah, dominated palace life, holding enormous parties and celebrations.


Harun al-Rashid also received ambassadors from the Holy Roman Empire and China and showered them with exotic and expensive gifts. But amid the luxury there were signs of economic decline, as agricultural productivity in Iraq slowed and the farming out of tax collecting to private individuals led to corruption and inefficiency.

As caliph, Harun al-Rashid put down rebellions in northern Iran and Syria and led his forces deep into Anatolia in 791 c.e. where he demanded and received huge monetary tributes from the Byzantine Empire. When these payments ceased in 802 c.e. Harun al-Rashid quickly moved against the Byzantine emperor, defeating him on several occasions. These conflicts increased the religious enmity between these two great empires.

Tribute of Caliph Harun Al Rashid to Charlemagne

In 789 c.e. after a palace scandal, Harun al-Rashid imprisoned and killed key members of the important Barmakid family. Of Persian origin, the Barmakids had often acted as extremely able viziers (ministers) for the Abbasid rulers. Over his North African territories (present-day Tunisia and Algeria) al-Rashid appointed Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab as governor in 800 c.e.

He went on to establish the Aghlabid dynasty, ruling until 909 c.e. when the Fatimid dynasty based in Egypt replaced it. Harun al-Rashid died on military maneuvers to quell a rebellion in northern Iran in 809 c.e. After his death his sons immediately began to fight over power and territory, thereby marking the beginning of the decline and disintegration of the Abbasid empire.

Literature and Music in the Golden Age of Muslim World

Literature and Music in the Golden Age of Muslim World

Arabic literature developed and dominated the Islamic cultural scene during the eighth to the 13th century and beyond, from Baghdad to Córdoba in the Andalus. Arabic language, the youngest and the most widely spoken of the ancient Semitic languages, is the language of the Qur’an—the sacred book of Islam that culturally unified not only the Arab people, but also non-Arab Muslims.

Islamic teaching presented in the text of the Qur’an and the Hadith, the sayings of the prophet Muhammad, encouraged learning and praised learned people and the quest for knowledge. The Arabic language has a peculiar regularity and coherent grammatical and structural system that lend to it the ability to express in creative and diverse literary forms such as Shir (poetry), Nathr (prose), Adab (a genre of socioethical literature), Balaghah (eloquence), and Maqamah (assembly).

In pre-Islamic times the Arabic language was the medium of communication especially in the transmission of oral tradition, poetry, and stories. As early as the fifth century, odes or Qasidah (plural Qasaid) were composed and the most celebrated were called Al-Muallaqat (the suspended), for they were honored and recognized by being displayed on the walls of the Ka’aba in Mecca.


Famous among the pre-Islamic poets are Imru al-Qays, Tarafa ibn al-Abd, Zuhayr ibn abi Salma, Labid, Amr ibn Kulthum, Antara, and al-Harithah ibn Hillizah. During the early Umayyad dynasty celebrated poets emerged with diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds who composed masterpieces of Arabic poetry such as Al-Akhtal, Jarir, and al-Farazdaq.

With the expansion of the Islamic empire during the Umayyad and throughout the Abbasid dynasty, Arabic became the literary language of the era, the liturgy language of Islam, and a powerful literary vehicle to disseminate Arabic culture. Many talents contributed to the legacy of Arabic literature; scholars, linguists, writers, and poets of Arab and non Arab descent wrote in the Arabic language.

During the Umayyad and Abbasid periods scholars gathered and collected the sources for Qur’anic studies and the collections of the Hadith. Ibn Ishaq (d. 767) wrote Sirat Rasul Tuhan (Life of the messenger of God), which was later revised by Ibn Hisham (d. 834).

Umayyad Period Literature

With the expansion of Islam the Arabic language was refined, first during the Umayyad kala with Abu al-Aswad al Duali (d. 688), who founded the Arabic grammar and diacritical color-coded points Tashkeel. The dotting system and vowels signs developed by AlKhalil ibn Ahmed al-Farahidi (d. 786) soon replaced that system.

Al-Farahidi was the first Arab philologist who compiled the first Arabic dictionary; he was credited with the formulation of the rules of Arabic prosody. His major work was Kitab al-Arud (Book of prosody). His student Sibawayh (d. 793) codified grammatical rules. Later Al-Mubarrad (d. 898) wrote al-Kamil fi al-Lughah wa al-Adab, which was an invaluable collection of references to Arabic philology through poetic quotations.

His rival al-Thaalibi also contributed to this field with his major work Yeteemat al-Dahr, a bibliography of poets and writers of Arabic. Another outstanding scholar in this field was the Andalusian linguist Ibn Malik (d. 1274), who composed the famous Alfiyah in which he compiled and analyzed all Arabic grammatical rules in 1,000 verses of poetry composed in a single poetical masterpiece.

Other scholars worked on the subjects of jurisprudence, theological discourse, fundamentals of Arabic grammar, lingual terminology, rhetoric, and adab. Bayt al-Hikmah in Baghdad was the departing center for the quest of Hellenistic and Eastern knowledge in science, mathematics, philosophy, geography, astronomy, and literature.

Historians and biographers worked diligently on documenting the history of the Islamic state, pre-Islamic period, and ancient civilizations. Early transmitters of accounts are Kab al-Ahbar, Hammad al-Rawiyah, and Wahb ibn Munabbih from the eighth century.

The list of important early historians includes Ibn al-Kalbi (d. 820) and his major work Kitab al-Asnam (Book of idols) Al-Waqidi (d. 823), who was affiliated with the Abbasid court in Baghdad and who wrote Kitab al-Maghaz (Book of the raids of the prophet); Ibn Sad (d. 845) was al-Waqidi’s secretary and wrote a major biographica dictionary called Kitab al-Tabaqat (The book of classes [of persons]); Al-Azraqi (d. 865), a native and historian of Mecca, wrote an extensive history of Mecca Akhbar Mecca. Al-Bukhari (d. 870) was a historian and the famous Hadith compiler and interpreter.

His major work was the collection of the sayings of the prophet Muhammad known as al-Jami al-Sahih; Al-Baladhur (d. 892) was a great historian and companion of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil and wrote many treaties; the most famous was Futuh al-Buldan (History of the Muslim conquests).

Al-Yaqubi (d. 897), a historian and geographer, wrote a history of the world known as Tarikh al-Yaqubi, and Kitab al-Buldan (Book of countries). Al-Tabari (d. 923) was another noted historian, lexigrapher, and scientist. His major work is Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk (History of the world); Al-Masudi (d. 956) was born and lived in Baghdad and traveled widely; most of his works were lost and only one survived: Muruj al-Dhahab wa Maadin al-Jawhar (Fields of gold and mines of jewels), which was a short history of the world down to the end of the Umayyad period; Ibn al-Nadim (d. 990) was the son of a book dealer born in Baghdad.

His massive work al-Fihrist was intended to be an index of all books written in Arabic from early Islam up to Ibn al-Nadim’s time. The vast majority of the books mentioned in his Fihrist are given with information on the authors and subjects.

Ibn Khaldun was perhaps the most famous Arab historian and sociologist, who changed the course of interpreting historical events and set the mode for modern methodology in historiography with his influential book al-Muqaddimah (Introduction).

Arabic prose flourished in Baghdad with Ibn al-Muqaffa (d. 757), who translated many Pahlavi works and was famous for his Kalila wa Dimna, a collection of didactic fables in which two jackals offered moral and practical advice. Originally derived from the Sanskrit Fables of Bidpai, Kalila wa Dimna was the inspirational source for La Fontaine’s Fables.

From Basra came Al-Jahiz (d. 869), who developed Arabic prose into a literary vehicle of precision and elegance and was one of Baghdad’s leading intellectuals. He wrote over 200 works; the most famous of them were Kitab al-Hayawan (Book of animals), al-Bayan wa alTabyeen, and al-Bukhala.

Equally important was Abu al-Faraj al-Isbahani (d. 967), also called al-Isfahani, who was an Arab historian, intellectual, and poet. His monumental book Kitab al-Aghani (Book of songs) is an anthology of songs and poems from the earliest epoch to the author’s own time. These were especially those were popular in Baghdad during Harun al-Rashid’s reign.

Abbasid Period Literature

The early Abbasid period witnessed the birth of new genres in poetry where politics, eroticism, and blasphemy mingled. The emergence of a political demam isu geared toward undermining the dominant Arab culture in what came to be called Shuubism, or anti-Arabism, led to a new genre of literature.

An adamant leader in this demam isu was the renowned blind poet Bashshar ibn Burd (d. 783). Other poets also excelled in various genres such as Muti ibn Iyas (d. 787), Abbas ibn al-Ahnaf (d. 808), Muslim ibn Walid (d. 823), Abu Nuas (d. 813), and ibn al-Rumi (d. 896).

Many poets revived classical Arabic poetry such as Abu Tammam (d. 843), al-Buhtari (d. 897), al-Mutanabbi (d. 956), and al-Maarri (d. 1057). The art of the genre Maqamat, an assembly of rhymed prose of amusing anecdotes narrated by a vagabond who made his living by his wit, was associated with two famous names, al-Hamadhani (d. 1008), who invented the genre, and al-Hariri (d. 1122), who elaborated on the style and excelled in composing linguistic virtuosity where the literary form was more important than the content. The talented visual artist Mahmoud bin Yehya al-Wasiti, who established a distinct and influential artistic style in 13th century Baghdad, illustrated al-Hariri’s Maqamat.

Storytelling literature had flourished since the early period of Islam. Storytellers were street preachers who used old Arab folk tales mixed with religious flavor; they spoke to enthusiastic and attentive audiences in mosques and other public places. Remains of this folk art are found in the form of al-Hakawati in present-day Cairo, Damascus, and Marrakesh. A favorite literary subject of these storytellers was the epic tale of Arab bravery presented in such work as Sirat Antara.

Out of this type of oral tradition and sometime around the 15th century evolved the most famous Arabic literary work in the West: Alf laylah wa Laylah (Thousand and One Nights, or Arabian Nights). It revealed a blend of legends, fables, and fairy tales derived from many cultures such as the Mesopotamian, Persian, Greek, Indian, Chinese, Turkish, and Arabic, traditions integrated and reintroduced through tales and legacies correlated with Abbasid times.

In the western part of the Islamic state al-Andalus, a similar cultural revolution took place and built widely on the eastern Islamic prototype. One particular form of literature was distinctly Andalusian, al-Muwashshahat, which was a love poem performed with singing and music.

Among the brilliant names associated with this art are Ibn Sahl, Ibn al-Khatib, and Ibn Hazm. As early as the 12th century Muslim Spanish academies, similar to Bayt al-Hikmah in Baghdad, were opened for translating Arabic into Latin. Scholars from France, England, Germany, and northern Europe converged in the Andalus to study Arabic literature and other subjects.

As early as the second half of the ninth century a new type of literary work emerged throughout the Abbasid Empire, that is, geohistorical writing accentuated with traveler observations and accounts. Major examples of this type were Ibn Fadhlan, Abbasid ambassador to the Viking kingdom, and his account Rihlat ibn Fadhlan (Travels of Ibn Fadhlan) in 922; in Baghdad, Ibn Hawqal (d. 969) wrote Surat al-Ardh (Description of the Earth), where he described Spain, Italy, and the Byzantine territories. In 1154 Al-Idrisi was commissioned by the Norman king Roger II in Palermo and composed a geographical account of the world called Nuzhat al-Mushtaq fi Ikhtiraq al-Afaq also known as Kitab Rodjar.

Yaqut al-Hamawi (d. 1229) wrote a major geographical dictionary, Mujam al-Buldan, which contained significant biographical, cultural, and historical data on the known world. Al-Qazwini (d. 1383) wrote in Baghdad his cosmographic work Ajaib al-Makhluqat wa Gharaib al-Mawjudat (Marvels of things created and miraculous aspects of things existing).

The book was very popular and was translated into Farsi and Turkish and was often illustrated lavishly. Al-Qazwini also wrote an important geographical account. Ibn Batuta traveled extensively through Africa, Europe, and Asia and recorded his accounts in his Rihlat Ibn Batuta (Travels of Ibn Batuta), a classic in Arabic literature.

The Arabs learned papermaking technology from the Chinese in the eighth century and substituted mulberry bark and other organic matter with linen as raw materials, and the first papermaking factory was established in Baghdad in 793.

This was a turning point in the spread of education and the development of Arabic literature throughout the Islamic world. Expensive parchment and fragile papyrus were replaced by paper that was affordable, practical, and durable. Libraries were common and were open to the public.

Booksellers gathered around major mosques and markets with their shops stocked with volumes of desirable works; shops became popular gathering places for scholars and writers. Specialized workshops of manuscript copying were manned with professional and efficient copyists, calligraphers, illustrators, and linguists.

The fall of Baghdad to the Mongols in 1258 marked the beginning of the decline of the golden age of Arabic literature as well as other scientific activities. However the massive destruction of books by the invading armies of Genghis Khan, Hulagu Khan, and later Timurlane (Tamerlane) prompted Arab scholars to compile, digest, codify, and abridge major encyclopedic and collection works, hence preserving Arabic literary heritage with such authors as Al-Qazwini, Yaqut, Ibn Malik, Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Batuta, Abu al-Fida, and Al-Zabidi.

Delhi Sultanate

Delhi Sultanate under various dynasties

The influx of Muslim Turks into the Indian subcontinent began in the 11th and 12th centuries. It was spearheaded by a series of military dynasties, including the Ghaznavids, who ruled parts of Persia and invaded northern India, and the Ghurids, who started off as allies of the great Ghazanavid ruler Mahmud of Ghazni, but broke away after his death in 1030 and conquered much of northern India for themselves.

Aibak, a Turk born in Central Asia and taken to Nishapur as a slave of the Ghurid ruling house, served as a Ghurid direktur from 1192 until 1206, when he was freed and named sultan, or ruler, of a new dynasty based in the city of Delhi by his former masters.

While in the service of the Ghurids, he led a series of military campaigns in India, expanding the empire’s territory significantly and subjugating most of the land between the Indus and Ganges Rivers. Aibak’s reign, during which he spent the majority of his time trying to establish political institutions and geographic boundaries, was relatively short and he died in 1210.


Aibak was succeeded by his son, Aram in Lahore, who had little experience in politics and was overthrown and killed in 1211 by Aibak’s son-in-law, Shams ud-Din Iltutmish, who was favored by the army. Immediately upon assuming control of the sultanate, Iltutmish was faced with military challenges from both the neighboring Ghaznavids and the Muslim state in Sind. In a series of wars against them, Iltutmish reasserted his authority and by 1228 had conquered all of Sind.

According to the Muslim historian Ibn Batuta, Iltutmish was the first ruler of Delhi to reign independently of a larger state and in 1228–29 he received emissaries from the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad, the premier Muslim state, at least in name, of this period. Under his leadership, the Delhi Sultanate escaped destruction when the Mongol leader Genghis Khan swept westward through Central Asia.

Iltutmish died in 1236 and was succeeded by a series of weak rulers and the Turkish nobility, nicknamed “the Forty,” who controlled the sultanate’s most important provinces. His son Rukn ad-Din Firuz Shah ruled for seven months before being deposed by his sister, Raziyya, whom their father had initially chosen as the new ruler before his death.

Qutb Minar, minaret near New Delhi, India.
It was erected (c.1230) by Iltutmish of the Delhi Sultanate

The sultana had been trained in political administration during periods when her father went off on military campaigns and left her in charge of maintaining the government. Raziyya encountered stiff opposition from many of the sultanate’s officials, and she was overthrown in 1240. Iltutmish’s youngest son, Mu‘izz ad-Din Bahram Shah, ascended the throne and worked to strengthen the northern frontier against the Mongols.

He stopped an attempt by his sister to regain control of the sultanate. However he too was overthrown in 1242 by senior government officials and was subsequently executed. The new sultan, Nasir ud-Din Mahmud, was a recluse and granted political authority to Ghiyath ad-Din Balban, his slave and future son-in-law.

Under Balban, the sultanate continued to ward off Mongol raiding parties and stopped revolts by rebellious Hindu rulers. When Sultan Nasir ud-Din, who had no children, died in 1265, Balban formally assumed the title of sultan, ruling for two decades until 1286.

The sultanate’s army was reorganized and improved under Balban and he ordered the construction of forts in and around Lahore in order to present a defensive line against the Mongol leader Hulagu Khan, who had invaded Iran in 1256 and was actively campaigning throughout Persia and the Arab Middle East during the second half of the 1250s. Between 1280 and 1283 one of the sultanate’s governors, Tughril, rebelled against Balban and the sultan led a military campaign against him, which resulted in the governor’s death during a raid by Balban’s forces on his camp.

The early period of the Delhi Sultanate came to an end in 1290 when Balban’s son, Bughra Khan, refused the throne and Malik Firuz Khalji overthrew Balban’s teenage grandson, Kaiqubad. The Turk Khaljids adopted Afghan customs after occupying Afghanistan and oversaw the rapid expansion of the sultanate, conquering Gujarat and Deccan during their reign from 1290 to 1320.

Sultan Ala ud-Din Khalji (r. 1296–1316) enlarged the army and introduced economic and tax reforms. Upon his death, he was succeeded by a series of inept rulers and internal strife led to the downfall of the Khaljids soon after his death.

The Tughlaq dynasty (1320–1412) rose to power and Sultan Muhammad Ibn Tughlaq (r. 1325–51) founded a second capital city at Deogir in order to control an increasingly vast empire. By moving the active capital south, the sultan could oversee the continued military campaigns in Deccan.

Under Muhammad a system of currency was introduced and taxes were increased to meet the sultan’s military expenditures. Much of the later years of his reign was spent dealing with revolts, trying to head off dissension from the clergy (ulama), and handling external threats, which resulted in the reduction of the empire’s territory.

Sultan Firuz Shah Tughlaq (r. 1351–88) was not as militarily successful as his predecessors, but was perhaps the dynasty’s greatest administrator-ruler. He reintroduced the jagir system, which paid army officers in grants of land rather than cash salaries, and introduced a justice system that rigorously enforced the laws.

Firuz Shah also focused on improving social services and opened up a large hospital, Dar us-Shafa, in Delhi and founded bureaus of employment and marriage. During his reign the state financed the expansion of existing cities, the construction of new ones, and the building of mosques, bathhouses, and canals. The religious policy of the sultanate under Firuz Shah was strictly Sunni and non-Muslims were required to pay the jizya tax and Shi’ite Muslims were placed under restrictions.

Upon Firuz Shah’s death in 1388, a succession crisis led to the downfall of the Tughlaq dynasty. In the midst of this crisis, Timurlane (Tamerlane) the ruler of Samarkand who was forging an empire in Central Asia, invaded India and captured and sacked Delhi in 1398.

Famine and the spread of disease followed the Timurid invasion, with thousands of slaves and much of the city’s wealth being taken back to Central Asia. The Tughlaq dynasty was no longer a single entity and several competing states were left to squabble over Muslim India. With the fall of the Tughlaqs, the Turkish sultanate of Delhi began its steady decline.

Despite periods of revival under the Sayyid dynasty (1414–1451) and the Lodi dynasty (1451–1526), the centralized sultanate no longer existed and both dynasties were faced with opposition from India’s Hindu population and rival Indian Muslim states. The sultanate was formally ended in 1526 when Zahir ud-Din Muhammad Babur, a Chaghatai Turk who ruled in Kabul, ushered in the period of the great Mughal Empire.

Umayyad Dynasty

Umayyad Dynasty at its greatest extent

After Ali’s death and his son Hasan’s renunciation of the caliphate, Muaw’iya became the undisputed caliph of the Muslim world in 661. He established a hereditary dynasty with Damascus as its capital.

However, unlike in most western monarchies, succession was not based on primogeniture; the ruler selected anyone within his family as the chosen heir. However, the undisputed claim of the Umayyad family to the caliphate was short lived.

When Muaw’iya died in 680, his son Yazid’s claim to the position was immediately challenged by Ali’s younger son Husayn. Yazid’s forces inflicted a stunning defeat over Husayn and his Shi’i followers at the Battle of Kerbala but the victory was bittersweet as it resulted in the permanent division of the Muslim community into the orthodox, majority Sunnis, who accepted the legality of the Umayyad rule, and the Shi’i, who did not.


Internal divisions, especially from Iraq and Khurasan, an eastern province of the old Sassanid empire in Persia, were persistent problems during the Umayyad reign.

The Umayyads appointed Hajjah ibn Yusuf al-Thaqafi to control the rebellious provinces of Iraq and he was fairly successful in putting down the sporadic, but persistent rebellions. He was responsible for appointing governors for Khurasan as well.

In the first years of the empire the administration was fairly decentralized and Greeks and Copts held many major bureaucratic positions. Muslim judges (qadis) were appointed but they dealt only with the Muslim population. The majority non-Muslim population retained their own communal systems.

Umayyad Mosque in Damascus

Under Abd al-Malik (r. 685–705), the Umayyad empire became more highly centralized. He established a national mint and the process of Arabization of the vast Umayyad territory spread as Arabic became the lingua franca of the empire. Arabic became the language not only of Islam but of trade and government.

Provincial governors were appointed to administer the far-flung territories but when the caliphs were weak and central control lessened, these governors often became political powers in their own right.

The boundaries of the empire continued to widen as Abd al-Malik personally led his troops into battle. His able commander Hasan ibn Nu’man took Tunis in North Africa in 693; the Berber population subsequently converted to Islam and was largely responsible for the spread of the faith into Spain.

Abd al-Malik also paid for the construction of the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem. Built on the site where Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, it was also the site of Solomon’s temple and the prophet Muhammad’s miraculous ascent into the heavens.

Muslims referred to the site as the Haram as-Sharif (Sacred Mount), while it was known as the Temple Mount to Jews. Thus the site had holy meaning for all three great monotheistic religions.

Completed in 692 the Dome of the Rock remains one of the most notable architectural achievements of the Arab/Islamic empire. The great Umayyad Mosque in Damascus was completed in 705. Essentially secular rulers the Umayyads also built numerous fortresses and hunting palaces.

Dome of the Rock, Masjid Al-Aqsa

The Umayyad empire reached its furthest geographic limits under Caliph al-Walid (r. 705–715). The Berber commander al Tariq led Muslim forces across into Spain in 711 and established a foothold at Jabal Tariq or Gibraltar. To the Arabs, the Spanish province was known as al-Andalus, or land of the Vandals.

Within a few years Muslim armies had moved across the Pyrenees into France. Muslim armies were halted in 732–733 by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours, marking the farthest point of Muslim conquests in western Europe.

In the east, Muslim armies conquered Afghanistan and territory across the Indus River deep into India, where they made numerous converts among the Buddhist population. Attempts in 670 and subsequently to take the Byzantine capital Constantinople all failed and the Byzantine Empire was able to survive until the 15th century.

In contrast to his predecessors, Caliph Umar II (r. 717–720) was known for his religious piety. He proclaimed the equality of all his subjects, Muslims, Arabs, or non-Muslims, but he also established some differentiations based on dress whereby Christians were forbidden to wear silk garments or turbans in public.

The collection and distribution of tax revenues were a perennial dilema for the Umayyads. Provincial governors were often reluctant to send monies to the state, preferring to spend revenues in their own localities. The Umayyads never established an effective centralized means of fiscal control.

Under Islamic law the non-Muslim population had not been forced to convert and non-Muslims or Dhimmis remained the majority of the population throughout most of the empire. Dhimmis paid land tax in addition to a poll tax from which Arab Muslims, the original conquerors, were exempt. In addition Muslim Arabs also received a state stipend.

As more non-Arab subjects converted to Islam, revenues flowing into the central treasury decreased. The Umayyads attempted to replenish revenues with ambitious land reclamation and irrigation schemes to increase agricultural productivity.

The revenues from these projects went to the state. Under Caliph Hisham (r. 724–743) land tax was to be paid whether one had converted or not, although converts did become exempt from the poll tax.

The non-Arab Muslim population was gradually absorbed into society although the social cleavages between the elite Arab population, represented by the Umayyads, and more recent converts remained. Slaves were at the bottom rung of the social and economic strata. Most slaves were acquired as property in wars, but some were purchased through slave trading.

By the eighth century the Umayyads faced mounting economic problems. Revenues for the state and its huge army declined as conquests largely ceased. Unpaid soldiers posed a constant dilema of rebellions in the provinces.

In its tanggapan years the Umayyad Empire was also plagued with internal problems over succession to the caliphate. In 750 the Umayyads lost a major battle to the rebellious Abbasids, who enjoyed support from the Khursasan province. The caliph Marwan fled to Egypt but was pursued and killed.

Except for Abd al-Rahman most of the Umayyad family was also assassinated. Abd al-Rahman managed to escape and established an Umayyad dynasty in Córdoba, Spain. With the end of the Umayyad dynasty a new Muslim elite of Persian and then Turkish origins emerged under the Abbasid empire.

Although it had been built on Islamic conquests, the Umayyad Empire was essentially a secular dynasty. Umayyad rulers, with the exception of the pious Umar II, were known for their lavish secular lifestyles and sumptuous courts.

They were pragmatic rulers who opposed those who wanted to establish a religious state. Under the Umayyads, Dar al-Islam (House of Islam) was a confident, largely self-sufficient empire that covered vast territories made up of many diverse peoples.

Seljuk Dynasty

Seljuk empire map right after the death of Sultan Malik Shah I

In the 10th century Seljuk Turks migrated from territory around the Aral Sea into Transoxiana. Taking their name from Seljuk ibn Yakak, the Seljuks were Turkish nomadic people.

They came to power following the collapse of the Abbasid dynasty when the Fatimid dynasty in Cairo and other ruling families in Spain and North Africa had already established separate ruling dynasties.

Converts to Sunni Islam, the Seljuks based their authority on their military prowess. The Seljuk leader Tughril (d. 1063) crossed into Iran by 1043 and in 1055 entered Baghdad as the new ruling sultan.


Tughril immediately faced revolts by his brothers and Shi’i rebels; after successfully crushing both threats to his authority, Tughril persecuted the Shi’i population and created a Sunni dominated empire. After Tughril’s death, his son, Alp Arslan (r. 1063–73), succeeded to the sultanate.

A military leader, Arslan left the administration of the Seljuk territories to Nizam al-Mulk, who governed from Isfahan. The Seljuk sultanate consisted of a highly decentralized collection of tribal families. At the height of their power the Seljuks ruled territory from the Danube to the Ganges River.

The Seljuks referred to the Byzantine Empire as al-Rum (from Rome). Although Arslan was not interested in actually taking over the Byzantine Empire, he permitted Turkish families to raid and loot Byzantine holdings in Asia Minor as well as into Armenian territory.

Seljuk soldier

Tiring of the Seljuk threats, Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes was determined to confront Arslan. The Byzantine army consisted of Greek soldiers as well as mercenaries from France and the Balkans.

In the ensuing battle the latter proved to be less than loyal to their paymasters. Unbeknown to Romanos IV, Arslan was waiting in Armenia with a large number of well-trained and loyal cavalry forces.

In addition, Arslan’s agents followed the progress of the Byzantines as they crossed the Anatolian Peninsula. The Byzantine forces engaged the Seljuks at the Battle of Manzikert near Lake Van in the summer of 1071.

Large numbers of mercenaries deserted before the battle, which was a disastrous defeat for the Byzantine Empire. The emperor was wounded and taken prisoner by the Seljuks, who then moved in increasing numbers into Asia Minor. Although the Byzantine Empire survived into the 15th century, the Turkish population in Asia Minor would ultimately outnumber the Greeks.

After the Byzantine defeat at Manzikert, western rulers, including the pope, realized that the Byzantine Empire was not strong enough to protect Christians in the east. Seljuk control over the Christian holy sites would be a major contributing factor to the Crusades at the end of the 11th century.

After the Byzantine Empire called on the Seljuks for help against European rivals, they were rewarded with the city of Nicaea (Iznik), which became the capital of the sultanate of Rum. Malik Shah (r. 1073–92) succeeded his father as the Seljuk sultan.

Malik’s name, taken from Persian not Turkish sources, indicated the extent of Persian influences within the Seljuk empire. With the exception of a few coastal cities such as Acre in the eastern Mediterranean, Malik Shah’s territories extended from Syria to Yemen to the Persian Gulf.

With no clear successor Malik Shah’s death marked the end of the unified Seljuk empire, which soon fractured into a number of separate territories ruled by rival factions. The lack of political and military unity was a major factor in the Muslim losses to the crusaders. The last of the Seljuk territories fell to the Ottomans in 1300.

Samarkand

Samarkand

Samarkand and the neighboring city Bukhara were oases along the valley of the Zeravshan River. Agriculture thrived in the region from the eighth century b.c.e. Formerly known as ancient Afrasiab, the city was founded during the seventh century b.c.e.

Samarkand was surrounded by walls and was famous for its opulent architecture. Its strategic location along the Silk Road, which spanned China and Europe, contributed to its economic success and cultural vibrancy.

One route along the Silk Road known as the Golden Road was of particular importance to the rise of Samarkand and Bukhara as key trading hubs. The Golden Road passed through the principal cities of Mesopotamia and was extremely busy, frequented by many traders.


Samarkand became a cosmopolitan center of science and art, as new scientific and artistic ideas were transmitted rapidly along the Silk Road. For most of its history, the Achaemenid Persians made Samarkand the capital of their empire. Alexander the Great conquered Samarkand (or Marcanda, as it was then known) in 329 b.c.e. after overthrowing the Persians.

By the eighth century trade and culture flourished in the city. An Arab chieftain, Qutaiba ibn Muslim, the governor of Khurasan, invaded Samarkand in 712 c.e. Qutayba’s alliance with local Khwarazmians (who supplied him with knowledge of the surroundings as well as use of new technology in the form of mangonels, a heavy war engine for hurling large stones and other missiles) enabled his forces successfully to invade the city. Qutayba reneged on his promise to the Khawarazmians and expelled non-Muslims from the city.

From the eighth century, Samarkand became the center of the Umayyad dynasty. It was during this period that Samarkand was established as the center of Islamic civilization. In the ninth and 10th centuries Samarkand was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty and continued to be a major center of Islamic civilization.

The city retained its prominence as the capital of the Samanid dynasty and later, of the Seljuks (Turks) Empire. Sometime during the 13th century, the Venetian traveler Marco Polo reached Samarkand, and he described it as “very large and splendid.”

In 1220 the Mongols led by the powerful ruler Genghis Khan attacked the city. The destructive siege left Samarkand devastated. The city was left in ruins, but it did not experience total destruction for the Arab traveler Ibn Batuta recorded his observations of Samarkand as “one of the largest and most perfectly beautiful cities of the world,” supporting the view that certain vestiges of the city were still standing.

Among all its conquerors the fourth one, Timurlane (Tamerlane), a nobleman originally from a littleknown Turkic tribe, made the biggest impact on Samarkand. The despotic ruler made Samarkand the capital of his empire and rebuilt it in 1370 south of the old site.

By sparing all master craftsmen, including architects, from death upon his invasions, he was able to employ them in his service. Samarkand developed into a well planned urban civilization. Timurlane’s patronage led to the construction of many religious schools known as madrassas, grand mosques, mausoleums, and palaces.

Timurlane also made popular the use of turquoise ceramic. The enormous Bibi Khanum mosque added to the splendor of the city. Upon returning from his victory in India, Timurlane built the Bibi Khanum mosque in honor of his consort, Saray Mulk Khanum.

The Timurid phase occupies a distinct place in Islamic architecture, because of the wide use of ceramics. Building materials were not found in Samarkand and builders made mud bricks (out of clay, chopped straw, and camel urine) that were faced in glazed tiles in blue (Timurlane’s favorite color). These were then fashioned into minarets, portals, and domes.

The new city of Samarkand built by Timurlane was vastly different from the old city and was based on the Tatar concept. Under Timurlane, the city of Samarkand was home to Arabs, Persians, Turks, and North Africans of diverse sects as well as Christians, Greeks, and Armenians.

Timurlane’s grandson Ulugh Beg succeeded him, making Samarkand a major scientific hub by building an observatory. In his zeal to make Samarkand a center of learning Ulugh Beg also built two madrassas in the neo-Persian style, the Shir Dar and the Tilla Kari.