From Umayyad to Abbasid Empires

1. From Umayyad to Abbasid Empires ARAB ISLAMIC

3. Rise of Abbasid Party • The party traced its descent from Muhammad’s uncle, al-Abbas. • Al-Abbas’ great great grandson, Abu al-Abbas led his forces against the Umayyads. • Shi’a were his allies. • Mawali (Islamic converts) also supported him to gain acceptance in the community of believers. • Captured Umayyad capital in Syria (Battle of River Zab). • At “Reconciliation Banquet” al-Abbas slaughtered remaining Umayyad family.

4. Early Abbasid Era • Began to reject Shi’a and Malawi allies…and defended Sunni Islam. • Built a centralized, absolutist imperial order. • New capital: Baghdad “The Round City” (2km in diameter) on Tigris River • Baghdad became the richest city in the world (only Constantinople came close) • Sat on jeweled thrones. Had palaces and harems! Image of elitism was important. • For more than a century, able to collect revenue and preserve law over much of the empire.

5. Islamic Conversion and Mawali Acceptance • Mass conversions to Islam were encouraged throughout the empire. • Most converts were won over peacefully because of appeal of Islamic beliefs and advantages they enjoyed: - didn’t have to pay head tax - educational opportunities - jobs as traders, administrators, judges • What kind of CONVERSION is this? (think Bentley Reading!)

6. Town & Country: Commercial Boom and Agrarian Expansion • Abbasid Era was a great time of urban expansion and growth of merchant and landlord classes. • Tang & Song Dynasties in China were also reviving middle merchant class. (results of falls of Rome/Han) • Arab DHOWS - trading vessels with triangular (lateen) sails were used from Mediterranean to S. China Sea. This style later influenced European ship design.

7. Town & Country: Commercial Boom and Agrarian Expansion, cont.. • Muslim merchants formed joint ventures with Christian and Jewish traders. • Because each merchant had a different Sabbath, they could work 7 days/week. • Merchants grew rich supplying cities with goods throughout the empire. • Much wealth went to charity (required by Qur’an). • Hospitals and medical care of the Abbasid Empire surpassed those of any other civilization of that time.

8. Town & Country: Commercial Boom and Agrarian Expansion, cont.. • Much unskilled labor was left to slaves. • Some slaves were able rise to positions of power and gain freedom (like what other empire?) • Huge estates might have slaves, indentured servants or sharecroppers.

9. The First Flowering of Islamic Learning • Early contributions from Abbasid were great mosques and palaces. Ex: Dome of the Rock • Advances in religious, legal and philosophical discourse. • Science and Math! Abbasid scholars preserved Greek works of medicine, algebra, geometry, astronomy, anatomy, and ethics. • Arabic traders in India carried the Indian number system across Mediter. and into Northern Europe. These number systems became ESSENTIAL to Scientific Revolution in W. Europe.

10. Global Connections: Early Islam & the World • Abbasid Empire was the “go-between” for the ancient civilizations of the Eastern Hemisphere…this role grew as Arab trade networks expanded. • Islam pioneered patterns of organization and thinking that would affect human societies in major ways for centuries. • 5 Centuries = Spread of Islam played a dominant role in the Afro-Eurasian World.

11. Global Connections: Early Islam & the World…cont. • In the midst of achievement, Muslims were people had some growing disadvantages, especially to Europeans. • Muslim divisions would leave openings for political problems. Growing intolerance and orthodoxy led to the belief that the vast Islamic world contained all requirements for civilized life, which caused Muslim people to grow less receptive to outside influence and innovations…led to isolation at a time when Christian rivals were in a period of experimentation and exploration.