Islamic World

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Multimedia Tutorial of Islamic History University of Calgary
Welcome to The Islamic World to 1600 Tutorial, a multimedia Tutorial Chapters

introduction to the first millennium of Islamic history, developed
by the Applied History Research Group. It will outline Muslim
beliefs and practices, as well as the history of the Islamic world
from the 7th to the 17th centuries, including the expansion of the
Islamic empires of Asia, Africa, and Europe. Islamic Beginnings
You can navigate this tutorial in one of two ways. It is The Caliphate and the
recommended that you start at the first chapter and follow the
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First Islamic Dynasty
Alternately, you can click on one of the chapters in this outline and
begin there. The Fractured Caliphate
and the Regional
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so by clicking directly on the title of that section on the navigation Rise of the Great Islamic
bar. Empires
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The Islamic World to 1600
Islam is a religion that began in the 7th century in the Arabian Peninsula. In the Arabic language, islam
means "submission," which in a religious context means submission to God. A person who submits is called
a muslim, which is also the word for a follower of the religion of Islam. Western writers in the past have
sometimes referred to Islam as "Mohammedism." This word can be offensive to many Muslims, because it
insinuates the worship of the prophet Muhammad as a deity, which is not a component of Islam the way the
worship of Christ is a component of Christianity.
In exploring the history of the Islamic World from its beginnings in the 7th century to the decline of the
Great Islamic Empires around 1600, this tutorial aims to address some such western misconceptions of
Islam, while also providing a comprehensive survey of political, military, and cultural events over the first
thousand years of Islamic history. With approximately 1.2 billion Muslims in the world - 22 per cent of the
world's population - Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity. In the recent past Christians have
generally seen less population growth than Muslims, however, and some estimates show that the number of
Muslims in the world is increasing at a faster rate than the world population as a whole. Understanding the
origins and history of this major world religion is key to understanding its present and future role in the
world.
Proceed to the Roman and Byzantine Empires
The Islamic World to 1600 / The University of Calgary

Copyright 1998, The Applied History Research Group
In the centuries before 600 CE, the Roman Empire was the most influential power in many regions that
would later become Islamic. The Roman state developed from an early monarchy into a republic, established
around 500 BCE. By the 3rd century BCE Rome had completed its conquest of the Italian Peninsula, and
embarked on military campaigns against foreign powers. The first major conflict, known as the Punic Wars,
involved Rome and Carthage, an empire in North Africa. Sparked by Carthaginian expansion into Greek
settlements in Sicily, the Punic Wars ended with a Roman victory and subsequent control of all Carthaginian
territory. Roman territory eventually came to include the region encircling the Mediterranean Sea, including
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Spain, North Africa, Greece, Asia Minor, and Egypt. More information on the expansion of the Roman
Empire can be found in the First Europe Tutorial.
First Europe Tutorial - Roman Territorial Expansion
Beginning in the 3rd century CE, the Roman state underwent a prolonged series of
crises. Regional disparities of long standing induced the Emperor Diocletian (r. 284-
305) to officially split the empire. However, it was again briefly reunited by
Constantine I (r. 306-337), who also became one of the Roman Empire's most
significant rulers. He was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity.
Christianity had long been one of many religions present in the empire, and over its
first three centuries it had evolved from a Jewish sect into a complex system of Head of Constantine I
beliefs, though it continued to include a number of rival currents. Constantine's Rome, ca. 325
conversion and his subsequent actions to protect the Christians of the realm were The Metropolitan
instrumental to the religion's survival and expansion. In 313 he signed the Edict of Museum of Art, New
York, N.Y.
Milan, establishing a policy of toleration for Christians in the Empire, and in 325 he www.metmuseum.org
organised the Council of Nicaea, which attempted to establish standard articles of
faith to resolve doctrinal disputes among Christians. In 330 Constantine built the city of Constantinople on
the site of the ancient Greek city, Byzantium, as the principal capital of the Roman Empire, whose power
was slowly shifting east from Rome.
The reign of Theodosius I (r. 379-395) was also important for the Roman Empire, as he was the last to rule
over a united empire. He entrenched the separation between the Eastern and Western Empires in 395 by
assigning his son Arcadius to rule in the East, and his son Honorius to rule in the West. From that time until
the fall of the Western Empire to Germanic invaders in the late 5th century CE, the empires were separate.
Theodosius was also the first ruler to declare Christianity to be the official religion of the Roman Empire. In
451, the Council of Chalcedon divided the Christian world into five patriarchates, or regions to be overseen
by a patriarch: Rome (whose patriarch later assumed the title of pope), Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch,
and Jerusalem. When the Islamic conquests of the 7th century brought the latter three patriarchates under
Muslim rule, Constantinople became the leading city of Eastern Christianity. Eventually the division between
the Western church, based in Rome, and the Eastern church, based in Constantinople, culminated in the Great
Schism of 1054, when the Pope in Rome and the Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each other.
The result was the formation of the Catholic Church in the west, and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the
east.
In the 5th century the Western Empire progressively disintegrated, and in 476
Romulus Augustus, the last Roman Emperor in the west, was deposed by the
German leader, Odovacer. The empire's eastern regions survived as a functional
state. Though attempts to recapture large blocks of territory in the west were not
successful, the emperors resident in Constantinople continued to rule over one of
the most powerful empires in the region.
The Byzantine Empire
Although the rulers, inhabitants, and enemies of the Eastern Empire knew it as
the Roman Empire, even after the collapse of the Western Empire in 476, it has
acquired the name, Byzantine Empire, from later historians. The name is based Emperor Justinian
S. Vitale, Ravenna
Courtesy ofPage 3 of 109
Tulane
University
http://www2.tulane.edu/
on the ancient Greek city of Byzantium, which became the site for Constantinople in 330. Emperor Justinian
(r. 527-565) reclaimed the Italian Peninsula from the Visigoths, bringing the Christians of the former Western
Empire under Byzantine rule. He also conquered northwest Africa and coastal Spain, temporarily bringing
most of the Mediterranean under Byzantine control. The Sassanid Empire in Persia, a historic enemy of the
Roman Empire, began a new campaign into Byzantine territory in 610, the same year that Muslims believe
Muhammad received his first revelation from God, in Mecca, that he was the prophet of Islam. Within 30
years these three civilisations - the Byzantine, Persian, and Arab - would collide in what was for some a very
unexpected way, as the Muslim Arabs embarked on a rapid expansion campaign that brought down the
Sassanid Empire and took a large swath of Byzantine territories in North Africa and Mesopotamia. As we
shall see in the following chapters, the Islamic and Byzantine Empires were enemies for centuries. They
constantly traded territory, particularly in the region of Asia Minor that surrounded Constantinople. In 1453,
however, the Muslims would finally defeat the Byzantine Empire completely, with the sack of
Constantinople.
Proceed to Ancient Persia

The Iranian plateau, much of the territory of present-day Iran, was first populated in the 9th century BCE,
when the Medes people migrated there from Central Asia. The Medes were followed by the Persians in the
8th century BCE, and these two groups laid the foundation for a series of empires that arose on the Iranian
plateau over the next thousand years. Around 750 BCE the Medes people formed their own kingdom, called
Media, in the northwest plateau, becoming powerful enough by 612 BCE to defeat the older Assyrian Empire
to the west. In 550 BCE, however, the Persian leader Cyrus the Great led the Persians into battle against the
ruling Medes people, resulting in the unification of the two groups under the name of the victor, the Persians.
Cyrus also captured the city of Babylon on the Euphrates River and freed the Jewish captives there, earning
himself a place in the Book of Isaiah. The first Persian Empire, the Achaemenid, emerged from Cyrus'
victories, and lasted until the 2nd century BCE. The Achaemenid Empire was the largest empire yet seen in
the ancient world, extending at its height as far east as the Hindu Kush mountains in present-day
Afghanistan. Economically, the Achaemenids established an efficient trade system throughout their empire.
Persian words for many commodities spread throughout the region as a result of this commercial activity,
some of which are still used in English today. Examples include bazaar, shawl, sash, turquoise, tiara, orange,
lemon, melon, peach, spinach, and asparagus.
The Greeks of the eastern Aegean coast were the first western subjects of the Achaemenid Empire, bringing
the Greek and Persian cultures together for the first time. It was the start of a long relationship between the
two, which would later result in frequent military conflict as their respective empires grew. Religiously, the
Achaemenid Empire featured a variety of polytheistic religions, or those that worship more than one god.
What its followers claimed was the world's first monotheistic religion developed on the Iranian plateau,
though, based on the teachings of the prophet Zoroaster (also called Zarathustra). By the time of the
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Achaemenid Empire, Zoroastrianism - which most religious scholars now categorise as dualism, not
monotheism - was gaining converts among the Persians.
Zoroastrianism
By the 4th century BCE, Macedonia had become a strong force in the west, challenging first Greece, then
lands further east. About 330 BCE, Alexander the Great of Macedonia invaded Persia and sacked the capital
at Persepolis, ending the Achaemenid Empire. Although Alexander has achieved almost mythic status in
western history, the Persian view of him is understandably quite different. Persia did not regain its
Achaemenid-era power until the Sassanid Empire rose in the 3rd century CE. In the meantime, Persia was
ruled by weaker dynasties, the Seleucid and the Parthian, a period sometimes called the Hellenistic period in
Iran because of the Greek cultural influence. Greek statues and temples from this era have been found as far
east as Punjab and the Persian Gulf region. Anti-Greek sentiment that began under the late Parthian Empire
and continued under the Sassanids, however, has led to a poor memory of this period of Persian history. As
we shall see, the influence was not only one way; Persian culture, and especially religion, would also have a
great effect on many Judeo-Christian ideas.
Proceed to the Sassanid Empire

About 224 CE, the Parthian governor of the province of Fars (which still exists as a province in present-day
Iran), brought down the central government in Ctesiphon and established the Sassanid Empire, taking the
throne as Ardashir I. The Sassanid Empire would last over 400 years, and would be the last Persian Empire
before the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century brought the region under Arab rule. For this reason
the Sassanid Empire is important to our understanding of Islamic history, because it was instrumental in
promoting Persian nationalism, and creating a Persian identity that remained strong even after the Islamic
conquest and attempted Arabisation of the region.
The Sassanid Empire was almost constantly at war with the neighbouring Roman Empire to the west;
Ardashir's son, Shapur I, even captured the Roman Emperor, Valerian, for a time in 260. The animosity
between the two empires was exacerbated in the 4th century, when the Roman Emperor, Constantine I,
converted to Christianity, and later, Theodosius I made Christianity the official state religion. After that,
relations between the two empires took on an increased religious aspect, as the Roman Empire sought to
protect all Christians outside its borders, including those under Sassanid rule. The Christians in the Sassanid
Empire had not previously faced persecution for their religion, since they were mostly Nestorian Christians,
a different branch of Christianity than that practiced in the Roman Empire. For that reason the Sassanids
viewed their Christians not as following the religion of the enemy, but rather another Persian religion. Still,
the Sassanid Christians were the first to be suspected of political disloyalty whenever the empire came into
conflict with the Romans after Constantine's time.
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While Christianity had become the state religion of the Roman Empire, Zoroastrianism had been the official
religion of the Sassanids since the beginning of their empire in the 3rd century. The Zoroastrian church
became very powerful, and its head, the mobadan mobad, joined the military and bureaucratic leaders as one
of the most important men in the empire. Zoroastrianism is also said to have influenced Judeo-Christian
theology, such as that pertaining to the dualism between good and evil, or light and darkness; the belief in
angels and archangels; Satan as the epitome of evil and the adversary of God; the idea of paradise and hell;
the idea of the continued existence of the soul past that of the body; reward and punishment by divine justice;
the resurrection of the dead; the Last Judgement; beliefs in millennial periods and the end of the world; and
the coming of a Saviour at the end of the world. Many of these ideas would also appear in Islamic theology.
Zoroastrianism, which itself might have absorbed some of these ideas from Buddhism and Hinduism, was
thus an important influence on several religions that followed it.
Politically, Khusrau I (r. 531-579) is considered the most influential Sassanid ruler. He has been compared to
the 16th century Safavid ruler Shah Abbas I for instituting reforms that changed the empire. He reformed the
army by providing soldiers with salaries and equipment, thus earning their loyalty and decreasing the power
of nobles with private armies. He also improved efficiency in the tax system, by changing the method of
assessment and collection. This was perhaps his most significant reform, because the Sassanid tax system
later became a model for tax collection in the Islamic caliphate. The Muslims were also influenced by the
office of the Sassanid prime minister, which became a prototype for the Islamic grand vizier.
After 50 years of peace, Khusrau II (r. 590-628) resumed hostilities with the neighbouring Byzantine Empire,
the successor to the Roman. He rapidly expanded into Byzantine lands, capturing Jerusalem in 612 and
Alexandria in 619, while placing Constantinople, the Byzantine capital, under siege. The Byzantines
responded by staging a surprise attack through the Caucasus into the northern Sassanid Empire. They sacked
Ctesiphon in 627, and Khusrau II was killed while fleeing the city. There were 11 more rulers in the
following 10 last years of the Empire, but after Khusrau II the Sassanids grew weaker and more inefficient.
The Empire collapsed under a rapid military assault by the invading Arabs between 636 and 642. Although
the Arabs, seeking to spread their new religion, Islam, had fewer numbers and a simpler military structure
than the Persians, the Sassanid Empire was weak from fighting the Byzantines. By remaining highly mobile
and not relying on long supply lines, the Arabs rode in on horses and camels and defeated the Persians first at
the Battle of Qadisiyya in 636. By 638 they had occupied the Sassanid palace in Ctesiphon, forcing the
young king, Yazdegard III, to flee. Continuing through the Zagros Mountains, the Arabs won two more
decisive battles, at Jalula and Nihavand in 642, to take over the entire Iranian plateau.
After 400 years, the quick collapse of the Sassanid Empire was a bit of a surprise. There are several possible
reasons behind it, however. Not only had the Persians and Byzantines mutually wearied each other, but each
regarded themselves as superior to the rest of the world, which was seen as somewhat barbarian. They
therefore focussed their energies on fighting each other, while virtually ignoring other threats. The Arabs
were particularly underestimated; the Persians gave more credence to the threat from raiding groups from the
east than to the Arabs, possibly due to the Persian victory in southern Arabia that helped the Sassanids
maintain control of the Red Sea trading route in the early 6th century. By the time of the invasion, however,
the Arabs were able to take advantage of Persian weaknesses, such as disunity among the provinces and a
lack of allegiance among the people to the Sassanid central administration. Many Persians submitted to the
invaders when the Arabs demanded less taxes than the Sassanids had, and did not force conversion to Islam.
Later, Islam did spread to non-Arab groups, most notably the Persians, who began to convert in significant
numbers as Islamic rule over Persia strengthened in the centuries after the initial conquest. However, the
Sassanid Empire played a major role in developing a distinct Persian nationalism, which survived the Islamic
conquest and mass conversion of Persians to Islam. The Persians and the Arabs would become the leading
ethnic groups in the Islamic world, and each soon realised that their cooperation was fundamental to the
survival of the empire.
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Proceed to the Arabian Peninsula

The Arabian Peninsula - or, simply, Arabia - is a rectangular piece of land surrounded by the Red Sea on the
west, the Persian Gulf on the east, and the Arabian Sea to the south. To the north lie Syria and Mesopotamia,
lands which saw the birth of both Judaism and Christianity. Many Jewish and Christian influences had
penetrated Arabia before the coming of Islam in the 7th century, but the inhabitants of the Peninsula - the
Arabs - did not follow either of those religions. Islam, as taught by the Prophet Muhammad, himself an Arab,
was the religion that would convert the Arabs en masse to monotheism, or the belief in only one God.
A Note on Muhammad's Name
The people who inhabited the Arabian Peninsula - which they called Jazirat al-Arab, or "Island of the Arabs"
- were nomads, who survived the harsh desert environment by adhering to a seasonal migration cycle. For
four months from June to September, the Arabs waited out the summer heat, until the rains came in October.
The eight months until the following summer were then spent travelling between grazing grounds on the
desert's fringes. Their travel was eased by the domestication of the camel, which allowed the Arabs access to
the harsh Arabian desert.
Camels
By about the 5th century, some Arabs (a word which seems to mean "desert dweller") established settlements
in the desert and abandoned their nomadic ways. After that, the remaining Arab nomads became known as
the Bedouins, while settled Arabs assumed a different identity and refused to acknowledge their shared
ancestry with the Bedouins. One settlement that grew in Arabia was Mecca, which later became the birth
place of Muhammad, and later still, the holiest city of the Islamic faith.
Mecca
The nomadic Bedouin population would prove difficult to convert to Islam in the 7th century, not only under
Muhammad, but under his successors as well. Much of the Bedouins' reluctance to embrace Islam as quickly
as the settled Arabs was due to their strong adherence to traditional religions. The Arabs were polytheistic,
meaning they believed in and worshipped more than one god. Different regions of the Arabian Peninsula
often had their own patron deity, which usually had its own shrine. Arabs often embarked on pilgrimages to
different shrines throughout Arabia. Above their various gods, however, the Arabs also believed in a supreme
God, who they called al-ilah, or "the God." The word, contracted as Allah, was later used in Islam as the
name of the one and only God. In pre-Islamic Arabia, however, Allah was believed to be not the only God,
but simply the highest among many gods.
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The Arabs, like the ancient Greeks, were not only polytheists, but they were also humanists. They valued
human life for the duration of its time on earth, and they did not subscribe to a belief in any sort of afterlife.
Many Arabs rejected Christianity for that reason - the belief in Christ's resurrection was inconceivable, even
ridiculous. They believed only in the human world, and the prayers they offered to their gods pertained to
that world, not to salvation or redemption in heaven.
Monotheistic religions - those that accept and worship only

one God - were present in the Arabian Peninsula before
Islam. Judaism and Christianity existed among the
populations of southern Arabia, and Judaism was
particularly influential in the city of Yathrib, which became
known as Medina in Islamic times. Nestorian Christians,
driven from the Byzantine Empire in the 5th century over
differing opinions of doctrine, settled in Persia and in the
northern Arabian Peninsula and converted some Arabs
there. Zoroastrian traders from Persia passed through
Mecca and other trading centres often enough to exert a
small religious influence. Trade also linked the Arab world
with Christian Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia) across the
Red Sea, which intermittently controlled parts of Yemen and southern Arabia. For the most part, however,
the Arabs retained their traditional faith until the emergence of Islam in the 7th century CE.
Proceed to Muhammad

Muhammad, whose name means "worthy of praise," was born about 570 in Mecca. His father, Abdullah,
died before Muhammad was born, and his mother, Amina, died when he was six years old. His paternal
grandfather, Abdul Muttalib, then cared for him until his own death two years later, after which time
Muhammad spent the rest of his childhood in the care of his uncle, Abu Talib. Little is known about his early
life, but he was not wealthy, and it is believed he was a shepherd. When he was 25 he married Khadija, a
wealthy widow about 15 years his senior. Despite her age, Khadija would bear Muhammad six children, four
of whom survived to adulthood - daughters Zaynab, Ruqayya, Fatima, and Umm Kulthum. Ruqayya later
married Uthman, and Fatima married Ali, men who became the third and fourth caliphs, respectively, of the
Islamic world after Muhammad's death. It is said that Khadija and Muhammad were truly in love, and that
although polygamy was common in Arabia, she was his only wife until her death in 619.
Muhammad frequently retreated to Mount Hira, a place of privacy and contemplation near Mecca, to
meditate and consider his spirituality. Islamic tradition relates that it was during one such trip, in 610, when
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he was 40 years old, that Muhammad first heard the voice of the angel Gabriel, who recited to him the word
of God, today written down in the Muslim holy book, the Qur'an, meaning "recitation."
The Qur'an
It is significant that Muslims believe that what Gabriel told Muhammad came directly from God, and that
Muhammad was simply God's messenger. Muslims do not believe that Muhammad himself was divine in
any way, an important distinction that sets Islam apart from Christianity, which does believe in the divinity of
Jesus. Muslims believe that Gabriel continued to send Muhammad messages from God until the prophet's
death. Muhammad immediately began preaching the message he had received; his wife, Khadija, was his
first convert, soon followed by his cousin and future successor, Ali. Islam says that the message was similar
to those received by the early Hebrew prophets: that God is one, he is all-powerful, he is the creator of the
universe, and that there will be a Judgement Day when those who have carried out God's commands will
enjoy paradise in heaven, and those who have not will be condemned to hell. As we have seen, these ideas
were also part of the Zoroastrian religion.
By 615, Muhammad had gained several converts. These early Muslims were persecuted in Mecca, mainly by
wealthy merchants who controlled the city and feared that the new faith would challenge their economic
monopoly. That year, about 80 Muslims fled from Mecca to Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia) to take refuge
with Christians there, who were enemies of the polytheistic Meccans. Muhammad's daughter, Ruqayya, and
her husband, Uthman, were among those who fled, although Muhammad himself stayed in Mecca. The
Abyssinian Christians treated the Muslims well, helping to form Muhammad's positive view of Christians.
He labelled both Jews and Christians "People of the Book," because their religion had a holy scripture. For
this reason, Muhammad considered Judaism and Christianity to be superior to the polytheistic, humanist
Arab religions. Islam also had several beliefs in common with the two older religions, and today calls itself
the third "Abrahamic" religion because of what it sees as common roots between the three.
The Abrahamic Religions
Before Muhammad's wife, Khadija, and his uncle, Abu Talib, both died in 619, Muhammad experienced his
famous "Night Journey." Although there are several versions of what occurred that night, Islam holds that the
angel Gabriel came to Muhammad while he was sleeping near the Ka'ba one night, and escorted him first to
Jerusalem, then through seven heavens - where he met Abraham, Moses, and Jesus - to the presence of God.
This event later helped establish Jerusalem as the third holiest city in Islam, after Mecca and Medina. During
his journey, Muslims believe that Muhammad was told of several tenets of Islam that became some of the
most basic acts of the religion, such as praying five times daily.
In 620, Muhammad married A'isha, whose father, Muhammad's friend Abu Bakr, would become the first
caliph after Muhammad's death 12 years later. In 622, at age 52, Muhammad finally fled persecution in
Mecca, taking his followers north to the city of Yathrib. After his arrival, the name of the city was changed to
Medinat un-Nabi, the City of the Prophet, or Medina. Muhammad's journey to Mecca is known as the Hijra,
or emigration, and marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar.
The Islamic Calendar
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The Prophet's Mosque in Medina
Courtesy of IslamiCity
www.islamicity.org
Medina was much more tolerant of Islam than Mecca had been, and the religion flourished among the
community there. Muhammad expanded his role as a religious leader into more of a community leader in
general, marking the initial partnering of religious and administrative affairs, which would become a
standard practice in the future Islamic empires. He built a house there that became the model for the mosque
later built on the site, the Prophet's Mosque, which has since become the second holiest shrine in Islam, after
the Ka'ba in Mecca.
In 624, Muhammad decided the Medinans should intercept a camel caravan on its way from Syria to Mecca,
for the purpose of disrupting Meccan economic activity and obtaining the cargo for his followers. In the
resulting Battle of Badr, the Medinans won a decisive victory despite being outnumbered by the Meccans.
The event served to unify the Medinans and weaken the Meccans. It was also the first significant victory in
battle for a people who would soon grow into the formidable military force that would defeat long-standing
empires from Persia to Egypt.
Also in 624, Muhammad decided that the qibla, or direction of prayer, should be the Ka'ba in Mecca. This
strengthened Muhammad's resolve to bring Mecca under Muslim control, and several more battles were
fought between the two cities. Mecca was progressively weakened by the continued Muslim tactic of
interrupting caravan traffic, and by 630, the city fell to the Muslims with little resistance. Muhammad
ordered a general amnesty, thus winning over Meccans who feared retaliation for past persecution of
Muslims, and the faith began spreading in the city. Muhammad destroyed the polytheistic idols in the Ka'ba,
and dedicated the monument to Islam. It became, and today remains, the spiritual centre of the Islamic faith.
In 631 Muhammad reached peace settlements with the leaders of local Christian and Jewish communities,
thus bringing those groups under Muslim protection, as long as they paid the jizya tax demanded of all non-
Muslims. In 632 he led a pilgrimage to Mecca for the first time, but 3 months later, at age 62, Muhammad
unexpectedly became ill and died in Medina. He was survived by 10 wives but only one child - daughter
Fatima, who would later become Ali's wife, and would also lend her name to a 10th century Islamic dynasty
in Egypt.
Thus ended the life of the man Muslims believe to be the last prophet God sent to earth. Today, his influence
can be gauged by the fact that more male children in the world have the name Muhammad than any other.
Proceed to Islamic Beliefs and Practices
Page 10 of 109
Islamic theology is a large field, requiring detailed study to fully understand. There are several basic beliefs
and practices, however, that can be outlined here. Central to Islamic belief is the absolute power of God.
Islam is strictly monotheistic, believing that there is only one God, omnipotent and merciful, and that
associating any human being or image with God is an unforgivable sin. We have already seen how this view
translates into the Muslim rejection of the Christian belief in Jesus' divinity, as well as in the Trinity, and it
also means that Muslims do not accept idolatry, or shirk.
As we have also seen, Muslims believe that Muhammad was the last of a series of prophets that God sent to
earth. While respecting the teachings of all earlier prophets, Muslims believe that Allah sent his final
message to Muhammad in order to correct the corruption of the previous messages. As with the other
Abrahamic religions, Satan also exists in Islamic theology, but Islam's strict monotheism maintains that God
is the most important figure. Satan is not nearly as important in Islam as he is in Christianity, for example.
Also unlike Christianity, Muslims do not believe in original sin. They believe that God pardoned Adam's sin
in order for human beings to begin life without sin. Muslims who have sinned in their lives, and who
sincerely repent and submit to God, can be forgiven for their sins. Muslims also believe in a Judgement Day,
when the world will end and the dead will rise to be judged.
There are Five Pillars of Islam, which are the most important practices for a Muslim to observe:
1. Creed (Shahada): The statement of Shahada in Arabic is: "Ashhadu al-la ilaha illa-llah wa ashhadu
anna Muhammadar rasulu-llah." An English translation would be: "I bear witness that there is no God
but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Messenger." This declaration of the faith must be
uttered publicly at least once in a Muslim's lifetime, although most Muslims recite it daily.
The Masjid Aqsa in Jerusalem

The Shahada inscribed at the Ottoman Topkapi Courtesy of IslamiCity
Palace in Istanbul www.islamicity.org
www.islam.org
2. Prayers (Salate): The Muslim holy day is Friday, when congregations gather just past noon in a
masjid, or mosque in English, the Muslim place of worship. The three holiest places of worship in the
Islamic world are the Mosque of the Ka'ba in Mecca, the Mosque of the Prophet Muhammad in
Medina, and the Masjid Aqsa, adjacent to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. An Imam, or religious
leader, gives a sermon and leads the congregation in prayer. Muslims do not need to be in a mosque
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in order to pray, however; they may do it anywhere - a house, office, school, or even outside. They
must observe the qibla in all cases though, by facing towards the Ka'ba in Mecca when praying.
Prayers must be performed five times daily - at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and nightfall. The
prayers always contain verses from the Qur'an, and must be said in Arabic. Muslims believe that
prayer provides a direct link between the worshipper and God.
3. Purifying Tax (Zakat): Muslims believe that all things belong to God, and that humans hold wealth in
trust for him. For that reason, it is believed that wealth should be distributed throughout the
community of believers, or umma, through a purifying tax. The usual payment is 2.5 per cent of a
person's wealth every year, the proceeds of which are distributed to the less fortunate. Additional
charity work is also encouraged.
4. Fasting (Sawm): During the month of Ramadan, the ninth month in the Islamic calendar, Muslims
fast between dawn and dusk. They must abstain from food, liquid, and intimate contact during those
hours of the day, in order to commemorate the Muslim belief that Ramadan was the month in which
the Qur'an descended from the highest heaven to the lowest, from which it was then revealed to
Muhammad in pieces over 22 years. Fasting is seen as a method of self-purification, by cutting
oneself off from worldly comforts. The sick, elderly, travellers, and nursing or pregnant women are
permitted to break the fast during Ramadan, provided they make up for it during an equal number of
days later in the year. Children begin the ritual at puberty. The end of Ramadan is celebrated by the
Eid al-Fitr, one of the major festivals on the Muslim calendar.
5. Pilgrimage (Hajj): All Muslims are required to make one pilgrimage to Mecca in their lifetimes,
provided they are physically and financially able to do so. The Hajj begins in the 12th month of the
Islamic lunar calendar which means, like Ramadan, it does not correspond to a specific month in the
solar calendar. Modern transportation methods, particularly the airplane, have made it possible for
many more Muslims to make the Hajj today than 1400 years ago. Like Ramadan, the end of the Hajj
is also celebrated with a festival, the Eid al-Adha, which is celebrated by all Muslims, whether or not
they made the pilgrimage. These two festivals are the highlight of the Islamic year.
Hajj pilgrims praying towards the Ka'ba at the Masjid Al-Haram in Mecca
www.islamicity.org
Gender Roles
The roles assigned to men and women in Islamic theology have often come under fire in the Judeo-Christian
world, mostly due to misunderstandings of Islam's position on gender roles, or the corruption of Qur'anic
Page 12 of 109
doctrine by present-day political leaders in Muslim countries. The Qur'an says that men and women are
created equally before God, and that while they have different attributes, neither gender is superior. Both
men and women have souls and can go to Heaven if they lead a life without sin, contradicting early Christian
doctrine that women do not possess souls and are inherently evil, because of Eve's original sin. Islam does
not blame Eve for what it believes happened in the Garden of Eden; it maintains that both Adam and Eve
were responsible, but they repented before God and were forgiven. Believing women descended from the
sinful Eve colored Christian ideas of women's character for centuries - as untrustworthy, morally inferior,
wicked beings - with menstruation, pregnancy, and childbirth believed to be punishment for all women after
Eve. The Qur'an has no such images of women, who are not put on earth solely to bear children, but also to
do good deeds the same as men.
The Qur'an states that women are not possessions of men. They are free to choose their own husbands and
maintain their own names after marriage. Divorce is permitted, though discouraged. Polygamy, or the
practice of a man having more than one wife, is also permitted - to a maximum of four wives - with the
stipulation that the man must have means to care for all of his wives. Both women and men are encouraged
to seek knowledge, and to manage their own financial assets. A wife has the right to claim financial support
from her husband, but a husband is not entitled to his wife's earnings, inheritance, or property. Women can
own their own property, enter into legal contracts themselves, and give testimony in legal proceedings. A
wife has the right to receive a mahr, or dowry, from her husband upon marriage, which cannot be returned
under any circumstances. She also has the right to kind treatment from her husband.
Still, one should not assume from the rights listed here that medieval Islamic society featured perfectly
balanced gender roles. Women were still considered fertile fields to which men should go, menstruation was
treated as an illness, two women were required in order to testify in legal proceedings in the place of one
man, and a woman's inheritance was generally half of her brother's. Both men and women are required by the
Qur'an to dress modestly, in order to be judged on the basis of character rather than appearance, and they
must dress differently from unbelievers. For women, this includes the Hijab, which for some Muslim women
covers the head and body except for eyes and hands, while for others covers only the hair. It seeks to ensure
that a woman is not viewed as a sexual being by those other than her husband.
These basic tenets of gender roles are set out in the Qur'an, but as with many religions, the word of the holy
scripture has not always been followed by those with political power. Women, for example, have not always
been permitted their Qur'anic rights by Islamic regimes throughout history, just as gender roles in Christian,
Jewish, Hindu, or other religions are not always carried out in everyday life.
Return to Outline

The Caliphate and the First Islamic Dynasty
Introduction
Abu Bakr (632-34)
Umar (634-44)
Uthman (644-56)
Page 13 of 109
Ali (656-61)
The Umayyad Dynasty (661-75)
Umayyad Politics and Administration
Umayyad Territorial Expansion
Collapse of the Umayyad Dynasty
Return to Outline
With the death of the Prophet in 632, the future of the new religion of Islam was uncertain. Muhammad had
held his small community of believers together, but without his guidance, the unity of the Muslim
community, or umma, was threatened. Muhammad's close friends and advisors decided to select a leader to
replace Muhammad and to continue spreading the Islamic faith. This leader was known as the khalifa,
meaning "deputy" in Arabic, which has been anglicised as "caliph." In the years following Muhammad's
death there would be four caliphs, sometimes called the "Rightly Guided Caliphs" or the "Four Medina
Caliphs," before the first Islamic dynasty was established in 661 by the Umayyad family, who established the
practice of hereditary succession. The Umayyads were overthrown in 750 by the Abbasids, who established a
dynasty that would last until the Mongol invasion of Baghdad, the Abbasid capital, in 1258. This chapter will
discuss the Four Medina Caliphs and the first Islamic dynasty, the Umayyad.
Proceed to Abu Bakr

There are differing opinions about whether or not Muhammad designated his successor before his death. One
group of his followers claimed at the time, and continues to believe today, that Muhammad named his son-
in-law, Ali, as his successor. For this group, known today as Shi'ites, their belief that Ali was the rightful
claimant to the leadership after Muhammad's death sparked centuries of disagreement with the other main
group in Islam, the Sunnis. The schism between the Sunnis and Shi'ites remains a major issue in the Islamic
world.
Sunni vs. Shi'a
Page 14 of 109
Regardless of whether or not Muhammad chose a successor, Ali did not
become the first caliph. The title went to Abu Bakr, one of Muhammad's
fathers-in-law (he had 10 wives) and close friend, who was chosen by the
community to lead them as the "deputy" of God. One of the first problems
Abu Bakr faced as caliph was a rapid renunciation of the Islamic faith by
many Arab groups. As we saw in Chapter 1, these groups, known as the
Bedouins, were present in the Arabian Peninsula before the coming of Islam.
Many of them had converted to Islam under Muhammad, but the faith had
not yet been strongly accepted by them by the time of Muhammad's death.
The Bedouins abandoned Islam and refused allegiance to Abu Bakr, in a
revolt known as the Ridda.
After several small battles with the Bedouins, the Muslim forces finally crushed the Ridda in 633. This
conflict with the Bedouins demonstrated the fragility of the new faith and convinced Abu Bakr that with the
Arabian Peninsula under Muslim control, Islam needed to expand past it. At this time, there were two
empires on Arabia's borders, both of which Abu Bakr saw as a threat to Islam: the Sassanid Empire, which
ruled much of Persia and Iraq, and the Byzantine Empire, which ruled southern Europe, Syria, and Egypt,
and which had naval control of the Mediterranean Sea. Abu Bakr declared a jihad against the Christian
Byzantines in Syria, but he was unable to carry out the invasion. He died in August, 634, only two years after
taking power.
Jihad
During his brief reign as caliph, Abu Bakr took important first steps toward spreading Islam beyond Mecca
and Medina, the cities of its origin. His successful fight against the Bedouins claimed the entire Arabian
Peninsula for Islam, and his declaration of hostility against the Byzantines and Sassanids, who surrounded
Arabia, set the stage for his successors to spread Islam beyond the Arabian Peninsula. By 634, the
foundations were in place for the rapid expansion of Islam, which would occur under the next three caliphs.
Proceed to Umar

Before his death, Abu Bakr named Umar, another of Muhammad's fathers-in-law, as his successor. That
appointment, unlike that of the previous caliph, appears to have gone virtually unchallenged. Umar added
Amir al-Mu'minin, meaning "Commander of the Faithful," to his title, and from then on, all caliphs used this
title. It denoted the fact that caliphs were not just the political leaders of the Muslim community, but the
spiritual leaders as well. Despite this new title, however, Umar is remembered more for his military
Page 15 of 109
leadership than his spiritual leadership, because he focussed on expanding the realm of Islam outside of the
Arabian peninsula. This focus on the secular would later reappear under the Umayyad dynasty.
The first territorial conquests Umar made were in Syria, which he took from the Byzantines in 635.
Damascus, an important city in Syria, fell to the Muslim forces that year, and Jerusalem - considered by
Muslims, Christians, and Jews alike to be a holy city - followed in 637. The Muslim policy of tolerance
towards other religions had a positive effect on the people of Syria, especially the Christians and Jews, who
had been persecuted under the Byzantines. Umar realised that the loyalty of his new subjects was paramount
to the success of Islamic rule in the region, and he therefore tried not to alienate them with excessive taxation
or oppression. He instituted the kharaj, a tax that landowners and peasants paid according to the productivity
of their fields, as well as the jizya, paid by non-Muslims in return for the freedom to practice their own
religion. He retained the civil service of the Byzantines, however, until he could establish his own system for
governing his rapidly expanding empire, and for that reason Greek remained the language of administration
in the new Muslim territories for over 50 years after the conquest.
Umar realised the importance of creating a buffer zone around all of Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, and so
while Syria was being invaded to the west, Muslim forces were also heading east through Iraq towards
Persia, in an attempt to topple the 400-year-old Sassanid Empire there. The Sassanids were weak at the time
of the Muslim invasion, having suffered a recent defeat to the Byzantines, and with an eleven-year-old boy
on the throne. Despite this advantage, fighting Syrian forces to the west and Persian forces to the east proved
difficult. Once Umar had consolidated his power in Syria, however, he was able to devote his full attention to
fighting the Sassanids, and in 636 the Muslims won the decisive Battle of Qadisiyya near the Euphrates
River. From there, the Muslims moved further east to occupy Ctesiphon, the Sassanid capital, on the Tigris
River. Muslim forces continued further east into Persia, conquering one city after another. By 653, nine years
after Umar's death, they reached the Oxus River in Central Asia, the eastern border of the Sassanid Empire.
After conquering Ctesiphon about 637, the Muslim forces again turned west, looking to spread the new faith
into Egypt. With Syria firmly in Muslim hands, the army had no trouble crossing the Sinai Peninsula into
Egypt. In 641 the ancient fortress of Babylon, south of present-day Cairo, fell to the invaders, and in 642 the
Byzantine Patriarch Cyrus agreed to the surrender of Alexandria, on the Nile Delta. In 645 the Byzantines
briefly reconquered that city, but the following year the Muslims reclaimed it. Christians never again ruled in
Egypt.
Page 16 of 109
The kharaj and jizya taxes, which had already been implemented in Syria after its conquest, were also
introduced in Persia and Egypt. While Islamic tolerance towards other religions may seem surprising,
considering the general practice of Christians to persecute people of other religions living in their empires, it
was a policy based more on financial logic than religious indifference. Although from a religious perspective,
an all-Muslim population would have been ideal, the new Islamic empire needed the funds provided by the
jizya, which was paid by all non-Muslims. Hence, actively attempting to convert large numbers of their new
subjects to Islam would have severely decreased the empire's coffers. Additionally, the Muslim conquerors
did not want to trigger a revolt when they were so outnumbered by non-Muslims in their new territories. For
these reasons, the Islamic rulers did not usually promote proselytising of their religion.
In newly conquered Persia, the Muslims faced different problems from the fiercely nationalistic people there.
With a strong language, culture, and, especially, religion of its own, the Persians greatly resented their
conquest by the despised Arabs. The Sassanid Empire had its own state religion, Zoroastrianism, and unlike
the patchwork of religions that existed in Syria and Egypt under the Byzantines, most Persians adhered to
Zoroastrianism as not only their state religion, but also as an integral part of their culture and identity. They
considered the Arab Muslims an inferior people with an inferior civilisation. The Arabs and Persians were
almost constantly in conflict with each other, even after many Persians converted to Islam, and this conflict
created a number of problems for the ruling Arabs as the Islamic world continued to grow outside of Arabia.
The first sign of conflict between the Arabs and Persians came with the assassination of the Caliph Umar by
a Persian Christian in 644. During his ten-year rule, Umar had furthered Abu Bakr's territorial gains in
Arabia by conquering a great expanse of land surrounding the peninsula: Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and much of
Persia. In the process he created the second largest empire in the world at the time, only slightly smaller than
the Chinese Empire. Only twelve years after Muhammad's death, Islam had become a major player on the
world stage.
Proceed to Uthman
Page 17 of 109
With the death of Umar in 644, the rapid expansion of the Islamic world was temporarily halted and its unity
was tested. Uthman, who was chosen as Umar's successor by a council of Muhammad's companions, was not
necessarily the strongest candidate for the position, but he was a distant relative of the powerful Umayyad
family that would later establish the first Islamic dynasty. Ali's supporters, who had been fighting for his
right to the leadership position since Muhammad's death, were angry that Ali had been passed over for a
third time.
Although Uthman did not expand the Islamic empire

to the same degree as Umar, his military conquests
were not insignificant. His armies thwarted the
Byzantine attempt to reconquer Alexandria in 645, and
in 647 he conducted raids west of Egypt, further into
Byzantine North Africa. Meanwhile, Uthman named
his cousin, Mu'awiya, governor of Syria, and
commissioned the construction of a Muslim fleet to
guard the Mediterranean against Byzantine naval
attacks. The new naval capabilities of the Islamic
empire helped in the conquest of the island of Cyprus
in 649. The conquest of Persia, begun by Umar, was
completed in 653 when Muslim forces occupied
Khurasan, the eastern-most Persian province, and the
eastern boundary of the old Sassanid empire.
Despite these military accomplishments, Uthman's

reign was marred by political difficulties. His
promotion of his Umayyad kin to positions of power
in his administration provoked criticism, as did the
decrease in the treasury, which resulted from the
Caliph's lavish spending habits and his belief that God
would always provide for his people. Perhaps the one
action which caused the most controversy for Uthman
during his reign, however, was his attempt to develop
a definitive text of the Qur'an at the expense of all
others. His aim was simply to establish one true text of A page from the Qur'an
the revelation, in order for all Muslims to know what Courtesy of About Islam and Muslims
the Qur'an consisted of, what order it should be in, and www.unn.ac.uk/societies/islamic/
how it should be written. Despite the controversy,
Uthman was able to complete this task, which has since been recognised as a significant achievement in
Islamic history. It reduced the number and frequency of disagreements over dogma, but many devout
believers at the time accused Uthman of tampering with the sacred book.
Page 18 of 109
All of these factors combined to create a climate of discontent throughout the new Islamic empire, and in
June 656, a group of Egyptian rebels assassinated Uthman in his home. From that point on, the caliphate
ceased to be a sacred position of leadership for the entire Muslim community, and became instead a prize to
be violently fought over.
Proceed to Ali

Shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf, Iraq

Courtesy of the Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project
www.al-islam.org/gallery/
The Islamic world erupted into civil war after Uthman's death, as the caliphate was contested and anarchy
reigned. For the first time in Islam's short history, Muslims fought fellow believers. One of the main sources
of unrest was the battle, which had been quietly raging since Muhammad's death, between Ali's supporters,
the Shi'ites, and those who refused to recognise Ali's right to the caliphate. Since Uthman's death the main
Page 19 of 109
representative of the latter group, which included the majority of all Muslims, was Mu'awiya, Uthman's
Umayyad cousin and governor of Syria. After Uthman's death, Ali declared himself the new caliph.
Mu'awiya immediately challenged Ali's leadership and sought to keep Uthman's murder in public memory.
Ali made no attempt to punish Uthman's killers, and he made further enemies by firing most of Uthman's
administration. Besides Mu'awiya, Ali also faced challenges from Talha and Zubair, two companions of the
Prophet, and one of the Prophet's widows, A'isha. The first physical fighting of the ensuing civil war
occurred at the Battle of the Camel in December 656, during which the popular Talha and Zubair were killed
and A'isha was taken prisoner.
Many Muslims were horrified at the carnage and insisted that the Prophet would not have sanctioned such
violence over the caliphate. After further fighting, Ali and Mu'awiya agreed to have the succession decided
by a Qur'anic tribunal, which would use the Qur'an as a reference point in deciding which man had the
stronger claim to the caliphate. Both Ali and Mu'awiya agreed to abide by the tribunal's decision. When, after
several months, the tribunal ruled that both men should abandon their claims to the caliphate, Ali reneged on
his promise to obey the tribunal's decision and refused to step down. The civil war thus continued, while an
important development occurred within the Shi'ite movement. One group of Ali's supporters was alienated by
his agreement to put his fate in the hands of a human tribunal in the first place, believing that God was the
only one who could decide such a matter as the succession. This group, known as the Kharijites, was the first
to formally secede from orthodox Islam. They appointed one of their own members to a separate caliphate,
and refused to recognise the authority of either Ali or Mu'awiya. The Shi'ites and the Kharijites fought a
major battle in 658 at Nahrawan that severely decimated the Kharijite forces, but not their spirit. Three years
later they would take their final revenge on Ali's supporters.
Meanwhile, in July 660, Mu'awiya took steps to push Ali from the leadership by proclaiming himself caliph
in Jerusalem, one of Islam's holy cities. He had gained the support of the governor of Egypt, as well as the
Syrian forces, who raided Ali's base in Iraq in Mu'awiya's name. In early 661, Mu'awiya received some
unexpected assistance in his quest for power from the Kharijites, who had turned to violence in the wake of
their defeat at Nahrawan three years earlier. The Kharijites had actually intended to kill both Ali and
Mu'awiya, in order to establish the supremacy of their own candidate for the caliphate. They were only
successful, however, in killing Ali. With Ali's claim to the caliphate permanently erased, Mu'awiya was able
to consolidate his power over the Islamic empire. The civil war ended, and within a few months Mu'awiya
established the first Islamic dynasty in the name of his family, the Umayyads.
Proceed to Umayyad Dynasty

Page 20 of 109
The Umayyad Great Mosque, Damascus
www.islamicity.org
The Umayyad Dynasty, begun by Mu'awiya, was in place for nearly 100 years, with Mu'awiya ruling for the
first 20 years. The Umayyads established the practice of hereditary succession for the caliph, the leader of
the Muslim world. This change decreased the number of succession debates that had plagued the reigns of
the first four caliphs. The Umayyads were also responsible for the Muslim conquest of North Africa, Spain,
and Central Asia. The Islamic empire thus grew considerably during the Umayyad period, and can be
considered the first real Islamic state. The caliphate grew more secular and less religious during this time, as
administering the vast empire took precedence over the religious conversion of the conquered peoples. After
nearly 100 years, however, some descendants of Muhammad's uncle, Abbas, succeeded in overthrowing the
first Islamic dynasty and establishing their own dynasty, the Abbasid, which lasted in various forms until the
Mongol invasion in 1258.
Proceed to Umayyad Politics and Administration

One of Mu'awiya's first tasks as caliph was to reorganise the administration of the Islamic empire, so as to
avoid the discontent among the conquered peoples that had led to the civil war of the previous four years. He
divided the empire into manageable provinces, and appointed a governor to each one. He also took measures
Page 21 of 109
to ensure the military participation of as many of the empire's nomads as possible, since being unaccustomed
to subjugation, they were usually the most difficult group to control. Mu'awiya believed that the army was
the best place for such people. The caliph also moved the capital of the new dynasty to Damascus, in Syria,
and in many ways this move signalled the end of Arabia's primacy in the Islamic world. The holy cities of
Mecca and Medina remained important for religious reasons, but the administrative core of the empire never
again returned to Arabia.
Before he died in 680, Mu'awiya caused a significant disturbance in the empire by naming his son, Yazid, as
his successor. The ensuing controversy stemmed from the fact that the caliphate had traditionally been an
elected office, an aspect of their leadership that the Muslims treasured, because it kept their empire from
becoming an autocratic monarchy, a trait they detested in
the Byzantine Empire. No one was able to prevent Yazid's
succession, but he was not a popular leader, and he
reigned for only three years. During that time, a crucial
event in Islamic history occurred when the Shi'ites again
vied for the caliphate. This time the rebellion's leader was
Ali's second son, Husain, whose subsequent death at the
Battle of Karbala, in Iraq, is still commemorated by Shi'ite
Muslims today.
Battle of Karbala
The premature death of Yazid in 683 was closely followed

by that of his only son and heir. After working to
legitimise the practice of hereditary succession, the
Umayyads now found themselves without a direct heir to
the caliphate. A succession struggle ensued but an
Umayyad cousin, Marwan, won after several months of
strife. The Umayyads thus fought off the first challenge to
their dynasty, and although Marwan died soon after, his Great Mosque at Damascus, Syria, built by Umayyad
son, Abd al-Malik, went on to rule for 21 years, until his caliph Walid I between 709 and 715
death in 705.
From Yazid's hereditary succession in 680 until 692, a second civil war raged throughout the Islamic empire.
The first civil war in the Islamic world had occurred between 656 and 661, during the struggle between Ali
and Mu'awiya for the caliphate. The focus of the second civil war was the mawali, or non-Arab Muslims.
The mawali, mostly Persians who had converted to Islam, were led by a man named Mukhtar. The mawali
challenged the authority Arabs held in the Islamic empire and sought to elevate themselves from the second-
class status imposed by the Arabs. After many years of fighting, Abd al-Malik's forces prevailed over the
mawali, and in 692 an era of peace was ushered in.
The long reign of Abd al-Malik, from 684 to 705, brought about many administrative changes in the Islamic
empire. Foremost among these changes was the decision to establish Arabic as the language of
administration, finally eliminating the Greek and Persian that had been retained since the Islamic conquest of
Byzantine and Sassanid lands. As well, coins were stamped with Arabic words and symbols, replacing the
Christian and Zoroastrian symbols that had previously adorned Islamic coins. Finally, the Umayyad dynasty
under Abd al-Malik succeeded in pulling the Islamic empire together into a coherent state, eliminating the
remnants of the Arabs' nomadic lifestyle that had existed before the coming of Islam.
Page 22 of 109
Examples of Umayyad coins
In 705 Walid I succeeded his father, Abd al-Malik, as caliph and oversaw much of the empire's territorial
expansion. He also left a legacy still in existence today: the Umayyad Mosque he built in Damascus. Walid I
(705-715) and his successors, Suleyman (715-724), and Hisham (724-743), were all competent statesmen
who advanced the administrative capabilities of the rapidly expanding Islamic empire, which had doubled in
size since 680. These territorial conquests will now be examined in further detail.
Proceed to Umayyad Territorial Expansion
The Islamic World to 1600 / Department of History / The University of Calgary

North Africa
Until the mid-7th century, North Africa west of Egypt was under Byzantine control. Egypt, as we have
already seen, was conquered during Umar's reign between 640 and 645. The Arabs soon sought to gain
territory further west, into the region they called the Maghrib, literally, the West. This territory consisted of
present-day Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, and was collectively known as the Byzantine province of
Africa. The Byzantines controlled several significant trading ports on the Mediterranean coast of North
Africa, but they did not have adequate control over the Berbers of the North African interior. A major reason
Page 23 of 109
for the success of the Arab conquest of North Africa would be the ability of the Muslims to gain the loyalty
of the Berbers.
The Berbers
Byzantine influence in the region was wavering even before the first Arab invasion, and it was further
weakened by the series of raids the Arabs conducted into the region immediately after capturing Egypt in
645. The Arabs' goal seemed to be more the protection of Egypt than making
any new, permanent territorial gains, and thus no attempts at settlement were
made at this point. The Arabs even succeeded in temporarily driving the
Byzantines out of Tripoli in 645, but they did not follow that conquest with
the establishment of a permanent Arab presence in the city.
No further raids were conducted until 661, when the new

Umayyad dynasty under Mu'awiya ushered in a new era of Muslim
expansion. An official campaign to conquer North Africa began in
663, and the Arabs soon controlled most major cities in Libya.
Tripoli fell again in 666, and this time the Muslims ensured their
control of their new lands by not immediately retreating to Egypt
after the conquest. By 670, the Arabs had taken Tunisia, and by
675, they had completed construction of Kairouan, the city that
would become the Arab base in North Africa. Kairouan would also
become the third holiest city in Islam in the medieval period, after
Mecca and Medina, because of its importance as the centre of the
Islamic faith in the Maghrib.
From Kairouan, the Arabs were able to focus on the true "prize" of
North Africa, the ancient city of Carthage, which was located just
The Great Mosque of Kairouan north of Kairouan. The Arabs first raided Carthage in 678, and by
Courtesy of LexicOrient 695, they had conquered the former Roman and Byzantine city.
http://i-cias.com/tore.htm
With the Byzantine Empire defeated in virtually all its North
African territories, the Arabs turned their attention to the
conversion of the Berbers. By the early 8th century, 12,000 Berbers had been recruited into the Arab army,
and with such Berber support, the Arabs were able to stretch their empire all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.
By 710, Arab armies had taken Tangier under the command of a Berber, Tariq, who then led them into Spain
in 711.
Spain
Before the Muslim invasion, the Iberian peninsula, which included present-day Spain and Portugal, had been
a Christian territory, ruled by the Visigoths. The kingdom was weak in the early 8th century, plagued by
internal strife. Tariq, a Berber who led the Muslim forces into Spain in 711, took advantage of these
weaknesses when he led the invasion. Of particular advantage to Tariq and his army was a civil war that was
raging over the kingdom's succession. Tariq's military success in Spain led the conquerors to name the now-
famous rock on the southern tip of Spain, Jabal Tariq, or Mountain of Tariq. That name has since become
"Gibraltar."
Page 24 of 109
The disorganisation of the Spanish defenders proved to be their downfall, and the Muslims completed their
conquest of most of the Iberian peninsula swiftly. The Muslims were so confident after conquering almost all
of Spain that they continued to push northeast into present-day France. They crossed the Pyrenees and
occupied several Frankish cities, including Bordeaux. In 732 they were finally defeated by the Franks at the
Battle of Poitiers. After that, the Muslims remained on the southern side of the Pyrenees during their 700
years in Europe.
An Arab Chronicle of the Battle of Poitiers
The Muslims set up their Spanish capital at Cordoba in 717 and named their new territory Al-Andalus. A
southern region of Spain today retains that name, Andalucia. Much of the Muslim settlement in the region
was accomplished by Berber converts from North Africa who crossed the Straits of Gibraltar into Spain to
pasture their animals. As a province of the Umayyad caliphate, Spain was a great distance from Damascus,
the Umayyad capital. This distance gave Muslim governors of Spain a great deal of independence, and it was
not long after the conquest that the Umayyads began to realise the difficulty of governing such a distant
territory. The inability of the Umayyads to effectively control their vast empire would be a great factor in
their downfall in 750.
Central Asia
The third region that the Umayyads chose as the focus of their expansion, after North Africa and Spain, was
the area of Central Asia stretching east to the Indus River. The area had been inhabited by a variety of
Turkish communities, whose disunity made them an easy target for Muslim attack. The Muslims also wanted
a route into China, to enable their participation in the lucrative silk trade. From Khurasan, a province in
eastern Persia, the Muslims crossed the Jaxartes River into China and briefly occupied the town of Kashgar
in 714. In 715, the Muslims took the Central Asian cities of Bukhara and Samarkand. These conquests mark
the introduction of Islam to the Turks, who would later establish one of Islam's greatest empires under the
Ottomans.
Meanwhile, Muslim forces also conquered new territory further south, in the Indus Valley. In 712, they
invaded the Sindh, setting the stage for a further move into India in the future. These Muslim conquests in
Central Asia were also significant because they gained much of the territory of present-day Pakistan for
Islam. That region has been Islamic for over 1,200 years, as Pakistan remains a Muslim state today.
Page 25 of 109
Proceed to the Collapse of the Umayyad Dynasty

Although the wave of expansion undertaken by the Umayyads significantly increased the number of people
in the world who were exposed to Islam - particularly the Berbers and Turks - the sheer size of the Islamic
empire was a major factor in the demise of the Umayyads as the region's political leaders. In 739, the
Umayyads lost control of their Berber subjects in North Africa, who rebelled against the routine
discrimination the Arabs imposed on them. The Muslim Berbers, now considered mawali, or non-Arab
Muslims, fought the Arabs for three years, until their rebellion was finally crushed in 742. Persia, meanwhile,
was quickly becoming a haven for the Kharijites, who had formally seceded from the central administrative
power of the empire during the 656-61 civil war, and who continued to challenge the authority of the caliph.
In addition to the almost continuous challenge presented by various mawali groups, the Umayyads faced
difficulties from fellow Arabs, due to class differences. The ruling class had acquired great wealth from its
territorial gains, and its lavish lifestyle contrasted sharply with the poverty faced by many of the empire's
subjects - both Arabs and non-Arabs.
More problems were added to the growing list when the Umayyads began to fracture internally. A series of
palace coups disrupted the leadership in the last few years of the dynasty. Many of the Umayyads' enemies
formed a unified group to oppose the rulers. This group, led by descendants of Muhammad's uncle, Abbas,
called themselves the Abbasids. After several military conflicts between the two groups, the Abbasids
Page 26 of 109
succeeded in overthrowing the Umayyads in 750, and installing their own caliph on the throne. The Abbasids
promised their supporters, many of whom were mawali, that religion would prevail over race under the new
dynasty, and all Muslims would be treated equally. The Abbasid Revolution ushered in a new era for the
Islamic world, one which would see even more territorial gains for the Muslims, in addition to a number of
political events that saw Islam begin to split along ethnic lines, despite the Abbasids' early promise of Islamic
unity. Within the first century after the Prophet's death in 632, Islam was established as a major world
religion, and the Islamic empire as a major military force.
Return to Outline

The Fractured Caliphate and the Regional Dynasties
Introduction
The Abbasid Dynasty
Spain and the Maghrib
Egypt
West Africa
Central Asia
Southeast Asia
China
Chapter Summary
Return to Outline
The Abbasid Revolution in 750 took the Islamic world in a new direction. The Abbasids did not simply take
over power from the Umayyads; they also made significant changes to the Umayyad system of government
and its presentation of religious issues. The Abbasids remained in power for 500 years and when their
dynasty finally ended in 1258, it was because of the Mongol invasion, not internal revolution. This longevity
speaks well of the Abbasid system of government, particularly in terms of its ability to accept the
development of separate, regional dynasties in order to preserve the Abbasid core in Baghdad. This chapter
will explore the Abbasid dynasty and the regional dynasties that grew out of it, including those in Spain and
the Maghrib, Egypt, West Africa, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia, many of which lasted much longer than
the Abbasids themselves. This chapter will also briefly explore Islam's influence in China, where Muslims
were significantly involved in trade, both during and after the time of the Abbasids.
Page 27 of 109
Proceed to the Abbasid Dynasty

The Abbasid Palace in Baghdad, built in the 13th century.

Courtesy of Saleh Iraq Home Page
http://achilles.net/~sal/
One of the first changes the Abbasids made after taking power from the Umayyads was to move the empire's
capital from Damascus, in Syria, to Iraq. The latter region was influenced by Persian history and culture, and
moving the capital was part of the Persian mawali demand for less Arab influence in the empire. The city of
Baghdad was constructed on the Tigris River, in 762, to serve as the new Abbasid capital. The Abbasids
established the position of vizier in their administration, which was the equivalent of a "vice-caliph," or
second-in-command. Eventually, this change meant that many caliphs under the Abbasids ended up in a
much more ceremonial role than ever before, with the vizier in real power. A new Persian bureaucracy began
to replace the old Arab aristocracy, and the entire administration reflected these changes, demonstrating that
the new dynasty was different in many ways to the Umayyads.
The Abbasid leadership was strong in the last half of the eighth century, with several competent caliphs and
their viziers guiding the administrative changes. Military operations at this time were minimal, as the focus
of the caliphate was on internal matters. Harun al-Rashid, caliph from 786 to 809, is particularly well known
for his role in the famous collection of Arab and Persian fables, The Thousand and One Nights.
"The Tale of the Three Apples" from The Thousand and One Nights
Harun al-Rashid was succeeded by his son, al-Mamun, who ruled from 809 to 813. During this time,
discontent brewed in the provinces, setting the stage for the eventual fracturing of the caliphate. Persia,
Egypt, and North Africa posed a particular threat to the empire's unity. In Persia, the cultural battle with the
Arabs that had been present since Arab forces first conquered Persia in the 7th century was renewed. By the
Page 28 of 109
9th century, Abbasid control began to wane as regional leaders sprang up in the far corners of the empire to
challenge the central authority of the Abbasid caliphate. By the early 10th century, the Abbasids almost lost
control to the growing Persian faction known as the Buyids. Since much of the Abbasid administration had
been Persian anyway, the Buyids were quietly able to assume real power in Baghdad. The Buyids were
defeated in the mid-11th century by the Seljuk Turks, who continued to exert influence over the Abbasids,
while publicly pledging allegiance to them. The balance of power in Baghdad remained as such - with the
Abbasids in power in name only - until the Mongol invasion of 1258 sacked the city and definitively ended
the Abbasid dynasty. The Mongols will be further discussed in Chapter 4; now we will continue to look at the
different regions of the world that were touched by Islam between the Abbasid Revolution in 750 and the
onset of European colonisation of Islamic lands in the 16th century.
Proceed to Spain and the Maghrib

The Umayyads
The Abbasid Revolution in 750 destroyed Umayyad power in almost the entire Islamic world, but not quite
everywhere. During the Revolution, when most of the members of the Umayyad ruling house were killed,
the grandson of one of the former caliphs escaped to Spain. Abd al-Rahman set up his own caliphate there in
the Umayyad name, and the rejuvenated dynasty maintained control of Spain for 300 years, until the Berber
Almoravids from North Africa took power in the 11th century. This independent Umayyad house called itself
an emirate, rather than caliphate, since its rulers did not believe there could be more than one caliph. This
was the first instance of regional separation from the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad. The Abbasids made
several attempts to oust the Umayyads and regain control of Spain, but they were never able to do so. Spain
remained under the rule of regional dynasties until the completion of the Christian reconquest in the late 15th
century.
Umayyad rule in Spain also did not go unchallenged by the local population. The territory was a blend of
Christians, Jews, and Muslims of various ethnicities, particularly Arabs and Berbers, and each challenged
Umayyad rule at some point. Despite the internal strife, the Umayyads left a strong impression on Spanish
culture - a legacy in art, architecture, language, and traditions that remains today. Abd al-Rahman
strengthened Cordoba's role as one of the most important cities in both Europe and the Islamic world. The
Great Mosque he built in the city in 785 is one of the most striking examples of the Islamic legacy in Spain.
Page 29 of 109
Great Mosque at Cordoba
The one major external threat to Umayyad rule in Spain came from the Christians, who still occupied the
northern coast of the Iberian peninsula. The Christian reconquest was a slow process, by which small parcels
of territory were recovered from the Muslims over centuries. By the early 9th century, Christians had
reconquered Barcelona and Pamplona, as well as several other cities in northeastern Spain. Further conquests
would follow.
The Aghlabids
Meanwhile in the Maghrib, a separate dynasty known as the

Aghlabids had ruled from their base at Fez, in present-day
Morocco, since about 800. The independence of the Maghrib was
granted by the Abbasid rulers in Baghdad, and from that point on
the Abbasids never ruled west of Egypt. The major feat of the
Aghlabids was the conquest of Sicily from the Byzantines
between about 827 and 878. By 846, in fact, Aghlabid armies had
advanced up the Italian coast and had raided Rome, but they were
soon pushed back to Sicily. The island remained under Muslim
control after the Aghlabids lost power, and the Christians did not Aghlabid aqueduct system in Kairouan
reconquer it until 1091. The Aghlabids in the Maghrib were Courtesy of LexicOrient
overthrown in 909 by an expanding Shi'ite empire, the Fatimids, http://i-cias.com/tore.htm
who eventually migrated to Egypt and abandoned their Maghrib
territories. More information about the Fatimids will come later in this chapter. Spain, meanwhile, was still
under Umayyad control, but by the late 11th century, the ties that had been growing from a trade relationship
between Spain and the Maghrib turned more permanent, when the Almoravids conquered both territories.
The Almoravids
Page 30 of 109
The Almoravids originated as a Berber nomadic confederacy in the Maghrib and took their name from an
Arabic word for "men defending Islam." By the 1050s they had become a military force in the region,
controlling a number of important trading posts, and by about 1100 they occupied all of Morocco, western
Algeria, and the Muslim parts of Spain. The Almoravid empire lasted 100 years, in which time they
significantly affected the culture of both Spain and the Maghrib. No longer a distant outpost of the caliphate
in Baghdad, the region formed its own administration and system of government based on Berber needs, not
Arab ones. Also, because Spain and the Maghrib were unified as an empire separate from the Abbasids in
Baghdad or the Fatimids in Cairo, their north-south trade, both in goods and culture, increased. The Berbers
of the Maghrib were affected culturally by the Christian-influenced Muslims in Spain, while in Spain the
Muslims were influenced by the Saharan culture of the southern Maghrib. By the mid-12th century, the
Almoravids had lost control to the Almohads, a group that arose in the Atlas Mountains.
The Almohads
By 1160, the Almohads had increased their territory east to include Kairouan and Tripoli, but they had lost
more territory in Spain to the Christian reconquest, which weakened their position. Like their Almoravid
predecessors, the Almohads did not rule for long; by 1250 their power was declining in the region. However,
the two centuries of Almoravid and Almohad rule in Spain and in the Maghrib had been instrumental in
Page 31 of 109
several ways. In particular, trade was rejuvenated as the Almohads opened the Mediterranean to both
Christian and Muslim vessels.
The Christian Reconquest of Spain
By the middle of the 13th century, all that was left of Muslim Spain was the Kingdom of Granada on the
southern coast of the Iberian peninsula. The Christians had reconquered Cordoba in 1236 and Seville in
1248, and although it looked as though the whole peninsula would soon be Christian again, Granada kept the
Christians at bay for another 250 years. The turning point came in the late 15th century with the marriage of
Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile and Len, which united Spain and strengthened the Christian
forces. In 1492, the Christians were finally able to defeat the Muslims permanently. The 700-year occupation
of Iberia by the Muslims left its mark, however, as Spanish culture has retained much of its early Islamic
influences. Evidence of the Islamic legacy in Spain can be seen today in the architecture, language, and
traditions of Spain.
Names of Arabic Origin in Spain, Portugal, and the Americas
While the Christian reconquest of Spain was progressing, between the fall of the Almohads about 1250 and
the fall of Granada in 1492, the Maghrib was under the control of a series of disunited Berber dynasties. The
longest lasting of these were the Merinids, a dynasty that originated in Morocco near the end of the 11th
century and ruled the Maghrib until 1465.
The Alhambra in Granada was built in the 15th century

Courtesy of the Islamic Society at Cardiff University
www.cardiff.ac.uk/uwcc/suon/islamic/
Proceed to Egypt

Page 32 of 109
The Fatimids
The Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, built by the Fatimid Dynasty in 970

http://islam.org
The first Muslims to rule Egypt who were not a part of the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad were the Fatimids,
a group of Shi'ites who derived their name from the Prophet's daughter and Ali's wife, Fatima. Their rule did
not begin in Egypt, but rather in North Africa, where they took power from the Aghlabids in 909. From their
North African base at Raqqadah, the Fatimids conquered Abbasid Egypt in the 960s. The Fatimids built a
new capital in Egypt in 973, naming it al-Qahirah, or planet of victory. We know the city today as Cairo. The
empire also expanded across the Sinai Peninsula into Syria and Palestine, often putting it in direct conflict
with the neighbouring Byzantines and Abbasids. Because they ruled from Egypt and thus focussed on that
region, the Fatimids soon lost control of their neglected territories in North Africa. By the early 11th century
the Fatimids lost the Maghrib to the Almoravids, who controlled Morocco, much of Algeria, and Muslim
Spain by 1090.
Page 33 of 109
As Shi'ites, the Fatimids were both theologically and politically opposed to the Sunni rule of the Abbasids in
Baghdad. The Fatimid caliphs considered themselves to be divine rulers, sent by God to rule on earth and
ensure the prevalence of Islamic justice. As direct descendants of the Prophet's daughter, the Shi'ite Fatimids
believed that they should rule the world, or at least the Islamic world, and that the Sunni Abbasids were
simply usurpers. The Fatimids are known for their strict enforcement of Islamic laws regarding dietary
restrictions and acceptable behaviour for Muslims. However, there is no evidence that Egypt became more
Islamicised under the Fatimids. The population remained largely Coptic Christian and Jewish, and those who
were Muslims were usually Sunni. Shi'ism was practised mainly by the Fatimid elite, and never substantially
penetrated the population. Perhaps this is why Egypt has a mostly Sunni population today, despite its history
of Shi'ite rule.
The Ayyubids
By 1171, the Fatimids had lost power to an expanding group of

Kurdish-Turks from Syria, called the Ayyubids. The Ayyubids were led
by a Kurd, Salah al-Din, or Saladin, who became one of the most
famous rulers in Islamic history, and whose father, Ayyub, lent his name
to their dynasty. Saladin justified his claim to power by invoking the
Muslim fear of the Christian Crusaders, claiming that the Ayyubids
would defeat them. Saladin's proclamation of a military jihad against
the Crusaders rallied support to his otherwise tenuous rule. This strategy Saladin
would also work for the Mamluks, who succeeded the Ayyubids with Courtesy of Byzantium at Rutgers
http://byzantium.rutgers.edu/
the proclamation of a military jihad against the invading Mongols.
Although the Ayyubid dynasty lasted until the Mamluk coup in 1250,
more than 50 years after Saladin's death, it is he whose name is
identified with the Ayyubid period. Saladin was a Kurd from Armenia,
who followed in the footsteps of his father, Ayyub, to successfully
defeat the Fatimids, first in Syria and then in Egypt. His subsequent
defence of Islam against the Crusaders earned him admiration and
respect not only within the Islamic world, but in Europe as well. In
Page 34 of 109
The Citadel in Cairo
Courtesy of InterCity Oz, Inc.
http://interoz.com/egypt/citadel.htm
addition to his military expertise, Saladin was also considered to be a fair and just ruler. He is also well
known for his construction of the Citadel in Cairo, built to fortify the city after an attack by the Crusaders in
1171.
Although Ayyubid territory covered former Fatimid land in Egypt and Syria, the centre of power shifted from
Cairo to Damascus. Damascus became a major city on several trade routes, including those to Asia Minor,
northern Syria, the Arabian peninsula, and India. As well, Damascus became an important city for military
travel between Egypt and Palestine, particularly when sea routes were controlled by the Franks or
Byzantines.
Another figure of interest during the Ayyubid period, although one who is less well known than Saladin, was
Shajarat al-Durr, one of the few women ever to rule an Islamic state. She was the wife of the Ayyubid sultan,
Salih Ayyub, who died in 1250. She assumed power, even defeating Ayyub's son for the throne, and
successfully led the campaign against the Frankish Crusaders' invasion of Egypt. She managed to dominate
the Ayyubid administration, either officially or from behind the scenes, until her death in 1259. She was the
first woman to rule in Egypt since Cleopatra, and the last to rule in any Islamic kingdom until Queen Victoria
became Empress of India in the 19th century.
Shajarat al-Durr
The Mamluks
After Shajarat's death in 1259 the Ayyubid dynasty, on a steady decline for ten years,
finally fell to the Mamluks, a class of Turkish slave soldiers who had served under the
Ayyubids. The Mamluks, under their first sultan, Qalawun, immediately resumed the
Ayyubid struggle against the Crusaders from Europe, in addition to defending Islam
from a new challenger, the Mongols. More about the Mongols will follow in Chapter
4, but by 1258 they had sacked Baghdad and ended the long-standing Abbasid dynasty
there, and they were quickly approaching Mamluk lands. The Mamluks were one of
the few armies in the world that were able to defeat the Mongols, for a number of A Mamluk soldier
Page 35 of 109
www.islamicity.org
reasons which will be further explored in Chapter 4. The emphasis the Mamluk state put on military training
above administrative or even cultural development was one reason for their success in battle.
Because the focus of Mamluk rule was military pursuit, very little changed in the government and
administration of Egypt and Syria during their 300 years in power. The bureaucracy was made up mostly of
Coptic Christians and Jews, who had filled such administrative roles for centuries, because the Muslims in
Egypt were still a minority. Following the Crusades, trade within the Mediterranean network flourished, and
the Mamluks found themselves trading with the Italian city-states of Venice and Genoa, as well as with
Constantinople. This new relationship with Christian Europe was no longer based on militarism and mutual
antagonism. Instead, it marked the beginning of the colonial relationship that would develop in the following
centuries, as Europe's view of the Islamic world shifted from fear, to curiosity, and eventually to superiority
and a desire to subordinate the Muslims. By the 15th century, constant warfare with the Mongols proved
debilitating to the Egyptian economy, as did the decline in use of the Europe-Asia spice route that passed
through Cairo. While the route did not disappear completely, many European traders, who were now able to
navigate the seas, reached Asia instead by circumnavigating Africa. Mamluk influence gradually diminished
until 1517, when they were overthrown by the rapidly expanding Ottoman Empire.
Proceed to West Africa

The early Islamic penetration of Africa was limited to the north, across Egypt and the Maghrib. By the 13th
century, however, the religion had travelled further south, through the work of missionaries and along trade
routes, into sub-Saharan Africa. The gold kingdoms of West Africa were one area in which Islam established
itself.
The Kingdom of Ghana had ruled much of West Africa, and had controlled much of the gold and salt trade in
the region, immediately prior to the arrival of Islam. This kingdom covered a wide expanse of territory in
West Africa, but it must be noted that it did not correspond to the territory of the present-day country of
Ghana. The spread of the Muslim Almoravids from Morocco into Ghana in the mid-11th century marked the
beginning of Ghana's downfall, and by the 13th century it
had completely disappeared as a state.
The Kingdom of Mali soon filled the void left by the

collapse of Ghana, and some of Mali's leaders adopted the
religion brought by the invading Almoravids - Islam.
Because the Kingdom of Mali controlled all three of the
main gold fields in West Africa, whereas Ghana had
controlled only one, it grew very wealthy and Timbuktu rose
as a major trading city. The most influential and memorable
Mansa Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca, 1324
ruler of Mali was Mansa Musa, who ruled from 1312 to Courtesy of William Penn Charter School
www.penncharter.com/Student/africa/gov/index.html
Page 36 of 109
1337, over what has been called the "Golden Age" of Mali. He is generally credited with solidifying the
presence of Islam in West Africa, which until his rule was present only in missions and Muslim trading posts,
although the religion still had little influence on the general population. As well, Mansa Musa was
instrumental in expanding his kingdom's gold trade to the Mediterranean, through increased trading ties with
the Merinid empire in North Africa and the Mamluks in Egypt. Mansa Musa is also well known for his
pilgrimage to Mecca, which he undertook in 1324. It was reported in sources
of the time that he brought 60,000 followers, 500 slaves, and 80 camels with
him, all carrying gold. Passing through Tripoli and Cairo, among other
cities, also helped in developing trade relationships with foreign cities,
because Mali's wealth in gold did not go unnoticed.
Mansa Musa brought architects and builders back with him as he returned
from his pilgrimage, and soon Timbuktu was a commercial city of 100,000
people. Public buildings, mosques, and libraries were built, and traders came
from all over Europe, the Islamic world, and other parts of Africa to do
business in Timbuktu. Scholars also came from afar to study at the
prestigious University of Sankore.
Timbuktu's importance continued to grow as the Kingdom of Mali faded

under the increasing power of one of Mali's subject peoples, the Songhai.
The Songhai empire, which had completely eclipsed Mali by the late 14th century, was the last of what has
been called the "Great Three" West African empires - after Ghana and Mali. Songhai built upon the existing
Islamic tradition established by the Kingdom of Mali, and most of Songhai's 17 kings, the administrators,
and the bureaucrats in urban centres were Muslim. The faith did not spread through the general population,
however, and most of the kingdom's subjects retained their adherence to traditional religions. Many of those
who did convert to Islam, including Songhai's rulers, combined elements of their ancestral religions with
Islam. Sonni Ali, the Songhai ruler from 1465 to 1492, once declared that he could turn himself into a
vulture, and he severely persecuted any Muslim who criticised the paganism of that statement.
Under the reign of Askia Muhammad (1493-1529), Songhai became the largest empire in West Africa at the
time, covering much more territory than either Ghana or Mali ever had, and including over one thousand
different cultures. The Songhai empire strengthened the trading ties that Mansa Musa had established with
other Islamic empires in Africa - most notably, the Merinids in the Maghrib, and the Mamluks in Egypt. By
1591, however, the kingdom had become too large to administer, and an invasion from Morocco that year
virtually destroyed the empire. Its Islamic legacy, however, remains in many places in West Africa today.
Proceed to the Central Asia

Page 37 of 109
The Ghaznavids
Just as the western lands of the Abbasid caliphate split from Baghdad - as we have seen with Spain and the
Maghrib, Egypt, and West Africa - so did the eastern lands of Central Asia. The first significant empire in the
region began in 994 under the Ghaznavids, a Turkic people who derived the name of their empire from the
city of Ghazna, which eventually became their capital. The Ghaznavid empire grew to cover much of
present-day Iran, Afghanistan, and northwest India and Pakistan, and the Ghaznavids are generally credited
with launching Islam into Hindu-dominated India. The invasion of India was undertaken in 1000 by the
Ghaznavid ruler, Mahmud, and continued for several years. In addition to the wealth accumulated through
raiding Indian cities, the Ghaznavids also benefited from their position as an intermediary for trade between
China and the Mediterranean. They were unable to hold power for long, however, particularly after the death
of the strong ruler, Mahmud, in 1030. By 1040 the Seljuks, another Turkic group, had taken over the
Ghaznavid lands.
The Seljuks
As the immediate forebears of the Ottomans, who would later come to dominate Asia
Minor and the Mediterranean, the Seljuks established the Turks as a unified military
force. Until the Seljuk empire provided cohesion to the Turks of Central Asia, the
Turks had existed only in separate, nomadic groups. The Ghaznavids had provided a
degree of unity, but their empire had been further east than the Seljuk empire, and the
Turks of Asia Minor had not been a part of it. For much of the previous centuries of
Islam's presence in Central Asia, Turks had been recruited as slaves for all regions of
the Islamic empire. We have already seen the results that importing Turkish slave
soldiers into Egypt had on the Ayyubids - the slaves, or mamluks in Arabic, conducted Figure of a Seljuk
court official, early
a coup and took power for themselves. Turks were widely considered within the
13th century
Islamic world to be superior soldiers, and their slavery was therefore usually in a Courtesy of The
military capacity. When the Seljuks unified the Turks of Central Asia, they became a Detroit Institute of
formidable military force, first under the Seljuks themselves, and later under the Arts
Ottomans. www.dia.org
Despite their independence, the Seljuks, like many other regional Islamic dynasties, retained their allegiance
to the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad. In 1050, the Seljuk leader, Tughril Beg, was awarded the title of Sultan
from the Abbasid caliph, and he became the first Muslim ruler to use that title. It later became a common title
for a Muslim ruler.
In the mid-11th century the Seljuks also began their assault on Byzantine-ruled Asia Minor. Initially, raids
into Byzantine territory were intended only to deter the Byzantines from concluding an alliance with the
Shi'ite Fatimids in Egypt and Syria, who were the Seljuks' enemies, but the raids soon acquired an
expansionist zeal. In 1071, the Seljuks achieved a decisive victory against the Byzantines in the Battle of
Manzikert, in Armenia. They captured the Byzantine emperor, Romanos Diogenes, and forced him to accept
a peace treaty that in effect opened the door for Seljuk expansion into Asia Minor. In 1078, the Seljuks had
reached Nicaea, near Constantinople, and the Seljuk sultan, Suleyman, moved his capital there. It was the
first permanent Turkish settlement in Asia Minor, and the Turkish presence in the region has continued ever
since. The rise of the Islamic Turks at the expense of the Greek Byzantines in Asia Minor is indeed one of the
most significant demographic shifts of the medieval period. Numerous battles with the Christians ensued
Page 38 of 109
over the next few centuries, with each side trading small parcels of territory after each battle. The Seljuks
were also involved in several Crusades, sometimes in allegiance with Western European countries against the
Greek Byzantines, and they also faced the wrath of the invading Mongols in the 13th century, as we will see
in Chapter 4.
The Seljuks brought many diverse peoples - from India, Persia, Iraq, Armenia, and Asia Minor - under one
sultan, and advanced the positions of both the Turks as an ethnic group and Sunnism as a distinct faith within
Islam. This unity and monarchism changed the traditional lives of all Turks, and it had a particular effect on
Turkish women. Converting to Islam meant that many Turkish women under the Seljuks took to the veil and
were not involved in public life. In contrast, Turkish women on the Central Asian steppe had often fought
alongside men, and had participated in community life to a similar degree as men.
The Mongol invasion in the 13th century, which will be examined separately in Chapter 4, marked the
downfall of the Seljuk dynasty, as the Seljuks of Asia Minor came under the domination of the Mongols in
Persia and Iraq. As the Seljuks slowly faded from the scene, a new group of Turks began to organise
themselves in Asia Minor. Named after the Osman family, these Ottoman Turks began raiding Byzantine
lands in western Asia Minor in the early 14th century. Before long, the Ottomans had grown into the largest
and most powerful Islamic empire, and one of the most powerful empires of any religion, in the world.
Proceed to Southeast Asia

Page 39 of 109
Islam first entered Southeast Asia - the region of present-day
Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, among other countries - through
merchants of the Muslim-controlled Indian Ocean trade route.
Geographically, Southeast Asia, particularly the Malay Peninsula,
was an important stop for ships sailing south from China or east
from India. The port city of Malacca, in present-day Malaysia, had
become an important world trading centre by the 15th century.
Malacca began as a small fishing village - too small to have been mentioned
by either Marco Polo in 1292 or Ibn Battuta in 1343, who travelled through
the region. By the early 15th century, however, the port became a major
stopover for ships.
Islam arrived in Southeast Asia near the end of the 13th century with traders from India, who introduced the
religion first to northern Sumatra, an island in present-day Indonesia. Although at the time only a few regions
in India had converted to Islam, it was traders from these regions, particularly Gujarat in northwest India,
who brought their faith to Sumatra. It is generally accepted that it was Indian Muslims, not Arab Muslims,
who introduced Islam to Southeast Asia. Prior to Islam's arrival, Southeast Asia already was heavily
influenced by Indian culture and religion, including Hinduism. When Indian merchants and missionaries
later introduced Islam to the region, they were careful to retain whatever previous Hindu or animist customs
were necessary to gain the widespread adoption of Islam. It has been suggested that had the more orthodox
Arabs been the first to bring Islam to Southeast Asia, their insistence that the locals entirely abandon their old
customs might have dissuaded them from converting. Thus, Islam in Southeast Asia has a different character
than orthodox Islam in Arabia, but had it not been for the tolerance of the Indian missionaries, Islam may not
have even taken root in Southeast Asia at all.
But it did take root, and by the mid-15th century, Islam had spread from Sumatra to Malacca, its major
trading partner, and surrounding areas, such as Brunei. The third ruler of Malacca, Sri Maharaja Muhammad
Shah (1424-45), is said to be the first Malaccan ruler to convert to Islam, and his son, Mudzaffar Shah (1446-
59), proclaimed Islam the state religion of Malacca. By 1470, Malacca had taken several territories from the
neighbouring Siamese empire, becoming the most powerful state in Southeast Asia. This territorial expansion
also fuelled the expansion of Islam. Not only was the religion spread through the conquest of new lands, but
also by the recruitment of soldiers from non-Muslim regions, particularly the island of Java, who converted
while in service and then spread their new faith when they returned home.
In 1509, the arrival of Portuguese ships at the Malaccan port sparked the downfall of the short-lived Malacca
sultanate. While the fleet maintained that it had come only to trade, Indian merchants in Malacca who had
experienced the recent Portuguese capture of Goa, on the west coast of India, warned Malaccan authorities
not to be too friendly with the Portuguese. The Portuguese left, disgruntled, only to return in 1511 to capture
Malacca for themselves. With Portuguese authority in Malacca came the arrival of Christian missionaries,
but they had little luck in converting the population. Brunei succeeded Malacca as the centre of Islam in
Southeast Asia, and even established friendly relations with the Portuguese.
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Bandar Seri Bagawan Mosque in Brunei, one of the largest in Asia
www.islamicity.org
Despite the numerous changes in power than have since occurred in Southeast Asia - from the Portuguese,
later to the Dutch, British, and Chinese - Islam has retained the hold it first established on the population in
the mid-15th century. Brunei remains a sultanate today, the last one in the world, and present-day Malaysia
and Indonesia also have large Muslim populations.
Proceed to China

Although Islam's presence in modern China is perhaps not as pronounced as in countries such as Egypt or
Pakistan, China was exposed to the religion in medieval times, and has retained that legacy in their
population today. With the exception of Spain and Persia, Islam took root where there was no previously
existing system of government, such as in the empires we have seen in this chapter. Islam travelled into lands
inhabited by various disunited nomadic groups, and provided them with a unifying force not only in religion
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but also in system of government. China, on the other hand, already had a strong state structure and several
indigenous religions, which is perhaps why Islam never penetrated China
the way it did in other regions.
In China, one of the largest and most populous empires on earth even
then, the T'ang dynasty was in power when the first Muslim traders came
up the Silk Road from Central Asia in the 7th century. Trade between the
two groups led to the gradual establishment of a permanent Muslim
population in China, particularly in the regions bordering the Islamic
regions of Central Asia and India. In addition to the influence that Muslim
traders had on establishing an Islamic presence in China, the expansion of
the two empires also played a role. In the 7th and 8th centuries, as Arab Songjiang Mosque
Muslims were rapidly expanding their territories eastward under the Courtesy of Attractions in
Umayyads and Abbasids, the T'ang Chinese were similarly expanding Shanghai
westward. The two groups clashed on the Chinese border with Central www.sh.com
Asia and after winning several such battles, the Arabs established Muslim
settlements in China, and the influence of Islam in China grew from there. By the 9th century there were an
estimated 100,000 Arab merchants in Canton alone. The Mongol invasion of China in the 13th century also
played a major role in opening China to foreigners, including Muslims.
In China, Muslims were valued for their intellect, as Muslim scholars introduced the Chinese to such
inventions as the catapult, numerous astronomical instruments, and a new calendar. The Muslim legacy in
China today is reflected mainly in the western province of Xinxiang, which is almost entirely Muslim. The
cultural trade was not one-way, however. Chinese culture affected the Islamic world more than any other,
certainly more than European culture, and even more than that of India, which became a Muslim state in the
16th century. The bulk of Chinese exports to the Islamic world were silks and ceramics, but it is said that
Muslims called anything that was delicate and well-made, "Chinese," regardless of its true origin. Muslim-
Chinese interaction was therefore significant to both cultures in the medieval period.
Proceed to Chapter Summary

By the 16th century, the Islamic empire covered a large part of the world, from West Africa through the
Mediterranean, across Central Asia into India, and even across the ocean into Southeast Asia. It had truly
become a global religion, despite the disunity of its rulers. The Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad was the central
authority in the Islamic world, but various sultans and emirs ruled in various regions. The territories
conquered by these rulers have largely remained Islamic to this day, Spain being the only exception. We will
now move on to further examine a major challenge presented to the Islamic world, beginning in the 13th
century - the Mongol invasions.
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Return to Outline

The Mongol Invasions
Introduction
The Chagatai Khanate
The Golden Horde
The Il-Khanate
The Timurid Empire
Return to Outline
The rise of the Mongols as a formidable empire is one of the most significant events in history in the 12th
and 13th centuries. The name, Genghis Khan, is a particularly recognisable one in history. As the Mongol
ruler who united the nomads of the Asian steppe and founded one of the greatest world empires in history, he
is one of the best known of the world conquerors. More information on the life and conquests of Genghis
Khan can be found in the Old World Contacts Tutorial.
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Old World Contacts Tutorial - Genghis Khan
A lesser-known story than that of Genghis Khan is that of the Mongol impact on the Islamic world after his
death, and, in turn, the impact of the Islamic faith on the Mongols. This chapter will discuss four empires, or
Khanates, that the Mongols established in Islamic lands: the Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia, the Golden
Horde in southern Russia, the Il-Khanate in Persia and Iraq, and the Timurid Empire, which, under the
leadership of Timur (known in English as Tamerlane), eclipsed all three of the preceding Mongol empires.
Proceed to The Chagatai Khanate

After Genghis Khan's death in 1227, his vast empire was divided between two of his sons, Ogodei and
Chagatai. Ogodei became Great Khan after his father's death, and thus controlled most of the Mongol
Empire. Chagatai, however, was also given a small area of Central Asia to control, while maintaining
allegiance to Ogodei as Great Khan. The region under Chagatai's control was populated mostly by Turkish
nomads, many of which had already converted to Islam. The great Central Asian cities of Bukhara and
Samarkand also fell within Chagatai's sphere, both of which were influential centres of Islamic scholarship.
For the most part, however, the Chagatai Khanate ruled non-urbanised communities, thereby preserving the
traditional nomadic ways of the Mongols while other Khanates became more settled and urbanised. It is
generally agreed that the Chagatai Khanate was the weakest of all Mongol-controlled empires because it was
small, and thus it was easily absorbed into the spheres of influence of more powerful neighbouring Khanates.
After Chagatai's death in 1242, the Khanate retained the name of its original leader, but it fell into Ogodei's
realm under the control of his grandson, Kaidu. Following Kaidu's death in 1301, a handful of the Mongol
rulers of the Chagatai Khanate were Muslims, indicating that Islam had penetrated the region. It was not until
the ascension of Tarmashirin to the throne in 1326, however, that the Chagatai Khanate became an officially
Muslim state. All Khans after him were Muslim, and Central Asia has remained Islamic ever since. With the
conversion of the Chagatai Khanate, all three western Mongol empires, including the Golden Horde and the
Il-Khanate - as we will see later in this chapter - were Islamic. It is rather remarkable, considering the usual
pattern in world history of a conquering power imposing its culture on its new subjects, that the Mongol
conquerors of the Islamic world instead adopted the culture and religion of their subjects.
The Chagatai Khanate fell to Timur, himself a native of Samarkand, in the mid-14th century, more about
which will come later in this chapter. Timur's successors were in turn ousted from the Chagatai Khanate by
the Sheibanids, descendants of a brother of Batu, the original Khan of the Golden Horde. The Sheibanids
later called themselves the Uzbeks, the name by which they are still known today. Another Islamic group,
known today as the Kazakhs, originated as dissident Uzbeks during the same period. Both groups became
part of the Soviet Union in 1917, making up two of the five Muslim republics of that country. Today,
Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are independent countries, living remnants of the Chagatai Mongol legacy in
Central Asia.
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Proceed to The Golden Horde

As a much more powerful and influential Khanate than the Chagatai, the Golden Horde is one of the better
known of the Mongol empires, particularly because of its effect on modern Russian history. For the purposes
of this tutorial, however, the Golden Horde is significant not because of its ties to Russia, but to the Islamic
world. This empire, like the Chagatai, was a product of the division of power that followed the death of
Genghis Khan in 1227, when several of his relatives inherited their own regions to rule. Great Khan Ogodei,
Genghis Khan's son, ordered the invasion of Russia in 1236, which was led by Ogodei's nephew, Batu.
Russia at this time was not a unified state, but rather a collection of principalities known as Rus.
Between 1236 and 1240, Batu led the invading Mongols through a series of attacks on Russian cities,
including Moscow and Kiev. By 1241 the Mongols had reached Poland and Hungary, and they were
planning an attack on Croatia when Batu received word that Great Khan Ogodei had died back in Mongolia.
Batu immediately withdrew his army from Europe and retreated to the steppe region north of the Black Sea,
the home of the Islamic Volga Bulgars. Batu supported his cousin, Mongke, in the struggle for the position of
Great Khan against several challengers, and after ten years, Mongke finally prevailed in 1251. Batu was
rewarded by the Great Khan for his support during the succession struggle, and his empire enjoyed Mongke's
patronage for the duration of his reign. Batu built a capital, Sarai, on the Volga River, and he named his
empire the Golden Horde. The word "horde" is derived from the Turkic-Mongol word, ordu, meaning
"encampment." The Golden Horde became one of the most powerful of Genghis Khan's successor states.
Batu was a shamanist, like most Mongols at this time, which meant that he acknowledged the existence of
one God, but he also viewed the sun, moon, earth, and water as higher beings. Islam would not influence the
Golden Horde's rulers until after Batu's death in 1255. After the brief reigns of two of Batu's sons, the
Khanate passed to his brother, Berke, who took power in 1258. Berke was the first Muslim ruler of the
Golden Horde, and although he was unable to establish Islam as the Khanate's official religion, his faith
caused a serious rift to develop between him and his cousin, Hulegu, the Mongol ruler of the Il-Khanate in
Persia. As we will see later in this chapter, Hulegu's army was responsible for the collapse of the Abbasid
caliphate in Baghdad, and the murder of the caliph himself. For Hulegu, who was a shamanist with Buddhist
sympathies, the sacking of Baghdad was just another military conquest, but the Muslim Berke, watching
from Sarai, was appalled. The resulting animosity between the two leaders led to several wars, the first to pit
Mongol armies against each other.
In addition to their religious differences, Berke and Hulegu fought over control of the Caucasus Mountains,
over which both leaders claimed jurisdiction. So intense was the rivalry that Berke reportedly ordered the
troops he had loaned to Hulegu's army years earlier to defect to the Egyptian Mamluk army following the
sack of Baghdad. The Mamluks then won a decisive victory over Hulegu in 1260. Additionally, Berke
concluded a peace treaty with the Mamluks in 1261, in order for the two groups to ally themselves against
Hulegu. It was the first alliance between a Mongol and non-Mongol state in which both parties were equal.
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Also around 1260, Berke removed the Great Khan Kublai's name from the Golden Horde's coins. Kublai,
Mongke's brother, had succeeded as Great Khan that year, after a lengthy struggle with another brother, Arik-
Boke. Hulegu had supported Kublai's claim, while Berke supported Arik-Boke. Kublai's victory pushed
Berke and his Islamic faith further into isolation from his Mongol brethren. Removing Kublai's name from
the Golden Horde's coins was the ultimate repudiation of allegiance to the Great Khan.
Berke died in 1267, only a year after Hulegu, and the feud between the Golden Horde and the Il-Khans died
down. Berke's immediate successors were not Muslim, and thus they were not as hostile to Hulegu's
successors, who also were not Muslim. Still, the Golden Horde retained its isolation from the other Mongol
Khanates, and the cultural, linguistic, and religious influence of its mostly Muslim Turkish population
increasingly affected the Golden Horde's Mongol leaders. By the end of the 13th century, Turkish had
virtually replaced Mongol as the language of administration, and in 1313, with the ascension of a Muslim,
Ozbeg, to the Khanate, Islam became the official religion of the Golden Horde.
By assimilating into the Islamic Turkish culture of the south, rather than the Christian Russian culture of the
north, the Golden Horde set itself up for its eventual collapse at the hands of the increasingly powerful
Russian principalities. While the Golden Horde lasted longer than many other Khanates, by the mid-14th
century it began to fall apart. The increasingly powerful territories of Moscow and Lithuania began
absorbing pieces of the disintegrating Golden Horde, while the invasion of Timur's army in the late 14th
century added to the destruction. By the mid-15th century, separate Khanates were established in Kazan,
Astrakhan, and the Crimea. The Russian tsar, Ivan the Terrible, annexed Kazan and Astrakhan in 1552 and
1554, while Crimea survived under the protection of the Ottoman Empire until 1783, when Catherine the
Great annexed it to the Russian Empire. The Islamic Tatars of the Golden Horde, as Europeans have
historically called the Mongols, survive today in small population groups, primarily in southern Russia.
Proceed to The Il-Khanate

Although the Chagatai Khanate and the Golden Horde both established themselves in regions already
inhabited by Muslims, their invasions of Central Asia and Russia, respectively, did not have the catastrophic
effect on the native Islamic faith that the Mongol invasion of Persia and Iraq had. Although the faith
prevailed, and the Mongol invaders were eventually converted to Islam, the Mongol destruction of the
Islamic heartland marked a major change of direction for the region. By destroying the Islamic empires that
existed before they came, the Mongols instigated a new era for the Islamic world, in which most of the
region's power would fall to three great empires - the Ottoman, the Safavid, and the Mughal - as we will see
in Chapter 5.
The Mongols began their push into Central Asia and Persia in the early 13th century under Genghis Khan.
The cities of Bukhara and Samarkand, later to become part of the Chagatai Khanate, fell to Genghis Khan's
armies in 1220. From there it was not difficult to raid Persia, and by 1221 the Persian cities of Merv,
Page 46 of 109
Nishapur, and Balkh had fallen. In the inevitable pillaging that followed Mongol attacks, the invaders
decimated the population of these regions, sparing only the artisans they deemed useful. The Mongols also
uprooted many Muslim graves in their wake, including that of Harun al-Rashid, the 8th century Abbasid
caliph who was featured in The Thousand and One Nights fables.
The Muslims inflicted their first defeat on the Mongols in 1221 at the Battle of Parwan, in present-day
Afghanistan, under the leadership of Jalal al-Din, son of a Central Asian Muslim ruler. The victory provided
a temporary morale boost for the Muslim army, but the Mongols soon regrouped and devastated Jalal's troops
later that year. After that initial setback, the Mongols swept through Central Asia into Persia and Iraq. The
Persian city of Isfahan fell in 1237, and the Mongols gradually moved closer to Baghdad, the centre of the
Abbasid caliphate.
The decision to attack the Abbasid caliphate was made at the same time as the election of the Great Khan
Mongke in 1251. The Chagatai Khanate and the Golden Horde were already firmly established empires in
the Islamic world, and the Great Khan disliked the fact that his new Muslim subjects worshipped a man - the
caliph - that they deemed to be in a higher position than the Great Khan. Mongke decided to send his brother,
Hulegu, into Iraq at the head of the invading Mongol army, with the goal of sacking Baghdad and destroying
the Abbasid caliphate there. Hulegu set out in 1253, and en route he encountered the Muslim group known as
the Assassins, an Ismaili sect that practised an extreme version of Shi'ism. The Assassins were based in
Alamut, in northwestern Persia, which Hulegu reached in 1255. The Mongols easily destroyed the small
Assassins force, and the remaining members of the group fled south to the Sindh region of present-day
Pakistan, where they lived as an underground sect for centuries. After this victory, the Mongols had an open
path into Baghdad. Great Khan Mongke had instructed Hulegu to attack the Abbasid caliphate only if it
refused to surrender to the Mongols. The Abbasids, led by the caliph, Musta'sim, indeed refused to surrender,
making a battle inevitable.
Before the fighting even began, the Abbasids were at a disadvantage. While they theoretically had a large
enough army to compete with the Mongols, their troops had been neglected by the caliphate and were not
prepared for battle at the time of the Mongol invasion. Another problem for the Abbasids was the centuries-
old rift between the Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims. The caliphate was Sunni, as were most of its subjects, but
there was a Shi'ite minority under Abbasid control who welcomed the Mongol invaders as a potential means
of bringing down the Sunni caliph. Many Shi'ites in Iraq joined the Mongol forces for that reason.
Additionally, the caliph's vizier, or second-in-command, was himself Shi'ite, and it has been suggested that
he might have also co-operated with the Mongols in attacking the caliphate. The Mongols also had the
support of non-Muslims under Abbasid control. Many Christians in the region saw the Mongols as saviours,
hoping that by decimating Islam's adherents, the faith itself would also be destroyed. Indeed, in return for
Christian support, the Mongols - some of whom were Nestorian Christian themselves - spared Christian
churches and communities from their pillaging.
With all these factors working against the Abbasids, the fall of Baghdad and the destruction of the caliphate
in 1258 came rather quickly. The caliph himself, Musta'sim, was captured and killed, and the 500-year-old
Abbasid dynasty came to an abrupt and violent end. With Iraq and Persia thus under Mongol control, Hulegu
continued west, towards Syria and Egypt. Ayyubid descendants of Saladin held power in Syria at this time,
while the European Crusaders had a tenuous hold on the Syrian coast. Egypt, meanwhile, was still recovering
from the coup that had ousted the Ayyubids and brought the Mamluks, a class of Turkish slave soldiers, to
power. As professional soldiers, the Mamluks would present the Mongols with their only serious and
continuous challenge. Syria, however, was easily defeated, since the Ayyubids and Crusaders refused to join
forces in defending their territory. The major cities of Aleppo and Damascus fell within a month of each
other in 1260, but an immediate invasion of Egypt was halted by the death of the Great Khan Mongke in
Mongolia.
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While Hulegu was distracted by the ensuing succession struggle between his brothers, Kublai and Arik-
Boke, the Mamluks launched an attack on the Mongols in Syria. It was the first time in almost 50 years that a
Muslim army initiated an attack on the Mongols, and it paid off for the Muslim Mamluks, who defeated the
Mongols and occupied their Syrian base at Gaza. A few months later, a second Mamluk attack succeeded in
killing Hulegu's commander and driving the Mongols out of Syria altogether. The Mamluks continued to
defeat Hulegu's army for the duration of its presence in the region. One reason for the Mamluk success was
their status as professional soldiers. The Mamluk state featured very little cultural, intellectual, or
administrative development; its existence was devoted solely to military training, and thus the quality of the
Mamluk army easily matched that of the powerful Mongols. A second reason that has been suggested for the
Mamluks' success is the fact that the Mamluks had been using horseshoes for their horses since about 1244.
The Mongols did not use horseshoes, and the rocky terrain of Syria reportedly injured the Mongol horses'
hooves to the extent that they were unable to fight effectively. Additionally, the Mamluks realised that
grasslands were needed to pasture the Mongols' horses. Therefore, the Mamluks often burned grasslands in
Syria in their wake, to prevent the Mongol horses from grazing.
At any rate, the initial Mamluk victories over the Mongols in 1260 were a turning point for Hulegu's army, as
several challenges arose after that point. Mongke's death had signalled an end to a united Mongol Empire, as
the struggle over his successor split the realm. As we saw in the previous section on the Golden Horde, their
Muslim Khan, Berke, had become hostile to Hulegu following the latter's destruction of the Abbasid
caliphate in 1258. Berke supported Arik-Boke's claim to the Great Khan position, while Hulegu supported
Kublai. When Kublai prevailed in 1260, Hulegu enjoyed the Great Khan's favour for his support, and an
increase in cultural interaction between Hulegu's Persian empire and Kublai's Chinese empire ensued, but the
unity of the Mongol Empire as a whole was destroyed by Berke's refusal to recognise Kublai. This rift
deepened as the years went by. Following Kublai's victory, Hulegu named his empire the Il-Khanate, or
"subordinate Khanate," as a sign of his allegiance to Kublai and the greater Mongol Empire. By 1263, Berke
had negotiated an alliance between the Golden Horde and almost all other states surrounding Hulegu's Il-
Khanate: the Mamluks in Egypt, the Byzantines in Constantinople, and even the Italian city-state of Genoa,
which provided a much needed naval link between the Golden Horde and Mamluk Egypt. The Golden Horde
was soon fighting a full-scale war with the Il-Khanate, which continued after the deaths of Hulegu in 1265
and Berke in 1266.
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Hulegu's son and successor, Abaqa, ended the war some years later, and the religious reason behind the
animosity between the two groups ended when they both eventually became Islamic states. Before that
happened, however, Islam in the Il-Khanate suffered under a string of Mongol Buddhist Khans. Many
Mongols had adopted Buddhism early in the 13th century, as they were exposed to the religion in China,
Tibet, and northern India. Hulegu had adopted some Buddhist customs, but he is primarily regarded as a
traditional Mongol shamanist. The fact that he was buried with several young women testifies to this fact,
since neither Buddhism nor Islam would have sanctioned human sacrifice. Abaqa, Hulegu's son, was a
devout Buddhist who mercilessly persecuted the Muslims of the Il-Khanate. He even promoted Christian
interests ahead of Muslim, simply to harass the Muslims. Abaqa's son, Arghun, also a Buddhist, was even
harder on Muslims than his father had been. During this period of Buddhist leadership in traditionally
Islamic lands, many Buddhist symbols appeared. Numerous Buddhist temples dotted the landscape of Persia
and Iraq, none of which survived the 14th century, unfortunately. The Buddhist element of the Il-Khanate
died with Arghun, however, and Islam soon spread from the population to the ruling classes.
One instigator for the change was Arghun's brother, Gaykhatu, who succeeded him. Eager to make a name
for himself as an Il-Khan, Gaykhatu introduced paper money from China into Islamic trading circles. Islamic
merchants in the Il-Khanate refused to accept the unrecognisable new money, however, and trade came to a
virtual standstill. The experiment was such a disaster that Gaykhatu was forced to abandon it after six
months, and the ensuing rebellion ousted him from power in 1295. His successor, Arghun's son, Ghazan, was
the first Muslim of Mongol heritage to rule the Il-Khanate, and all rulers of Persia since him have been
Muslim. Ghazan adhered to the Sunni form of Islam, but he was tolerant of Shi'ites. He focussed his
religious persecution instead on the Buddhists, who had been so intolerant of Muslims for the past 30 years
in the Il-Khanate. Ghazan converted all Buddhist temples to mosques, and he forced the Buddhist priests and
monks to either convert to Islam or return to India, Tibet, or China. Christians were also persecuted, in
retaliation for their special treatment at the expense of the Muslims under the Buddhist rulers of the Il-
Khanate. Ghazan reorganised the administration of the Il-Khanate to reflect its new official Islamic faith. He
replaced traditional Mongol law with the Sharia, or Islamic code of law, and adopted Islamic military codes
for the Mongol army. At Ghazan's death in 1304, virtually all Mongol elements in the Il-Khanate had been
absorbed into Islamic culture.
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Ghazan's successor, his brother, Oljeitu, took the empire in a different direction. Oljeitu was a Shi'ite
Muslim, and he embarked on a campaign against the majority Sunnis of the realm. His persecution of Sunnis
damaged the Il-Khanate's relationship with the neighbouring Mamluks in Egypt, who were Sunnis. Relations
between the two groups were almost at the point of war when Oljeitu died in 1316. Oljeitu's son and heir,
Abu Said, was the first Mongol to have an Islamic name since birth. He restored Sunnism as the state
religion of the Il-Khanate and made peace with the Mamluks. Peace to the west did not mean peace to the
north, however, since the alliance between the Mamluks and the Golden Horde had dissolved after Berke's
death in 1266. Abu Said thus found himself involved in a renewed conflict with the Golden Horde over the
territory of the Caucasus Mountains. Abu Said died in 1335 while at war with the Golden Horde, and his
death marked the beginning of the Il-Khanate's decline and eventual collapse.
A series of succession struggles after 1335 weakened the empire, as did the loss of soldiers and civilians to
the Black Death, which had been ravaging Persia. The chaos opened the way for foreign invasion, which
occurred in 1357 when the Golden Horde Khan, Jani Beg, attacked Tabriz, the Il-Khanate capital. Although
the Golden Horde was not successful in annexing the Il-Khanate to its own empire, it succeeded in adding to
the political turmoil of the land. When Timur invaded from Central Asia in 1393, the Il-Khanate was
swallowed up into his rapidly expanding empire.
The Black Death
The Mongol invasion of the Islamic heartland had mixed effects. On one hand, the Islamic world never
regained its previous power. Much of the six centuries of Islamic scholarship, culture, and infrastructure was
destroyed as the invaders burned libraries, replaced mosques with Buddhist temples, and destroyed intricate
irrigation systems. In fact, the irrigation equipment necessary for farming in the Mesopotamian desert was
not rebuilt until the 20th century. Additionally, Gaykhatu's attempt to introduce paper money at the end of the
13th century virtually destroyed trade in the region, from which it was difficult to recover.
On the other hand, the Mongol invasion was not entirely negative for the Islamic world. Perhaps the most
significant achievement for the Muslims under Mongol rule was their ability to absorb the Mongols into their
Islamic culture, rather than allowing its destruction at Mongol hands. This feat can be seen in the triumph of
the Islamic faith over Mongol shamanism and Buddhism. It had occurred so quickly, in fact, that only 40
years after the fall of the Abbasid caliphate in 1258, the Mongols responsible for it had themselves adopted
Islam as the official religion of their empire.
A similar trend is seen in language. Because the majority of the inhabitants of the Central Asian steppe were
Turks, and the Mongol army and administration often employed more Turks than Mongols, it did not take
long for the Turkish language to replace Mongol in certain regions of the Il-Khanate. The province of
Azerbaijan in northern Persia, for example, which is an independent country today, has remained a Turkish-
speaking region since Mongol times. Turkish did not become the language of administration in the Il-
Khanate, as it had in the Golden Horde by 1280, but it was influential nonetheless. The Seljuk Turks in Asia
Minor particularly benefited from their status as Mongol vassals. Perhaps because of their fierce
determination to retain their Turkish language and culture under the foreign rulers, or perhaps because of the
Mongol favouritism towards the Turks, the Turkish language in the Seljuk region was used for literary
purposes for the first time, and it received official recognition.
The Muslims could also thank the Mongols for introducing them to gunpowder, which the Mongols brought
from China. While China is generally accepted as the empire that invented gunpowder, the Muslims are
credited with applying the invention as a propellant, and thus a weapon. This spread of the native language
and culture to the Mongol invaders is seen in the Il-Khanate as well as the Mongol-ruled Yuan Dynasty in
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China, both of which had rich cultural, linguistic, and religious traditions that pre-dated the Mongol invasion.
By comparison, the Golden Horde in southern Russia, despite converting to Islam and adopting the Turkish
language, remained true to its Mongol heritage as pastoral nomads and warriors. The Mongols of the Golden
Horde remained Mongols; in the Il-Khanate and China, however, the Mongols were so absorbed into the
native culture that hardly any trace of them remained by the 16th century. Their legacy was not easily
forgotten, however, particularly in Persia, where the Mongol invasion had fuelled the age-old Persian
nationalism that would eventually result in the formation of the powerful Safavid Empire there in the 16th
century.
Proceed to The Timurid Empire

By the late 14th century, as we have seen, the Chagatai Khanate, the
Golden Horde, and the Il-Khanate were beginning to collapse. The
Mongols gradually assimilated into the native culture of their conquered
territories, while succession struggles and infighting began to fracture
the Khanates. A new challenge also arose for these three Khanates, in
the form of an invasion of all three by another Mongol leader, Timur. An
arrow wound suffered in his youth sufficiently injured his leg as to earn
him the name Timur-i-Lenk in Persian, or Timur the Lame. In English
that name later became corrupted into "Tamerlane." His Asian empire,
the Timurid, takes his original name. Although his English name,
Tamerlane, is perhaps more familiar to European history students, this
tutorial will use his original Turkish name, Timur, which means, "iron."
He was born in 1336 in Samarkand, in the Chagatai Khanate, and by the
Timur late 14th century he had established an empire that rivalled Genghis
Courtesy of Itihaas
www.itihaas.com/medieval/ Khan's in terms of its size, and the destruction it wreaked on its invaded
territories throughout Asia. A more thorough biography of Timur can be
found in the Old World Contacts Tutorial.
Old World Contact Tutorial - Timur
Although he was of Mongol descent, Timur was really more Turkish than Mongol, in his language and
religion. He exemplified the pattern of assimilation that the Mongols in Turkish Central Asia followed in
their conquered lands since the time of Genghis Khan. He was a Muslim, but that did not prevent him from
attacking other Muslim empires, including the small principalities that had succeeded the Il-Khanate in
Persia, the remnants of the Golden Horde, the newly formed Ottoman Empire in Asia Minor, and the Delhi
Sultanate in India. Unlike his Mongol ancestors, however, Timur never established an administration for his
Page 51 of 109
vast empire. He spent his time planning and carrying out attacks, but
following the inevitable victory he would often withdraw to
Samarkand, his capital, rather than setting up the bureaucracy
necessary to administer the newly acquired territory. For that reason
he was a very different sort of conqueror than Genghis Khan or his
immediate successors. This section will look at Timur's conquests in
brief, how his Islamic faith influenced his campaigns, and what effect
his campaigns had on the Islamic world.
Timur's empire began in the Chagatai Khanate, where he was born in

1336. By the mid-14th century, the Khanate was disintegrating under
a series of weak leaders, and different regions within the Khanate
were evolving separately. Transoxiana, a small region that included
the cities of Bukhara and Samarkand, was in fact flourishing while
the rest of the Chagatai Khanate dissolved around it. Timur began his
career of conquest in Transoxiana, where he fought the Chagatai
Khans for control of Transoxiana. He succeeded in 1364, driving the
Chagatai Khans out of the region and claiming power for himself.
His public displays of Islamic piety earned him the support of the
community's religious leaders, although his rule was not solid
because he was not a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, a The Kalyan Minaret in Bukhara, built in
1127, survived Genghis Khan's invasion
requirement for all leaders of the Chagatai territory. For that reason,
he put a weak but genuine descendant on the throne officially as
Khan, while he took the lesser title of Sultan, and ruled from behind the scenes.
From Transoxiana, Timur turned east and began raiding eastern Persia. By 1385 he had subdued the local
princes of that region, who had taken power as the Il-Khanate dissolved. Meanwhile, he faced a new
challenge from the Khan of the Golden Horde, Toqtamish, whom Timur had in fact assisted in that realm's
power struggle several years earlier. Toqtamish had since reunited the fragmented Golden Horde, and had set
his expansionist sights on Timur's growing empire to the south. Toqtamish attacked the former Il-Khanate
capital, Tabriz, in 1385, and thus ignited a war with Timur. Timur ravaged Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, and
northern Iraq in the war with Toqtamish, while also plundering the Persian cities of Isfahan and Shiraz. In
1391 Timur finally defeated Toqtamish's army, thus freeing his victorious troops in the north to focus their
energies on his next goal - Syria and Asia Minor. By 1395 he had subdued that region, although he had yet to
encounter the military power of the Ottoman Empire. After returning to Samarkand, as usual after a victory,
Timur next set out for northern India, and the Delhi Sultanate there.
Islam had first reached India in 711, the same year as the Umayyad conquest of Spain. Until the reign of the
Mughal Empire in the 16th century, however, the Islamic faith had penetrated only the northern regions of
the subcontinent - particularly Sindh and Punjab. Just as the Muslim rulers of other regions were relatively
tolerant of Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, the Muslim rulers of northern India were similarly
tolerant of Hinduism, a religion which originated on the subcontinent, and to which the majority of Indians
adhered.
Timur launched his attack on India in 1398, claiming that the Muslim Delhi Sultanate was too lenient
towards its Hindu subjects. In reality, Timur probably cared more about looting this wealthy Muslim region
than about punishing its religiously tolerant Muslim leaders. At any rate, he sacked Delhi quickly, despite the
efforts of the Sultan's army, which included 120 war elephants. As with most of Timur's empire, however, he
did not stay in India to establish a Timurid administration. He left northern India in ruins and returned to
Samarkand.
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War Elephants
Timur next returned to Syria, where he used war elephants from India to defeat the Mamluks there and
capture Aleppo and Damascus. He never invaded Egypt proper, however, probably because it was so distant
from his base in Samarkand, and because he wanted to preserve his army's strength for his main goal - the
newly formed but rapidly expanding Ottoman Empire in Asia Minor. The Ottoman Sultan, Bayazid I, was ill-
prepared to defend his empire from Timur, since his troops had just completed a series of raids on Byzantine
Constantinople. Timur's army defeated the Ottomans in 1402 and captured Bayazid, who died a year later in
captivity. Timur again returned to Samarkand to plan his next offensive, this time on Ming China. In 1405,
however, while en route to China, Timur fell ill and died, at the age of 69.
The Timurid Empire was not singularly defined by the fact that it was an Islamic empire. Its founder, Timur,
was himself a Muslim, but he rarely invoked his religion as any sort of impetus for his invasions. All of the
territories he invaded were also Muslim-ruled, and thus he could not proclaim a jihad, or holy war, as the
reason for his attacks, as Islamic leaders before him had done. He did claim that his invasion of the Delhi
Sultanate was provoked by that Muslim empire's tolerant attitude towards Hindus, but even that reason could
not mask his real desire to obtain some of the Sultanate's great wealth. But if his faith did not always show
itself in his military campaigns, it certainly did in the cultural landscape of his capital, Samarkand. Artisans
were brought from all of the Islamic lands Timur had conquered to beautify Samarkand, and indeed, much of
that city's most striking monuments were erected by Timurid architects. The art of the Persian miniature also
flourished under Timur, and the Persian cities of Herat, Shiraz, and Tabriz became important centres for this
art.
The Timurid Empire survived another century under Timur's squabbling descendants, but it was eclipsed by
the rising power of the Uzbeks in Central Asia in 1506. Because Timur concerned himself largely with
conquest and plunder, rather than administration, he never made the effort to establish a lasting bureaucracy
for his territories. That is one reason why they were unable to survive without him for long, and were soon
absorbed into new empires: the Ottomans in Asia Minor spread into Syria and North Africa by the early 16th
century; the Safavids steered Persia out of anarchy, also in the 16th century; and one of Timur's descendants,
Babur, founded the Mughal Empire in India in 1526.
Page 53 of 109
The Gur-i Amir, or Timur's Mausoleum, in Samarkand, built in 1404
Courtesy of AL-AFFA Tour
http://www.sambuh.com/
Return to Outline

Rise of the Great Islamic Empires
Introduction
The Ottoman Empire
The Safavid Empire
The Mughal Empire
Each of the three empires listed above has its own navigation bar. Expect this index to change for each empire.
Return to Outline
With the collapse of the Mongol administration of the Islamic lands in the 14th and 15th centuries, a trio of
new empires began forming across Asia: the Ottoman Empire in Asia Minor, the Safavid Empire in Persia,
and the Mughal Empire in India. These three empires were the result of centuries of Islamic state building
and expansion, and at their height, they covered nearly the entire Islamic world. The only Islamic regions left
outside their domain were West Africa and Southeast Asia. These three empires were also significant because
they provided the bridge between the medieval and modern periods of Islamic history.
The Ottoman Empire, which formed in the early 14th century, was the first of the three Great Islamic
Empires. The Ottoman Empire reached its peak by 1600, after which time it fell into a gradual decline, as a
result of both internal disorganisation and pressure from its external foes in Europe and Asia. Nevertheless,
the Ottoman Empire survived through the First World War, and it was disbanded only in 1918. Out of the
core of the Empire, in Asia Minor, came the present-day country of Turkey.
Page 54 of 109
The Safavid Empire, which was founded as a political dynasty in 1501, was the second Great Islamic Empire
to form. It originated as a religious sect, and it acquired the military and political traits of an empire only
after 1501. The Safavid Empire also differed from the Ottoman and Mughal Empires because it was an
officially Shi'ite empire, and religious differences led to much antagonism between the Safavids and its
Sunni neighbours. The Safavid Empire was the shortest-lived of the three, forming in 1501 and suffering its
final collapse at the hands of the invading Afghans in 1722. It forever influenced Persian nationalism,
however, and out of the remnants of the Safavid Empire grew the present-day country of Iran.
The Mughal Empire in India, which formed in 1526, was the third Great Islamic Empire to form, and it
struggled for several years after that to consolidate its territory. It benefited from a succession of strong rulers
throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, many of whom were able to ensure the Empire's survival by
appeasing the majority Hindu population of the Indian subcontinent. Like the Ottoman and Safavid Empires,
however, the Mughal Empire's power eventually declined, and it was absorbed by the expansion of the
British Empire in India in the mid-19th century.
Proceed to Ottoman Empire: Beginnings to 1301

Beginnings to 1301
The Ottoman Empire grew out of the remnants of the Seljuk Turkish realm following the collapse of Mongol
rule in Asia Minor in the late 13th century. As we saw in Chapter 3, the Seljuks were the first Turks to inhabit
Asia Minor, as well as the first dynasty to unite the traditionally nomadic Turkish people into a settled
community under one leader. The Seljuks could not match the military skill of the Mongols, however, who
first invaded Seljuk territory in 1243. The Seljuks were quickly defeated by the Mongols, and they became
vassals of the expanding Il-Khanate, led by the Mongol,
Hulegu. The Mongol invasion from the east pushed much of
the Seljuk population further west in Asia Minor, closer to the
Byzantine Empire, which quickly became a favourite target
for raids by Turkish gazi warriors.
Gazi Warriors
As the 13th century came to a close, both the Seljuks and

Mongols had essentially lost control of their Turkish subjects.
Asia Minor was not an important territory for the Mongols,
and thus they did not spend much energy and resources on its
administration. Out of this gradual collapse of central
Page 55 of 109
Osman
Courtesy of www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~sami/
authority in Asia Minor rose a number of Turkish principalities, or emirates, many of which were led by gazi
warriors. One such warrior, Osman Gazi, proved particularly successful at defeating the Byzantine Empire or
other smaller states in his raids. His small emirate was closer geographically to the Byzantine Empire than
any other, and thus he had many chances to prove his abilities as a gazi warrior against them. Although he
began as the leader of only one Turkish emirate among several, his name soon became the most famous of
the gazi warriors, for his continuous victories in battle. Gazis from neighbouring emirates flocked to Osman
to take part in these victories and obtain their share of the spoils.
Proceed to Ottoman Empire: Empire Building, 1301-1402

Empire Building, 1301-1402
According to custom in the Turkish emirates, Osman's followers

took his name, and became known as the Osmanlis, or
Ottomans. In 1301, with the victory of the Ottomans over the
Byzantines at Nicaea, the former Byzantine capital, the Ottoman
emirate established itself as a powerful military force. Until
1354, however, the Ottomans remained just one of several
Turkish emirates in Asia Minor, albeit the strongest one. That
year, the Ottomans received some help from Mother Nature
when an earthquake destroyed the walls of the city of Gallipoli,
on the southern tip of the Italian peninsula. The Ottomans took
advantage of the destruction and chaos to occupy the strategic
city. This event finally established Ottoman superiority over the
other Turkish realms in Asia Minor, and they were soon
absorbed into a unified Turkish state under the Ottomans.
Osman had died in 1336, twenty years before the capture of

Gallipoli, and was succeeded by his son, Orhan, who ruled from
1326 to 1362. Orhan chose Bursa, in the northwest corner of
Asia Minor, as the Ottoman capital, and he had several Islamic Orhan
monuments built there, many of which survive to this day. Courtesy of www.informatik.uni-
bremen.de/~sami/
Orhan is also generally credited with initiating the formation of
the Janissaries, the first standing army in Europe.
Janissaries
Orhan was succeeded by his son, Murad I (1362-89), who ushered in the first major period of expansion for
the Ottomans. The conquest of Gallipoli sparked a wave of Ottoman expansion through the last half of the
Page 56 of 109
14th century. The most important of these conquests was that of the Balkans, including present-day Greece,
Albania, Bulgaria, and the former Yugoslavia, which gave the Ottomans a foothold in Europe. The Ottomans
were able to move into the Balkans fairly easily, because of the political disorganisation of the region.
Fighting among minor princes had reduced the region to virtual anarchy, and it was unable to gather a unified
defence force against the Ottomans. The victory was also made easier for the Ottomans with the help of the
local population. The Greeks, for example, welcomed any invader that would end their domination by
Italians and other Latins. Other sectors of the population also welcomed the Ottomans, because of their
relatively tolerant policies regarding the religions of their subject peoples. Despite their origins as gazi
warriors bent on the conquest of non-Muslim lands, the Ottomans were remarkably lenient towards their
Christian subjects. The Ottomans officially recognised the Orthodox Christian Church, for example, to which
much of the Balkan population adhered, and the Ottomans also were very protective of the Balkan peasantry
from exploitation by their rulers.
Because of these factors, it was mainly the Balkan aristocracy and high priests, not the general population,
who resisted the Ottoman invasion. In the 1360s, Albania and Macedonia accepted Ottoman rule, and in
1372, the King of Bulgaria became an Ottoman vassal. Ottoman rule in the Balkans was firmly established in
1389 at the Battle of Kosovo, in which the Ottomans defeated Stephan Dushan's Kingdom of Serbia. The
Ottoman sultan, Murad I, was killed in battle at Kosovo, and he was succeeded by his son, Bayazid I, who
continued to advance Ottoman rule in the Balkans. In 1395, the Ottomans killed King Shishman of Bulgaria,
as part of their plan to replace local rulers with loyal Ottoman rulers. By 1400, the Ottoman Empire had
earned a prestigious reputation throughout the Islamic world, for its continuous conquests of European lands.
In 1402, however, much of the empire the Ottomans had spent the past century building was destroyed by the
invasion of Timur.
As we saw in Chapter 4, the Timurid Empire was vast by the time it reached Asia Minor in 1402 to battle the
Ottomans. That battle was in fact the last major battle of Timur's life, because he died in Samarkand in 1405
after returning from his victory in Asia Minor. Because the Ottoman was the last empire Timur attacked, he
brought a wealth of experience and a veteran army with him, since his empire already included Central Asia,
northern India, Persia, Iraq, and Syria. Although Timur was not eager to face the Ottomans, whose reputation
as a strong military force preceded them, he was convinced to do so by a number of Turkish emirs who had
been defeated by the Ottomans and pushed out of Asia Minor, seeking refuge in Timurid lands.
The Ottomans, scrambling to reorganise after hastily ending their siege of Constantinople to face the
Timurids, were defeated at the Battle of Ankara in June, 1402. The empire they had built up to that point was
destroyed. Sultan Bayazid I was taken prisoner and died in captivity a year later, and the remnants of the
empire were divided among Bayazid's sons, who submitted to Timurid authority. At the same time, many of
the territories that the Ottomans had conquered in the Balkans resumed their independent status after the
Ottoman defeat.
Proceed to Ottoman Empire: Recovery and Renewed Conquest, 1402-80

Page 57 of 109
Recovery and Renewed Conquest, 1402-80
After Timur's death in 1405, his weak successors were unable to hold his vast empire together, and the
Ottomans were able to reassert themselves and begin the process of rebuilding their empire. In one of the
most remarkable recoveries in history, the Ottoman Empire went from complete ruin in 1402 to bringing
down the Byzantine Empire with the sacking of Constantinople in 1453. A central question of Ottoman
scholarship is how they managed to recover so completely in such a short period of time.
The short answer is that a series of strong rulers, combined with the traditional Turkish gazi thirst for
conquest, allowed the Ottoman Empire to rebuild so quickly. Although Asia Minor was divided among all of
Bayazid's sons after the Timurid victory, the youngest son, Mehmed, soon asserted authority over the others,
and by 1416, he had reunited Asia Minor under his rule. In order to subdue his brothers, Mehmed even
concluded a peace treaty with the neighbouring Byzantine
Empire, which agreed to imprison Mehmed's brothers while he
focused on reconquering the Balkans. Despite Mehmed's
leadership, however, the first decades of the 15th century
essentially featured a series of small civil wars within the
Ottoman lands. During the wars of reconquest in the Balkans
under Mehmed's son, Murad II, the Ottomans were introduced
to new weapons from Europe, including cannons and muskets,
which they then improved upon and used to their great
advantage in battle. While their use of firearms increased, so
did their naval capabilities. A war with Venice, a naval power,
in the 1440s led to the development of an Ottoman navy, and
by 1442 the Ottoman Empire had 60 ships at Gallipoli and 100
river vessels on the Danube. The rapid growth of the Ottoman
navy in fact forced the Venetians to strengthen their own fleet.
The Ottoman Empire reached its full recovery under Murad II's
son, Mehmed II, known as Fatih, or "the Conqueror." He was
determined not only to restore the Ottoman Empire to its pre-
Timurid glory, but to build on it as well. After centuries of
Muslim raids on Constantinople, the Byzantine capital,
Mehmed II
Mehmed decided it was time for the Muslims to take the city Courtesy of Bilkent University's Department of
once and for all. After a 54-day siege, Constantinople fell to the History
Ottomans, who promptly renamed the city, Istanbul. www.bilkent.edu.tr/~history/ottoman/index.htm
The Fall of Constantinople
Mehmed II was known as the Conqueror for more reasons that just his conquest of Constantinople. In 1454
he demanded that all territories surrounding the Black Sea recognise Ottoman rule, including several
Genoese colonies, and the Kingdom of Moldavia. In 1463, Mehmed gained control of the Dardanelles, a
strategic waterway separating Asia Minor from Europe, by building a fortress on either side of it. Also in
1463, after years of struggle in the Balkans, Mehmed succeeded in annexing Bosnia to the Ottoman Empire,
a move that led to the Islamicisation of Bosnia, and which has had repercussions for the entire Balkan region
to this day.
Page 58 of 109
The Islamicisation of Bosnia
Meanwhile, in the east, Mehmed faced a challenge in the 1470s from Uzun Hasan, ruler of the Turkish Aq-
Qoyunlu confederation in eastern Asia Minor and northern Persia, who had allied with Venice and Cyprus
against the Ottomans. Mehmed defeated Uzun Hasan at the Battle of Baskent on the Euphrates, then turned
against Venice. In 1478, Mehmed cut Venice's communication lines to the sea, and forced it to cede some of
its Albanian territories to the Ottomans. Mehmed was en route to invade Italy and the Papacy in 1480 when
he died. The Pope was even preparing to flee Rome for France out of fear of the impending Ottoman
invasion.
Most Ottoman historians agree that Mehmed II was the true founder of the Ottoman Empire, not only for his
military conquests, but for his work on the internal structure of the empire as well. He took for himself the
title, "Sovereign of the Two Lands and of the Two Seas," for his establishment of the empire in both Europe
and Asia, and both the Mediterranean and Black Seas. By Mehmed's time, the Ottoman Empire had
developed into an absolute monarchy, with the sultan assuming all powers over the realm. The Ottomans
rationalised their absolutism by arguing that the sultan needed sweeping powers over the empire and state in
order to protect his people from the corruption of government. In the first centuries of the Ottoman Empire,
the sultans were indeed very intolerant of corrupt officials, believing that corruption weakened their power in
the eyes of the people, and the Ottoman Empire had an interest in positive public opinion of them. For this
reason, they forbade soldiers to pillage conquered villages, and they even conducted a sort of opinion poll:
by monitoring mosques to see which ones included the sultan's name in their Friday prayers - which was
optional - authorities could discern which regions supported the sultan and which did not.
Interior view of the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul, built in honour of Mehmed II

Courtesy of Explore Turkey
www.exploreturkey.com/pic_htms/toist052.htm
Proceed to Ottoman Empire: Relations with the Islamic World, 1480-1520
Page 59 of 109
Relations with the Islamic World, 1480-1520
Mehmed's son and successor, Bayazid II, shifted the Empire's military focus from Christian Europe to the
fellow Islamic empires in Egypt and Persia, thus eroding much of the gazi warrior foundations of waging
war only on non-Muslims, on which the Ottoman Empire was built. In 1485, the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt
was the oldest major dynasty in the Islamic world, and its leader was the most respected sovereign in that
world. The Mamluks earned Bayazid's wrath, however, by siding with his brother, Cem, whom Bayazid
defeated for the Ottoman crown. Although no significant battles would occur between the two empires until
the reign of Bayazid's son, Selim (1512-20), the antagonism sparked during Bayazid's reign showcased the
potential for animosity between Muslim empires.
A more significant development in the Islamic world during

Bayazid's rule came in 1501, with the establishment of the
Safavid Empire in Persia by Shah Ismail I. As a Shi'ite empire,
the Safavids immediately declared their hostility towards the
Sunni Ottomans, who retaliated just as vigorously. Bayazid's
refusal to directly challenge the Safavids, however, in part led
to his forced abdication by his son, Selim, in 1512.
Selim embarked on a fierce campaign against the Safavids,

and he soon extended his animosity to the Mamluks as well.
His mind for conquest earned him the name, Selim the Grim.
Selim felt he needed to wage war with the Safavids not only
because of their religious differences, but also because of the
constant military threat of having an expansionist state on the
Ottoman Empire's eastern frontier. The fact that both empires
adhered to Islam, in one form or another, does not appear to
have deterred either side from fighting each other. A parallel
situation existed in Europe, where Christian states, despite
sharing a religion, did not hesitate to go to war against each
other for political reasons. Similarly, for as long as the Safavid
state existed, which was a shorter period of time than the Selim II receives the Safavid ambassador in
Ottoman, the two empires were often at war, for both political 1567
and religious reasons - since each believed that the other Courtesy of Bilkent University's Department of
adhered to a heretical form of Islam. As they prepared for their History
www.bilkent.edu.tr/~history/ottoman/index.htm
first confrontation, Selim began a campaign against the
Shi'ites in the Ottoman Empire, killing as many as 40,000
people by 1514. Later that year, Ottoman forces met the Safavids at the Battle of Chaldiran in eastern Asia
Minor, where superior Ottoman artillery led them to victory over the Safavids. Selim even continued east to
Tabriz, the Safavid capital, but the weary Janissaries forced him to return to Istanbul before winter set in.
Page 60 of 109
Selim's next campaign was conducted against the Mamluks to the south. Although the Mamluks were Sunni
Muslims, like the Ottomans, and although the Mamluks were not threatening expansion into Ottoman lands
the way the Safavids were, Selim opted to invade anyway. The reason he gave for the invasion was that the
Mamluks - weakened by the plague and a poor economy - were no longer strong enough to defend the
Islamic world against the new threats it faced. Premier among these threats was the new naval capabilities of
the Portuguese, who had succeeded in circumnavigating Africa under Vasco da Gama in 1498. The resulting
Portuguese ability to trade in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea threatened the Islamic lands bordering these
bodies of water. The Ottomans argued that the Mamluks - lacking both a navy and modern firearms - were
ill-equipped to defend Islamic lands from the Portuguese. Particularly worrisome for the Ottomans was the
threat to the Mamluk-controlled holy cities of Mecca and Medina that the Portuguese posed in the Red Sea.
For that reason, the Ottomans felt that they were the only Islamic empire sufficiently powerful to defend
Islam's holiest cities from the Portuguese.
Selim began his Mamluk campaign in Syria, taking Aleppo, Damascus, and Jerusalem from the Mamluks in
1516. He then crossed the Sinai Peninsula into Egypt, killed the Mamluk sultan, and declared Egypt to be
under Ottoman control. From there, the Ottomans moved south down the Arabian Peninsula to Mecca, but no
battle was needed there. The Sherif of Mecca, a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, gave Selim the keys
to the city for both Mecca and Medina. After he gained control of the holy cities, Selim added the title of
caliph, or supreme leader of Islam, to the title carried by all Ottoman sultans. The Mamluk Sultanate thus
came to an end after 250 years, and in absorbing its lands, the Ottoman Empire became the most powerful of
the Islamic empires. Not only did it gain control of some of the wealthiest overland trade routes, through
Cairo and Damascus, but its control of Mecca and Medina gave it special status as protectors of the entire
Islamic world.
Proceed to Ottoman Empire: Suleyman I, 1520-66

Suleyman I, 1520-66
Selim died in 1520, soon after the defeat of the Mamluks, and his son, Suleyman I, succeeded him. Known
as "the Magnificent" in Europe and "the Lawgiver" in the Islamic world, Suleyman's reign (1520-66)
represented the height of the Ottoman Empire. He was named after Solomon in Hebrew history, who
Muslims hold up as an example of a just ruler. They expected - and received - no less of a just ruler in
Suleyman. In 1521, one of his first moves as sultan was to invade and capture the Serbian city of Belgrade,
which was considered to be the gateway to Central Europe. From Belgrade, Suleyman faced an open road to
Hungary and, beyond that, Austria. A 1526 Ottoman victory at the Battle of Mohacs in Hungary further
advanced Ottoman interests in the region, and by 1529, Suleyman had led the Ottoman army to the gates of
Vienna. His drive into Central Europe was done partly for territorial gain, and partly for political reasons.
The Habsburgs, rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, controlled much of Central Europe, and the Ottomans'
Page 61 of 109
increasing involvement in European politics in the 1520s led them to
enter into an alliance with France against the Habsburgs.
The issue began with a war between Holy Roman Emperor Charles V
and Francis I of France, in 1521. Francis sought Ottoman assistance
in the war when it became clear that he was losing. He appealed to
the Ottomans to help prevent Charles from establishing hegemony
over all of Europe, resulting in one dominant power over the
continent. The Ottomans agreed to help France prevent the Holy
Roman Empire from dominating Europe, and a formal Franco-
Ottoman alliance was concluded in 1536. That alliance was the
cornerstone of European diplomacy for much of the 16th century, and
it countered the alliance the Holy Roman Empire made first with
Italy, and later with the Safavid Empire in Persia. Because of the
threat of a two-front war based on the Holy Roman Empire-Safavid
alliance, the Ottomans ensured peace on one side before waging war
against the other.
By 1533, renewed hostilities with the Safavids on the eastern frontier Suleyman I
Courtesy of Bilkent University's
led Suleyman to conclude a peace treaty with Archduke Ferdinand of Department of History
Hungary in order to focus Ottoman military might on the Safavids. www.bilkent.edu.tr/~history/ottoman/
Their eastern campaign that year proved to be enormously successful
for the Ottomans, as they took the major cities of Baghdad and Tabriz from the Safavids, and annexed the
Safavid provinces of Azerbaijan and Iraq. By 1538 the Ottomans controlled the Persian Gulf and the Red
Sea, thus giving them control of all trade routes, by land and sea, from western Asia to India. The Ottomans
were not able to maintain all of what they took from the Safavids, however, and the Persian city of Tabriz
was one which changed hands several times before the Ottomans concluded a peace treaty with the Safavids
in 1555. That treaty returned Tabriz to the Safavids and left the border between the two empires peaceful for
the next 25 years.
Meanwhile, Suleyman faced a new and unexpected threat from the Russian Empire. The Ottomans had
witnessed the expansion of the principality of Muscovy into an empire of its own with little concern, but by
the mid-16th century, the Russian Empire began to challenge the Ottoman Empire in the Black Sea and
Caucasus regions. Ivan IV, also known as Ivan the Terrible, came to the Russian throne in 1547, and annexed
the Muslim Khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan, which were remnants of the Golden Horde. In 1559,
Suleyman successfully kept Ivan from also annexing Azov, in the northern reaches of the Ottoman Empire.
The hostilities died down in the 1560s, and Suleyman allowed Ivan to keep Kazan and Astrakhan, in return
for Ottoman control of the Khanate of the Crimea. This feud with the Russian Empire demonstrated to
Suleyman that his Empire had not two but three fronts to defend, when the new threat posed by the Russian
Empire to the northeast was added to those of the Safavids to the southeast and the Europeans to the west.
Despite Suleyman's problems with the Safavids and Russians, he never ceased his involvement in European
politics. He maintained his alliance with France, usually against Venice and the Holy Roman Empire, and he
also allied the Ottoman Empire with dissident forces within the lands of his enemies. One notable example of
such an alliance was Suleyman's outward support of Lutherans fighting the Pope in the Holy Roman Empire.
Suleyman considered the Protestant rejection of icons and papal authority to be closer to Muslim belief than
either Catholic or Orthodox Christianity, and his support of Protestantism was one of his key policies in
Europe. By encouraging the disunity of Christianity, the Ottomans hoped to decrease the chances of
Christian Europe uniting in a Crusade against the Muslim Ottomans. It has been suggested that Ottoman
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pressure played a decisive role in persuading the Habsburgs to grant several concessions to the Protestants.
The Ottoman Empire was thus vital to maintaining the European balance of power in the 16th century.
The Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, built from 1550-57

Courtesy of the Islamic Society at Cardiff University
www.cardiff.ac.uk/uwcc/suon/islamic/
The reign of Suleyman I truly represented the height of the Ottoman Empire, in terms of foreign as well as
domestic policy. He was called "the Lawgiver" at home, even though he did not necessarily pass significant
laws - only more of them than his predecessors. His new legislation essentially sought to harmonise the
Shari'a, or Islamic code of law, with daily reality for his subjects. His laws were therefore mostly concerned
with property ownership, taxation, and pricing regulations. Suleyman also distinguished himself from his
predecessors by becoming the first Ottoman sultan to get married. His wife, Roxelana, one of the more
famous female figures in Islamic history, elevated her status from one of the sultan's concubines to his only
wife, and in the process she secured her sons as Suleyman's heirs.
Roxelana
After Suleyman's death in 1566, the Ottoman Empire fell into decline. Militarily, the empire's strength began
to wane. A loss to the Europeans in Malta in 1565, Suleyman's last campaign, in fact marked the beginning
of the decline of Ottoman military power. The conquest of Cyprus in 1570-71 was the last significant
Ottoman victory. In 1571, the Ottomans suffered a crushing defeat to an allied European force at the Battle of
Lepanto on the Mediterranean. The Ottomans lost 200 of their 230 ships in the battle, and the defeat incited
Spain, Venice, and the Papacy to consider launching an invasion of Istanbul in its wake. That never
materialised, but it was clear by 1600 that the Ottoman Empire had lost much of its power. Suleyman and
Roxelana's son, Selim II, was known as "the Drunkard," and he was the first in a long line of incompetent
sultans who assisted in the Empire's decline. It must be remembered, however, that the Ottoman Empire did
survive another 350 years after Suleyman's death, and did not collapse completely until the end of the First
World War in 1918. The highlight of Ottoman history, however, was its first 300 years, from 1300-1600,
when it truly earned its place in history as one of the three Great Islamic Empires.
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Proceed to The Safavid Empire

Beginnings to 1501
The Ottoman Empire was by far the most powerful empire in the Islamic world in the 15th century, but by
1501 in Persia and 1526 in India, the Ottomans had competition. The Safavid Empire in Persia, which was
established by Ismail I in 1501 and lasted until its overthrow by Afghan invaders in 1722, was the shortest-
lived of the three Great Islamic Empires, but it was influential nonetheless, particularly because of its
adherence to Shi'a Islam as the official religion. The formation of the Safavid Empire differs from that of
both the Ottoman and Mughal Empires because it had religious, rather than military, beginnings. Whereas the
Ottoman Empire grew from successful territorial gains by gazi warriors in the 13th and 14th centuries, the
Safavid Empire began as a peaceful Sufi religious order that developed military and political traits later.
Sufism
The origins of the Safavids are somewhat controversial, however, because of their eventual emergence as a
Shi'ite empire. According to some historians and religious scholars, the Sufi order they came from, under the
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leadership of Sheikh Safi al-Din - from whom the order's name is derived - practised Sunni Islam. This side
argues that Sheikh Safi was Sunni, and that the Safavid Shi'ites in the 16th century changed documents and
invented Shi'ite origins for Sheikh Safi to legitimise their rule. Other experts believe that Sheikh Safi was
indeed a Shi'ite from the beginning, hence explaining the Safavid Empire's official adherence to Shi'ism.
Regardless of his origins, Sheikh Safi (1252-1334) was an important figure in the Il-Khan Empire the
Mongols established in Persia in the 13th century, and his influence carried on through his descendants, who
inherited the leadership of the order.
Proceed to Safavid Empire: Shah Ismail, 1501-26

Shah Ismail I, 1501-26
The beginning of the Safavid Empire - in a political as well as religious sense - is usually dated at 1501,
when Ismail I ascended to the leadership of the order, and proclaimed himself Shah, or king. Ismail was a
sixth generation descendant of Sheikh Safi, and he enjoyed widespread support in the Safavid order. As a
child, Ismail had been tutored by a Shi'ite, the first recorded instance of a leader of the Safavid order being
exposed to Shi'ism at such an early age. That may have influenced his decision to proclaim Shi'ism the
official faith of the Safavid Empire. Before that happened, however, Ismail engaged in a number of battles to
consolidate his rule, and to make territorial gains for the Safavids. In his expansionist endeavours, Ismail
enjoyed the support of the Qizilbash, Turkish warriors who shared the territory of present-day Iran with the
Persians. They were called Qizilbash, or "red-heads" in Turkish, because of the red hats they wore as
representation of their Shi'ite beliefs. These followers of Ismail provided him with an army in his battles with
the Aq-Qoyunlu confederation - who had ruled intermittently since the collapse of Timurid rule - for control
of Persia. Ismail finally defeated the Aq-Qoyunlu in 1501 and proclaimed Tabriz, in northwestern Persia, the
new Safavid capital.
The establishment of the Safavid Empire as it existed for the next 220 years is generally dated at the defeat
of the Aq-Qoyunlu in 1501. After that, Ismail considered himself the ruler of his own Islamic empire, and he
continued to claim territory for that empire. In 1507 he began raiding Ottoman lands in eastern Asia Minor,
antagonising the Ottomans and making future conflict between the two states inevitable. In 1508 he took
Baghdad, and then turned east, to battle the Uzbeks in Central Asia, who threatened his eastern frontier.
The Uzbeks
Along with the Uzbek threat to the east, the Safavids also faced an intimidating foe to the northwest, in the
form of the 300-year-old Ottoman Empire. With its capital at Tabriz, on the Ottoman frontier, the Safavids
had good reason to be concerned about the Ottoman threat. From the Ottoman perspective, as we saw earlier
in this chapter, it was the expansionist Safavids who posed the threat. Regardless of the point of view,
however, both sides were convinced that conflict was inevitable. Contributing to the problem was the fact
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that eastern Asia Minor, although controlled by the Ottomans, was populated mostly by Qizilbash who were
loyal to the Safavids. These traditionally nomadic groups resented Ottoman attempts to settle them, an action
that subsequently led to their taxation, and thus they openly supported the Safavids. Ottoman persecution of
the Qizilbash in its territory was another factor in the conflict with the Safavids. Tensions reached their
height in 1514, and the two armies met in August of that year at Chaldiran, in eastern Asia Minor. In the
ensuing battle the Safavid cavalry was completely decimated by Ottoman artillery, and the two sides did not
meet in battle again for years.
The Battle of Chaldiran
In addition to Ismail's numerous military pursuits, he also initiated a religious policy that influenced the
future of Iran up to the present-day. That policy declared Shi'a Islam to be the official religion of the Safavid
Empire, and the fact that modern Iran remains an officially Shi'ite state is a direct result of Ismail's actions. It
has been suggested that Ismail enacted this policy simply to distinguish his empire from his Sunni
neighbours - the Ottomans and Uzbeks. Considering the zeal with which he enforced conversion among his
subjects, however, it is more likely that he was a devout Shi'ite himself, and he believed for religious, not
political reasons, that his empire should embrace his faith exclusively. Unfortunately for Ismail, most of his
subjects were Sunni. He thus had to enforce official Shi'ism violently, putting to death those who opposed
him. Under this pressure, Safavid subjects either converted, or pretended to convert. It is nearly impossible to
determine exactly how many truly converted, because virtually the entire population claimed to have
converted, out of fear of the consequences. Still, it is safe to say that the majority of the population was
probably genuinely Shi'ite by the end of the Safavid period in the 18th century, and most Iranians today are
Shi'ite, although small Sunni populations do exist in that country.
Proceed to Safavid Empire: Chaos in the Empire, 1524-87

Chaos in the Empire, 1524-87
Shah Ismail died in 1524, and was succeeded by his son, Tahmasp I, who was only 10 years old. The new
shah's youth sparked a struggle between several Qizilbash factions for the advisory positions that would lead
to great influence within the empire. For the first ten years of his reign, Tahmasp struggled to keep the
Qizilbash from revolting, while at the same time keeping the Uzbeks from taking Khurasan and the
Ottomans from taking Tabriz. In 1533 a surprise Ottoman attack, while the Safavid army was in the east
fighting the Uzbeks, led to the Ottoman capture of Baghdad, which then remained in Ottoman hands for
nearly 100 years. After a number of less successful Ottoman invasions in the next 20 years, the two empires
signed the Treaty of Amasya in 1555, which maintained peace between them for the next 25 years.
During Tahmasp's 52-year reign, the Safavid state turned slightly away from the strict theocratic rule
imposed by Ismail, towards a more secular administration. The shah was increasingly viewed in political
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terms, as a monarch, rather than only religious terms, as the head of the Safavid Sufi order. Under Tahmasp,
the Safavids also began military operations in a new region - the Caucasus Mountains north of Persia - and
conducted several raids against the Christian Armenians and Georgians there. Tens of thousands of prisoners
were taken from this region back to Persia, which affected the ethnic mix of an empire populated mostly by
Persians and Turks. Women from the Caucasus who were sent to the shah's harem tried to get their sons into
positions of power, and men who were converted to Islam and trained for royal service often took up
positions in the court.
Tahmasp was succeeded by his son, Ismail II, in 1576, whose brutality has led some historians to assert that
he was mad. He attempted to return the Safavid Empire to Sunnism, he executed many members of his
family and followers for unclear reasons, and he was murdered a year after taking power. The next ruler,
Muhammad I, was nearly blind, and was deposed by his son, the 16-year-old Abbas, in 1587.
Proceed to Safavid Empire: Abbas I, 1587-1629

Abbas I, 1587-1629
Like the Ottoman Empire under Suleyman I, the Safavids under Abbas, sometimes known as Abbas the
Great, reached their height during his reign. His task at the beginning of his reign was to rejuvenate the ailing
Safavid Empire, which had fallen nearly to the point of collapse since the death of Tahmasp in 1576.
Qizilbash revolts were paralysing the military, and the Ottomans and Uzbeks had taken advantage of that fact
to occupy Tabriz and Herat, respectively, as well as much territory surrounding those cities. Respect for and
loyalty to the shah had also dropped under the inept rule of Ismail II and Muhammad, and Abbas thus had the
formidable task ahead of him of turning the empire around and reasserting its power in the Islamic world.
He turned his attention to military matters first, in an effort to reconquer the lands the Safavids had recently
lost. In order to focus his resources on a war with the Uzbeks, Abbas concluded a humiliating peace treaty
with the Ottomans in 1590. After a long war in the east, the Uzbek khan died in 1598, and in the ensuing
chaos the Safavids were able to reconquer Herat and stabilise the eastern frontier. Abbas then turned against
the Ottomans and retook Tabriz in 1605. In 1623, he reclaimed Baghdad after a century of Ottoman rule, and
by his death in 1629, the Safavid Empire had returned to the borders first established for it by Ismail I.
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Abbas also concluded new agreements with foreign powers concerning trade. By the time of his ascension to
the throne, the Portuguese had established bases on the islands of Hurmuz and Bahrain, in the Persian Gulf,
which diverted trade from the traditional overland routes across Persia to Portuguese-
controlled sea routes through the Indian Ocean network. Although the English occasionally traded through
Persia and Russia to avoid passing through the Ottoman Empire, the Persian economy was weakened by the
general loss of trade. With the establishment of the English East India Company in 1600, however, the
Safavids saw a renewal of their lands as a trade route. The East India Company broke the Portuguese trading
monopoly, and by 1616 they had reached an agreement with the Safavids to trade English cloth for Persian
silk. In 1622, the English helped Abbas take Hurmuz from the Portuguese, since without a navy, he had been
unable to quell the threat they posed to his southern coast any earlier than that. Trading relationships thus
drew the Safavids into European affairs, either as a middleman for goods from India, or as an ally against the
Ottoman Empire.
Domestically, Abbas also initiated several significant policies. Foremost on his agenda was to find a way to
quell the constant Qizilbash fighting and revolts. He did this by establishing a permanent, paid army of his
own, made up mainly of prisoners from the Caucasus, to avoid having to rely on Qizilbash military support
in every Safavid campaign. The new army could put down Qizilbash revolts when necessary, and it was loyal
only to the shah. In order to pay his new troops, Abbas increased crown land holdings by seizing land from
Qizilbash landholders. This action not only added revenue to the royal treasury to pay the new army, but it
also took further power from the Qizilbash, which was the original aim of creating a non-Qizilbash army in
the first place. This internal restructuring of the empire caused a major power shift, resulting in the increased
centralisation of power in the hands of the shah. In doing so, Abbas essentially ensured the survival of the
empire for a century after his death, because despite the series of weak rulers who followed him, the central
administration he established was able to continue operating.
In 1598, Abbas moved the Safavid capital to Isfahan from Qazwin, which had itself taken over from Tabriz,
on the Ottoman border, 50 years earlier. Isfahan was located in the centre of Persia, and thus it was not as
vulnerable to attack as Tabriz or Qazwin. Abbas adorned Isfahan, which had also been the Seljuk capital
centuries earlier, with the latest Persian architecture, including the Ali Qapu, or Royal Palace, and the
Masjid-i Shah, or Royal Mosque. Under Abbas, Isfahan became one of the world's greatest cities.
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The Ali Qapu, or Royal Palace, in Isfahan
Courtesy of Metropolis Online
www.metropolismag.com/
The reign of Shah Abbas the Great represented the height of the Safavid Empire. He was a strong ruler who
transformed the empire from near-collapse in 1587 to one of the three Great Islamic Empires by 1600. He
involved the Safavids in European trade and diplomacy, and he restructured the army to decrease the number
of Qizilbash revolts. At the same time, however, Abbas set the empire up for its decline and eventual collapse
at the hands of Afghan invaders a century later. He was an insecure ruler who feared that his ascension to the
throne - by deposing his father - would be re-enacted by one of his sons upon him. For that reason, he killed
his eldest son in 1615. He also ceased the practice of giving provincial governorships to Safavid princes,
which was customarily done to expose the empire's heirs to government, in order for them to be prepared
when called to govern it themselves. Abbas feared that this practice gave the princes too much power,
however, so he ended it, and instead forced the princes to stay in the harem, to be raised by women and
eunuchs. This resulted in ill-educated shahs with no governing experience, and the subsequent low quality of
rulers contributed to the empire's decline.
The Safavid Empire was thus a short-lived one, particularly when compared to the long-lived Ottoman
Empire. But during its relatively short existence, and particularly during the first century of it, the Safavid
Empire established itself as one of Islam's greatest dynasties. Perhaps most significant among its
achievements was the widespread conversion of the Persian people to Shi'ism, and thus for the development
of the Persian nationalism that remains strong today in Iran.
Proceed to The Mughal Empire

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Babur and the Founding of the Empire
The Mughal Empire in India represented a period of grandeur for Muslim India. The Indian subcontinent at
that time - and today - had a Hindu majority among the population. Muslims, however, had become a large
minority in India since their first arrival in the 8th century. The Delhi Sultanate, the immediate predecessor to
the Mughal Empire in northern India, had set an example of positive Muslim-Hindu relations in a Muslim-
controlled empire, which the Mughal Empire would follow. Timur virtually destroyed the Delhi Sultanate in
1398, but it was able to recover, and it existed for over a century after that. Significantly, it was Timur's
descendants who again destroyed the Delhi Sultanate in 1526 to establish the Mughal Empire.
The word Mughal, which is spelled several different ways in English, is derived from the Persian word for
Mongol, based on the fact that the Empire's ancestor was Timur, himself a Mongol descendant. The Mughal
Empire's founder, Babur, did not consider it a Mongol empire in any way, since Mongol descendants in
Central Asia were much more Turkish than Mongol by the 15th and 16th centuries, but the name for his
realm has stuck throughout history. Historians know a fair bit about Babur, because he was courteous enough
to leave them an autobiography, which was an unusual thing to do in this time period.
The Baburnama
Babur was part of a Timur-descended family ruling the Central Asian province of Ferghana. Surrounding
Babur's family territory were the great Central Asian cities of Herat, Bukhara, and Samarkand. Babur grew to
covet Samarkand, as his ancestral capital, and in his youth he embarked on several missions to take the city
from the Uzbeks. He finally succeeded in 1497, but he held the city for only three months before being
driven out again. By 1500 he had recovered much of his territory in Ferghana, which had been occupied by
his half-brother, Jahangir, while Babur was in Samarkand. Later that year, the Uzbeks in Central Asia
became increasingly powerful with the ascension of a strong leader, Sheibani Khan, who would also prove
problematic to the new Safavid Empire to the west by taking the Persian province of Khurasan from it a
number of times. Babur managed to take Samarkand again over the winter of 1500-1501, but Sheibani Khan
soon recaptured it for the Uzbeks, and by 1504 he had also taken much of Ferghana from Babur's family.
Babur decided to give up his fight for Samarkand, since Sheibani Khan was simply too powerful a foe.
Instead, Babur turned his sights south. The city of Kabul, the present-day capital of Afghanistan, became his
new target. One of his uncles had been ruler of Kabul, but he had died with only an infant heir, and a non-
Timurid usurper had claimed power. Babur set off for Kabul to restore the Timurid line to the city, and he
achieved his goal fairly easily in 1504. Kabul was an important city on a number of trade routes, including
those that travelled from India through Persia and Iraq to Turkey, and northeast from India to China. The city
was also sheltered from the enemy Uzbeks by the Hindu Kush Mountains. For the rest of his life, Kabul
remained Babur's capital, and the city he called home.
In 1510, Babur received an indirect favour from Shah Ismail of Persia, when the shah killed Babur's Uzbek
foe, Sheibani Khan, in a battle over Khurasan, a province over which both the Safavids and the Uzbeks
claimed jurisdiction. The death of Sheibani Khan sent the Uzbeks into chaos. Shah Ismail recognised Babur's
desire to control Samarkand, the ancestral Timurid capital, and thus offered Babur the chance to claim the
city - on the condition he enter it wearing traditional Shi'ite dress, as a token of the shah's true rule over the
city. Babur agreed to the terms, despite being a Sunni Muslim himself, and entered Samarkand early in 1511.
However, his refusal to persecute the Sunni population lost him the support of the shah, while his Shi'ite
dress lost him the support of the Samarkand people. The Uzbeks reclaimed the city after eight months.
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Babur had now lost Samarkand three times, and he decided to turn his attention elsewhere. He returned to
Kabul and prepared an army for a planned invasion south, into the territory known to him as Hindustan, and
to us today as India. One of the most important moves Babur made in his preparations was to arm himself
with artillery. He had heard of Shah Ismail's defeat to the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514,
which was decided mainly by the Ottoman use of artillery against the Safavid cavalry. When Ismail decided
to acquire firepower for the Safavid Empire in the wake of his defeat at Chaldiran, Babur recognised that it
would be beneficial to him to do so as well. Guns were already in use along the west coast of India, where
they were acquired from Portuguese and Turkish traders, but they had yet to infiltrate the north Indian plains.
Babur acquired the weapons from Turkish and Persian traders, and thus embarked on his Indian invasion
with a distinct advantage in weaponry over the defenders.
Babur began his invasion in 1525 against the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim. Babur's army was greatly
outnumbered, but he built barricades behind which he hid his muskets. When Ibrahim's army charged, they
were quickly decimated by Babur's firepower, in much the same manner as the Persians were defeated by the
Turks at Chaldiran in 1514. Ibrahim himself was among those killed, and Babur found himself with an open
path into Delhi. He had himself proclaimed Emperor of Hindustan the next week. His next challenge came
from the Rajputs, a confederacy of Hindu princes from Rajasthan, who had planned to attack Ibrahim's Delhi
Sultanate themselves before Babur beat them to it. Babur thus became their target instead. The two armies
met near Agra in 1526, and after Babur was able to incite his army with rhetoric about fighting an infidel
army for the first time, they defeated the Hindu Rajputs. Following the victory, Babur had himself named a
gazi, or warrior for Islam.
This victory consolidated Hindustan for Babur, and it is recognised as the beginning of the Mughal Empire.
For the most part, Babur enjoyed the support of the Indian population, because he tolerated their non-Islamic
religions, and he resisted looting their wealth. Babur never looked kindly upon India, however, despite the
kindness he showed its people. He had plants and fruit brought to him from Kabul, which remained his
favourite city. He found India too hot, compared to Kabul's more temperate, mountain climate, and he stayed
in India only to avoid losing the territory to rebellions, should he leave. Babur died in 1530, after only four
years in India, never having had the chance to return to Kabul. After an original burial in Agra, his Indian
capital, Babur's son and heir, Humayun, had his father's body moved to Kabul, where it remains buried today.
Proceed to the Mughal Empire: Humayun, 1530-56

Humayun, 1530-56
Humayun had the misfortune in history of reigning between two very strong leaders - his father, Babur, and
his son, Akbar. Using those comparisons, Humayun comes up short, and is generally remembered in Mughal
history as an opium addict with a lack of confidence in himself as a ruler. The main battles he had to fight
throughout his life were against his three brothers, all of whom wanted a chance on the throne. Since Babur
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had died only four years after defeating Sultan Ibrahim to establish the Mughal Empire, the empire was on
very shaky foundations. It was essentially just a military occupation of Hindustan, since Babur had not had
time to establish an administration for his conquered land. Humayun did attempt to set up such an
administration, but his penchant for superstition got in the way. He divided public offices into four
departments according to the four elements, which resulted in many unrelated administrative sectors being
lumped together in the same department, on the basis of their broad characteristics as earth, fire, water, and
air. Similarly, Humayun assigned each day of the week to represent a different planet; Tuesdays, for example,
were assigned to the red planet Mars, and Humayun duly played the role of the angry ruler on those days.
Away from these peculiarities at court, however, Humayun faced serious challenges from those vying for the
Mughal throne. Foremost among these challengers were Humayun's brothers, Kamran, Askari, and Hindal,
the latter of whom was born as Babur was preparing his invasion of Hindustan, and was thus named
accordingly. The fourth challenger Humayun faced was Sher Shah, ruler of a community of Afghans living
along the Ganges River in northeastern India. Sher Shah had his sights set on conquering Bengal, the region
of the present-day country of Bangladesh, which Humayun also wanted for the Mughals. A race for the
wealthy territory in 1537 resulted in Sher Shah's victory when Humayun's party was delayed on the Ganges.
While Humayun was in Bengal, however, his youngest brother, Hindal, had taken over his palace in Agra,
and was living as the Mughal emperor. At the same time, another brother, Kamran, was en route to Agra
from his territories in Punjab, in northern India. After suffering defeat to Sher Shah in Bengal, Humayun
returned to Agra to find all three of his brothers there to challenge him. Humayun's non-confrontational
nature led him to pardon his brothers for their betrayal, and leave the matter at that. Had he been willing or
able to kill or imprison his male relatives who might challenge for the throne - the way Ottoman sultans and,
increasingly, Safavid shahs did - Humayun may have been able to avoid the trouble his usurping brothers
caused.
In 1540, Humayun again faced Sher Shah in battle, and this time, the Mughal defeat was total. Sher Shah
chased Humayun and his brothers, who had uncharacteristically united in the battle, back to Agra. The four
brothers continued west to Lahore, in the far north of Hindustan, while Sher Shah reached Delhi and
proclaimed the replacement of the Mughal Empire with his own dynasty, the Sur. Humayun remained
incapacitated at Lahore for a year, unable to muster the troops to defeat Sher Shah, and equally unable to
seek refuge in Babur's home city, Kabul, because it was controlled by Humayun's hostile brother, Kamran.
In 1542, Humayun set off for Sindh, a region in northwestern India, which in the 8th century was among the
first Indian regions to adopt Islam. Humayun hoped to gather troops there who would help him fight Sher
Shah. However, the Sindh ruler, Husain, did not want to anger Sher Shah, and he refused to help Humayun.
The only positive outcome of his visit to Sindh was Humayun's marriage to Hamida, who would become
mother to the great Mughal ruler, Akbar.
After being refused assistance by Husain, Humayun set off for Persia, to seek assistance from the Safavid
shah, Tahmasp I, in fighting Sher Shah for the return of the Mughal Empire. His party arrived in the Persian
city of Herat in 1544, and fortunately for them, Tahmasp welcomed them. In Herat, Humayun met several
great Persian artists, many of whom he invited to come back to India with him, as soon as he regained his
empire. Despite the shah's warm welcome, however, he had ulterior motives in playing host to the easily
manipulated Humayun. Eager to spread his empire's Shi'a doctrine, Tahmasp noted that both Humayun's wife
and chief advisor were Shi'ites, and he anticipated converting the Sunni Mughal emperor. Humayun agreed
to sign a document that claimed he accepted the teachings of Shi'ism, to please Tahmasp, but he likely did
not pursue the faith any further.
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He did use his proclaimed allegiance to Shi'ism to gain the support of Shah Tahmasp in reconquering
Hindustan from Sher Shah, however. In 1545, Humayun's army took Qandahar, an important Persian fort,
from his brother, Askari, on Tahmasp's behalf. With Persian assistance, Humayun then took Kabul from his
brother, Kamran, and after finally realising Kamran's lifelong treachery, Humayun had his brother blinded
and exiled, along with Askari. His remaining brother, Hindal, had supported Humayun against Kamran and
Askari for years, thus saving his own life.
With his brothers' leadership challenge out of the way, Humayun turned his full attention to the reconquest of
Hindustan from Sher Shah's son, Islam Shah, who had succeeded his father as emperor of the Sur dynasty. It
turned out that the task was not as difficult as Humayun had anticipated. Islam Shah died in 1554, and with
no clear successor in place, the Sur dynasty collapsed into chaos. Humayun's army marched through Punjab
to virtually no resistance, and succeeded in defeating the meagre Sur defences to reach Delhi and reclaim
Babur's throne, in 1555.
Humayun's Tomb in Delhi

Courtesy of Atchison Consulting
www.atchison.net/gallery/india/india.htm
Humayun lived only a year after the re-establishment of the Mughal Empire, but he accomplished much in
that year to prepare the realm for the grandeur it would see during the rule of his son, Akbar. In fact, much of
Humayun's administrative accomplishments owe much to models set up by Sher Shah during his rule over
the region. Sher Shah set up systems for tax collection and provincial government, and Humayun inherited
this infrastructure when he re-established the Mughal Empire. He died in 1556, and he has since been
remembered in Mughal history as the weakest of the Mughal emperors. But his reconquest of Hindustan was
no easy feat, since the Mughal Empire could have died along with him. The fact that it was resurrected
instead is testimony that Humayun played a significant role in the formation of the Mughal Empire.
Proceed to the Mughal Empire: Akbar, 1556-1605

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Akbar, 1556-1605
The Mughal Empire was finally consolidated as one of the Islamic world's three Great Empires by
Humayun's son, Akbar, who was a strong ruler like his contemporaries, Suleyman I in the Ottoman Empire
and Abbas I in the Safavid Empire. Humayun had died unexpectedly in 1556 after falling down a flight of
stairs, and Akbar was only 13 years old when he ascended to the Mughal throne. His first challenge came
from a Hindu prince, Hemu, who met Akbar's army near Delhi shortly after Akbar took power in 1556.
Akbar won the battle, and claimed Delhi for the Mughal Empire. He then moved his court from Kabul,
where it had been staying in safety until the Mughal Empire could be consolidated in Hindustan. Within two
years of that victory, Akbar had defeated two other challengers to the throne, and was thus able to take full
control of the Mughal Empire by the time he was 15 years old.
After regaining Babur's former territory, Akbar turned his attention to the expansion of the Mughal Empire.
He looked to Rajasthan first, which was a strongly Hindu province. He had already tried to work his way into
the principalities of Rajasthan by marrying into their ruling houses, but the leader of Rajasthan, the Rana of
Mewar, refused to submit to Mughal rule. The two sides met in 1567 at the fort of Chitor, which the Rana's
family had controlled for 800 years. Akbar's victory there resulted in Muslim control of virtually all of
Rajasthan. Next, in 1573, he conquered Gujarat, a traditionally Muslim region, and in 1575, Akbar succeeded
in annexing the province of Bengal - where Sher Shah had first challenged Humayun. In 1586 he took the
province of Kashmir, which would remain a favourite place of future Mughal emperors, and which today is
the source of conflict between Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India, both of which claim jurisdiction over
Kashmir. In 1592, Akbar further expanded his empire into the Sindh, including Umarkot, the city of his birth,
then into Baluchistan and Qandahar. By 1595 the Mughal Empire covered the entire Hindustan plain, from
the Indus in the west, to the Ganges in the east, and the Hindu Kush and Himalaya Mountains in the north.
To the south, the Deccan, a region of rough terrain, provided another natural boundary for Hindustan, but
Akbar tried to get through it in the last 12 years of his life. He never succeeded in doing so, however, and
thus the Mughal Empire never reached the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent.
During this period of expansion, Akbar briefly moved the Mughal capital from Agra to a new site nearby,
which he named Fatehpur Sikri, meaning "Village of Victory." It was abandoned after only 14 years,
however, and Akbar returned the Mughal court to Agra.
Fatehpur Sikri
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Although his military pursuits took a great deal of time and effort, Akbar spent time on his internal
administration as well as his foreign policy. As he matured, Akbar developed a particular interest in religion.
He was known for his toleration of Hindus, for example, and had several Hindu wives. Contrary to former
Muslim rulers in India with Hindu wives, however, Akbar allowed his wives to practice their religion within
the harem. Akbar also employed more Hindus in the Mughal civil service than any of his predecessors,
because he realised the importance of maintaining good relations with the majority Hindus of the Mughal
realm. He knew that a Muslim Empire that refused to treat Hindus well could not expect to survive long in
India.
Akbar's respect for Hinduism had less to do with political

power, however, than with simple personal interest.
Although he was a practising Sunni Muslim, Akbar took
great interest in learning all he could about other religions -
from Hinduism to Shi'a Islam to Christianity. He even
invited Christian missionaries from the Portuguese
settlement at Goa, on India's west coast, to come to Agra
and teach him the basic tenets of Christianity. He also often
held religious discussions at a specially built centre of
worship at his court. He regularly invited representatives
from several different religions - including Hinduism,
Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity - to
come to these discussions. These explorations into other
faiths often upset Akbar's Muslim subjects, who believed
he was drifting from Islam. Indeed, he did take several
steps away from orthodox Islam, most notably by
proclaiming himself the founder in 1582 of a new religion,
Dargah Mosque, built during Akbar's reign Din-i-Ilahi, or "Religion of God." The new religion was
Courtesy of About Islam and Muslims vaguely defined, and appears to have centred on Akbar
www.unn.ac.uk/societies/islamic/
himself as its deity, but he never made any serious attempts
to spread it beyond his inner circle. He did, however,
introduce a new calendar, which defined dates according to the Divine Era, which was the date of Akbar's
ascension to the throne. Similarly, he changed the imprint on Mughal coins to read, Allahu akbar, which had
an intentionally ambiguous meaning. Because the word, akbar, means "great" as well as being the emperor's
name, the phrase could mean either "God is great" or "Akbar is God."
Akbar's relations with his son and heir, Salim - who later changed his name to Jahangir to avoid confusion
with the Ottoman Sultan Selim II - were strained at best. Akbar did not believe that Salim would make a
good emperor, and thus he openly favoured his other sons for the throne. When Akbar died in 1605, however,
Salim did succeed him as Mughal emperor, and indeed proved himself to be a very capable ruler. Under
Salim (Jahangir) and his descendants, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire would continue to
grow as one of the Islamic world's three Great Empires.
Proceed to Chapter Summary


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The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires spanned a period of Islamic history in which the isolation of
medieval times - when small dynasties struggled to control small amounts of territory - gave way to the
interdependence of modern times. Between them, these three empires covered the entire Islamic world, with
the exception of West Africa and Southeast Asia, and they ushered in a new age of global trade and
communication, as all three established new relations with European powers. Equally significant, all three
pioneered the use of artillery in warfare, thus helping to change the way battles were fought for centuries to
come. Finally, each empire left its own imprint on the Islamic world, through such varied issues as
architecture, treatment of non-Muslims, and consideration of Sunni vs. Shi'a issues. In communicating with
and influencing each other, whether in battle or diplomatic relations, the three Great Islamic Empires led the
Islamic world into the 17th century, and beyond.
Return to Outline

The Arts, Learning, and Knowledge
Introduction
The Arts
Architecture
Calligraphy
Painting
Carpet-Weaving
Islam and Knowledge

Medicine
Astronomy
Mathematics
Philosophy
Al-Khwarizmi
Al-Farabi
Al-Biruni
Ibn Sina
Omar Khayyam
Al-Ghazali
Ibn Rushd
Ibn Khaldun
Conclusion
Return to Outline

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The Islamic world, from its beginnings in the 7th century to the decline of its three Great Empires in the 17th
century, was not solely about military conquest, imperial rule, and rotating dynasties. While the political
events already explored in this tutorial were happening, another side of the Islamic world was developing
and thriving - the arts and sciences. This chapter will provide an overview of Islamic arts, including
architecture, calligraphy, painting, and carpet-weaving, as well as the Islamic dedication to knowledge and
learning, which resulted in significant advancements in medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy.
The chapter will end with brief biographies of eight Muslim scholars who contributed to knowledge in the
Islamic world, and who made certain scientific discoveries long before their counterparts in other regions of
the world.
Proceed to The Arts

Perhaps the most important question to keep in mind when studying Islamic art is, what is particularly
"Islamic" about it? Is it defined as all art produced within the regions under Islamic rule? Certainly the
presence of Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, and other artists in such regions defy this. At the same time, not
all Islamic art had a specifically religious purpose, unique to the Islamic faith. However, there are certain
trends in the art of the Islamic world that distinguish it from the art of other regions, and which signify the
influence of the Islamic faith and world outlook on artistic work.
One of the most important distinguishing features of Islamic art is the absence of iconography in religious
contexts. As we saw in Chapter 1, idolatry is considered a grave sin in Islam. Any worship of a human form
is blasphemous to the idea of Allah as the one and only God. For that reason, Islamic art is very different
than the art of Christianity, or other religions, in that architecture, painting, and carpet-weaving are limited in
their portrayals of human or animal imagery. Calligraphy became an important form of artistic expression in
the early Islamic period, for exactly that reason - it had nothing to do with imagery. Geometric and floral
patterns were also common, and Islamic art distinguished itself from the art of other regions or religions
because of this unique form of decoration.
Proceed to Architecture

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Intricate tile designs on the Masjid-i Shah in Isfahan

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The most important building in the Islamic world was the mosque, followed by the royal palace. Mosques, as
the centre of worship, were among the first buildings erected in the Islamic world. Many early mosques were
in fact converted Christian churches or Zoroastrian fire temples in the newly acquired Islamic lands.
Invading armies did not require elaborate buildings in which to pray; as long as they knew the direction of
Mecca in order to face it when praying, Muslims were then - and are still today - able to perform their prayer
duties. The first mosques Muslims constructed, therefore, were simple squares. As the Islamic empire grew
in size and power, mosques became larger and more elaborate. In the areas around the Mediterranean Sea,
most mosques followed a so-called "open plan," with a courtyard in the centre, roofed arcades, and the first
minarets - towers that extend vertically from the mosque. Examples of this style include the Great Mosque of
Kairouan (7th century), the Great Mosque of Damascus (early 8th century), and the Mosque of Cordoba in
Spain (late 8th century). In Iran and Central Asia, a slightly different sort of mosque developed under the
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influence of Sassanid architecture. Four hallways led out from the open court, and minarets often came down
to the ground, instead of resting on the top of the building. The Seljuk Masjid-i Jami in Isfahan (1072-92)
and the Safavid Masjid-i Shah (1612-38) exemplify this style of mosque.
Seljuk brickwork patterns on the Masjid-i Jami in Isfahan

www.islamicity.org
A third type was the domed mosque, common in Turkish Asia Minor. Although not a mosque, the 7th century
Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem also had a dome, but the feature was not common at that time. Large domes
were difficult to build, and the task was not regularly undertaken until the Ottomans conquered
Constantinople in 1453 and sought to build a mosque to rival the grand Hagia Sophia, a magnificent domed
Byzantine cathedral in the city. This was finally accomplished with the Selimiye Mosque at Edirne (1567-
74), which had a larger dome than Hagia Sophia. Its Turkish architect, Sinan, was one of the most famous
Islamic architects. He built the Sehzade Mosque in 1543 after the death of Suleyman I's son, Mehmed. He
also built the Suleymaniye Mosque (1551-57), whose roof still dominates the Istanbul skyline, and the
Selimiye, completed in 1574 when Sinan was 80 years old. It is considered to be his masterpiece.
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The Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, Turkey
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Islamic palaces were built in a unique way, because most of them were not meant to last longer than the ruler
who inhabited them. Built from unbaked brick, or sometimes plaster, many palaces crumbled in the desert
sun when abandoned. The Alhambra Palace in Granada provides a good example of this type of construction;
it remains standing today, however, largely because Christian kings took it over and preserved it after the
Christian reconquest of Granada in the 15th century. The largest surviving Islamic palace is Topkapi Palace
in Istanbul, which was begun in the 15th century and underwent frequent additions until the 19th century.
Islamic mausoleums could also be grand structures, despite Islam's official discouragement of elaborate
tombs. The Gur-i Amir, Timur's tomb in Samarkand (1405) is an example. Perhaps the most famous and
elaborate Islamic tomb, the Taj Mahal in Agra, India (1632-47), was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah
Jahan, and pioneered the use of white marble as a construction material.
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The Taj Mahal in Agra, India, completed in 1648 C.E.
Courtesy of Muslim Scientists, Mathematicians and Astromers
http://users.erols.com/zenithco/
In all Islamic buildings - from mosques, palaces, and mausoleums to houses, hospital, and schools - inner
space was emphasised. An inner courtyard was common, as it offered not only space, but also protection
from the wind and sun in hot climates. Symmetry was not as important as it was in European architecture,
and Islamic buildings often featured additions that stretched out from the courtyard, undermining the balance
of each side. Male and female sections of houses were separated, and an effort was made to allow as much
natural light into the buildings as possible, because in Islam, as in other religions, light was considered a
symbol of divine unity. Minimal furniture was again meant to contribute to the feeling of inner space.
The large inner courtyard at the Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun in Cairo (990-1013)
www.islamicity.org
Decoration in Islamic architecture followed the pattern of Islamic art in general - images of humans or
animals were discouraged, because of the danger of the image being revered in any way. Mosques were
particularly free from pictorial imagery in their decoration, and were usually adorned with floral patterns,
geometric shapes, or calligraphy.
Proceed to Calligraphy
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From the Greek word for "beautiful writing," calligraphy was considered the highest art form in Islam, for
several reasons. For one, Muslims believe that Allah used the Arabic language to recite the Qur'an to
Muhammad, and for that reason, it has a spiritual meaning
for Muslims. Also, using words as artistry avoided the
problem of using pictorial images. Whereas decorative
writing all but disappeared in Europe with the advent of
the printing press, the Islamic world retained it as an art
form long after the necessity of writing longhand was
removed by modern technology. Calligraphy adorned
architecture, decorative arts, coins, jewellery, textiles,
weapons, tools, paintings, and manuscripts.
Although the Arabic language and script existed before

Islam, the spread of the religion also facilitated the spread
of the language throughout the new Muslim lands. Arabic
became a basic component of Islamic culture, mostly
because it was the language of the Qur'an. Caliph Abd al-
Malik (r. 685-705) decreed that Arabic should be the
administrative language of the empire. There were many
Muslim regions, of course, in which Arabic was not the
native language. Persian was the major non-Arabic
language spoken in the Islamic world, and in the 7th
century it had its own script. As Islam spread through the
areas where Persian and other languages were spoken,
however, the Arabic script was adopted. The Persian Examples of the Naskh, Thuluth, Muhaqqaq,
language, also known as Farsi, added four letters to the Nastaliq, and Riq'a scripts in Arabic calligraphy
Courtesy of Sakkal Design
Arabic script to represent sounds that existed in Persian,
www.sakkal.com
but not in Arabic. The Turks later also added another letter
to render a distinctly Turkish sound, although modern
Turkish no longer uses the Arabic script. The Arabic script is still used to write the Kazakh, Uzbek, and Tajik
languages in Central Asia, as well as Urdu in present-day Pakistan. It was also used at one point, though no
longer, to write Malay, Swahili, and several North African languages. Arabic, belonging to the Semitic
language group, has 28 letters. There are only 17 different forms, however, so dots or strokes above or below
the forms are used to indicate different letters. For calligraphic purposes, these extra markings add to the
beauty and artistic appeal of Arabic.
Arabic Calligraphy
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The Mosque of the Immortal Crane in Yangzhou, China, featuring the Shahada in the central medallion and Qur'anic verses written
in parallel bands around the sides
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In the early Islamic period, calligraphy was written on parchment or papyrus from Egypt. The introduction of
paper from China in the middle of the 9th century greatly helped the art of calligraphy, as paper was cheaper,
more abundant, easier to cut, and took color better than the previously used writing materials. The Islamic
writing instrument was called a qalam, and was usually made from a reed. The best reeds came from the
Persian Gulf region, and they were a valued object of trade throughout the Islamic world. The initial task of
the calligrapher, and the one that remained the most important, was copying the Qur'an. Early Qur'ans were
very large, sometimes several feet across when opened, and meticulously detailed in artistry. From there,
calligraphy grew into one of the greatest Islamic arts, as it was used to decorate almost any surface.
Religious architecture almost always featured inscriptions in Arabic calligraphy, usually verses from the
Qur'an, in place of iconography. On coinage, calligraphy replaced images of rulers early in the Islamic
period, as the ruler's name became more important than his face in symbolising the state. The Ottoman
Empire in fact created an official monogram, called the tughra, for each sultan. The calligraphic writing of
each sultan's name, and that of his father, with the Turkish title khan and the words "ever victorious," was
used as the sign of the sultan. This proliferation of writing above pictorial imagery suggests a relatively
literate population, since imagery has often been used throughout history for the benefit of the illiterate.
Indeed, the Islamic emphasis on learning and knowledge, as well as prolific book production, led to a much
more literate population than in medieval Europe. But even among those who could not read the calligraphic
inscriptions on various materials, the writing served as a type of picture, and the illiterate population could
still appreciate its artistic beauty, without knowing what it said.
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Calligraphy adorns the inside of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina
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Ibn Muqla (886-940) was one of Islam's greatest calligraphers. He developed the geometric principles used
by calligraphers after him, to keep letters in proportion, and he also helped develop the cursive script known
as Naskh. There were many different script styles, which differed in various centuries and throughout the
widespread regions of the Islamic world. Kufic was largely used for Qur'anic writing, Naskh was the regular
script of educated Muslims, and Thuluth was an ornamental script for headings or tile inscriptions, in
addition to many other variations.
Proceed to Painting

While we have seen so far that Islamic art discouraged the use of pictorial imagery, opting instead to use
such decorative arts as calligraphy or geometric shapes, painting in the Muslim world was not completely
devoid of human and animal images. The distinguishing feature of Islamic pictorial art was that it was
secular. The earliest pictures occurred in illustrated manuscripts, particularly those relating to science.
Medical books featured drawings of the human body, for example, which was acceptable because it did not
have any religious connotations. Although some theologians still disapproved, pictorial art grew in popularity
as Islamic rulers commissioned artists to develop new ways to portray their world. Some of this art featured
battle scenes or the enemy, the monarchs themselves, musicians, dancers, or animals. In places such as
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Egypt, Iran, and Central Asia, much of the early Islamic pictorial art was adopted from pre-Islamic artistic
traditions.
The Fatimid and Seljuk dynasties began painting ordinary people in the 12th and 13th centuries, and Persian
miniature painting began under the patronage of the Il-Khanate in the 14th century. The Il-Khans paid
particular attention to patronising the arts, in an attempt to repair some of the damage their invasion in the
early 13th century had caused. With its Mongol roots, the Il-Khanate opened the door for Chinese artistic
influences to travel to Iran, which can be seen in the Persian art of that period. The height of Persian
miniature painting occurred in Timurid Iran, when influences from China and India came together to produce
a distinct style. The tradition of high-quality Persian painting continued under the Safavids, but, as in other
regions of the Islamic world, depended on the patronage of the monarch. When Shah Tahmasp I withdrew his
support in the 1540s, the artists at his court spread to surrounding centres, such as Bukhara and northern
India. Mughal painting developed from these migrant artists; Akbar even encouraged mixing Persian and
Indian art, as a means of promoting goodwill between Muslims and Hindus. Mughal art was more
humanistic than decorative, and figures were portrayed in a realistic, rather than fantasy, form. In the
Ottoman Empire, the court commissioned painting of distinctly Ottoman events, such as battles and festivals,
and placed almost all works in the Imperial Library in Istanbul.
Not all painting featured pictorial images, however. As we have seen, Islam had a long tradition of non-
representational art. Calligraphy was a major component of this type of art, as were floral patterns and
geometric designs. This was the only type of painting used on mosques, since representational art was
unacceptable for the Muslim place of worship. The Alhambra and the doors of the Great Mosque of Cordoba
provide examples of non-representational art in mosques. Such patterns were featured not only in painting,
but also in pottery, ceramics, textiles, and carpets.
Proceed to Carpet-Weaving

In the West, Persian carpets are perhaps the best known Islamic art form. Highly valued in the West since
they were first introduced by Italian merchants in the 14th century, they were sometimes used to wrap relics
in church treasuries. But carpet-weaving is not a specifically Persian enterprise, nor was it even the Islamic
world that first began the practice. Although the exact origin of carpet-weaving is unknown, carpet fragments
dating back to the 5th century BCE have been found in Central Asia. It was certainly practiced in that region
long before the Islamic conquests of the 7th century, probably by nomadic peoples who used the carpets to
line their tents and cover their horses. The fact that they were nomadic likely helped spread the practice.
Persian manuscripts from the time of the Sassanid ruler Khusrau I also describe carpet-weaving. As the
Islamic world expanded, the art became common not only in Central Asia and Iran, but also in Asia Minor,
the Caucasus, northern India, and Islamic Spain.
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A carpet from the Malayer region of western Iran A carpet from the Konya region of central Turkey
Courtesy of Islamic Arts and Architecture Courtesy of Islamic Arts and Architecture
www.islamicart.com www.islamicart.com
Carpets were principally used in the Islamic world to cover the floors of mosques and houses, because
Muslims go barefoot indoors. They were also occasionally used as wall decorations. They were usually made
from sheep wool, goat or camel hair, or in later times, cotton and silk. Persian and Turkish carpets made up
the bulk of Islamic carpets. The first half of the 16th century is considered the "Golden Age" of Persian
carpets, when large carpets with rich colors and complex designs were produced out of factories in cities
such as Isfahan. Turkish carpets feature a different style of knotting, curvilinear designs, and softer colors.
Carpets throughout the Islamic world were not always distinct enough to assert their differences with
certainty, and styles changed frequently.
Different styles of Turkish and Persian carpet knots

Courtesy of Islamic Arts and Architecture
www.islamicart.com
Proceed to Islam and Knowledge

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Throughout the Qur'an one can find a strong emphasis on the value of knowledge in the Islamic faith. The
Qur'an encourages Muslims to learn and acquire knowledge, stemming from, but not limited to, the Muslim
emphasis on knowing the unity of God. Because Muslims believe that Allah is all-knowing, they also believe
that the human world's quest for knowledge leads to further knowing of Allah. Muslims must thus pursue
knowledge not only of God's laws, but of the natural world as well, extending the frontiers of human
knowledge. Unlike the revealed knowledge of the Qur'an, Muslims believe that human knowledge is not
perfect, and requires constant exploration and advancement through research and experimentation.
According to the Qur'an, learning and gaining knowledge is the highest form of religious activity for
Muslims, and the one which is most pleasing to God.
In the medieval period of Islam, from about the 9th to the 14th centuries, the Muslims led the world in their
pursuit of knowledge. The Islamic world at this time was the most scientifically advanced region of the
globe, while also making important contributions in philosophy and literature. Part of the Muslim advantage
came from the synthesis of ideas from diverse cultures such as the Greek, Persian, Egyptian, Indian, and
Chinese, when the Islamic empire expanded in the 7th and 8th centuries. The Muslims made a priority of
translating scholarly books from other cultures into Arabic and using them in developing Muslim ideas. The
Muslims took Aristotle's philosophy, Ptolemy's geography, Hippocrates' medicine, as well as Persian and
Indian works on astronomy and mathematics, and either added to or contradicted them with new discoveries.
Every major Islamic city in medieval times had an extensive library; in Cordoba and Baghdad the libraries
claim to have had over 400,000 books.
Many Muslim ideas were soon transmitted to medieval Europe, and influenced learning there up until the
Renaissance. By the 10th century, Europeans recognised Muslim intellectual superiority, and quickly began
translating Muslim works in such fields as medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy from Arabic
into Latin, Hebrew, and sometimes vernacular languages as well. By the 13th century, European students
were studying at Islamic universities, mostly in Muslim-controlled Spain. Europeans realised that studying in
Seville, Cordoba, Toledo, or Granada was the key to acquiring Muslim knowledge. When Latin translations
of Muslim books were not completed quickly enough, universities in Toledo, Narbonne, Naples, Bologna,
and Paris started teaching Arabic, in order to facilitate reading important scientific works from the Islamic
world in their original language.
Only with the onset of the Renaissance would European knowledge surpass that of the Islamic world, but
even then, many European scientists and philosophers simply built on the foundations supplied centuries
earlier by Muslim scholars. The Islamic influence on the development of modern science is evident in the
many Arabic-based words that remain in the English scientific vocabulary, mostly due to the fact that being
unfamiliar with the subject matter, Latin translators were unable to change all words into Latin. Examples
include algebra, algorithm, chemistry, alchemy, zircon, atlas, almanac, earth, monsoon, alcohol, elixir, aorta,
pancreas, colon, cornea, and diaphragm.
Proceed to Medicine
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Muslim physicians were responsible for many notable developments in the field of medicine. While
European "hospitals" at this time were usually simply monasteries where the sick were told they would live
or die according to God's will, not human intervention, Muslim hospitals pioneered the practices of
diagnosis, cure, and future prevention. The first hospital in the Islamic world was built in Damascus in 707,
and soon most major Islamic cities had hospitals, in which hygiene was emphasised and healing was a
priority. Hospitals were open 24 hours a day, and many doctors did not charge for their services. The medical
school at the University of Jundishapur, once the capital of Sassanid Persia, became the largest in the Islamic
world by the 9th century. Its location in Central Asia allowed it to incorporate medical practices from Greece,
China, and India, as well as developing new techniques and theories.
Al-Razi, a 9th century Persian physician, made the first major Muslim contribution to medicine when he
developed treatments for smallpox and measles. He also made significant observations about hay fever,
kidney stones, and scabies, and first used opium as an anaesthetic. A generation later, Ibn Sina earned his
place as one of the greatest physicians in the world, with his most famous book used in European medical
schools for centuries. He is credited with discovering the contagious nature of diseases like tuberculosis,
which he correctly concluded could be transmitted through the air, and led to the introduction of quarantine
as a means of limiting the spread of such infectious diseases. Other Muslim physicians accurately diagnosed
the plague, diphtheria, leprosy, rabies, diabetes, gout, epilepsy, and hemophilia long before the rest of the
world. In the 10th century, Al-Zahravi first conducted surgery for the eye, ear, and throat, as well as
performing amputations and cauterisations. He also invented several surgical instruments, including those for
the inner ear, the throat, and the urethra.
Muslims also advanced the field of pharmacology. They experimented with the medical effects of various
herbs and other drugs, and familiarised themselves with anaesthetics used in India. There is evidence that
some Muslim physicians also adopted the practice of acupuncture from China. Despite many advancements
in medicine, however, Muslim physicians still based their work on the idea of the ancient Greek, Galen, that
the body was made up of the same four elements as the world in general - earth, air, fire, and water. Contrary
to Christian beliefs, Muslim physicians concluded that illness was not due to supernatural forces, but rather
to an imbalance in the body's elements, which physicians were able, in many cases, to correct.
Proceed to Astronomy

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The medieval Islamic world also made significant advancements in the field of astronomy. Part of the reason
for the Muslim interest in astronomy is unique to the Islamic faith, and grew from the Muslim attempt to
solve practical problems. Because the Muslim calendar is a lunar calendar, for example, the ability to see,
and even predict, the arrival of the new moon was fundamental to marking the beginning and ending of each
month. This issue was particularly significant for the month of Ramadan, when fasting is required during the
day, and for determining the date of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Secondly, the study of
astronomy grew out of a need to map the coordinates of the stars, in order to determine the direction of
Mecca from any city, because Muslims are required to face that direction when praying.
These practical concerns for Muslims led to great advancements in astronomy. Observatories were first
established in the Islamic world, in major cities such as Baghdad, Hamadan, Toledo, Maragha, Samarkand,
and Istanbul, and new instruments were developed. The Muslim invention of the astrolabe, for example, was
one of the most important in astronomy until the invention of the telescope in the 17th century. Muslims
were also the first astronomers to challenge the long-accepted theories of Ptolemy and Aristotle regarding
eclipses, planetary orbits, and the position of the stars. In the early 11th century, the Muslim physicist, Ibn al-
Haytham, measured the height of the earth's atmosphere to be the equivalent of about 52 kilometres; today
we know it is about 50 kilometres. In the early 14th century, Ibn al-Shatir designed models for the movement
of the moon and the planet Mercury, which are very similar to those later done by Copernicus in the 16th
century.
From their work in astronomy, Muslim scientists also developed new methods of time-keeping. 9th century
estimates of the length of a solar year and the length of seasons were very close to what we know today, and
the Jalali calendar, devised by Omar Khayyam in the 12th century, remains the most accurate calendar ever
invented. Similarly, astronomy influenced the field of optics, in which Muslim scientists explained the colors
of the sunset, and the process of how rainbows appeared. They also discarded the ancient theory that vision
was due to rays of light emanating from the eyes, and proved that vision was instead caused by the reflection
of light from the object viewed. Much of the work of Galileo, Copernicus, and Newton during the European
Renaissance was influenced by the discoveries of these early Muslim scientists.
Proceed to Mathematics

Muslims also made significant advancements in mathematics. Al-Khwarizmi was the first major Muslim
mathematician, and he is most famous for introducing the field of algebra into the discipline. He also
introduced Arabic numerals to Europe, which replaced Roman numerals in many places by the 11th century
and became known as algorithms, derived from his name. Muslims also developed trigonometry as a distinct
branch of mathematics. In the 9th century, Al-Batani was the first mathematician to use the concept of sines
and cotangents, while Thabit Ibn Qurra studied conics, especially the parabola and ellipse, and helped
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develop an early form of calculus. Al-Buzjani furthered their work a century later in developing theories of
triangles and conics. Geometry as a mathematical science also owes a great deal to Islamic scholars,
particularly in linking geometric and algebraic equations. As we saw earlier in this chapter, geometric
patterns were a common form of decoration in Islamic art - likely owing to the work done in geometry by
Muslim mathematicians.
Muslim scientists also completed significant work in physics, chemistry, botany, and engineering, in the
process of which they developed the "experimental method" used in modern science, in which hypotheses
are tested through controlled experiments.
Proceed to Philosophy

The Islamic world also produced many great philosophers in the medieval period, and as in other religions, a
rift between philosophy and theology soon developed. The debate largely revolved around the nature and
existence of Allah, and the legitimacy of the prophecy. Many Muslim philosophers were influenced by the
works of Aristotle and Plato, and struggled to apply the principles of these ancient Greeks to the Islamic
world. That is not to say, however, that Islamic philosophy would not have developed without the impetus of
Greek thought. Muslim philosophers also took ideas from the Qur'an and Hadith as a starting point for
pondering philosophical issues.
At the heart of the debate between philosophy and theology were arguments for faith versus reason. In the
event of a conflict between human knowledge and revealed knowledge, the philosophers asked, which
should prevail? Muslim philosophers were Muslims first, and philosophers second, however, and their faith
in Islam thus led them to recognise that even reason could not be used to fully understand Allah or his
knowledge. Still, Al-Farabi and other early Muslim philosophers tried to find rational arguments for the
existence of God. Theologians, led by Al-Ghazali, defended religion by pointing out contradictions and
limitations to human reason. Ibn Rushd, one of Islam's greatest philosophers, responded to Al-Ghazali's
argument by urging philosophers to use reason to reach genuine knowledge of the truth, independent of
revelation. He attempted to show how Al-Ghazali's objections to philosophy were based on his
misunderstanding of Aristotle's ideas and their effect on Islamic philosophy.
This complex debate between philosophy and theology was a major issue during the medieval period of
learning in the Islamic world. However, this period also featured free-flowing ideas between the two sides,
who prided themselves on being able to construct an argument for their view, rather than simply proclaiming
its truth. Although most philosophers and scientists enjoyed royal patronage during the Abbasid period, some
philosophers were punished for their writings by caliphs mindful of crushing what they viewed as any
opposition to Islam.
Page 90 of 109
The following eight Muslim scholars are particularly noteworthy for their contributions to learning and
knowledge in the medieval Islamic world. Although many were noted for advances in a certain field, they all
conducted research and wrote books on a number of different topics, from medicine to philosophy to
geography. The eight featured here by no means exhaust the list of notable Islamic scholars; while
formidable in their achievements, they represent only a small percentage of all those who helped the
medieval Islamic world become the most intellectually advanced region in the world at that time.
Proceed to Al-Khwarizmi

Abu Ja'far Muhammad Ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi was born in Khwarizm, in

present-day Uzbekistan. He thrived in Baghdad under the patronage of the
Al-Khwarizmi Abbasid Caliph, Al-Mamun, between 813 and 833, during a so-called
Courtesy of Personalities Nobel
http://www.jamil.com/personalities/ "Golden Age" of Islamic science. A celebrated mathematician in his own
time, as well as many centuries later, Al-Khwarizmi is best known for
introducing the concept of algebra into mathematics. The title of his most famous book, Kitab Al-Jabr wa al-
Muqabilah ("The Book of Integration and Equation") in fact provides the origin of the word, algebra. Over
the course of his work in mathematics, Al-Khwarizmi introduced the use of Indo-Arabic numerals, which
became known as algorithms, a Latin derivative of his name. He also began using the zero as a place-holder,
paving the way for the development of the decimal system.
Origin of Arabic Numerals
Al-Khwarizmi's work had a tremendous influence on mathematics not only in the Islamic world, but in other
cultures as well. Several of his books were translated into Latin in the 12th century, and Kitab Al-Jabr wa al-
Muqabilah was the principal mathematics textbook in European universities until the 16th century. In
addition to his work on mathematics, Al-Khwarizmi also produced tracts on astronomy and geography, many
of which were translated into European languages and Chinese. In 830, a team of geographers working under
him produced the first map of the known world. Al-Khwarizmi's scientific accomplishments continue to
affect the world today.
Proceed to Al-Farabi

Page 91 of 109
Abu'l-Nasr Al-Farabi, a Muslim of Persian descent who studied in Baghdad,
was considered in his time to be the greatest philosopher since Aristotle.
Indeed, in the Islamic world he was known as the "Second Teacher," with
Aristotle being the first. He was fluent in several languages, and through his
translations of ancient Greek works, he was one of the earliest Islamic
philosophers to introduce Greek philosophy to the Islamic world. He wrote
on numerous subjects, including logic, sociology, political science,
medicine, and music, but his legacy lies in his work in philosophy.
In writing commentaries on the works of the ancient Greeks, Al-Farabi

Al-Farabi
sought to reconcile Aristotelian and Platonian thought with Islamic theology.
At the same time, however, he also became the first Islamic philosopher to
separate philosophy and theology, influencing scholars of many different religions who followed him. He
concluded that human reason, the tool of the philosopher, was superior to revelation, the tool of religion,
resulting in the advantage of philosophy over religion. He claimed that philosophy was based on intellectual
perception, while religion was based on imagination. He thus attributed impressive characteristics to the
philosopher, and advocated the philosopher as the ideal head of state. He blamed political upheavals in the
Islamic world to the fact that the state was not run by philosophers, whose superior powers of reason and
intellect would result in ideal leadership.
Al-Farabi's work greatly influenced the Islamic philosophers who followed him, particularly Ibn Sina and
Ibn Rushd. It also sparked what would become an ongoing debate between representatives of philosophy and
theology, as Islamic thinkers sought to reconcile disparities between the two fields.
Proceed to Al-Biruni
Al-Biruni
Courtesy of Personalities Noble
http://www.jamil.com/personalities/
Abu Raihan Muhammad al-Biruni, a Persian scholar and scientist, was a contemporary of the great physician
Ibn Sina, with whom he is known to have corresponded. With a gift for languages, including Turkish,
Persian, Sanskrit, Hebrew, and Arabic, Al-Biruni caught the attention of the Ghaznavid ruler, Mahmud,
whose territory included northern India. Mahmud often brought Al-Biruni with him on campaigns to India,
where Al-Biruni spent his time studying the language, history, and science of that region. One of his most
Page 92 of 109
famous books, Kitab al-Hind ("Book of India") resulted from these travels. It was such a complete study of
India that further works on Indian history written under Akbar 600 years later used it as a base.
In addition to his work on culture and history, Al-Biruni was

also an accomplished scientist. In the field of astronomy, he
pioneered the notion that the speed of light was much greater
than the speed of sound, observed solar and lunar eclipses,
and accepted the theory that the earth rotated on an axis long
before anyone else. In geography, he calculated the correct
latitude and longitude of many places, and disputed the
European Ptolemaic view that Africa stretched infinitely to
the south; Al-Biruni insisted it was surrounded by water. In
his work on India, Al-Biruni also advanced the controversial
view - later proved correct - that the Indus valley was once a
sea basin. He also developed a theory for calculating the
qibla - the direction of Mecca from any place - which was
necessary for Muslims to know in order to face Mecca when
praying. In physics, he accurately determined the densities of
18 precious stones and metals; in botany, he observed that
flowers have 3, 4, 5, 6, or 8 petals, but never 7 or 9; and he
Al-Biruni's world map, showing the distribution was the first to establish trigonometry as a distinct branch of
of land and sea, 1029 CE mathematics. Because of his work in such diverse fields, Al-
Courtesy of Henry Davis Consulting Biruni is considered to be one of the greatest scientists of all
http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/ time.
EMwebpages/214.3.html
Proceed to Ibn Sina


Abu Ali al-Husayn Ibn Abdullah Ibn Sina was born in Bukhara in 980.
Sometimes known in the West by the Latin name, Avicenna, this Persian
physician became the most famous and influential of all the Islamic
philosopher-scientists. He earned royal favour for treating the Kings of Bukhara
and Hamadan for ailments other physicians could neither diagnose nor cure.
His grave is still maintained in Hamadan, where he died in 1037. Though
trained as a physician, Ibn Sina made important contributions to philosophy,
mathematics, chemistry, and astronomy. His philosophical encyclopedia, Kitab
Ibn Sina
Courtesy of Muslim Scientists, Page 93 of 109
Mathematicians and Astromers
http://users.erols.com/zenithco/
al-Shifa ("Book of Healing") brought Aristotelian and Platonian philosophy together with Islamic theology in
dividing the field of knowledge into theoretical knowledge (physics, mathematics, and metaphysics) and
practical knowledge (ethics, economics, and politics).
His most enduring legacy, however, was in the field of medicine. His most famous book, Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb
("The Canon of Medicine") is still one of the most important medical books ever written, and served as the
medical authority throughout Europe for 600 years. Among the Canon's contributions to modern medicine
was the recognition that tuberculosis is contagious; diseases can spread through water and soil; and a
person's emotional health influences his or her physical health. Ibn Sina was also the first physician to
describe meningitis, parts of the eye, and the heart valves, and he found that nerves were responsible for
perceived muscle pain. He also contributed to advancements in anatomy, gynecology, and pediatrics. The
Canon was translated into Latin in the 12th century, and quickly became the predominant textbook used in
European medical schools until the 17th century. It is still used today in Islamic medical schools in Pakistan
and India. No other medical book has remained so highly acclaimed for such a long period of time. When the
Arabic original was published in Rome in 1593, it became one of the first Arabic books to be produced on
the new invention of the printing press. Today, Ibn Sina's portrait hangs in the main hall of the Faculty of
Medicine at the University of Paris.
Proceed to Omar Khayyam

Omar Khayyam
Born Ghiyath al-Din Abul Fatah Umar Ibn Ibrahim al-Khayyam in 1044 in Nishapur, a Persian city, Omar
Khayyam was a well-known mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and poet. He spent most of his life in
Persian intellectual centres such as Samarkand and Bukhara, and enjoyed the favour of the Seljuk sultans
who ruled the region.
Khayyam's best-known scientific contributions were in algebra and astronomy. His classification of algebraic
equations was fundamental to the advancement of algebra as a science, for example, just as his work on the
theory of parallel lines was important in geometry. In astronomy, Khayyam's greatest legacy is a remarkably
accurate solar calendar, which he developed when the Seljuk sultan, Malik-Shah Jalal al-Din, required a new
schedule for revenue collection. Khayyam's calendar, called Al-Tarikh-al-Jalali after the sultan, was even
Page 94 of 109
more accurate than the Gregorian calendar presently used in most of the world: the Jalali calendar had an
error of one day in 3770 years, while the Gregorian had an error of one day in 3330 years. Khayyam
measured the length of one year as 365.24219858156 days, which is remarkably accurate. It has since been
discovered that the number changes in the 6th decimal place over a person's lifetime. For comparison of
Khayyam's accuracy, the length of one year at the end of the 19th century was 365.242196 days, and today it
is 365.242190. Although the calendar project was cancelled upon Malik-Shah's death in 1092, the Jalali
calendar has survived and is still used in parts of Iran and Afghanistan today.
Khayyam is also a well-known poet. This is the profession by which

he is best-known in the West, often at the expense of his scientific
achievements. His fame as a poet in the West has only existed since
1839, however, when Edward Fitzgerald published an English
translation of Khayyam's Rubaiyat ("Quatrains"). It has since become
a classic of world literature, and is largely responsible for influencing
European ideas about Persian poetry and literature. Because he was
known as a scientist in his own time, and his poetry did not surface
until 200 years after his death, some doubt whether Khayyam indeed
wrote the Rubaiyat. After careful analysis, however, most scholars
now agree that he is the author, revealing a philosophical side to
Khayyam that few of his contemporaries knew.
Khayyam's legacy remains largely in science, however, with his work

in geometry so far ahead of its time that it was not used again until
Ren Descartes built upon Khayyam's theories in 17th century
France.
A Persian carpet depicting Khayyam's Proceed to Al-Ghazali

poetry
Courtesy of FarsiNet
www.farsinet.com/persianrug/history.html

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali was born in 1058 in the Persian province of

Al-Ghazali
Khurasan. He was educated in Islamic theology at renowned institutions in
Courtesy of Personalities Nobel Nishapur and Baghdad, and became a professor in religion and philosophy at
http://www.jamil.com/personalities/ Nizamiyah University in Baghdad - one of the Islamic world's most
prominent institutions at that time. In 1095, however, after a period of inner
turmoil about his faith, Al-Ghazali left the university, gave up his material possessions, and became a
wandering ascetic. He devoted himself to Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam concerned with direct
knowledge of God, and travelled to Mecca, Syria, and Jerusalem before returning to Nishapur to write.
Page 95 of 109
Al-Ghazali's works on the relationship between philosophy and religion contributed to an ongoing discussion
in the Islamic world on how to reconcile the two fields. In adopting the Aristotelian principals of the
humanist ancient Greeks, Islamic philosophers since the 9th century, such as Al-Farabi and Ibn Sina, had
come into conflict with theologians who claimed that Aristotelian philosophy contradicted Islamic doctrine.
Al-Ghazali staunchly defended religion against attack by philosophers, and in doing so helped bridge the gap
between the two streams of thought. Al-Ghazali also sought to reign in what he believed were excessive
views within Sufism, to bring it more in line with orthodox Islam. He continued to stress the importance of
Sufism as the genuine path to absolute truth, but he sought to redefine its extreme image as disobedient to the
basic teachings of Islam.
Al-Ghazali wrote several famous books on these subjects, one of which inspired the philosopher Ibn Rushd
to respond with a book of his own, after Al-Ghazali's death. In Tuhafat al-Falasifa ("The Incoherence of the
Philosophers"), Al-Ghazali laid out several arguments as to why philosophy was sometimes heretical to
Islam. He particularly objected to arguments made by Greek-influenced philosophers questioning the
immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, reward and punishment after death, God's knowledge of
all things, and the eternity of the world. Al-Ghazali welcomed the fact that philosophers questioned some
tenets of the Islamic faith, but he chastised them for not proving their positions. At the same time, Al-Ghazali
was careful not to rebuke everything the philosophers had said. He did not reject discoveries of philosopher-
scientists in the natural sciences, freely admitting that many important scientific advancements had been
made. He also chastised Muslims who rejected every science connected with the philosophers, in the name
of defending religion, claiming that such an approach only led the philosophers to conclude that Islam was
based on ignorance. Rather, Al-Ghazali advocated accepting valid scientific achievements, while challenging
philosophers to prove their objections to Islamic theology. Ibn Rushd, a devoted Aristotelian philosopher and
rationalist, responded to Al-Ghazali's book with one of his own, Tuhafut al-Tuhafut ("The Incoherence of the
Incoherence"), in which he reproduced Al-Ghazali's book and commented on its arguments, page by page.
Al-Ghazali is considered one of Islam's greatest theologians. His arguments influenced Jewish and Christian
religious scholarship, and it has been suggested that in the 13th century St. Thomas Aquinas used many of
Al-Ghazali's themes in arguing for the strengthening of Christianity in the West.
Proceed to Ibn Rushd

Abu'l Waleed Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Rushd, born in
1126 in Cordoba, then part of Muslim Spain, was one of the greatest thinkers
and scientists of the 12th century. Known by the Latin name Averroes in the
West, Ibn Rushd influenced scholarship in both the Islamic world and
Europe for centuries, and is best known in the West for his commentaries on
Ibn Rushd
Aristotle's philosophy.
Page 96 of 109
Like many famous scholars before him, Ibn Rushd enjoyed the favour of the royal courts, and spent his time
among the ruling class of Marrakesh, Morocco, as well as in the Spanish cities of Seville and Cordoba.
Although his views on religion and philosophy occasionally angered his patrons, Ibn Rushd was generally
able to continue his study of such a field because of his friendship with the Muslim rulers. He was greatly
influenced by Greek philosophy, and he wrote several commentaries on Aristotle's works. He used Greek
arguments for rationalism to question several tenets of Islamic theology, earning the criticism of many
Muslim religious scholars, such as Al-Ghazali. Despite his vehement defence of philosophy, however, Ibn
Rushd was a devoted Muslim who also tried to integrate Plato's political views with the modern Islamic
state, to bring Greek thought and Islamic traditions into harmony.
While the Islamic world was split in its support for Ibn Rushd's philosophical work (and with philosophy in
general enjoying less support since Al-Ghazali's attack on it), he became very popular in Europe. His
commentaries on the work of Aristotle and Plato were translated into Latin, English, German, and Hebrew,
and were thereafter always included in any editions of the Greek philosophers' works. The belief that he was
more popular in the West than in the Islamic world is also supported by the fact that few of his writings
survive in their original Arabic, and many of the ones that do are in Hebrew script. The rest have been
preserved only in their Latin or other European vernacular translations.
In addition to his work in philosophy, Ibn Rushd was also an accomplished physician and astronomer. His
famous medical book, Kitab al-Kulyat fi al-Tibb (known as the "Colliget" in Latin) discussed various
diagnoses and cures for diseases, as well as their prevention. He was the personal physician to several
Almoravid caliphs in Spain and the Maghrib. In astronomy, he wrote tracts on the movement of spheres.
Still, Ibn Rushd is best remembered for his philosophy, particularly in Europe, where he influenced
scholarship until the 16th century. Many of his books were used in European universities until the 19th
century.
Proceed to Ibn Khaldun

Ibn Khaldun
Abd al-Rahman Ibn Muhammad, known as Ibn Khaldun after an ancestor, is considered to be the founder of
modern sociology and philosophy of history. Born in Tunis, where his parents later died of the Black Death
Page 97 of 109
in 1349, Ibn Khaldun spent most of his life in North Africa and Spain. He led a very political life, working
for a number of royal courts in North Africa, where he was also able to observe the political and social
dynamics of court life. These observations would later influence his writings on the history of civilisations.
Ibn Khaldun's most famous book is the Muqaddimah ("Introduction"), which he wrote as the first volume of
an intended multi-volume world history. In the Muqaddimah, Ibn Khaldun set out his philosophy of history,
and his views on how historical material should be analysed and presented. He concluded that civilisations
rise and fall, in a cycle, as a result of psychological, economic, environmental, social, as well as political
factors. His attention to more than just the political conditions of a civilisation was revolutionary, as he
sought to also examine social, religious, and economic factors in explaining world history. He also pioneered
the emphasis on relating events to each other through cause and effect, and drawing parallels between past
and present, when writing history. He subjected his study of history to objective, scientific analysis, and
lamented the clearly biased histories written before him.
After laying out these and other principles in the Muqaddimah, Ibn Khaldun wrote several histories of the
Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Egyptians, and Berbers, as well as Muslim and European rulers. He
also wrote his autobiography, becoming a leader in that new literary form. His attention to social factors in
the rise and fall of civilisations helped to develop the science of social development, known today as
sociology. His influence on the fields of sociology and history was tremendous, particularly because his
emphasis on reason and rationalism in judging history resulted in a notably non-religious tone to his work.
Proceed to the Conclusion

With a few exceptions, such as the 14th century work of Ibn Khaldun, the Golden Age of Islamic learning
ended with the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. As they made their way across Central Asia, the
Mongols destroyed Muslim libraries, observatories, hospitals, and universities, culminating in the sack of
Baghdad, the Abbasid capital and intellectual centre, in 1258. Many scholars perished in the ensuing mass
murders. The following era saw a rise in conservatism, as Muslim leaders tried to preserve what remained of
their civilisation. Innovative and original ideas were not welcomed the way they had been before the
invasion, and philosophy was the first branch of learning to suffer. The sciences soon followed, and by the
16th century the torch of intellectual development had been passed to Europe. Islamic arts did not suffer the
same fate from the Mongol invasion as scholarly pursuits. The Mongols kept artisans they deemed useful,
and the invasion also opened the Islamic world to artistic influences from China. As we saw earlier in this
chapter, many art forms continued to flourish as the Mongol empires gave way to the rise of the Ottoman,
Safavid, and Mughal empires.
In exploring the history of the Islamic world from its beginnings in the 7th century to the decline of the three
Great Empires around 1600, this tutorial examined the major political, military, and cultural events that
shaped the first 1000 years of Islamic history. From pre-Islamic Arabia we saw how the Islamic faith began
Page 98 of 109
and spread; we saw the Islamicisation of lands stretching from Southeast Asia to Northwest Africa; we saw
how the Mongol invasions drastically altered the future of the Islamic world, leading to the rise of three
formidable Islamic empires in Turkey, Iran, and India. Finally, we have seen how the Islamic faith influenced
a distinct style of art and architecture, and how its adherents led the medieval world in intellectual pursuits.
By understanding the origins and early history of this major world religion, we are better equipped to
understand the Islamic world in the 18th, 19th, 20th, and especially, the 21st century.
Return to Outline

& Image Sources
Quickly access book and internet sources for the following chapters:
General / Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6
(External sites last checked on June 19, 2000)
Quickly access image sources for the following chapters:

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6
General
Books
Mostyn, Trevor, ed. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Middle East and North Africa.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Rahman, H.U. A Chronology of Islamic History, 570-1000 CE. Boston: G.K. Hall & Co.,
1989.
Robinson, Francis, ed. The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Internet
- http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/islam/islamsbook.html
- http://cwis.usc.edu:80/dept/MSA/reference/glossary.html
Chapter 1: Islamic Beginnings

Books
Grant, Michael. From Rome to Byzantium: The Fifth Century AD. London: Routledge,
1998.
Page 99 of 109
Irving, Clive. Crossroads of Civilization: 3000 Years of Persian History. London:
Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1979.
Shahid, Irfan. Rome and the Arabs. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 1984.
Shahid, Irfan. Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fourth Century. Washington, DC:
Dumbarton Oaks, 1984.
Shahid, Irfan. Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fifth Century. Washington, DC:
Dumbarton Oaks, 1989.
Yarshater, Ehsan, ed. The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 2 and 3. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1968.
Internet
Roman and Byzantine Empires:
- www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/firsteurope/
- www.metmuseum.org/explore/Byzantium/byzhome.html
- www.bway.net/~halsall/byzantium.html
- http://eawc.evansville.edu/chronology/extract.cgi?place=ro
Zoroastrianism:
- http://www.religioustolerance.org/zoroastr.htm
Muhammad, Beliefs and Practices:

- http://fisher.osu.edu/~muhanna_1/hijri-intro.html
- http://www.religioustolerance.org/islam.htm
- http://www.muhammad.net/
Gender Roles:
- http://members.home.net/arshad/womqursun.html
- http://www.islamzine.com/women/
Chapter 2: The Caliphate and the First Islamic Dynasty

Books
Brett, Michael, and Elizabeth Fentress. The Berbers. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.,
1996.
Julien, Charles-Andri. History of North Africa: Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, From the Arab
Conquest to 1830. Trans. John Petrie. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1970.
Saunders, J.J. A History of Medieval Islam. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd., 1965.
Spuler, Bertold. The Muslim World, A Historical Survey, Part I: The Age of the Caliphs.
Trans. F.R.C. Bagley. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960.
Taha, Abdulwahid Dhanun. The Muslim Conquest and Settlement of North Africa and
Spain. London: Routledge, 1989.
Page 100 of 109

Watt, W. Montgomery. A History of Islamic Spain. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University
Press, 1965.
Internet
Battle of Karbala:
- www.megastories.com/iraq/map/shiite.htm
Umayyad Coins:
- http://w3.nai.net/~jroberts/umc.htm
Umayyad Territorial Expansion:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/arab-poitiers732.html
Chapter 3: The Fractured Caliphate and the Regional Dynasties

Books
Bosworth, Clifford Edmund. The Ghaznavids: Their Empire in Afghanistan and Eastern
Iran, 994-1040. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1963.
Broomhall, Marshall. Islam in China: A Neglected Problem. New York: Paragon Book
Reprint Corp., 1966.
Clarke, Peter B. West Africa and Islam: A Study of Religious Development From the 8th
to the 20th Century. London: Edward Arnold Publishers Ltd., 1982.
Hiskett, Mervyn. The Development of Islam in West Africa. London: Longman Group
Ltd., 1984.
Humphreys, R. Stephen. From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus,

1193-1260. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1977
Joshi, Rekha. Facets of the Delhi Sultanate. Allahabad: Kitab Mahal, 1978.
Klausner, Carla L. The Seljuk Vezirate: A Study of Civil Administration, 1055-1194.

Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973.
Lev, Yaacov. State and Society in Fatimid Egypt. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1991.
Levtzion, Nehemia. Ancient Ghana and Mali. London: Africana Publishing Co., 1980.
Newby, P.H. Saladin in His Time. London: Faber & Faber Ltd., 1983.
Rice, Tamara Talbot. The Seljuks in Asia Minor. London: Thames & Hudson, 1961.
Ryan, N.J. The Making of Modern Malaysia and Singapore: A History From Earliest
Times to 1966. London: Oxford University Press, 1969.
Shaban, M.A. The Abbasid Revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970.
Page 101 of 109

Winters, Clyde-Ahmad. Mao or Muhammad: Islam in the People's Republic of China.
Hong Kong: Asian Research Service, 1979.
Ziadeh, Nicola A. Urban Life in Syria Under the Early Mamluks. Westport, CN:
Greenwood Press, 1953.
Internet
The Abbasid Dynasty:
- http://www.TechFak.Uni-Bielefeld.DE/ags/ti/personen/mfreeric/m/an/a_night_9.html
Spain and the Maghrib:

- http://users.erols.com/gmqm/places2.html
Egypt:
- http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/heroine1.html
Chapter 4: The Mongol Invasions

Books
Allsen, Thomas T. Mongol Imperialism: The Policies of the Grand Qan Mongke in China,
Russia, and the Islamic Lands, 1251-1259. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1987.
Dols, Michael W. The Black Death in the Middle East. Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1977.
Morgan, David. The Mongols. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers, 1986.
Nicolle, David. The Mongol Warlords: Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Hulegu, Tamerlane.
United Kingdom: Firebird Books, 1990.
Spuler, Bertold. The Muslim World, A Historical Survey, Part II: The Mongol Period.
Trans. F.R.C. Bagley. London: E.J. Brill, 1969.
Internet
The Mongol Invasions:
- http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/oldwrld/armies/khan.html
The Black Death:

- http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/endmiddle/bluedot/blackdeath.html
The Timurid Empire:

- http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/oldwrld/armies/tamerlane.html
War Elephants:
- http://cal044202.student.utwente.nl/~marsares/warfare/army/m_elepha.html
Chapter 5: The Rise of the Great Islamic Empires

Books
Page 102 of 109

Gascoigne, Bamber. The Great Moghuls. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc.,
1971.
Inalcik, Halil. The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age, 1300-1600. Trans. Norman
Itzkowitz and Colin Imbur. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd., 1973.
Itzkowitz, Norman. Ottoman Empire and Islamic Tradition. Chicago: University of

Chicago Press, 1972.
Lindner, Rudi Paul. Nomads and Ottomans in Medieval Anatolia. Bloomington:

Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, Indiana University, 1983.
Malcolm, Noel. Bosnia: A Short History. London: Macmillan, 1994.
Merriman, Roger Bigelow. Suleiman the Magnificent, 1520-1566. Cambridge: Harvard

University Press, 1944.
Mervin, Sandra, and Carol Prunhuber. Women Around the World and Through the
Ages. Wilmington, DE: Atomium Books, 1990.
Morgan, David. Medieval Persia, 1040-1797. Essex: Longman Group Ltd., 1988.
Savory, Roger. Iran Under the Safavids. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980.
Spear, Percival. A History of India, Vol. II: From the 16th to the 20th Century. London:
Penguin Books, 1965.
Stripling, George William Frederick. The Ottoman Turks and the Arabs, 1511-1574.
Philadelphia: Porcupine Press, 1977.
Thackston, Wheeler M., ed. and trans. The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and
Emperor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Thapar, Romila. A History of India, Vol. I: From the Discovery of India to 1526. London:
Penguin Books Ltd., 1966.
Vryonis Jr., Speros. The Decline of Medieval Hellenism in Asia Minor and the Process of
Islamization From the Eleventh Through the Fifteenth Century. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1971.
Internet
The Fall of Constantinople:
- http://www.ee.bilkent.edu.tr/~history/Ext/Koran.html
Bosnia:
- www.applicom.com/manu/briefhis.htm
Safavid Empire:
- www.tamasha.com/information/Iran_General_Information/History.htm
Page 103 of 109
Chapter 6: The Arts, Learning, and Knowledge
Books
Arnold, Thomas W. Painting in Islam: A Study of the Place of Pictorial Art in Muslim
Culture. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1965.
Brend, Barbara. Islamic Art. London: British Museum Press, 1991.
James, David. Islamic Art: An Introduction. London: Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd.,
1974.
Qadir, C.A. Philosophy and Science in the Islamic World. London: Routledge, 1988.
Spuhler, Friedrich. Islamic Carpets and Textiles in the Keir Collection. Trans. George
and Cornelia Wingfield Digby. London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1978.
Welch, Anthony. Calligraphy in the Arts of the Muslim World. Austin: University of Texas
Press, 1979.
Internet
Islamic Art:
- http://www.islamicart.com/
Islam and Knowledge:

- http://users.erols.com/zenithco/Introl3.html
- http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/introduction/woi_knowledge.html
- http://ismaili.net/~heritage/mirrors/science.html
- http://www.islamicity.org/Mosque/
Arabic words in English:

- http://users.erols.com/zenithco/Introl2.html
Medicine:
- http://users.erols.com/gmqm/euromed1.html
Astronomy:
- http://users.erols.com/gmqm/arabastro.html
Mathematics:
- http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/
Eight Scholars:
- http://www.jamil.com/personalities/index.shtml
- http://www.student.city.ac.uk/~cl540/mus-sci/index.html
- http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/people_n2/persons5_n2/albiruni.html
- http://www.humanities.mq.edu.au/politics/x52t07.html
Image Sources
Page 104 of 109

Chapter 1: Islamic Beginnings
(.../islam/beginnings/roman.html)
Constantine I - www.metmuseum.org/explore/Byzantium/byzim_1.html
Justinian -
www.tulane.edu/lester/text/Early.Christian.Period/Byzantine/Byzantine32.html
(.../islam/beginnings/zoro.html)
Fire Temple - www.virtualani.freeserve.co.uk/firetemple/firetemple.htm
(.../islam/beginnings/mecca.html)
The Ka'ba in Mecca - www.islam.org/Mosque/pillars.htm
(.../islam/beginnings/arabian.html)
The Pre-Islamic World - The Applied History Research Group, University of Calgary
(.../islam/beginnings/muhammad.html)
Prophet's Mosque in Medina -
www.islamicity.org/Culture/Mosques/Madinah/Madinah_WS.htm
(.../islam/beginnings/beliefs.html)
Shahada at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul - www.islam.org/Mosque/pillars.htm
Masjid Aqsa in Jerusalem - www.islamicity.org/Culture/Mosques/Jerusalem/TMp82b.htm
Hajj pilgrims at Masjid Al-Haram in Mecca -
www.islamicity.org/Culture/Mosques/Makkah/haram3.htm
Chapter 2: The Caliphate and the First Islamic Dynasty
(.../islam/caliphate/abuBakr.html)
The Spread of Islam under Abu Bakr, 632-34 CE, The Applied History Research
Group, University of Calgary
(.../islam/caliphate/umar.html)
The Spread of Islam under Umar, 634-44 CE, The Applied History Research Group,
University of Calgary
(.../islam/caliphate/uthman.html)
A page from the Qur'an - www.unn.ac.uk/societies/islamic/index.html
(.../islam/caliphate/ali.html)
Shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf, Iraq - www.al-islam.org/gallery/photos/image1st.htm
(.../islam/caliphate/umayyad.html)
Umayyad Great Mosque at Damascus -
www.islamicity.org/Culture/Mosques/Asia/damascus.htm
(.../islam/caliphate/umPolitics.html)
Interior of the Great Mosque at Damascus -
http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/nes257/damascus.html
Page 105 of 109
(.../islam/caliphate/karbala.html)
Mausoleum of Husain at Karbala - www.al-islam.org/gallery/photos/husayn.gif
(.../islam/caliphate/umTerritory.html)
Muslim Expansion in North Africa under the Umayyad Dynasty, 661-750 CE, The
Applied History Research Group, University of Calgary
Great Mosque of Kairouan - http://i-cias.com/m.s/tunisia/kairoua3.htm
Muslim Expansion in Spain up to 750 CE, The Applied History Research Group,
Muslim Expansion in Central Asia under the Umayyad Dynasty, 661-750 CE, The
Applied History Research Group, University of Calgary
Chapter 3: The Fractured Caliphate and the Regional Dynasties
(.../islam/fractured/abbasid.html)
Abbasid Palace in Baghdad - http://achilles.net/~sal/
(.../islam/fractured/spainMaghrib.html)
Great Mosque at Cordoba - www.majbill.vt.edu/FLL/Culture-Civ/spanish/index.html
Aghlabid aqueduct system in Kairouan - http://i-cias.com/m.s/tunisia/
Expansion of the Almoravids to 1117 CE, The Applied History Research Group,
Expansion of the Almohads to 1200 CE, The Applied History Research Group,
Alhambra in Granada - www.cardiff.ac.uk/uwcc/suon/islamic/
(.../islam/fractured/egypt.html)
Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo - http://islam.org/Culture/MOSQUES/Africa/default.htm
Eastward Shift of the Fatimid Caliphate 960-1060 CE, The Applied History Research
Saladin - http://byzantium.rutgers.edu/
Citadel in Cairo - http://interoz.com/egypt/citadel.htm
The Ayyubid Dynasty at the Death of Saladin, 1193, The Applied History Research
Mamluk soldier - www.islamicity.org/Mosque/ihame/Sec11.htm
(.../islam/fractured/westAfrica.html)
Mansa Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca -
www.penncharter.com/Student/africa/gov/index.html
West African Kingdoms, The Applied History Research Group, University of Calgary
(.../islam/fractured/centralAsia.html)
Figure of a Seljuk court official - www.dia.org/collection/collection.html
The Seljuk Turks, 1100, The Applied History Research Group, University of Calgary
(.../islam/fractured/SEAsia.html)
The Spread of Islam in Southeast Asia, The Applied History Research Group,
The Malacca Sultanate, c. 1500, The Applied History Research Group, University of
Page 106 of 109
Calgary
Bandar Seri Bagawan Mosque in Brunei - www.islamicity.org/Mosque/ihame/Sec15.htm
(.../islam/fractured/china.html)
Songjiang Mosque, China - www.sh.com/
(.../islam/fractured/summary.html)
The Islamic World, 1500, The Applied History Research Group, University of Calgary
Chapter 4: The Mongol Invasions
(.../islam/mongols/ilkhanate.html)
The Il-Khan Empire of Hulegu, 1294, The Applied History Research Group, University
of Calgary
(.../islam/mongols/timurid.html)
Timur - www.itihaas.com/medieval/delhi-sultanate.html#timur
Kalyan Minaret in Bukhara - www.uznet.net/bukhara.html
The Timurid Empire, 1405, The Applied History Research Group, University of
Calgary
Gur-i Amir (Timur's Mausoleum) in Samarkand -
www.sambuh.com/main/destinations/samarkand/samarkand.htm
Chapter 5: The Rise of the Great Islamic Empires
(.../islam/empires/ottoman/ottoman1.html)
Osman - www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~sami/osmanli/01_osmangazi.html
Orhan - www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~sami/osmanli/02_orhangazi.html
Mehmed II - www.bilkent.edu.tr/~history/ottoman/index.htm
Interior of Fatih Mosque in Istanbul - www.exploreturkey.com/pic_htms/toist052.htm
(.../islam/empires/ottoman/const.html)
Painting of the Siege of Constantinople - www.greece.org/Romiosini/fall.html
Topkapi Palace in Istanbul - www.bilkent.edu.tr/~history/ottoman/index.htm
(.../islam/empires/ottoman/bosnia.html)
Kozja Cuprija Bridge in Sarajevo - www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/2280/monu-pic.html
Gazi Husrev Beg Mosque in Sarajevo - www.cco.caltech.edu/~bosnia/culture/
Rebuilding the Gazi Husrev Beg Mosque in Sarajevo - www.islaam.com/
The Old Bridge in Mostar, Bosnia - www.siprep.org/html/computer/alma/mostar.htm
Selim II receives Safavid ambassador - www.bilkent.edu.tr/~history/ottoman/index.htm
Page 107 of 109

(.../islam/empires/ottoman/suleyman.html)
Suleyman I - www.bilkent.edu.tr/~history/ottoman/index.htm
Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul - www.cardiff.ac.uk/uwcc/suon/islamic/
The Expansion of the Ottoman Empire, The Applied History Research Group,
(.../islam/empires/ottoman/roxelana.html)
Roxelana - www.ccds.charlotte.nc.us/~nwhist/mideast/MHope.html
Roxelana's chamber in Topkapi Palace - www.mfa.gov.tr/grupd/
(.../islam/empires/safavid/abbas.html)
The Ottoman and Safavid Empires, ca, 1600, The Applied History Research Group,
The Ali Qapu (Royal Palace) in Isfahan -
www.metropolismag.com/sept97/islamic/islam4.html
(.../islam/empires/mughals/humayun.html)
Humayun's Tomb in Delhi - www.atchison.net/gallery/india/india.htm
(.../islam/empires/mughals/akbar.html)
The Mughal Empire at Akbar's Death, 1605, The Applied History Research Group,
Dargah Mosque - www.unn.ac.uk/societies/islamic/index.htm
(.../islam/empires/mughals/fatehpur.html)
Great Mosque at Fatehpur Sikri - www.islam.org/Culture/MOSQUES/Asia/India_GM.htm
Chapter 6: The Arts, Learning, and Knowledge
(.../islam/learning/architecture.html)
Masjid-i Shah in Isfahan - www.islamicity.org/Culture/Mosques/Asia/TMp129a.htm
Masjid-i Jami in Isfahan - www.islamicity.org/Culture/Mosques/Asia/TMp131a.htm
Selimiye Mosque at Edirne - www.islamicity.org/Culture/Mosques/Asia/TMp59a.htm
Taj Mahal - http://users.erols.com/zenithco/tajmahal.html
Mosque of Ahmad ibn Tulun in Cairo -
www.islamicity.org/Culture/Mosques/Africa/TMp85a.htm
(.../islam/learning/calligraphy.html)
Examples of Calligraphic Writing - www.sakkal.com/Arab_Calligraphy_Art7.html
Mosque of the Immortal Crane, Yangzhou -
www.islamicity.org/Culture/Mosques/Asia/TMp213d.htm
Interior of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina -
www.islamicity.org/Culture/Mosques/Madinah/PMMin.htm
(.../islam/learning/carpet.html)
Carpet from Malayer, Iran - www.islamicart.com/cgi-bin/pgs/rugs.cgi?32
Carpet from Konya, Turkey - www.islamicart.com/cgi-bin/pgs/rugs.cgi?27
Turkish and Persian Carpet Knots - www.islamicart.com/pages/rugs/class_index.html
Page 108 of 109

(.../islam/learning/khwarizmi.html)
Al-Khwarizmi - www.jamil.com/personalities/index.shtml
(.../islam/learning/farabi.html)
Al-Farabi - [www.dnic.com/shindagah/october/farabi.htm] site lost
(.../islam/learning/biruni.html)
Al-Biruni - www.jamil.com/personalities/index.shtml
Al-Biruni's world map - www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/EMwebpages/214.3.html
(.../islam/learning/ibnsina.html)
Ibn Sina - http://users.erols.com/zenithco/sina.html
(.../islam/learning/khayyam.html)
Omar Khayyam - www.jamil.com/personalities/index.shtml
Persian carpet of Khayyam's poetry - www.farsinet.com/persianrug/history.html
(.../islam/learning/ghazali.html)
Al-Ghazali - www.jamil.com/personalities/index.shtml
(.../islam/learning/ibnrushd.html)
Ibn Rushd - www.jamil.com/personalities/index.shtml
(.../islam/learning/khaldun.html)
Ibn Khaldun - www.jamil.com/personalities/index.shtml
Return to the Home Page
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Welcome to The Islamic World to 1600 Tutorial, a multimedia Tutorial Chapters

The Islamic World to 1600

Proceed to the Roman and Byzantine Empires

The Islamic World to 1600 / The University of Calgary

The Islamic World to 1600

First Europe Tutorial - Roman Territorial Expansion

The Byzantine Empire

Proceed to Ancient Persia

The Islamic World to 1600 / The University of Calgary

The Islamic World to 1600

Proceed to the Sassanid Empire

The Islamic World to 1600 / The University of Calgary

The Islamic World to 1600

The Islamic World to 1600 / The University of Calgary

The Islamic World to 1600

A Note on Muhammad's Name

Monotheistic religions - those that accept and worship only

The Islamic World to 1600 / The University of Calgary

The Islamic World to 1600

The Abrahamic Religions

The Islamic Calendar

Proceed to Islamic Beliefs and Practices

The Islamic World to 1600

The Masjid Aqsa in Jerusalem

The Islamic World to 1600 / The University of Calgary

The Caliphate and the First Islamic Dynasty

The Islamic World to 1600

Proceed to Abu Bakr

The Islamic World to 1600 / The University of Calgary

The Islamic World to 1600

Sunni vs. Shi'a

The Islamic World to 1600 / The University of Calgary

The Islamic World to 1600

The Islamic World to 1600

Although Uthman did not expand the Islamic empire

Despite these military accomplishments, Uthman's

The Islamic World to 1600 / The University of Calgary

The Islamic World to 1600

Shrine of Imam Ali in Najaf, Iraq

Proceed to Umayyad Dynasty

The Islamic World to 1600 / The University of Calgary

The Islamic World to 1600

Proceed to Umayyad Politics and Administration

The Islamic World to 1600 / The University of Calgary

The Islamic World to 1600

The premature death of Yazid in 683 was closely followed

Proceed to Umayyad Territorial Expansion

The Islamic World to 1600 / Department of History / The University of Calgary

The Islamic World to 1600

No further raids were conducted until 661, when the new

An Arab Chronicle of the Battle of Poitiers

The Islamic World to 1600 / The University of Calgary

The Islamic World to 1600

The Islamic World to 1600 / The University of Calgary

The Fractured Caliphate and the Regional Dynasties

The Islamic World to 1600

The Islamic World to 1600 / The University of Calgary

The Islamic World to 1600

The Abbasid Palace in Baghdad, built in the 13th century.

Proceed to Spain and the Maghrib

The Islamic World to 1600 / The University of Calgary

The Islamic World to 1600

Meanwhile in the Maghrib, a separate dynasty known as the