Reading #8 The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam, 200-1200

1. Reading #8The Sasanid Empire and the Rise of Islam, 200-1200

2. Chapter Chronology: The Arab Lands and Iran and Central Asia, 200-1000

3. The Sasanid Empire, 224–651 • Also known as Sasanian Empire • Politics and Society • Established 224 C.E., Persia (Iran) and Mesopotamia • centralized control • Relations with Byzantine Empire alternated between war and peaceful trade. • Participated in Silk Road trade system

4. Religion and Empire • Zoroastrianism- Official religion • Byzantine Empire- Christian • Both Zoroastrianism and Christianity were officially intolerant of other religions. • Sasanid Empire, however, did contain sizeable Jewish and Christian communities. • State sponsorship of Zoroastrianism and Christianity set a precedent for the link that developed between the Islamic religion and the Islamic state.

5. The Byzantine and Sasanid empires were characterized by state involvement in theological struggles. • The Byzantine Empire went to war with the Sasanids over the latter’s persecution of Christians, but the Byzantine emperors and bishops themselves purged Christianity of beliefs that they considered heretical, such as the Monophysite doctrine and Nestorianism. • In the third century, Mani of Mesopotamia founded a religion whose beliefs centered around the struggle between good and evil. Mani was killed by the Sasanid shah, but Manichaeism spread widely in Central Asia.

6. Arabs had some awareness of these religious conflicts and knew about Christianity. • During this period, religion replaced citizenship, language, and ethnicity as the paramount factor in people’s identity, providing a further preview of the way in which ideas about identity would move as Islam expanded.

7. Sasanid Silver Plate with Gold Decoration The Sasanid aristocracy, based in the countryside, invested part of its wealth in silver plates and vessels. This image of a Sasanid king hunting on horseback also reflects a favorite aristocratic pastime.

8. The Origins of Islam • The Arabian Peninsula Before Muhammad

9. bedouins: kin-related clans group with others to make tribes • Life regulated by councils • shayks – leaders of the tribe/clan • has large herds, several wives, many children/retainers • Ideas of shayks enforced by warriors • Conflict over pastureland/watering holes • Need to defend one’s honor • One man’s slight could lead to huge conflict followed by revenge • Constant conflicts led to weakened empire – vulnerable to outsiders

10. Cities emerged on the caravan routes • Mecca- Ka’ba (religious shrine) and bazaars • Obligatory truce brought rival clans together • Medina- to the north • Wells and springs

11. Women's roles in Bedouin groups • milking camel, weaving cloth, raising children • not covered or secluded • wrote poetry

12. By c. 400 CE most Arabs were settled people. Nomads were a minority, but they were important in the caravan trade that linked Yemen to Mesopotamia and Syria. This caravan trade brought Arabs into contact with the Byzantine and Sasanid civilizations. • The nomads were polytheists who worshiped natural forces and celestial bodies, but they were also familiar with other religions, including Christianity.

13. Muhammad in Mecca • Muhammad was born in Mecca and raised by his uncle and grandfather after his parents died • In his early 20s worked as a caravan trader for Khadijah – later became his wife • saw inequity of classes • saw class rivalries • saw tension between clans as some (Umayyads) got rich through commerce • saw monotheistic religions • Many prophets during this time period pushed for monotheism

14. 610 – first revelation from Gabriel • that he concluded were the words of the one god, Allah. • Others in his community believed that he might be possessed by a spirit. • Among his earliest followers were his wife and father in law. • Later Allah’s words were written in Qur-an

15. The message of Muhammad’s revelations was that there is one god, Allah, and that all people ought to submit to him. At the final judgment, those who had submitted to Allah would go to paradise; those who had not, to hell. • Muhammad’s revelations were considered to be the final revelations, following and superseding the earlier revelations of God to Noah, Moses, and Jesus.

16. Why was Islam attractive to Arabs? • Form of monotheism that belonged to no single tribe • Equal of other monotheistic faiths • Allowed no intermediaries, priests • End to vendettas, feuds – united • Single, supernatural authority • Turned violence against selves into violence against others • Ethical system to live lives • zakat – charity tax for poor • Wealthy forbidden from overtaxing poor • All aspects of life regulated to prepare for Judgement Day

17. Why was Islam attractive to others outside of Arab world? • uncompromising monotheism • highly developed legal codes • egalitarianism • strong sense of community • most aspects similar to that of Judaism and Christianity • Accepted older teachings, Muhammad just most recent divine instructions

18. Five Pillars

19. 5 Pillars of Islam • No god but Allah (God) and Muhammad is His messenger (prophet) • Pray five times a day facing Mecca • fast during Ramadan • Zakat (tax or alms) for the poor • Hajj - pilgrimage to Ka’ba (in Mecca) to worship Allah (God)

20. Mosques • A. Borrowed from classical architecture • 1. Sometimes even used materials from destroyed churches/temples • B. Couldn’t use animals/humans so focused on • 1. Geometric designs • 2. Colorful ceramic tiles • 3. Semiprecious stones • 4. Flower and plant motifs • 5. Qur’an passages swirling in Arabic

22. Trouble brewing… • Muhammad’s authority as the agent of the one true God alarmed traditional elites in Mecca by threatening their hold on the city’s religious identity. • The elites worried the Ka’ba would lose its importance and in turn they would lose money.

23. The Formation of the Umma • Muhammad and his followers fled from Mecca to Medina in 622 in what came to be known as the “hijra.” • Medina ideal location – caught up in clan conflict • Muhammad invited in to resolve disputes • Wisdom as political leader won him new converts

24. Umayyad send out attacks on Muhammad • Muhammad proves himself as strong military leader • Finally Umayyad surrender, let Muslims visit Ka’ba • 10,000 converts enter city, destroy idols, Mecca inhabitants convert

25. In Medina, Muhammad’s Meccan followers and converts from Medina formed a single community of believers, the umma. • During the last decade of Muhammad’s life, the umma in Medina developed into a model for the sort of Islamic state that would later expand to include all of Arabia and lands beyond in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia. • Muhammad became ill and passed away at age 63.

26. Succession to Muhammad • Initially, it looked like Islam might fail with Muhammad’s death • 1. Some renounced faith • 2. Others argued over secession • Foreign expeditions took minds off of internal problems • 1. Rather easily beat neighbors • a. courage c. religious zeal • b. military prowess d. weakness of border empires • 2. New lands/people ruled by Arab elite

27. Muhammad gave no procedure for appointing successor (leader – caliph) • Two main options: • a. Ali – cousin and son-in-law • b. Abu Bakr – father-in-law • earliest follower, closest friend • 1. courage, warmth, wisdom • 2. Knew genealogy of tribes – alliances

28. Muhammad’s father-in-law Abu Bakr took over leadership of the umma as the successor (caliph) of Muhammad. (Many believed Ali was too young, he does take over as 4th caliph later) • Abu Bakr faced two main tasks: standardization of the Islamic religion and consolidation of the Islamic state. • Abu Bakr successfully re-established Muslim authority over the Arabs and oversaw the compilation and organization of the Quran in book form and ruled until his death.

29. Disagreements over the question of succession to the caliphate emerged following the assassination of the third caliph, Uthman. (#2 and #3 assassinated…) • A civil war was fought between those who supported keeping the caliphate in Uthman’s clan (the Ummaya) and those who supported the claim of Muhammad’s first cousin and son-in-law Ali. The Umayya forces won and established the Umayyad Caliphate in 661.

30. These disagreements led to the development of three rival sects in the Muslim community. • The Shi’ites supported Ali’s claim to the caliphate and believed that the position of caliph rightly belonged to the descendants of Ali. • Those known as the Sunnis believed that the first three caliphs had been correctly chosen and supported the Umayyad Caliphate. • The most militant followers of Ali formed the Kharijite (rebel) sects. • Most of the 800 million Muslims of today are either Sunnis or Shi’ites.

31. Very early Islam: position of women actually pretty good • Muhammad stressed importance of marriage, fatherhood – adultery illegal • Husband can marry up to four wives, but must be able to support them all • Got rid of infanticide, gave more property rights to women • Many women were some of his strongest early followers – wife for instance • Helped compile Qur’an, some even went along on campaigns • Veiling isn’t mentioned but is adopted later • Position of women declines later to current form

32. Muslims didn’t tax Muslims (at least at first) • they did however tax Mawali(Muslim converts) and Dhimmi (“People of the Book”) • Believers of Judaism and Christianity • Evidence of tolerant leaders

33. The Rise and Fall of the Caliphate, 632–1258 • The Islamic Conquests, 634–711 • The Islamic conquests of areas outside Arabia began in the seventh century. • In the first wave of conquest, the Arabs took Syria, Egypt, and the Sassanid Empire. • In the late seventh and early eighth centuries, Islamic forces took Tunisia, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, and Sind.

34. Map 10.1 Early Expansion of Muslim Rule Arab conquests of the first Islamic century brought vast territory under Muslim rule, but conversion to Islam proceeded slowly. In most areas outside the Arabian peninsula, the only region where Arabic was then spoken, conversion did not accelerate until the third century after the conquest.

35. The most convincing explanations for the rapidity of the Muslim advance are the talent of the Muslim leaders and the structure of Arab society. • During the period of expansion, the Arab forces were organized into regular, paid armies and kept in military camps and garrison towns so that they did not overrun the countryside. • The Arab Muslims became minority rulers, thinly spread over non-Muslim societies that they dominated and taxed, but did not try to convert.

36. The Umayyad and Early Abbasid Caliphates, 661–850 • The Umayyads ruled an Arab empire, not a Muslim empire. They administered their territory through the established Sasanid and Byzantine apparatus, gradually bringing in Muslim bureaucrats and the Arabic language.

37. Umayyad caliph’s growing addiction to luxury and soft living • Stopped fighting wars, built palaces – revolts start around empire

38. Rebellions overthrew the Umayyads in 750 • Merv- 50,000 warriors many had married local women and identified with the region were annoyed at the Umayyad elite. Joined with the mawali and used the Abbasid banner. • Defeated Umayyads at the Battle on the River Zab • Invited the Umayyad family for meeting • Slaughtered them, hunted down the rest • One lived- created Caliphate of Cordoba, Spain

40. The Muslims were unable to move further into Europe because they were stopped by Charles Martel at Poitiers in 732 in West (Battle of Tours)

42. Upon the fall of the Umayyads, the family of Abbas—an uncle of Muhammad—took over • established the Abbasid Caliphate. • Sunni dominate- less tolerant of Shi’te • Pushed for centralized, absolutist imperial order • Expanded number of bureaucrats • Appointed a wazir – chief administrator • Merchant class wealth and social status improves – trade a priority

43. Map 10.2 Rise and Fall of the Abbasid Caliphate Though Abbasid rulers occupied the caliphal seat in Iraq from 750 to 1258, when Mongol armies destroyed Baghdad, real political power waned sharply and steadily after 850. The rival caliphates of the Fatimids(909–1171) and Spanish Umayyads (929–976) were comparatively short-lived.

44. Literature and learning, including the translation of Greek texts and secular Arab poetry, thrived under the Abbasids. • Baghdad was a center of Abbasid culture; other areas shared in this culture to varying extents. • The Abbasid period also saw an acceleration of the rate of conversion of non-Muslim subjects to Islam in the ninth century. • As a result the Islamic world saw the rise of a more diverse and cosmopolitan ruling elite. • Abbasids held the caliphate until 1258, provided renewed religious leadership, which they combined with a style of ruler ship and royal ceremony derived from the Sasanids.

46. Political Fragmentation, 850–1050 • Abbasid power began to decline in the second half of the ninth century because the caliphs found it impossible to maintain control over their vast territory. • One factor in the decline of Abbasid power was the difficulty of transportation and communications. • Another factor was the dissatisfaction of the provincial populations with a political and economic system that was centered on Baghdad. • In the ninth century, local revolts carved the Abbasid realm into smaller Muslim states that did not pay taxes or homage to the caliphs in Baghdad.

47. In Baghdad, the caliphs had come to rely on Turkish slave troops known as Mamluks. In the late ninth century, when they were not paid properly, the mamluks took control of the caliphate, choosing whomever they wanted to be caliph and dominating the government

48. Then in 945, the caliphate fell under the control of the Iranian Shi’ite Buyids. • As the Abbasid Caliphate declined, various provincial regimes rose to power. • These included the Samanids in Bukhara and the Fatimids in Egypt. • The kingdom of Ghana was one of the early sub-Saharan beneficiaries of the trans-Saharan trade. The origins and early history of Ghana are obscure but it prospered until 1076 when invaded by desert nomads.

49. In Spain, the Umayyads held power over a society in which Islamic, Roman, German, and Jewish cultures combined to form a unique Iberian variant of Islamic civilization. • Muslim Spain saw substantial urbanization; the introduction of citrus crops; a diverse, irrigated, agricultural sector; and a florescence of Muslim and Jewish intellectual activity. • Underlying the political diversity of the fragmented Muslim world was a strong sense of religious identity preserved by the religious scholars—the ulama. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOe4mkzBdCs

50. Assault from Within and Without, 1050–1258 • Weakening of the Empire -Excerpt from Amsco Review Book p. 151 -Summarizes the Challenges to the Caliphate better than your book.