Samanids, Ghaznavids, and Ilkhanids

HIST 100711/13/13

History at the Movies

• Kingdom of Heaven (2005)• Thur. Nov. 21st 6-9pm

Spain after the Reconquista• Reshape Spain as Christian kingdom• Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon

– Majority Muslim population– Jewish tax collectors and government officials– Moneylenders – bankers of the Reconquista

• 14th century – growing Christian middle class• Competition and religious ideology

Jews and Muslims in Spain• Fourth Lateran Council (1215)

– Differentiate non-Christians– Jews wear special cape and badge– Muslims have special hair cut and clothes

• Questionable converts – maintaining connections with families• Franciscans and Dominicans preach against non-Christians• Persecution and mob violence• 1391-1416 – massacres and forced conversions

Inquisition• Conversos – Converted Jews who retained family contacts

and Jewish religious practices• 1478 – Isabel I of Castile and Fernando II of Aragorn

establish the Spanish Inquisition• 1483 – Expulsion of Jews from Andalusia (southern Spain)• 1492 – Expulsion of Jews from Spain• 1497 – Expulsion of Jews from Portugal• 1834 – Inquisition ends

Expulsion of Muslims• 1491 – Treaty of Granada

– Granada will surrender to Castile and Aragon in Jan. 1492– Muslims guaranteed religious liberty and property– City divided in half

• Moriscos – Muslim converts to Christianity• Mudejars – Muslims who stayed in Spain• 1502 – Forced conversion and expulsion in Castile

Suppression of Mudejars• 1511 – tailors barred from making Muslim-style clothes• 1526 – Arabic language outlawed (along with dress,

jewelry, and baths)• Inquisition employed to enforce conversions• 1526 – laws expand to Aragon• 1570 – Moriscos expelled from Granada• 1609 – Expulsion of Muslims from Spain

Central Asia before Islam

• Khurasan and Ma Wara’ al-Nahr (Transoxania)• Sasanian frontier and independent kingdoms• Silk Road or Silk Web?• Persians, Soghdians, and Turks• Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Christians, Manichaens, Hindus, Jews, shamanists, and pagans

Ambassador’s Painting, Samarqand, Uzbekistan, ca. 650

The Silk Road

Local Networks

• Marzban – Sasanian margraves• Spahbed – Sasanian general• Dihqan – petty landed gentry– Qanat irrigation and village “ownership”– Collect taxes– Conscript soldiers

• Soghdian merchants– Connect Central Asia to China and India

Conquest of Khurasan

• 651 – Yazdegerd III (last Sasanian Shahanshah) flees to Merv and is killed

• Negotiated surrender between marzbans, dihqans, and Arabs• Marv: home of Arab garrison• Local networks hold on tomost of their authority

Conquest of Transoxania (662-751)• Like North Africa, slow and often interrupted• Independent city-states under Soghdian and Turkish rule• Expansion of Tang China• Conquer – revolt – reconquer• Is it conquest or raiding?• 705 – 715: Qutayba b. Muslim (d. 715) encourages permanent Arab settlement• 751: Battle of Talas – `Abbasids defeat Tang for control of Transoxania

Ancient walls of Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Islam in Central Asia

• Questions about non-Muslim leadership• Can a non-Muslim collect taxes from a

Muslim?• How about rent?• Shift from tribute to property tax (kharaj)• Conversion and political connections• Cotton vs. silk (and wine!)• Rivalry between Arab migrants and locals

Collapse of the Caliphate• Tahirids (821-873)

– Tahir b. al-Husayn (d. 822)– Family of pre-Islamic elites– Early converts – mawla– Secretaries to `Abbasid governors– Organizes local networks during Persian uprising against `Abbasids– al-Ma’mun’s general during civil war– Governorship of the east– Employs local elites

Asserting a Persian Identity• Saffarids (r. 861-1003)– Ya`qub b. al-Layth (d. 879)– Urban craftsmen turned `ayyars– Resist Arab rule over the east– Ya`qub doesn’t even know Arabic!– 873: Conquer Tahirid capital at Nishapur– Offensive to local networks?

Iranian monument to Ya`qub b. al-Layth

Return of the Dihqans• Samanids (r. 819-999)– Descent from pre-Islamic nobility– Maintained lands in Transoxania– Sub-governors under Tahirids– 901 – defeat Saffarids for control of Khurasan– Mixture of Islamic and Persian identity– Ability to deploy local networks

Monument to Isma`il b. Ahmad al-Samani (r. 892-907), Tajikistan