The Abbasid Empire
@750 - 1200 CE
The Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258 CE) Abu al-Abbas Sunni Arab,
allied with Shia, non-Arab Muslims
Seizes control of Persia and Mesopotamia
Defeats Umayyad army in 750– Invited Umayyads to
banquet, then massacred them
– Only Spain remains Umayyad
– North Africa is disputed territory, ultimately Fatamid
Mosque of Abu Abbas al-Mursi in Alexandria
Nature of the Abbasid Dynasty
Diverse nature of administration (i.e. not exclusively Arab)
Militarily competent, but not bent on imperial expansion
Dar al-Islam Growth through military
activity of autonomous Islamic forces
Victories
Syria: 635 A.D. Palestine: 636 A.D. Persia: captured in one battle
– expansion into India– expansion to the borders of China
Egypt: help by local Christians North Africa: the Berbers Spain 711-720 A.D. Battle of Tours: October 732 A.D.
– Charles Martel Siege of Constantinople: 717-718 A.D.
– Leo III– Greek fire
beginnings of Christian re-conquest of former Roman/Christian territory
Abbasid Decline
Civil war between sons of Harun al-Rashid
Provincial governors assert regional independence
Dissenting sects, heretical movements
Imperial Breakdown
Problems with rural population
Declining position of women
Nomadic Incursion Impact of Christian
Crusades
Reasons for Islam’s success
exhaustion of Rome and Persia– End of a 400 year war
nationalist sentiments in Egypt and Syria arguments among Christian factions speed and size of Muslim armies simplicity and uncomplicated nature of Islam acceptance of the Old and New Testament
– People of the Book
Consequences of Islamic Expansion loss of the oldest and most central lands of
Christendom aided the ascendancy of the bishop of Rome virtual collapse of Zoroastrianism as a major religion radically altered the balance of power between the
Roman Empire and the East disruption of the Mediterranean economic community
Re-centering of Islam
No religious center Madrasses Sufi brotherhoods
– Asceticism, mysticism– Some tension with
orthodox Islamic theologians
– Wide popularity
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