The Abbasid Empire

• published: 13 Mar 2014
• views: 839

Don't forget to hit the Like and Subscribe videos to make sure you receive notifications about upcoming Literature, Grammar, Reading, Writing, and World History lessons from MrBrayman.Info. Below is the outline of the slides used in the lesson: The Abbasid Empire Part Four of a Six-Part Series on the Rise and Spread of Islam The Abbasid Empire Sunni—rejected Shi'a allies Highly centralized power Capitol—Baghdad New era of luxury, wealth, and oppression (worse than Umayyads) The Abbasid Empire Conversion of mawali Acceptance of non-Arabs Pushed for conversion Religion and statecraft Influence of Persian bureaucrats New Persian Empire? Trade Renewed wealth and peace in Europe and China—revived Silk Road Improved sailing tech—Indian Ocean trade network or Spice Routes Muslims, Christians, and Jews working together—7-day business week Luxury goods—silk, spices, metals, gems Increasing Urbanization Urbanization—moving into cities (urban) Schools, mosques, hospitals Improvements in science and mathematics Blended and evolved Greek and Indian knowledge Spread and Decline Spread into South and Southeast Asia Internal divisions Shi'a assassination attempts Shi'a in Persia Still no succession policy—not familial like Umayyads Wealth and Luxury... The Slave Armies and the Cost of Empire Civil wars after the death of the fourth Abbasid caliph in 809CE Winner built a slave army of Turkic speaking slaves from central Asia Growing power of Central Asian raiders Growing armies—growing taxation on peasants The Nomads from the North 945CE: Buyids of Persia conquer Baghdad Left Abbasid caliph on throne Controlled the caliphs 1055CE: Seljuk Turks invade from central Asia Sunni, strong cavalry, tough people Purged the Shi'a Buyids Defended the Umma against Byzantine reconquest The Crusades 1096CE: the Pope declares the First Crusade to take Jerusalem back from the Muslims 1099CE: Jerusalem taken by the Crusaders Little impact on the Abbasids and Islam more generally Big influence on Europe Abbasid Culture and Science Calligraphy—fancy writing, not idolatry Poetry and historical epics Fine fabrics Algebra, improvements in geometry and astronomy Synthesis of Chinese and older Greek and Indian ideas Passed paper-making, ceramics, silk-weaving to Europe Eye surgeries, detailed anatomies Sufism Sunni Islam is very "by the book" and scholarly Sufis Mystical Emotional relationship with Allah Small communities of men—like monks Mediation, music, dancing, drugs—ecstacy Abbasid Collapse Mongols—another central Asian horse people Mamluk Turks—slave army took control of Egypt Ottoman Turks shifted rule of the Umma to Istanbul—the old capitol of the Byzantine Empire Fall of Baghdad in 1401CE Final Notes What do we see about the Cycle of Empire? Why do empires fail? How can this help us protect our civilization and nation? Lesson Completed