101 Lecture 10 Feb 26 Flashcards
Arabs employ those they conquer. Adopt the in place administrative systems.
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Ummayad dynasty 661-750
Expansions: Across Iranian plateau into central Asia; India; Tunisia; Spain
Damascus capital. Had been Medina
Superficial conquests: autonomy for tribute
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Usually the culture conquers the conquerors.
Arabs willing to adopt culture artifacts. Music, food. Much of their own culture remains due to Arabs separating themselves from the locals. Language. Religion.
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Made some decisions that hurt them in the long run
Hereditary rule to caliphate
Infighting
Being Arab privileged: Islam religion of ruling elite
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The clients of the conquered lands considered inferior. Mawali.
Clients chafe under this prejudice. Lack of access to administrative jobs. Even if they’re Muslims.
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739 major revolt erupted across North Africa
Ummayads never really regain control of that region
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Abbasid revolution
Appeal: offered a fairer Islaimic order in which Muslims, of whatever origin, would be able to participate on equal terms
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Abbasids only manage to get partway into Norther Africa (up to modern Tunisia)
Rest left as autonomous city-states, the fruit of the 739 revolt
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Abbasids turn east
Baghdad capital: “Baghdad” evoked opulence and splendour as far west as the court of the Carolingians
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Samarra capital for 60 years
Marked the arrival of the Turks into the empire
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Turks at first as army troops. Soon most of army is Turkish and of non-Muslim origin.
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Samarra full of grandeur but a golden cage for the caliphs.
Caliphs resided at the mercy of the Turkish amirs who commanded the loyalties of the troops and their families.
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As a result: growth of provincial governors’ power and de facto independence by the late 9th century
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Caliphate now respected on a symbolic level, but their power very limited beyond Iran
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One successful splintering: Fatimids
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Fatamids gained Egypt in 969
Shi’is now in control. “Protecting” the caliphs.
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The confusion in the Abbasid empire gave an opportunity to the Byzantines, who reclaimed Syria
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In Spain, Ummayad caliphate
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1055
A clan of Turks, the Saljuqs (Seljuks) “rescued” the Abbasid caliphs from the Shi’i “protectors” and asserting control over Baghdad and eastern Islamic lands from Syria to Afghanistan
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Saljuqs Sunnis
New institution: Sultanate. Created to rationalize the situation.
“Muslim ruler whose assumption and maintencance of power by military means was legitimized by the dedication of his financial and military resources to defending the faith”
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Saljuqs drove out the Byzantines from Syria
Leads to the tensions that bring the Byzantines to look to the west for help
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In medieval period, Baltic Sea was linked with the rest of the world by 3 main routes.
- East by way of Russian rivers, leading to Byzantium and the Arab world, and Eurasian steppes
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- Rivers flowing into southern shore of the Baltic, navigable far into central Europe, Poland and Germany. Supplemented in the Middle Ages by several road systems over land, especially in the west.
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- Through the delta formed by the islands of Denmark leading into the North Sea and linking the Baltic with a communication system, stretching from the North Atlantic islands via England and France to the Iberian Peninsula. Linking Baltic to Mediterranean.
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