Abbassiyah Emperor

Chapter 13
Abbasid Decline and the Spread of Islamic Civilization to South and
Southeast Asia
Chapter Summary
By the mid 9th century the Abbasids were losing control over their vast Muslim empire. Distance
hampered efforts to move armies and control local administrators. Most subjects retained local loyalties.
Shi'i dissenters were particularly troublesome, while slave and peasant risings sapped empire strength.
Mongol invasions in the 13th century ended the very weakened state. Despite the political decline, Islamic
civilization reached new cultural heights, and Islam expanded widely in the Afro-Asian world through
conquest and peaceful conversion.
The Islamic Heartlands in the Middle and Late Abbasid Era. The Abbasid Empire disintegrated
between the 9th and 13th centuries. Peasant revolts and slavery increased. Despite the artistic and
intellectual creativity of the age, the position of women eroded. Signs of decline were present during the
reign of Caliph al-Mahdi (775-785). He failed to reconcile moderate Shi'i to Abbasid rule. Al-Mahdi
abandoned the frugal ways of his predecessor and surrounded his court with luxury. He failed to establish a
succession system resolving disputes among his many sons, leaving a lasting problem to future rulers.
Imperial Extravagance and Succession Disputes. One son, Harun al-Rashid, became one of the most
famous Abbasid caliphs. The luxury and intrigues of his court were immortalized in The Thousand and
One Nights. The young ruler became dependent on Persian advisors, a trend followed during later reigns
as rulers became pawns in factional court struggles. Al-Rashid's death led to the first of many civil wars
over the succession. The sons of the winner, al-Ma'mun, built personal retainer armies, some including
Turkic nomads, to safeguard their futures. The armies became power centers, removing and selecting
caliphs; their uncontrolled excesses developed into a general focus for societal unrest.
Imperial Breakdown and Agrarian Disorder. The continual civil violence drained the imperial
treasury. Caliphs increased the strain by constructing costly new imperial centers. Peasants had imposing
tax burdens, often collected by oppressive tax farmers, forced upon them. Agricultural villages were
abandoned and irrigation works fell into disrepair. Bandits and vagabonds were everywhere; they
participated in peasant rebellions often instigated by dissident religious groups.
The Declining Position of Women in the Family and Society. The freedom and influence possessed
during the 1st centuries of Islam severely declined. Male-dominated Abbasid society imagined that
women possessed incurable lust, and therefore men needed to be segregated from all but the women of
their family. The harem and the veil symbolized subjugation to males. The seclusion of elite women,
wives and concubines, continued, and the practice of veiling spread to all. Abbasid wealth generated large
demand for concubines and male slaves. Most came from non-Muslim neighboring lands. Poor women
remained economically active, but the rich were kept at home. They married at puberty and spent their
lives in domestic management and childbearing. At higher political levels women intrigued for
advancement of their sons' careers.
Nomadic Incursions and the Eclipse of Caliphal Power. By the mid-10th century breakaway former
provinces began to challenge Abbasid rule. The Buyids of Persia captured Baghdad in 945. The caliphs
henceforth became powerless puppets controlled by sultans, the actual rulers. The Seljuk Turks defeated
the Buyids in 1055 and ruled the remnants of the Abbasid empire for two centuries. The Seljuks were
staunch Sunnis who purged the Shi’i. For a time Seljuk military power restored the diminished caliphate.
Egyptians and Byzantines were defeated, the latter success opening Anatolia, the nucleus of the later
Ottoman Empire, to settlement by Turkic nomads.
The Impact of the Christian Crusades. West European Christian knights in 1096 invaded Muslim
territory to capture the biblical Holy Land. They established small, rival kingdoms that were not a threat
to the more powerful surrounding Muslim leaders. Most were recaptured near the close of the 12th
century by Muslims reunited under Saladin. The last fell in 1291. The Crusades had an important impact
upon the Christian world through intensifying the existing European borrowing from the more
sophisticated technology, architecture, medicine, mathematics, science, and general culture of Muslim
civilization. Europeans recovered much Greek learning lost after the fall of Rome. Italian merchants
remained in Islamic centers after the Crusader defeat and were far more important carriers of Islamic
advanced knowledge than the Christian warriors. Muslim peoples were little interested in aspects of
European civilization.
AN AGE OF LEARNING AND ARTISTIC REFINEMENT. The political and social turmoil of late
Abbasid times did not prevent Muslim thinkers and craftsmen, in states from Spain to Persia, from
producing one of the great ages of human creativity. Rapid urban growth and its associated prosperity
persisted until late in the Abbasid era. Employment opportunities for skilled individuals remained
abundant. Merchants amassed large fortunes through supplying urban needs and from long-distance trade
to India, Southeast Asia, China, North Africa, and Europe. Artists and artisans created mosques, palaces,
tapestries, rugs, bronzes, and ceramics.
The Full Flowering of Persian Literature. Persian replaced Arabic as the primary written language of
the Abbasid court. Arabic was the language of religion, law, and the natural sciences; Persian became the
language of "high culture," used for literary expression, administration, and scholarship. The
development of a beautiful calligraphy made literature a visual art form. Perhaps the greatest work was
Firdawsi's epic poem, Shah-Nama, a history of Persia from creation to Islamic conquest. Other writers, as
the great poet Sa’di and Omar Khayyam in the Rubiyat, blended mystical and commonplace themes in
their work.
Achievements in the Sciences. Muslim society for several centuries surpassed all others in scientific and
technological discoveries. In mathematics thinkers made major corrections in the theories learned from
the ancient Greeks. In chemistry they created the objective experiment. Al-Razi classified all material
substances into three categories: animal, vegetable, mineral. Al-Biruni calculated the exact specific
weight of 18 major minerals. Sophisticated, improved, astronomical instruments, like the astrolabe, were
used for mapping the heavens. Much of the Muslim achievement had practical application. In medicine
improved hospitals and formal courses of studies accompanied important experimental work. Traders and
craftsmen introduced machines and techniques originating in China for paper making, silk weaving, and
ceramic firing. Scholars made some of the world's best maps.
Religious Trends and the New Impetus for Expansion. The conflicting social and political trends
showed in divergent patterns of religious development. Sufis developed vibrant mysticism, but ulama
(religious scholars) became more conservative and suspicious of non-Muslim influences and scientific
thought. They were suspicious of Greek rationalism and insisted that the Quran was the all-embracing
source of knowledge. The great theologian al-Ghazali struggled to fuse Greek and Quranic traditions, but
often was opposed by orthodox scholars. The Sufis created the most innovative religious movement.
They reacted against the arid teachings of the ulama and sought personal union with Allah through
asceticism, meditation, songs, dancing, or drugs. Many Sufis gained reputations as healers and miracle
workers; others made the movement a central factor in the continuing expansion of Islam.
New Waves of Nomadic Invasions and the End of the Caliphate. In the early 13th century central
Asian nomadic invaders, the Mongols, threatened Islamic lands. Chinggis Khan destroyed the Turkic-
Persian kingdoms east of Baghdad. His grandson, Hulegu, continued the assault. The last Abbasid ruler
was killed when Baghdad fell in 1258. The once great Abbasid capital became an unimportant backwater
in the Muslim world.
The Coming of Islam to South Asia. Muslim invasions from the 7th century added to the complexity of
Indian civilization. Previous nomadic invaders usually had blended over time into India’s sophisticated
civilization. Muslims, possessors of an equally sophisticated, but very different, culture, were a new
factor. The open, tolerant, and inclusive Hindu religion, based in a social system dominated by castes,
Islam was doctrinaire, monotheistic, evangelical, and egalitarian. In the earlier period of contact, conflict
predominated, but as time passed, although tensions persisted, peaceful commercial and religious
exchange occurred in a society where Muslim rulers governed Hindu subjects.
North India on the Eve of the Muslim Invasions. North India remained politically divided between
rival dynasties after the 5th century fall of the Gupta until Harsha in the 7th century created a stable
successor empire in the central and eastern Ganges plain. Although he ruled an area larger than any
contemporary European realm, Harsha failed to unite India’s subcontinent. Harsha's reign was a time of
peace and prosperity. He built roads, rest houses, and hospitals; he endowed temples and Buddhist
monasteries. Urban areas, as the capital at Kanuji, flourished and artistic creativity revived. Harsha, a
Hindu, was tolerant of all faiths and strongly attracted to Buddhism.
Political Divisions and the First Muslim Invasions. Harsha's empire collapsed with his death in 646.
Hindu culture continued to flourish, but political divisions left north India open to Muslim invasions
beginning in 711. The Umayyad general Muhammad ibn Qasim conquered and annexed Sind, and ,
despite quarrels among succeeding Muslim dynasties, the occupation endured. Many Indians, treated as
"people of the book," welcomed the new rulers because offered religious tolerance and lighter taxes. Most
indigenous officials retained their positions, while brahmin castes were respected. Few Arabs resided in
cities or garrison towns, and minimal conversion efforts did not change existing religious beliefs.
Indian Influences on Islamic Civilization. Although Islam's impact in India was minimal, Islamic
civilization was enriched by Indian culture. Indian achievements in science, mathematics,, medicine,
music, and astronomy passed to the Arabs. Indian numerals were accepted, later to pass to Europe as
"Arabic" numerals. Colonies of Arabs settled along India's coasts, adopted local customs, and provided
staging points for later Islamic expansion to island and mainland Southeast India.
From Booty to Empire: The Second Wave of Muslim Invasions. After the initial Muslim conquests,
internal divisions weakened Muslim rule and allowed limited Hindu reconquest. In the 10th century a
Turkish dynasty gained power in Afghanistan. Its third ruler, Mahmud of Ghazni, began two centuries of
incursions into northern India. In the 12th century the Persian Muhammad of Ghur created an extensive
state in the Indus valley and north-central India. Later campaigns extended it along the plains of the
Ganges to Bengal. A lieutenant to Muhammad, Qutb-ud-Din Aibak, later formed a new state, with its
capital at Delhi on the Ganges plain. The succeeding dynasties, the sultans of Delhi, were military states;
their authority was limited by factional strife and dependence upon Hindu subordinates. They ruled much
of north-central India for the next 300 years.
Patterns of Conversion . Although Muslims came as conquerors, interaction with Indians early was
dominated by peaceful exchanges. The main carriers of Islam were traders and Sufi mystics, the latter
drawing followers because of similarities to Indian holy men. Their mosques and schools became centers
of regional political power providing protection to local populations. Low and outcast Hindus were
welcomed. Buddhists were the most numerous converts. Buddhist spiritual decline had debased its
practices and turned interest to the vigorous new religion of Islam. Others converted to escape taxes or
through intermarriage. Muslim migrants fleeing 13th and 14th century Mongol incursions also increased
the Islamic community.
Patterns of Accommodation. In most regions Islam initially had little impact on the general Hindu
community. High-caste Hindus did not accept the invaders as their equals. Although serving as
administrators or soldiers, they remained socially aloof, living in separate quarters and not intermarrying.
Hindus thought the Muslims, as earlier invaders, would be absorbed by Hindu society. Muslim
communities did adopt many Indian ways; they accepted Hindu social hierarchies, foods, and attitudes
toward women.
Islamic Challenge and Hindu Revival. Muslims, despite Indian influences, held to the tenets of Islam.
The Hindu response, open to all individuals and castes led to an increased emphasis on devotional cults of
gods and goddesses (bhakti). The cults, open to men, women, and castes, stressed the importance of
strong emotional bonds to the gods. Mira Bai, a low-caste woman, and Kabir, a Muslim weaver,
composed songs and poems in regional languages accessible to common people. Reaching a state of
ecstatic unity brought removal of all past sins and rendered caste distinctions meaningless. Shiva, Vishnu,
and the goddess Kali were the most worshipped gods. The movement helped, especially among low-caste
groups, to stem conversion to Islam.
Stand-off: The Muslim Presence in India at the End of the Sultanate Period. Similarities in style and
message between Sufis and bhaktic devotees led to attempts to bridge the gaps between Islam and
Hinduism. The orthodox of each faith repudiated such thought. Brahmins denounced Muslims as temple
destroyers and worked for reconversion to Hinduism. Muslim ulama stressed the incompatibility of
Islam's principles with Hindu beliefs. By the close of the sultanate period there were two distinct religious
communities. The great majority of the population remained Hindu. They were convinced of the
superiority of Indian religion and civilization, and of its capability to absorb the Muslim invaders. South
Asia remained the least converted and integrated of all areas receiving the message of Islam.
The Spread of Islam to Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia had been a middle ground where the Chinese
part of the Eurasian trading complex met the Indian Ocean zone. By the 7th and 8th centuries southeast
Asian sailors and ships were active in the trade. When Muslims, from the 8th century, gained control of
Indian commerce, Islamic culture reached Southeast Asia. The 13th century collapse of the trading
empire of Shrivijaya, ruled by devout Buddhists and located on the Straits of Malacca and northern
Sumatra, made possible large-scale, peaceful, Muslim entry.
Trading Contacts and Conversion. Peaceful contacts and voluntary conversion were more important to
the spread of Islam than conquest and force. Trading contacts prepared the way for conversion, with the
process carried forward by Sufis. The first conversions occurred in small northern Sumatran ports. On
the mainland the key to the spread of Islam was the city of Malacca, the smaller successor to Shrivijaya.
From Malacca Islam went to Malaya, Sumatra, and the state of Demak on Java's north coast. Islam spread
into Java and moved on to the Celebes and Mindanao in the Philippines. Coastal cities were the most
receptive to Islam. Their conversion linked them to a Muslim system connected to the principal Indian
Ocean ports. Buddhist dynasties were present in many regions, but since Buddhist conversions were
limited to the elite, the mass of the population was open to the massage of Sufis. The island of Bali and
mainland Southeast Asia, where Buddhism had gained popular support, remained impervious to Islam.
Sufi Mystics and the Nature of Southeast Asian Islam. The mystical quality of Islam in Southeast Asia
was due to Sufi strivings. They often were tolerant of the indigenous peoples’ Buddhist and Hindu
beliefs. Converts retained pre-Islamic practices, especially for regulating social interaction. Islamic law
ruled legal transactions. Women held a stronger familial and societal position than they had in the Middle
East or India. They dominated local markets, while in some regions matrilineal descent persisted. Many
pre-Muslim beliefs were incorporated into Islamic ceremonies.
In Depth: Conversion and Accommodation in the Spread of World Religions. Great civilizations and
world religions have been closely associated throughout world history. World religions, belief structures
that flourish in many differing cultures, have to possess a spiritual core rich enough to appeal to potential
converts. They have to possess core beliefs that allow adherents to maintain a sense of common identity,
but also must be flexible enough to allow retention of important aspects of local culture. The capacity for
accommodation allowed Islam, and later Christianity, to spread successfully into many differing
communities.
Conclusion: The Legacy of the Abbasid Age. Despite the political instability of the Abbasids, Islam's
central position in global history was solidified. The expanding Muslim world linked ancient civilizations
through conquest and commercial networks. Islam was the civilizer of nomadic peoples in Asia and
Africa. Its cultural contributions diffused widely from great cities and universities. There were, however,
tendencies that placed Muslims at a disadvantage in relation to rival civilizations, particularly to their
European rivals. Political divisions caused exploitable weaknesses in many regions. Most importantly,
the increasing intellectual rigidity of the ulama caused Muslims to become less receptive to outside
influences at a time when the European world transformed its culture and power.
KEY TERMS
al-Mahdi: 3rd Abbasid caliph (775-785); failed to reconcile Shi’i moderates to his dynasty and to resolve
the succession problem.
Harun al-Rashid: most famous of the Abbasid caliphs (786-809); renowned for sumptuous and costly
living recounted in The Thousand and One Nights;.
Buyids: Persian invaders of the 10th century; captured Baghdad; and as sultans through Abbasid
figureheads.
Seljuk Turks: nomadic invaders from central Asia; staunch Sunnis; ruled from the 11th century in the
name of the Abbasids.
Crusades: invasions of western Christians into Muslim lands, especially Palestine; captured Jerusalem
and established Christian kingdoms enduring until 1291.
Saladin: 12th century Muslim ruler; reconquered most of the Crusader kingdoms.
Ibn Khaldun: Great Muslim historian; author of The Muqaddimah; sought to
uncover persisting patterns in Muslim dynastic history
Rubiyat: epic of Omar Khayyam; seeks to find meaning in life and a path to union with the divine.
Shah-Nama: epic poem written by Firdawsi in the late 10th and early 11th centuries; recounts the history
of Persia to the era of Islamic conquests.
Sa’di: a great poet of the Abbasid era.
al-Razi: classified all matter as animal, vegetable, and mineral.
al-Biruni: 11th century scientist; calculated the specific weight of major minerals.
ulama: Islamic religious scholars; pressed for a more conservative and restrictive theology; opposed to
non-Islamic thinking.
al-Ghazali: brilliant Islamic theologian; attempted to fuse Greek and Quranic traditions.
Sufis: Islamic mystics; spread Islam to many Afro-Asian regions.
Mongols: central Asian nomadic peoples; captured Baghdad in 1258 and killed the last Abbasid caliph.
Muhammad ibn Qasim: Arab general who conquered Sind; and made it part of the Umayyad Empire.
Arabic numerals: Indian numerical notation brought by the Arabs to the West.
Harsha: 7th century north Indian ruler; built a large state that declined after his death in 646.
Mahmud of Ghazni: 3rd ruler of a dynasty in Afghanistan; invaded northern India during the 11th
century..
Muhammad of Ghur: Persian ruler of a small kingdom in Afghanistan; invaded and conquered much of
northern India.
Qutb-ud-din Aibak: lieutenant of Muhammad of Ghur; established kingdom in India with the capital at
Delhi.
sati: Hindu ritual for burning widows with their deceased husbands.
bhaktic cults: Hindu religious groups who stressed the importance of strong emotional bonds between
devotees and the gods or goddesses - especially Shiva, Vishnu, and Kali .
Mir Bai: low-caste, woman poet and song-writer in bhaktic cults.
Kabir: 15th century Muslim mystic who played down the differences between Hinduism and Islam.
Shrivijaya: trading empire based on the Malacca straits; its Buddhist government resisted Muslim
missionaries; when it fell southeastern Asia was opened to Islam.
Malacca: flourishing trading city in Malaya; established a trading empire after the fall of Shrivijaya.
Demak: most powerful of the trading states on the north Java coast; converted to Islam and served as a
dissemination point to other regions.
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
1. Compare and contrast the initial spread of Islam throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle
East with the Islamic incursions into India and Southeast Asia. Most of the first expansion in the
Mediterranean region and the Middle East was by Arabian tribesmen. The government under the
Umayyads retained the initial concept of rule by a small Arab elite; full citizenship for mawali was
denied. The Abbasids gave full citizenship to non-Arabs. The second stage of Islamic expansion was led
by non-Arabs. The presence of Sufi missionaries made for a more peaceful expansion and to less
restrictive forms of Islam. Converts, as in the Delhi sultanate, retained many of their previous Hindu
beliefs and social systems.
2. Discuss the political, cultural, and economic characteristics of the Abbasid Empire. In political
organization the Abbasids suffered from a loss of central authority and a growth of regional dynasties.
There were many revolts by Shi'i, mercenary armies, and peasants. The dynasty crumbled from the
invasions of Buyids, Seljuk Turks, and Mongols. The Abbasid economy depended on agriculture and
trade. Agriculture required irrigation and this failed under the later dynasty. Cities grew and prospered;
long-distance trade reached into India and Southeast Asia. In culture the Abbasids were the zenith of
Islamic civilization, with advances in science, literature, mathematics, and philosophy.
CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What were the causes for the weaknesses of the later Abbasid Empire?
2. What was the position of women in the Abbasid Empire?
3. Describe the economy of the later Abbasid Empire.
4. Discuss theological developments within Islam during the Abbasid Empire.
5. Discuss the stages of Islamic incursion into India.
6. To what extent were Muslims successful in converting Indians to Islam?
THE INSTRUCTOR'S TOOL KIT
Map References
Danzer, Discovering World History Through Maps and Views
Source Maps: S23-24. Reference Maps: R24, R28.
Audio Cassettes
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (the 4th translation). Caedmon
Documents
The Koran and the Family
The Islamic Religion
Religious and Political Organization in the Islamic Middle East
Islamic Culture
Recapturing the African Religious Tradition
In Stearns, op. cit.
Video/Film
The Five Pillars of Islam. Films for the Humanities and Sciences, #SQ708
Islamic Science and Technology. Films for the Humanities and Sciences, #SQ712
Christians, Jews, and Moslems in Medieval Spain. Films for the Humanities and
Sciences, #CN-1958
The Story of Islam. Filmic Archives
The Sindbad Voyage. Films for the Humanities and Sciences, #KT42~92