Abbasid Empires

From 1567 to 330 B.C. humanity experienced many subsequent development as well as decline in its civilizations. Among these events emerged three colossal empires that had shaken the world and forever changed the course of human history. The Egyptian, Assyrian, and Persian Empires have been instrumental in influencing technology, religion, and ideas throughout the world. Various factors have contributed to the success and downfall of these giants. Each of the “World Powers” have similarities as well as distinctions in its government form and organization, religion, and economy that contributed to their triumph.

Stewart Gordon’s When Asia Was The World recounts events in history from the time 500-1500 CE. He takes the reader through details of journeys of different people, from different part of Asia, highlighting numerous things, including how trade of ideas, goods, and people changed certain parts of Asia, one particular region being the Middle East. The goods being traded in at that time have become cultural markers people see today. Some but not all are spices, fabrics, and materials brought in, that now people see in the food that is cooked, the clothing that is made, and things that the Middle Eastern people use in day to day life now. The people brought their knowledge of new religions, further creating the rise of Islam throughout Asia, and the ideas brought new intellect, including mathematical discoveries, and new philosophies, creating the distinct culture of

The Middle East is a region centered on Western Asia and Egypt the region has generally been a major center of world affairs as the major religions of Islam and Christianity and Judaism were also established within the region. The region is made up of 18 countries and has vast reserves of crude oil. In modern times the Middle East remains a strategically, economically, politically, culturally and religiously sensitive region.

The first ever unified Iranian state was the ancient nation of Media. Media would quickly emerge as a fierce power in the Near East and establish a vast empire, gaining territories in nations such as present day Iraq, Turkey and Pakistan. Despite its might, the Median Empire would eventually succumb to the more superior Achaemenid Empire, commonly known as the First Persian Empire. The Empire would never be matched in its size, spanning from modern day Pakistan to the edges of Europe itself. However, even the great Achaemenids would fall eventually to the army of Alexander The Great.

The Persian empire Spanned from the west side of Egypt to the north side of Turkey and from Mesopotamia all the way to the east side of the Indus river.

The Persian Empire contained a lot of culturally diverse people, as does any nation of that size. Part of this is due to Cyrus the Great not enforcing any religion. “He embraced linguistic diversity” says Chua. All the rulers after Cyrus pretty much followed his lead. They interfered very little with the lives of their subjects. This caused the growth of many cultures and religions.

The establishment of the first Islamic empire, Umayyad Caliphate, shifted key routes to Damascus which led to a large new ruling system and and the ability to pay for products of other communities. As Islamic religion spread, there was a growth in political diversity that led to a rise in competing Muslim states in Egypt and North Africa. “The growth of the trans-Saharan trade and the re-energizing of the Mediterranean Sea trade after the spread of Islam tied together the economic fates, but not necessarily the political allegiances of North Africans.” However, these developments did revive the commerce of the Red Sea and brought new scale of commercial activity to Eastern Africa. Trade between West Africa and the Mediterranean predated Islam, however North African Muslims intensified the Trans-Saharan trade. In later centuries it was then carried by commercial contacts across the Sahara and into the western and central Sudan. Commercial relations have often been the means of spreading new ideas as well as diffusing new kinds of commodities. The commercial dealings of the Sudan belt of Africa in the centuries before the thirteenth century were no

Achaemenid Persia was one of the first and the greatest empires of the Fertile Crescent and beyond, as such, they would come into contact with diverse groups of people, one of which is the Jews of Judea. The Persian Empire is one of the few empires depicted in the Tanach, or Hebrew Bible, as favorable. This being so, it can still be difficult to assert who the Persians, their kings, and their land were in the eyes of the Jews. The stories and depictions of the kings and land do not always agree on the matter and differ on how much detail is given. Persians during the time they ruled Judea have few records of who the Jews were and what they did in the borders of the empire. From what is found, it is still possible to gleam whom the Jews and their land were in the eyes of the kings of Persia.

In the beginning of 7th century to the end of Abbasids in the 13th century, continuities and changes shape the cultural and political life of Islamic civilization which lead to Arab conquests (634-711), expansion, and untroubled trade and conversion which followed by diffusion of cultures lead to advancements of Arabian knowledge. Few factors that led to changes of cultural advancements in knowledge which was traded through trade routes across regions trade and throughout the sea, meanwhile the government became more centralized and bureaucratic and lastly, a cultural continuity was the religious laws: Quran, Hadith, Sharia which was practiced amongst the Muslims.

Humans are innately programmed to conquer and expand. From the migration to every continent in the pre-historical period to the era of space travel prevalent today, humans seek new lands. However, problems begin to occur when land is already taken by an existing party. The results of such clashes are evident in almost every war fought by man and even some where violence was not required (see Native Americans). Each group of civilians that feels threatened by an outside force reacts in the manner that best suits its needs. Although the reactions are distinct, the challenges presented by the Persian Wars and various groups of steppe nomads all stem from the need to conquer.

The Umayyads ruled from 661-750 CE. When doing so, they created the first 14 caliphs. Once the Umayyads had control they began to conquer new lands. The empire spanned parts of three continents: Africa, Asia, and Europe in less than 100 years. When the Umayyads took power, the Empire’s eastern boundary extended into Persia and pushed the border further into Central Asia. The expansion began with hit and run raids attacking the cities of Bukhara and Smarkland- both major trade cities of the region located in modern Uzbekistan. Hit and run raids soon turned into organized campaigns for conquest which allowed them to control most of Central Asia by 700’s. By 710, they controlled North Africa from the Nile to the Iberian Peninsula. By 711, they moved North across the mediterranean Sea and into the Iberian Peninsula.

Early civilizations in the Middle East began with the Sumerians in the Tigris- Euphrates delta. This civilization evolved into the Persian Empire through many other groups of people. Civilizations of the Middle East changed over time politically, socially, and culturally. The change occurred through types of government, economic class, and religion. Middle Eastern government began with rule by priests, but became a dynasty. Economic class began as a system based on how much property one owned, and became based on bloodline. Religion started out polytheistic, but the idea of monotheism grew more popular over time. The civilizations of the Middle East changed politically through systems of government.

While the Islamic world was growing larger and more powerful. After Muhammad’s death in 632 CE, Muslim armies conquered large parts of the Middle East. At the peak of the medieval Islamic world it was more than three times bigger than

In the years 400 C.E. and 900 C.E there were continuities and changes in the Middle East that allowed them to have a constant economy and advance socially. As time went on, urbanization increased, allowing them to advance socially. But even after long time passed, they continuously traded for economy and

When the Abbasid Dynasty took over rule, in 762 AD, in the Muslim world and moved to the new capital “Baghdad”, the city then was known as the world’s center of education and culture for 5 centuries. During this period, not only has Baghdad become the city of museums, hospitals, libraries and mosques, but also has been known for the Golden Age of the Islamic civilization. During the European embittered in the Dark Ages, Baghdad was at the heart of an exciting and assorted civilization. After more than 500 years, the Abbasid dynasty started to fade and lose its viability over the entire Muslim world. Major changes where observed during 1257, when Hulagu moved to Baghdad, his transfer led to the creation of a “de facto” alliance between the