Continuity And Changes In South Asia Essay

Over the 100 years that Islam expanded, the Arabs collected a wealth of science, philosophy and arts from lands they had conquered as they grew. By the tenth century, nearly all Greek texts were translated into Arabic as a result of the Translation Movement. They preserved a lot of Greek works that would have been lost otherwise. At the time they were thought of as the greatest scholars because of all of the knowledge they combined from different countries. For example, the Greeks liked geometry, and the Hindus liked algebra and arithmetic, so the Arabians developed a combination of both called trigonometry, used for astronomical purposes with the ratios called trigonometric functions. The Islamic people contributed to transmission of knowledge in Europe by all of the writing they had sought after to make their own. It gave them so much more information than other countries. As more expansion occurred, the Greek scientific writings moved westward through the Islamic world and reached Spain by the 9th century.

Over 1.6 billion people are muslims. That is about about a quarter of the entire world. Islam is the second largest religion the world. This beast of a religion started out in the small town of Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula. Over the next thousand years it spread to the astonishing size we know today.

Religions in South and East Asia like Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, and legalism have all helped unite people and create a way of living in the “right” way. Not only did religion and beliefs bring people together as a whole but also gave them a standard on how to live their life. In south Asia the religions Buddhism and Hinduism helped unite India under religion. Legalism helped stop the warring states period in china. Religion is a powerful force that can help people in many ways but can also cause conflict between opposing religions.

The rise of Islam brought many important changes to Europe, both physically and culturally. Through the many conquests of Muhammad and his successors, Muslim dominion, by the middle of the eighth century, included all of the southern and eastern Mediterranean, as well as Spain. Spain would serve as a point of invasion for Islamic forces into Western Europe and it would continue to serve as an Islamic state up until 1492 when its last territory (Granada) fell to Christian forces. Muslim control of the regions south and east of the Mediterranean led to their domination of the Mediterranean sea and all the European trade that went on there. All of this contributed to a deep mistrust of Islam from Europeans, which would make way for the persecutions

The Ottoman and Mughal empires were two of the greatest and most successful empires to ever form in history. However, they both had some similarities as well as differences. Both empires went through tough periods of time, but at some point they also went through times of growth and prosperity. Although the Ottoman and Mughal Empire both did not force conversions into Islam, the Ottoman’s development relied on their tough military force, while the decline of the Mughal Empire was caused by Aurangzeb’s policy of religious persecution and high taxes.

Islam was also spread along both trade routes for commercial purposes. The arab religion was used among China and East Africa as a factor for exchanging good to new areas along Eurasia and East Africa. Islamic trading system had been used to import silk to Central Asia and areas around it, providing more arabian culture to new regions along the Silk Road. Islam also had played a part in the Indian Ocean trade by being introduce by arabian traders and leanding to a larger exchange among the Swahili cities and the african interior. The religion has caused commonality among the east african societies which influenced better connections among the interior of africa. These routes also had displayed education among buddhism and hinduism teachings.

Economy was greatly influenced by religion in the Ottoman Empire. The Millet System was created. In this system, non-Muslim people were considered subjects of the empire but weren´t subjects to the Muslim faith or law.

In the year of 610 CE, it was the starting point in which a prophet named Muhammad ibn Abdallah created a new generation with a new way of teaching called Islam, that would soon take over the parts of Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. During his time on earth, the start of Islam did not flourished as much after his death. But why did it not grow or expand when Muhammad was still on earth? The new teaching of Islam is soon expanded and the new world will have a new spiritual leader named Imam (Document E). Following the death of Muhammad the first caliph is chosen. With a new “leader” comes with new rules, polices, and a way of life. Reasons why Islam had spread so quickly is because of the qualities it possesses which is its fairness, the trade routes, and its ordinance of government.

In the Mughal Empire, Hindus had been allowed to build new temples despite the fact the empire had Muslim origins. To further gain the people’s loyalty, Akbar the leader of Mughal Empire eliminated tax on the non Muslims which would attract the Hindus and also the Christians into the empire creating a universal religion which a mix of Islam, Christians and Hindus.. Akbar had also secured the support and the allegiance of the different Hindus who existed in the region through the negotiation of the peace treaties. Akbar had endured that the local governors would be given grants rather than the salaries. Being dependent on the central government for their income, such a strategy helped them develop increased loyalty enhancing military operations of the army and the general government structure in the empire. On the other hand, Ottoman’s emperor enhanced social integration through striking the high levels of peoples’ loyalty (Gingeras 13).

In early modern times, the three Islamic empires sought for ways to improve standard of living for cultural families. People from all sorts of backgrounds makes it very difficult for Islam to become one due to their differences. Despite the challenge, the expansion of religion and trade produced harmony within a matter of time. Religion and trade are effective ways for Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal rulers to establish harmony of all ethnic and religious communities.

Islam spread over a large portion of Africa through trade with Arabs and the people in the interior of Africa, the Sufi brotherhoods that helped to solidify the beliefs in people, and Arab settlers in Africa. In combination with those, the vast trade networks in Africa and the Indian Ocean, the rise of states in West Africa, urbanization of towns, and the Islamic revivalist movement all helped to spread the religion and ideologies of Islam through Africa. The origins of Islam in Africa did stem from military conquest, which was rare, in North Africa. The conquest was originally directed by the prophet Muhammad in 632 CE, and the conquest continued in North Africa between 639 CE and 712 CE. Despite the military origins of the spread of Islam, trade was the main agent of Islamic expansion.

The Middle East was more influenced by the spread of Islam than South Asia was. Islam was a new religion to the Middle East. It spread like wildfire but in South Asia it spread slower because of the conflicts with Hinduism. Since it spread so fast the Middle East became an Islamic land! Also since such a large population believed in the same religion there was a sense of unity throughout the land.

After the declining of the Gupta dynasty, Islam entered India in two different ways; through peaceful trade conducted by mystical men called Sufis and military invasion from the Umayyad caliphs

Furthermore, each caste was further divided into subclasses called jatis, which were based on occupation. As a result, the Indian caste system is solely responsible for the social norms and attitudes that control the perceptions and behavior of the citizenry, making it the most important defining characteristic of India from 300 to 1707 AD. Islamic Influences in the Medieval Age India’s medieval age lasted from 500 to 1400 AD and marked Islam’s arrival to the nation. During this time, the previously Hindu state came under the rule of various Muslim rulers that sought to convert the populace. Despite initial conflicts and misunderstandings in communication, the Muslims and the Hindus came to the agreement that Hindus would become a

Well established hierarchies, or the caste system, which already existed since 1500 BC were what controlled India in almost every respect, whether it be government, culture, or economics. The force that Islam would need to take over such a well-rooted culture would have to have been massive. Islam aimed to create unity and egalitarianism, the opposite of what the caste system stood for. Reversing the culture of people who have lived that way for thousands of years would be a daunting task, nonetheless, the influence of Islam never