The Rise and Fall of the Fatimid Dynasty

The Islamic empire benefited surrounding countries with this advancement and

Mecca, the city where Islam was founded, was the meeting point of three large trading routes that lead to the Silk Road(Doc A). When these traders went through this town they saw wealth and prosperity. They took note of the religion and spread the word of the town. It wasn’t long before the whole Arabian Peninsula had heard about the religion. This helped unify the Arabian peninsula which let the next factor of military conquest even take place.

Military conquest also played a big role in Islam’s growth. “In the year 636 the Byzantine Emperor… gathered an army… to resist the expansion of Islam. The people… are the… Syrians…

When Muhammad died, Muslims faced the challenge of creating institutions to preserve the community. This is the Middle period of Islam. Muslims believe that the revelation was completed with the work of Muhammad, who is described as the seal of the prophets. The leaders after Muhammad were described only as caliphs, or successors to the Prophet, and not as prophets themselves. The first four caliphs were companions of the Prophet and their period of rule (632-661) is described by the majority of Muslims as the age of the Rightly Guided Caliphate. This was an era of expansion during which Muslims conquered the Sasanid (Persian) Empire and took control of the North African and Syrian territories of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire. The Muslim community was transformed from a small city-state controlling much of the Arabian Peninsula into a major world empire, in this case the Umayyad empire, extending from northwest Africa to central Asia. The emphasis

Al-Mamun’s successor and son was a man called Al Mu’tasim. His reign was particularly important in the gradual decline of the Abbasids. Although he was not the first to use the infamous ‘slave soldiers’, they had been used from 814 onwards, he expanded their usage massively. The slave soldiers were mostly Turks from areas like modern Turkmenistan. These were hard nomadic peoples from the grass planes of the Steppe who were brutal worriers and provided the Caliph with military security for a price. These Turk soldiers were to play a crucial part in the decline of the Caliphate as their influence and power grew over their masters. The Turks soon formed the palace guard of the Caliph, taking on a similar to the Praetorian Guard of the Roman Empire. As their presence increased they became increasingly unpopular in Baghdad. This unpopularity and the Caliphs increasing dependence on his mercenaries lead to Mu’tasim relocating the capital from Baghdad to Samarra in 835. This only diminished the power of the Caliphate in

The Abbasid caliphate was the empire of the golden age in the Islamic culture. This dynasty ruled the Islamic caliphate for a very long time, which made it one of the most influential dynasties. Since it ruled the Islamic empire for a very long time it became the largest empire in the world which helped it have contact with neighboring places like China, India, and the Byzantine empire which helped majorly with cultural diffusion. But, in what ways would the Abbasid caliphate be considered a golden age throughout the dynasties in Islam?

    Islam’s massive growth in size can be credited to the constant battles and war with surrounding areas. The Muslims were determined to share

This document teaches historians about the Islamic Empire under the rule of the Abbasid Empire and how, during al-Ya’qubi’s time, Baghdad was the heart of the huge network the Islamic Empire had created. Al-Ya’qubi lived during the ninth century and his observations on Baghdad in “A New Islamic Dynasty” gave historians more insight into the Islamic World regarding: a) the central role that Baghdad played in the Islamic State during his time, b) Baghdad’s transformation from village to powerful city and c) perceiving how al-Yaqubi’s personal ties to Baghdad affected his observations. Although al-Ya’qubi may have exaggerated when describing some people or events, he certainly highlighted the historical period and society where he lived by mentioning how central and pivotal Baghdad as a city was to the Islamic World both during his time – and, to an extent, for world history as a

The Arab empire had a better trade than the byzantine empire. I think they had a better trade because they spread out their religion.Another reason they spread out is they had more resources.

In this essay I will talk to you about different things such as,what the Islamic people did and how they became more successful and expanded their empire. Now that, that's said I hope you enjoy and stay open-minded about my ideas.

These muslim empires prodigiously invested in their militaries in order to be one step ahead of their rivals (document 2). The Safavids, for example, were able to form a very capable military with their advanced weapons and skills training which not only enabled them to be on the same level with their regional rivals, but to be with on-par with the Europeans as well (document 1). These empires not only supported their militaries with weapons and skills but with land grants as well which helped improve their army’s morale (document 5).

The sultans became less involved in the government and allowed their ministers to exercise more power so he became the servant of the ruling class. The sultan controlled his bureaucracy through an imperial council conducted by the grand vezir. Later, the central bureaucracy lost its links with rural areas, local officials grew corrupt, and taxes rose. The decline of the empire was evident.

As a political tactic, rulers often portray themselves in a certain way in order to stabilize their reign and rule more effectively. Some take the approach of uniqueness by setting themselves apart from their subject population while others take the approach of sameness by emphasizing the similarities in which they share with the people. Not exclusively limited to apartness or sameness, some rulers have shown to employ a mix of both ruling styles. It is these versatile rulers who have experienced more successes in their reign because they are not compelled to only one ruling style, allowing them to better adapt to the needs of their ruling population. The apartness ruling style is best seen in the Safavid Empire under the rule of Shah Ismail. Shah Ismail uses religion as a political tool to control his state and does so by declaring Shi’ism, a smaller branch of Islam, as the state religion (#). After separating himself & his people from those who are not willing to abide to his ideologies, Shah Ismail can now demand the absolute loyalties from his subjects and persecute those who are deviant. This radical act further creates a deep chasm between Shi’ite Muslims and nearby Sunni Muslims neighbors. As a result, cultural flow and the exchange of beliefs between Sunni & Shi’ite states are essentially hindered. Ismail’s apartness ruling approach is taken to the extreme with social, religious, and legal systems being strictly confined to Shi’ite doctrines (@). It is noted that

The role of Prophet Muhammad, as both a temporal and religious leader was undeniably an important factor in the success of the Arab conquests. These events took place between 622 and 750, first involving the establishment of a new unified polity in the Arabian Peninsula, then leading to a Muslim Empire which stretched from central Asia to North Africa and was one of the largest the world has ever seen. This overwhelming success merits explanation, yet this is difficult to establish with certainty, due to the small number and poor quality of surviving sources. Muhammad’s main role was to provide a unifying influence, both during his lifetime when he united a

In this week’s chapter, it discusses a lot about the rise and fall of the Ottoman and Safavid Empires. In many dynasties, it is critically important to have a well balanced society and economy. Anderson displays many of the reasons why these two empires were so great during their time, but evidently loss of power and control of government can be a major turning point and, eventually, led to the decline of these empires. This specific chapter focus on the systems of governance that was established in each empire.