The Political History of the Arabs after Muhammad
When Muhammad died, there were immediate problems among the Muslim Arabs. He did not
name a successor, but he had been the definitive leader of the Islamic community during his life;
it seemed clear that the community was meant to have a leader. The Muslim elders appointed
Muhammad’s father-in-law, Abau Bakr (r. 63–34), as the new leader after a period of
deliberation. He became the first caliph, meaning “successor”: the head of the ummah, the man
who represented both spiritual and political authority to Muslims.
Under Abu Bakr and his successors – Umar (another of Muhammad’s fathers-in-law; r. 634–
644), and Uthman (r. 644–655) – Muslim armies expanded rapidly. This began as a means to
ensure the loyalty of the fractious Arab clans as much as to expand the faith; both Abu Bakr and
Umar were forced to suppress revolts of the clans, and Umar hit upon the idea of raiding Persia
and Byzantium to keep them loyal. For the first time in history, the Arabs embarked on a
sustained campaign of conquest rather than serving others as mercenaries.
Riding their swift horses and camels and devoted to their cause, the Arab armies conquered huge
amounts of territory extremely rapidly. It was the Arab army that finally conquered Persia in
637 (although it took until 650 for all Persian resistance to be vanquished), that hitherto-
unconquered adversary of Rome. The Arabs conquered Syria and seized Byzantine territory in
Anatolia equally quickly: Egypt was conquered by 642, with an attempted Byzantine counter-
attack fought off in 645. Within twenty years of the death of Muhammad, the heartland of the
Middle East was firmly in Arab Muslim hands.
Part of the success of the first decades of the Arab conquests was because of the vulnerability of
Byzantium and Persia at the time, and another part was the tactical skill of Arab soldiers. The
Arabs conquered Persia not just because it was weakened by its wars with Byzantium (most
importantly its defeat by Heraclius in 627), but also because many Arab clans had fought as
mercenaries for both sides in the conflict. Great wealth had been flowing into Arabia for
decades, and the Arabs were already veteran soldiers. They had learned both Roman and Persian
tactics and strategy and they were skilled at siege craft, intelligence-gathering, and open battle
alike.
The Arab armies were easily the match of the Byzantine and Persian forces. The Arabs were
able to field armies of about 20,000–30,000 men, with a total force of closer to 200,000 by about
700 CE. Most were Arabs from Arabia itself, along with Arabs who had settled in Syria and
Palestine and were then recruited. A smaller percentage were non-Arabs who converted and
joined the armies. Tactically, the majority were infantry who fought with spears and swords and
were lightly-armored.
The major tactical advantage of the Arab armies was their speed: horses and camels were
important less as animals to fight from than as means of transportation for the lightly-armored
and equipped armies. Soldiers were paid in coins captured as booty, and whole armies were
expected to buy their supplies as they marched rather than relying on heavy baggage trains.
Their conquests were a kind of sustained sprint as a result. Likewise, one specific military
“technology” that the Arabs used to great effect was camels, since no other culture was as adept
at training and using camels as were the Arabs. Camels allowed the Arab armies to cross deserts
and launch sudden attacks on their enemies, often catching them by surprise.
Finally, especially in Byzantine territories, high taxes and ongoing struggles between the official
Orthodox form of Christianity and various other Christian sects led many Byzantine citizens to
welcome their new Arab rulers; taxes often went down, and the Arabs were indifferent to which
variety of Christianity their new subjects happened to subscribe to. In addition, the Arabs made
little effort to convert non-Arabs to Islam for several generations after the initial conquests. To
be clear, there was plenty of bloodshed during the Arab conquests, including the deaths of many
civilians, but the long-term experience of Arab rule in former Byzantine territories was no more,
and probably less, oppressive than it had been under Byzantium.
The Umayyad Caliphate and the Shia
The second caliph, Umar, was murdered by a slave in 644 and the Muslim leaders had to pick the
next caliph. They chose an early convert and companion of Muhammad, Uthman. Many
members of the Muslim community, however, supported Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law
Ali, claiming he should be the head of the ummah, as someone who was part of Muhammad’s
direct family line. That group was known as the “party” or “faction” of Ali: the Shia of Ali (note
that Shia is also frequently spelled “Shi’ite” in English). For Shia Muslims, the central idea was
that only descendants of Muhammad should lead the ummah. The majority of Muslims, known
as Sunnis (“traditionalists”), however, argued that any sufficiently righteous and competent
leader could be appointed caliph.
While the Shia rejected Uthman’s authority in theory, there was as yet no outright violence
between the two factions within the larger Muslim community. In 656 Uthman died, the victim
of a short-lived Egyptian rebellion against the Arabs. Ali was elected as the next caliph,
seemingly ending the dispute over who should lead the ummah. Unfortunately for Muslim unity,
however, a significant number of Arab leaders disagreed with Ali’s policies and chose to support
a rival would-be caliph, a relative of Uthman named Mu’awiya, a member of the Umayyad clan
governing Syria. Ali was murdered by a rebel (unrelated to the power struggle over the
caliphate) in 661, cementing the Umayyad claim on power, but not resolving the doctrinal
dispute between Shia and Sunni.
It was thus under the leadership of caliphs who were not themselves related to Muhammad’s
family line that the Arab conquests not only continued but stabilized in the form of a true
empire. The Umayyad clan created the first long-lasting and stable Muslim state: the Umayyad
Caliphate. It was centered in Syria and lasted almost 100 years. It supervised the consolidation
of the gains of the Arab armies to date, along with vast new conquests in North Africa and
Spain. The Umayyads were capable administrators and skilled generals, and the majority of
Muslims saw the Umayyad rulers as the legitimate caliphs.
What they could not do, however, was destroy the Shia, despite Ali’s death. Shia Muslims,
representing about 10% of the population of the Ummah (then and now), viewed the Umayyad
government as fundamentally illegitimate, rejecting the very idea of a caliphate and arguing
instead that the faithful should be led by an imam: a direct biological and spiritual descendant of
Muhammad’s family. When Ali’s son Hussein, then the leader of the Shia and a grandson of
Muhammad himself, was killed by the Umayyads in 680, the permanent breach between Sunni
and Shia was cemented.
By 700 CE, the Umayyads had conquered all of North Africa as far as the Atlantic. Then, in
711, they invaded Spain and smashed the Visigothic kingdom, definitively ending Arian
Christianity across both North Africa and Spain. They were finally stopped in 732 by a Frankish
army led by the Frankish lord Charles Martel at the Battle of Poitiers, which marked the end of
the Arab conquests in Europe. Likewise, despite conquering large amounts of Byzantine
territory, Constantinople itself withstood a huge siege in 718, and Byzantine forces then pushed
back Arab forces in Anatolia.
In Africa, Umayyad armies also attacked Nubia, still one of the richest kingdoms in the region,
but were unable to defeat it. For the first time, the caliphate signed a peace treaty with a non-
Muslim state. This was an important precedent because it established the idea that a Muslim
state could acknowledge the political legitimacy of a non-Muslim one. Afterward, the Umayyad
Caliphate came to deal with non-Muslim powers primarily in terms of normal diplomacy rather
than through the lens of holy war.
In 751, Arab forces went so far as to defeat a Chinese army in Central Asia outside of the
caravan city of Samarkand (they fought an army of the Tang dynasty, which had been expanding
along the Silk Road). The last Umayyad caliph had been murdered shortly before this conflict,
however, and the Muslim forces thus had little reason to continue their expansion. This battle
marked the furthest extent of the core Muslim-ruled territories. For several centuries to follow,
the Muslim world thus consisted of the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain.
The Umayyad Government and Society
The Umayyads did not just complete and consolidate the conquests of the Arabs. They also
established lasting forms of governance. They quickly abandoned the practice of having elders
come together to appoint leadership, insisting on a hereditary line of caliphs. This alone caused a
civil war in the late seventh century, as some of their Muslim subjects rose up, claiming that they
had perverted the proper line of leadership in the community. The Umayyads won that war too.
The major problem for the Umayyads was the sheer size of their empire. Just like other rapid
conquests, such as that of Alexander the Great 1,000 years earlier, in the course of just a few
decades, a people found itself in control of enormous swaths of territory. The Arabs had a strong
linguistic and cultural identity, and many of the Arab conquerors saw themselves as a people
apart from their new subjects, regardless of religious belief. Thus, while non-Arabs were
certainly encouraged to convert to Islam, the power structure of the caliphate remained resolutely
Arabic. As with the Greeks under Alexander, the Romans during their centuries of conquest, and
the Germanic tribes that sliced up the western Roman Empire, the Arabs found themselves a
small minority ruling over various other groups.
To try to effectively govern this vast new empire, the Umayyads took over and adapted the
bureaucracies of the people they conquered, including those of both the Byzantines and,
especially, the Persians. They created new borders and provinces to better suit their
administration and ensure that tax revenue made it back to the capital at Damascus, with the
idiosyncratic additional factor of needing to pay an ongoing salary to all Arab soldiers, even after
those soldiers had retired.
One change that was to last until the present was linguistic. Unlike the Greek case during the
Hellenistic period, Arabic was to replace the vernacular of the lands conquered during the Arab
conquests. The only exceptions were Persian, which would eventually become the modern
language of Farsi (the vernacular of the present-day country of Iran), and Spanish (Arabic and
Spanish coexisted until Christian kingdoms reconquered Spain many centuries later). This
linguistic uniformity was a huge benefit to trade, and to cultural and intellectual exchange,
because one could travel from Spain to India and speak a single language.
Arabs also followed the patterns of Greek and Roman conquerors by colonizing the places they
conquered. At first, they settled in garrisons (meaning towns that have troops permanently
stationed in them) and administrative towns, but they also set up communities within conquered
cities. As Arabic became the language of daily life, not just of administration, Arabs and non-
Arabs mixed more readily. Arabs also built new cities all across their empire, the most notable
being a small town in Egypt that would eventually grow into Cairo. They built these cities on
the Hellenistic and Roman model: planned grids of streets at right angles. In the center of each
city was the mosque, which served not only as the center of worship but in various other
functions. Mosques were both figuratively and literally central to the cities of the Umayyad
Caliphate. They were the predominant public spaces for discussion among men. They were the
courthouses and the banks. They provided schooling and instruction. They were also often
attached to administrative offices and governmental functions. The Umayyads may have
disrupted the traditional oral transmission of literatures by the peoples of their empire, but the
mosques fostered a blossoming manuscript culture that would overlap with the oral one, laying
the groundwork for what would become a remarkably literate society.
The Umayyads imposed taxes across their entire empire, even insisting that their fellow Arabs
pay a tax on their land, which was met with enormous resistance because, to Arabs unused to
paying taxes at all, it implied subordination. By channeling taxes through their new, efficient
bureaucracy, the Umayyads were able to support a very large standing army. That allowed them
not only to keep up the pressure on surrounding lands but to quash rebellions.
The Umayyads supervised a tremendous expansion in trade and commerce across the Middle
East and North Africa as well. Muhammad had been a merchant, after all, and the longstanding
commercial practices and regulations of Arabic society were codified in sharia law – in that
sense, commercial law was directly linked to religious righteousness. Likewise, even from this
early period, the caliphate supported maritime trade networks. Muslim traders regularly sailed
all across the Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, and eventually as far as China
and the Philippines. In waters controlled by the caliphate, piracy was contained, so trade
prospered even more.
One effect of Arab seafaring is that Islam spread along sea routes well beyond the political
control of any of the Arab empires and kingdoms to come; today the single largest
predominantly Muslim country is Indonesia, thanks to Muslim merchants that brought their faith
along the trade routes. By the time European explorers began to establish permanent ties to
Asian kingdoms and empires in the sixteenth century, Islam was established in various regions
from India to the Pacific, thousands of miles from its Middle Eastern heartland.
Other Faiths
One of the noteworthy aspects of the Arab conquests is the complex role of conversion. The
Koran specifically forbids the forcible conversion of Jews and Christians. It does allow that non-
Muslim monotheists pay a special tax, however. For the century of Umayyad rule, only about
10% of the population was Muslim. Non-Muslims, called dhimmis (followers of religions
tolerated by law), had to pay a head tax and were not allowed to share in governmental decision-
making or in the spoils of war. Many Jews and Christians found Arab rule preferable to
Byzantine rule, however, because the Byzantine government had actively persecuted religious
dissenters and the Arabs did not. Likewise, taxes were lower under the Arabs as compared to
Byzantium. These traditions of relative tolerance would continue all the way up to the modern
era in places like the Ottoman Empire. However, even without forcible pressure, many people
did convert to Islam either out of a heartfelt attraction to Islam or because of simple pragmatism;
in some cases, Muslim generals rejected the attempted conversions of local people because it
threatened their tax base so much.
There was also the case of the nomadic peoples of North Africa, collectively referred to as
“Berbers” by the Arabs. The Berbers were hardy, warlike tribesmen living in rugged
mountainous regions across North Africa. They had already seen the Romans and the Vandals
come and go and simply kept up their traditions with the arrival of the Arabs. They were,
however, polytheists, which the Muslims were unwilling to tolerate. Thus, faced with the choice
of forcible conversion or death, the Berbers converted and then promptly joined the Arab armies
as auxiliaries. This lent tremendous strength to the Arab forces and helps explain the relative
ease of their conquests, especially in Spain.
The members of other monotheistic faiths who chose not to convert were often left much more
free to practice their religions than they would have been in Christian lands, because the
Umayyads simply did not care about theological disagreements among their Jewish and Christian
subjects so long as the taxes were paid. Over time, various sects of Christianity survived in
Muslim lands that vanished in kingdoms that were officially, and rigidly, Christian. Likewise,
Jews found that they were generally better off in Muslim lands than in Christian kingdoms
because of their safety from official persecution. Jews became vitally important merchants,
scholars, bankers, and traders all across the caliphate.
Zoroastrianism, however, declined in the long run. The first generations of Muslim rulers
accepted Zoroastrians as People of the Book like Jews and Christians, but that acceptance
atrophied over time. Muslims were less tolerant of Zoroastrianism because it did not venerate
the God of Abraham and its traditions were markedly different from those of Judaism and
Christianity. Likewise, as Muslim rule over Persia was consolidated over time, the practical
necessity of respecting Zoroastrianism as the majority religion of the Persian people weakened.
By the tenth century, most Zoroastrians who had not converted to Islam migrated to India, where
they remain today in communities known as the Parsees.
The Abbasids
The Umayyads fell from power in 750 because of a revolutionary uprising against their rule led
by the Abbasids, a clan descended from Muhammad’s uncle. The Abbasids were supported by
many non-Arab but Muslim subjects of the caliphate (called mawali) who resented the fact that
the Umayyads had always protected the status of Arabs at the expense of non-Arab Muslims in
their empire. After seizing control of the caliphate, the Abbasids went on a concerted murdering
spree, trying to eliminate all potential Umayyad competitors, with only a single member of the
Umayyad leadership surviving. The Abbasids lost control of some of the territories that had
been held by the Umayyads (starting with Spain, which formed its own caliphate under the
surviving Umayyad), but the majority of the lands conquered in the Arab conquests a century
earlier remained in their control.
The true golden age of medieval Islam took place during the Abbasid Caliphate. The Abbasids
moved the capital of the caliphate from Damascus to Baghdad, which they founded in part to be
nearer to the heart of Persian governmental traditions. There, they combined Islam even more
closely with Persian traditions of art and learning. They also created a tradition of fair rulership,
in contrast to the memory of Umayyad corruption. The Abbasid caliphs were the leaders of both
the political and spiritual orders of their society, seeking to make sure everything from law to
trade to religious practice was running smoothly and fairly. They enforced fair trade practices
and used their well-trained armies primarily to ensure good trade routes, to enforce fair tax
collection, and to put down the occasional rebellion. The Abbasid rulers represented, in short, a
kind of enlightened despotism that was greatly ahead of Byzantium or the Latin kingdoms of
Europe in terms of its cosmopolitanism. The Abbasids abandoned Arab-centric policies and
instead adopted Muslim universalism, allowing any Muslim the possibility of achieving the
highest state offices and political and social importance.
Perhaps the most important phenomenon within the Abbasid Caliphate was the great emphasis
and respect the caliphs placed on learning. New discoveries were made in astronomy,
metallurgy, and medicine, and learned works from a variety of languages were translated and
preserved in Arabic. The most significant tradition of scholarship surrounding Aristotle’s works,
in particular, took place in the Abbasid Caliphate.
The major library in Baghdad was called the House of Wisdom; it was one of the great libraries
of the world at the time. The various advances that took place in the Abbasid Caliphate included
Medicine: far more accurate diagnoses and treatments than existed anywhere else
(outside of China).
Optics: early telescopes, along with the definitive refutation of the idea that the eye sends
out beams to detect things and instead receives information reflected off of objects.
Chemistry: various methods including evaporation, filtration, sublimation, and even
distillation. Despite the specific ban on intoxicants in the Koran, it was Abbasid chemists
who invented distilled spirits: al-kuhl, meaning “the essence,” from which the English
word alcohol derives.
Mathematics: the creation of Arabic numerals, based on Hindu characters, which were far
easier to work with than the clunky Roman equivalents. In turn, the Abbasids invented
algebra and trigonometry.
Geography and exploration: accurate maps of Asia and East Africa, thanks to the
presence of Muslim merchant colonies as far as China, along with new navigational
technologies like the astrolabe (a device that is used to determine latitude while at sea).
Banking: the invention of checks and forms of commercial insurance for merchants.
Massive irrigation systems: these made Mesopotamia nearly on par with Egypt as the
richest farmland in the world.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
In addition, the Abbasid Caliphate witnessed a major increase in literacy. Not only were
Muslims (men and women alike) encouraged to memorize the Koran itself, but scholars and
merchants were often interchangeable; unlike medieval Christianity, Islam did not reject
commerce as being somehow morally tainted. Thus, Muslims, whose literacy was due to study
of specifically Islamic texts, the Koran and the Hadith especially, easily used the same skills in
commerce. The overall result was a higher literacy rate than anywhere else in the world at the
time, with the concomitant advantages in technological progress and commercial prosperity.
Building on their longstanding tradition of manuscript culture, this literate populace became
voracious readers who demanded a prolific literary marketplace. In response, writers adapted
traditional oral stories into great epics, invented the philosophical novel, and created a
remarkable literary tradition that eventually produced world-famous and influential works such
as the poetry of Rumi and the fantastical Book of One Thousand and One Nights. The long-
standing tradition of women’s poetry in the region also flourished during this golden age of
Islamic literature. These women came to poetry from vastly different perspectives; some were
taught to write in order to serve as enslaved courtesans, while others wrote in pursuit of greater
spirituality. Both groups of women, however, created astonishingly expressive and popular
poetry. Arabic-speaking women’s poetry from this period ranged from love poems to satirical
mocking of their husbands to Sufi mysticism to court songs. In this regard, the women of the
Abbasid period (and the Andalus to come) stand out from their contemporary peers by firmly
establishing their poetry as a distinct form.
The success of the Abbasids in ruling a huge, diverse empire arose in part from their willingness
to follow Persian traditions of rule (a pattern that would be repeated by later Turkic and Mongol
rulers). The Abbasid caliphs employed Persian bureaucrats and ruled in a manner similar to the
earlier Persian Great Kings, although they did not adopt that title. Their role as caliphs was in
protecting the ummah and providing a political framework in which sharia law could prosper – it
was in the Abbasid period that Islamic law was truly developed and codified. From the Persian
tradition the Abbasid caliphs borrowed both practical traditions of bureaucracy and
administration and an equally important tradition of political status: they were the rulers over
many peoples, acknowledging local identities while expecting deference and, of course, taxes.
At its height, the Abbasid Empire was truly enormous– it covered more land area than had the
Roman Empire. Its merchants traveled from Spain to China, and it maintained diplomatic
relations with the rulers of territories thousands of miles from Baghdad. The caliphate reached
its peak during the rule of the caliph Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809). His palace was so enormous
that it occupied one-third of Baghdad. He and the greatest early-medieval European king,
Charlemagne, exchanged presents and friendly letters, albeit out of political expediency:
Charlemagne was the enemy of the Cordoban Caliphate of Spain, the last vestige of Umayyad
power, and the Abbasids acted as an external pressure that Charlemagne hoped would make the
Byzantine emperors recognize the legitimacy of his imperial title (as an aside, one of
Charlemagne’s prized possessions was his pet elephant, sent to his distant court by al-Rashid as a
goodwill gift).
Already by al-Rashid’s reign, however, the caliphate was splintering; it was simply too large to
run efficiently without advanced bureaucratic institutions. North Africa west of Egypt seceded
by 800, emerging as a group of rival Islamic kingdoms. Other territories followed suit during the
rest of the ninth century, leaving the caliphate in direct control of only the core lands of
Mesopotamia. Within its remaining territory the caliphs faced uprisings as well. Even the idea
of a united (Sunni) ummah was a casualty of this political breakdown – the ruler of the Spanish
kingdom claimed to be the “true” caliph, with a Shia dynasty in Egypt known as the Fatimids
contesting both claims since it rejected the very idea of a Sunni caliph.
The political independence of the caliphate ended in 945 when it was conquered by Turkic
nomads, who took control of secular power while keeping the caliph alive as a figurehead. In
1055, a different Turkic group, the Seljuks (the same group then menacing Byzantium), seized
control and did exactly the same thing. For the next two centuries the Abbasid caliphs enjoyed
the respect and spiritual deference of most Sunni Muslims but exercised no political power of
their own.
As Seljuk power increased, that of the caliphate itself waned. Numerous independent, and rival,
Islamic kingdoms emerged across the Middle East, North Africa, and northern India, leaving
even the Middle Eastern heartland vulnerable to foreign invasion, first by European crusaders
starting in 1095, and then most disastrously during the Mongol invasion of 1258 (under a
grandson of Genghis Khan). It was the Mongols who ended the caliphate once and for all,
murdering the last caliph and obliterating much of the infrastructure built during Abbasid rule in
the process.
Europe
Two parts of Europe came under Arab rule: Spain and Sicily. Spain was the last of the large
territories to be conquered during the initial Arab conquests, and Sicily was eventually
conquered during the Abbasid period. In both areas, the rulers, Arab and North African
immigrants, and new converts to Islam lived alongside those who remained Christian or Jewish.
During the Abbasid period in particular, Spain and Sicily were important as bridges between the
Islamic and Christian worlds, where all faiths and peoples were tolerated. The city of Cordoba in
Spain was a glorious metropolis, larger and more prosperous than any in Europe and any but
Baghdad in the Arab world itself – it had a population of 100,000, paved streets, street lamps,
and even indoor plumbing in the houses of the wealthy. All of the Arabic learning noted above
made its way to Europe primarily through contact between people in Spain and Sicily.
The greatest period of contrast between the eastern lands of Byzantium and the caliphates, on the
one hand, and most of Europe, on the other, was between the eighth and eleventh centuries.
During that period, there were no cities in Europe with populations of over 15,000. The goods
produced there, not to mention the quality of scholarship, were of abysmal quality compared to
their Arab (or Byzantine) equivalents, and Christian Europe thus imported numerous goods from
the Arab world, often through Spain and Sicily. Europe was largely a barter economy while the
Muslim world was a currency-based market economy, with sharia law providing a sophisticated
legal framework for business transactions. Especially as Byzantium declined, the Muslim
kingdoms stood at the forefront of scholarship, commerce, and military power.
Conclusion
As should be clear, the civilizations of the Middle East and North Africa were transformed by
Islam, and the changes that Islam’s spread brought with it were as permanent as were the results
of the Christianization of the Roman Empire earlier. The geographical contours of these two
faiths would remain largely in place up to the present, while the shared civilization that brought
them into being continued to change.
