Chapter 8 Decline of Abbasid

1. Chapter 8 Decline of Abbasid

2. Decline • Abbasid dynasty • Control over empire begins to slide in 9th century • Reasons for decline • Difficulty in communication and moving armies across the large empire • Local administrators not always obeying • Excess of court • Regions of empire maintaining their local identites • Disputes over succession • Rise of mercenary armies became virtually independent • Failure of agricultural economy

3. Al-Mahdi • 3rd Abbasid caliph • Try to reconcile the moderates among the Shi’ i opposition • Failed which meant Shi'as revolts and assassinations would continue to end of the dynasty • Love the good life- excess of luxury • Habit passed on to later caliphs • Financial drain • Fail to solve problem of succession • Waiver between which son to succeed • Civil war was avoided but his successor was poisoned within year.

4. Harun al-Rashid • One of most famous and enduring Abbasid caliph • Reputation for living the luxurious life • One Thousand and One Nights based on his court • Dependent on Persian royal advisors • Young when he took the throne. Only 23 • Will eventually resist their influence- reliance will become a trend • Mid 9th century caliphs were pawns in court power struggles

5. Harun al Rashid death will cause several full-scale civil wars over succession • Precedent set by struggle for throne deeply damaging • Also end the real power of the Caliphs • Convince candidates for the throne that they need a personal army • Often slave soldiers • Turkic speaking nomads from central Asia

6. Mercenary Armies • Leaders of slave mercenary armies will be the real power behind the Abbasid throne • 4 caliphs will be murder or poison by the mercenary forces • A disruptive force in life of Baghdad and other cities • Bully • Catalyst for food riots • Be major players in the contest for control of the Capital and empire • Consist largely of slave troops • Help bring about the decline of the empire

7. Imperial Breakdown • Constant civil wars drain the treasury • Alienated the people • Caliphs wanting to escape turmoil of Baghdad established new – capitals • Add to already high cost of government • Cost of maintaining the mercenary armies • Spiraling taxation falling to peasants- least able to pay

8. Agricultural economy will be disrupted by • Spiraling taxation • Destruction of irrigation • Mercenaries pillaging villages • Often led to abandonment of the villages

9. Decline in Position of Women • Women increasingly under complete control of men • Harems • seclusion of wives and concubines • Concubines- slaves who sometimes could win freedom and gain power by having rulers sons • Restricted to forbidden parts of imperial palace • veiling • Why? • Men unable to resist the lures and temptations of women • Segregation except in family household

10. Abbasid elite will have a great demand for slaves • Both male and female • Most captured or purchased from non-Muslim regions • Prized for beauty and intelligence.

11. Busy with struggles at home and in the central provinces, caliphs were powerless to prevent loss of outer territorties • Egypt • Syria • Buyids • Persian Shi’ ites

12. Buyids • 945 CE • A regional splinter dynasty • Captured Baghdad • Caliph- puppet government • Buyids even took the title of Sultans • Arabic for victorious • Muslim rulers • Control the court but could not stop the disintegration of empire

13. 1055 Seljuk Turks • Nomadic invaders from central Asia via Persia • Brought down the Buyids • Two centuries Turk military leaders rule the Abbasid Empire in name of caliphs • Staunch Sunnis • Purge Shi’ i officials • Rid empire of Shi’ I influence

14. Military machine will be successful for a while • End threat of Shi’ i dynasty in Egypt • Defeat Byzantine attempt to regain long last land • Important because it open the way to settlement of Asia Minor • Later home to Ottoman Empire– now Turkey

15. Seljuks faced challenge by Christian Crusaders • Knights from western Europe who wanted to control the holy lands • Christian crusaders were successful between 1069-1099 due to • Muslim political divisions • Element of surprise • 1099 Jerusalem the main objective of the Christian Crusaders was capture

16. 8 Crusades over two centuries • Seljuk Turks • United by Saladin • Reconquered lost territory • Last crusader kingdom was lost with the fall of Acre in 1291

17. Impact on • Greater on Christians than Muslims • Intensified European borrowing from the Muslims • Weapons • Building fortifications • Words • Games • Chess • Scientific learning • Arabic numbers & decimal system • Greek learning

18. Of greater significance was the “exchange” was largely one way • Muslims show little interest in learning or institutions of the West

19. Persian influence • Persian language • replaced Arabic as primary written language at Abbasid court • Arabic remain language of religion, law and natural sciences • Persian was chief language of “high culture”

20. Shah-Nama • Book of Kings • Written by Firdawsi • History of Persia from beginnings of time to Islamic conquest

21. Science • Islamic civilization ahead of others in scientific discoveries and technologies