PERSIAN Chart Islamic Caliphates

PERSIAN Chart for Islamic Caliphates
ERA: 8,000 B.C.E. –
600 C.E. Umayyads (660 – 750)
Abbasids
750 - 1258
POLITICAL
 Leaders/groups
 Forms of government
 Empires
 State building/expansion
 Political structures
 Courts/laws
 Nationalism/nations
 Revolts/revolutions
 By 633 All of Arabia was under Islamic
control
 The weakness of the Persian empire allowed
Muslim military commanders to mount a
series of expeditions to expand their empire,
conquering Mesopotamia, North Africa,
Persia and into Spain.
 Shi’i (followers of Ali) and Sunni split
started with the Umayyads and is still a
problem, conflict over who should rule
 From the city of Damascus Umayyad
Caliphs built a bureaucracy limited to Arab
participation
 Rebel group from Iran joined with the Shi’a
to overthrow the Umayyad caliphs in 750
(Umayyad leaders killed at banquet)
 only Umayyad from Spain remained
 Abbasid’s built a centralized, absolute
government
 capital moved to Baghdad and government
became more Persian (dominated by Persian
bureaucrats)
 Caliphs lived in gilt palaces with their
harems and the government was run by the
wazirs and the executioner.
 excessive lifestyle of Abbasids drained
treasury
 Shi’a revolts led to a weakening in the
Abbasid Empire, along with the Caliph’s
taste for luxury would put financial strain on
the empire.
 Civil wars and food riots caused 4 caliphs to
be murdered. Mercenary slave armies and
constant civil war, public works, mosques,
palaces drained the treasury leaving the
expense to raise taxes on the peasants
 In 1055, the Abbasid Caliphs were replaced
by the Seljuk Turk sultans, and the caliphs
became puppets to the Turks.
ECONOMIC
 Agricultural, pastoral
 Economic systems
 Labor systems/ organizations
 Industrialization
 Technology/industry
 Capital/money/Business
 Trade flourished as the Arab empire grew
throughout the Middle east, across North
Africa and into Spain.
 Muslim sailors/ traders dominated the
Eastern Mediterranean
 only Arabs were 1st class citizens because the
Umayyads did not want to share the “booty”
 non-Arabs Muslims & non-Muslims paid
taxes
 later Umayyad caliphs stopped giving out
“booty”
 efficient tax system to get money from
widespread empire
 booty no longer shared
 growth of merchant class became core of
trade with the Tang and Song dynasties of
China
 profits invested in land and palaces
 Growth of craft industries / guilds such as
luxury items, carpets, glassware, jewelry,
and tapestries.
 Converts to Islam were exempt from taxes
and had more opportunities, allowing
Persian families to rise to position of power.
RELIGIOUS
 Belief systems/ teachings
 Philosophy
 Holy books
 Conversion
 Key figures
 Deities
 Conquered peoples not required to become
Muslim
 Jews & Christians were People of the Book
 the Umayyads were considered more
conservative than the Abassids, but the
caliphs lifestyle was extravagant.
 the hadiths (traditions of Islam) grew during
the time of the Umayyads
 caliphs felt they were the “shadow of God”
and superior to ordinary citizens
 the strict principles of Muhammad not
followed in many parts of the empire
 Efforts to win new converts led to mass
conversions by Persians, Turks, and Berbers.
 No distinction between Arab Muslims and
non-Arab Muslims since the booty was no
longer shared.
 Sufi mystics reacted against strict view f
traditionalists
 Sufis thought to be magical
 Sufis spread Islam to large parts of Asia