The rise and fall of the medieval Islamic Empire

In the seventh century CE, one man began a chain of occasions that would impact the world request for good. Through the creation of Islam, the people of the Arabian Peninsula were brought together by the prophet Muhammad. These people included Bedouin tribes that lived on the move and people who lived in oasis cities like Mecca and Medina. Prior to Muhammad's time, the region was not thought to be a serious threat to the powerful Persian and Byzantine empires that were nearby. However, Muhammad's alliance was not only religious but also political—it was an empire with Medina as its political center and a force to be reckoned with. Muhammad was a leader unlike any other. He had belonged to the Quraysh tribe, which ruled Mecca. The question of who should succeed Muhammad was a contentious one after his death. Ab Bakr, Muhammad's spouse and father-in-law, won out and became the new caliph, also known as Muhammad's successor. Four caliphs from Muhammad's tribe conquered vast territories outside of Arabia over the next 30 years, including their formidable neighbors, the Persians and Byzantines. However, as the empire grew, internal discontent grew, and a civil war broke out. Ali, the fourth caliph, was killed. The Umayyad Dynasty took over after that. While the Umayyads belonged to a rival clan, they belonged to the same tribe as Muhammad. They established Damascus as their capital and expanded the empire's territory to include India and what is now Spain. However, a vast empire with so many distinct peoples was susceptible to conflict and division. By replacing the ruling elite in conquered territories with Muslim officials, the Umayyads stabilized it while largely allowing local customs, including religious preferences, to continue. Arabic served as the empire's administrative language, unifying political affairs, but local languages were still spoken and written. Still, many people in the empire were unhappy with the rule of the Umayyads and doubted the dynasty's legitimacy. The Abbasid family exploited these opinions, advancing themselves as more straightforward relatives of the prophet, however their genuine connection to Muhammad was more shaky than they guaranteed. In 750 CE, they overthrew the Umayyad caliphate and became the Islamic Empire's second great dynasty. They moved the capital once more and built a new city to establish themselves as the new rulers: Baghdad. Due to extensive trade networks that brought goods and people from all over the world to Baghdad, the elite lived in luxury under Abbasid rule. Knowledge and cultures from Byzantine, Persian, Indian, and Arab cultures intertwined, resulting in artistic and scientific advancement. Beyond imagination, the caliph was wealthy and powerful. Be that as it may, there was never a reasonable line of progression directing who might turn into the following caliph. Since the former caliph's male relatives could apply, brothers, nephews, and uncles fought for power. Army officers, wives, concubines, and government officials all sought their fair share of the treasury in the courtroom. Each change in power opened the door to favoritism and corruption due to the caliph's dependence on his entourage. Because of the conflict between the caliph's religious obligation to moral excellence and the court's extravagant displays of wealth, many outside the court questioned the caliph's legitimacy. The Mongols approached Baghdad in 1258 CE. As they completely destroyed the city, they met little resistance. The caliph is said to have been wrapped in a rug, killed by horses, and the ink from the manuscripts thrown into the Tigris River is said to have turned black. The attack of Baghdad revealed a longstanding reality: The caliphs had ruled primarily symbolically for centuries. The empire's increasingly powerful local leaders refused to pay taxes and instead used the money to fund their own courts. Although the unified Islamic Empire's written and spoken Arabic influence, Islam, and the ideas of its greatest intellectuals left a lasting impression on the world.

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