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War (continued)
A. Wars of Early Conquest and Expansion of Islam
Islam started in the cities of Mecca and Medina. The Prophet Muhammad's forces expanded Muslim control to much of western Arabia before he died in 632 AD. Expansion continued. Expansion was made easier because some of the old empires in the Middle East were already weak. Often the people who lived under the previous conquerors joined the Muslim forces because they were treated better. They could still follow their religion if they were Christians or Jews (called "People of the Book"). Many converted to Islam voluntarily.
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B. Wars between Muslims
1. Civil War in 656 - 680 : Split between Shi'a and Sunni Muslims
During the time of the expansion, conflict grew between two groups of Muslims. The Shi'a Muslims believed only a descendant of Muhammad should be the rightful successor - like Ali, Muhammad's nephew and son-in-law who married Muhammad's daughter Fatimah. On the other side, the Muslims who supported Muawiya, the powerful governor of Syria. In this conflict, Ali was murdered by an angry former supporter.
In order to prevent more bloodshed, Ali's son Hussein agreed to a treaty. However, he still spoke out against the rule of the Umayyads: "O people, those Umayyads have pledged allegiance to the Devil and left God's obedience. They have spread corruption, suspended the application of Islamic laws, and taken to themselves Muslims' wealth. Besides forbidding what is permitted and allowing what is forbidden."
The largest battle took place in 680 AD at Karbala. It was between the followers of Ali's son Hussein (grandson of the Prophet Muhammad) and the army of Yazid (of the Umayyad dynasty, descendants of Muawiya). Hussein was killed. His head was chopped off and taken back to Yazid as a war trophy.
The death of Hussein and treatment of the Prophet Muhammad's family was shocking to all Muslims. It set the stage for future conflicts between Shi'a followers of the Party of Ali, and the Umayyad rulers. The Battle of Karbala and the death of Hussein are still reenacted by Shi'a Muslims to honor the martyred leader.
2. Assassinations, Revolt and Take Over - The Umayyad Dynasty (661 - 750) and the Abbasid Dynasty (750 - 1258)
The Umayyad Dynasty was started by Muawiya and his son Yazid. They made their capital in Damascus, Syria. After 90 years of rule, a secret society was able to end this family's rule. The Umayyad leaders were invited to a dinner in Baghdad. At that dinner, all were assassinated except for one who was able to escape. (This man was Abd al Rahman. He was able to swim across the Euphrates River and eventually to make his way to Spain. There he continued the Umayyad Dynasty.)
The Abbasids took over ruling the empire and established their new capital in Baghdad. They ruled for more than 500 years, until their empire was invaded and their capital was destroyed by the Mongols.
3. Fatimids Began their Own Shi'a Dynasty in Northern Africa (909 - 1171)
The split between the Sunni and Shi'a Muslims continued to divide Muslims in the ninth and tenth centuries. In Northern Africa, a Shi'a group called Fatimids gained power. Their leaders claimed to be a descendant of Muhammad's daughter Fatimah. (See above.) This group expanded their power from Tunisia and conquered Egypt in 971. Egypt remained Shi'a until about 1171, when it returned to Sunni.
For a time the Fatimids tried to be rulers of the whole Islamic world, and their achievements were impressive. At their peak they ruled North Africa, the Red Sea coast, Yemen, Palestine, and parts of Syria. The Fatimids built the Mosque of al-Azhar in Cairo and developed al-Azhar University, now the oldest university in the world and perhaps the most influential Islamic school of higher learning. Fatimid merchants traded with Afghanistan and China and tried to divert some of Baghdad's Arabian Gulf shipping to the Red Sea.
But the Fatimids' dreams of gaining control of the Islamic heartland came to nothing, partly because many other independent states refused to support them and partly because they lost control of their own hired soldiers, the Mamluks. Such developments weakened the Fatimids, but they were strong enough to resist the Seljuk Turks.
The Fatimids were followed by the Ayyubid Dynasty (1171 - 1250) whose founder was Saladin.
C. The Seljuk Turks Challenged the Byzantine Empire
The Seljuk Turks were nomadic people who descended from a tribal chief named Seljuk. Their original homeland lay beyond the Oxus River near the Aral Sea. The Seljuks developed a highly effective fighting force. In the early 1000s they extended their power from Central Asia into parts of Turkey.
The Seljuk Turks became Sunni Muslims and helped the Abbasid leaders in Baghdad in their conflict with the Shi'a Fatimids in Egypt.
Because of the trouble between Muslim groups, the Byzantine Emperor tried to take advantage of the disunity. They advanced into Syria. But with the combined forces of the Seljuk Turks and the Abbasid warriors, the Byzantine army was stopped.
In 1071 a groups of Seljuk Turks was attacked by a Byzantine army led by the Emperor Romanus IV Diogenes. This was to prove fatal for the Byzantines. The Turks pretended to retreat, then turned on their foes (enemies) and defeated them. They captured the Emperor who was eventually released for ransom (money given to release a captive).
The battle ended Byzantine power in most of Asia Minor (Turkey). The Seljuk Turks were able to move in and found what was to become the Turkish Empire. Under Malik Shah (1055-1092) the Seljuk Empire reached its height. He established a system of Muslim universities to provide students with free education in the religious sciences of Islam, as well as in the most advanced scientific and philosophical thought of the time. Part of what was taught was defense of Islam against all enemies. Malik Shah had close ties with the Abbasid Empire.
After the death of Malik Shah in 1092, internal conflict among the young heirs led to the fragmentation into smaller Seljuk states led by various members of the family.
It was because the Christian armies of the Byzantine Empire were defeated, and the "Holy Land" was no longer open to Christian pilgrims, that the Pope began to preach for a war against the Seljuk Turks. Christians in Europe followed his call, and began the Crusades.
D. The Crusades
The Christians in Europe mounted 9 crusades against the Muslims who had control of the Holy Land (which was holy to the Muslims, Jews and Christians).
- The Crusades - Five Centuries Of Holy War
- 1095-1096 The Peasants Crusade - This crusade never got very far because they weren't prepared for war. Some of the survivors joined the First Crusade.
- 1096-1099 The First Crusade - This crusade was the only successful one. They ended up taking Jerusalem and slaughtered its citizens. European crusaders learned much from the Muslims around them.
- 1147-1149 The Second Crusade
- 1189-1192 The Third Crusade
- 1202-1204 The Fourth Crusade
- 1202-1202 The Children's Crusade (which ended in complete failure and never reached the Holy Land; the children were sold into slavery or died of disease.)
- 1218-1221 The Fifth Crusade
- 1228-1229 The Sixth Crusade
- 1248-1254 The Seventh Crusade
See a brief history of the crusades from a Muslim perspective (which tells that the crusades were not seen as a serious threat to Islam and which includes some photographs of castles.) Read another account of the Crusades by a medieval Muslim: Islam and European Piracy.
An Account of the Taking Jerusalem by the Christian Crusaders, July, 1099 A.D.
"The Crusaders spent at least that night and the next day killing Muslims. Not even women and children were spared. The city's Jews sought refuge in their synagogue, only to be burned alive within it by the Crusaders. Raymond of Aquilers reported that he saw "piles of heads, hands and feet" on a walk through the holy city. Men trotted across the bodies and body fragments as if they were a carpet for their convenience. The Europeans also destroyed the monuments to Orthodox Christian saints and the tomb of Abraham. The massacre was policy: "They desired that this place, so long contaminated by the superstition of the pagan inhabitants, should be cleansed from their contagion." The Crusaders intended Jerusalem to be a Christian city--and strictly a Latin Christian city. The Crusaders cut open the stomachs of the dead because someone said that the Muslims sometimes swallowed their gold to hide it. Later, when the corpses were burned, Crusaders kept watch for the melted gold that they expected to see flowing onto the ground. While the slaughter was still going on, many churchmen and princes assembled for a holy procession. Barefoot, chanting and singing, they walked to the shrine of the Holy Sepulcher through the blood flowing around their feet. The Crusaders recorded that "...our men rode in the blood of the Muslims up to the knees of their horses." Abridged from The Taking of Jerusalem, Climax of the First Crusade by J. Arthur McFall "Some of our men (and this was more merciful) cut off the heads of their enemies; others shot them with arrows, so that they fell from the towers; others tortured them longer by casting them into the flames. Piles of heads, hands, and feet were to be seen in the streets of the city. It was necessary to pick one's way over the bodies of men and horses. But these were small matters compared to what happened at the Temple of Solomon, a place where religious services are ordinarily chanted. What happened there? If I tell the truth, it will exceed your powers of belief. So let it suffice to say this much, at least, that in the Temple and porch of Solomon, men rode in blood up to their knees and bridle reins. Indeed, it was a just and splendid judgment of God that this place should be filled with the blood of the unbelievers, since it had suffered so long from their blasphemies. The city was filled with corpses and blood." Fall of Jerusalem, Accounts from Eye Witnesses. |
An Account of the Taking Jerusalem by Saladin (Salah al-Din), September, 1187 A.D. [Salah al-Din's forces had surrounded the city of Jerusalem and attacked several weak spots. A Muslim victory appeared to be inevitable. Peace negotiations began.] "After lengthy negotiations, an agreement was reached between Salah al-Din and the Latins according to which they were granted safe conduct to leave the city, provided that each male paid a ransom of ten dinars, each female paid five dinars, and each child was ransomed for two dinars. All those who paid their ransom within forty days were allowed to leave the city, while those who could not ransom themselves were to be enslaved. The Christian negotiator offered to pay 30,000 dinars on behalf of the poor, an offer that was accepted, and the city was at last surrendered on Friday, October 2, 1187 A.D. When Salah al-Din entered Jerusalem triumphantly, he immediately released the Muslim prisoners, who numbered close to 3,000. The newly released captives were later rewarded with the homes vacated by the Latins. "Meanwhile, the Latins started to prepare for their departure. They began to sell their property and possessions at very low prices to the merchants in Salah al-Din's army, as well as to native Christians. They stripped the ornaments from their churches, carrying with them vases of gold and silver and silk- and gold-embroidered curtains as well as church treasures..." There were many examples of magnanimity (kindness) on the part of the Muslim victors. [Salah al-Din was asked to set some slaves free. Accordingly, he freed 3,200 slaves who could not afford the ransom.] Furthermore, Salah al-Din sent his guard throughout the city to announce that all old people who could not pay would be allowed to leave the city: Their departure lasted from the rising of the sun until night fell. Salah al-Din also allowed many noble women of Jerusalem to leave without ransom. After the exodus (going out) of all those Latins who could leave, there were 15,000 individuals who remained in the city... 7,000 of them were men and 8,000 were women and children. All were enslaved. One historian was amazed at the amount of treasure that had been carried away by the departing Latins... valued at 200,000 dinars. [Salah al-Din's] agreement with the Latins was for safe conduct for themselves and their own property. "Let us deal with them according to the wording of the treaty so they may not accuse the believers of breaking the covenant. Instead, they will talk of the favors that we have bestowed upon them." Certainly Salah al-Din's magnanimity (kindness, generosity) towards the Latins contrasts sharply with the attitude of the victorious Crusaders in 1099. One [writer also] gives Salah al-Din's officers credit for their humane (kind) treatment of the refugees, noting that these officers, "who could not endure the suffering of the refugees, ordered their squires to dismount and set aged Christians upon their [horses]. Some of them even carried Christian children in their arms." "Thus did the [Muslims] show mercy to the fallen city," says Lane-Pool. "One recalls the savage conquest by the first Crusaders in 1099, when ... the streets [were] choked with the dead and dying."
Abridged from Medieval Accounts of Salah al-Din's Recovery of Jerusalem |
Learn more about Saladin, the first of the Ayubbid Dynasty in Egypt (1171 - 1250). He was of Kurdish heritage and started being a soldier at the age of 14 for the Sultan in Syria. He was able to gain the highest power in Egypt. Known as a great general, he is also famous for his ethics and fair treatment of others, even his enemy King Richard the Lionheart of England! He built the Citadel in Cairo which still stands impressively guarding the city.
D. Mongol Invasions
Rough map the 13th - 14th Centuries showing the Mongol Kingdoms in Shades of Yellow
Note: The Golden Horde, Jagatai, Khanate of Persia all became Muslim-Mongol Kingdoms. Map adapted from Hyperhistory site.
A brief history of the Mongol Invasion: In 1220 Mongols led by Ghengis Khan took Samarkand, then Russia, Central Europe, northern Iran, and in 1258, under Hulagu Khan, they invaded Baghdad (in Persia) and put an end to the remnants of the once-glorious 'Abbasid Empire. These Mongol Invaders later became Muslims and continued their influence over the area. They continued eastward, but were stopped by the Mamluks, the "slave" dynasty of Egypt. "Politically and economically, the Mongol invasions were disastrous. Some regions never fully recovered and the Muslim empire, already weakened by internal pressures, never fully regained its previous power. The Mongol invasions, in fact, were a major cause of the subsequent decline that set in throughout the heartland of the Arab East. In their sweep through the Islamic world the Mongols killed or deported numerous scholars and scientists and destroyed libraries with their irreplaceable works. The result was to wipe out much of the priceless cultural, scientific, and technological legacy that Muslim scholars had been preserving and enlarging for some five hundred years."
But in the beginning of the fourteenth century, the Mongol ruler Ghazan Khan Mahmud officially adopted Islam as the religion of the state. For a time peace descended on the eastern portion of the Mongol empire. During this period the Mongols built mosques and schools and patronized scholarship of all sorts.
From "Mongols History"
"Genghis Khan implemented several concepts that helped elevate (raise) his soldiers to the status of an army, versus a cavalry swarm of primitive warriors. Leaders were chosen on the basis of competence (ability), rather than heredity (with the exception of own family). The army was divided into tens, hundreds, and thousands, precursors (forerunners) of modern squads, companies, and regiments. Discipline was extremely strict and all booty was owned communally (by all in the community or group).
- Mongol tactics took advantage of mobility (fast movement). They could shoot charging (going ahead) or retreating (running away). They tried to catch their enemies at a disadvantage and used feints (fake-outs) and traps to get enemies out of position or into a panic. Heavy enemy cavalry were tricked into a charge and the Mongols would fall back while shooting. Once the enemy tired, the Mongols turned and counterattacked. The Mongols showered the dismounted (not on their horses) enemies with arrows or attacked them with lances. They shot the horses out from under the mounted enemies and then attacked them with swords or lances.
"Atrocity and brutality were employed deliberately to strike fear into enemies. Every man, woman, and child of cities that resisted were slaughtered entirely on occasion. Cities next in line were inclined to surrender without a fight that might have been costly to the Mongols."
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Timur (or Tamerlain) rose from being a prince in a small Turko-Mongol tribe in 1380 to become the ruler of an expanding empire that stretched from Delhi (India) to Anatolia (Turkey) by the time of his death in 1405. His life was, in the words of one modern scholar, "one long story of war, butchery and brutality unsurpassed until the present century." Yet under this short dynasty to follow, under the patronage of the leaders, music, calligraphy, Persian miniature painting, literature, architecture and various scientific pursuits flourished.
Learn more about Tamerlain.
E. Further Splitting into Separate Muslim Kingdoms
1. Mamluks (in Egypt and Syria 1250-1517 ). These rulers were from the "slave dynasty". Young Turkish boys were taken to Egypt and trained to serve the Egyptian Sultan. Eventually these "slave warriors" took over the government themselves and ruled for more than 250 years! They were effective in stopping the advance of the Mongols into Syria and beyond. They were eventually defeated by the Ottoman Turks, but the Ottomans kept many of them as government officials and generals.
2. Ottoman Turks took over most of modern Turkey and in 1453 they took over Constantinople ending the Byzantine Empire. The Ottomans ruled much of the Middle East and Northern Africa (1517-1917). [See a map of the "Ottoman Empire".]
3. Umayyad Spain - Muslims moved into Spain (which they called Andalusia) in 711. They were expelled in 1492 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella's combined forces. Spain remained Umayyad after the arrival of Abd al Rahman who escaped from the assassination attempt of all Umayyads in Baghdad, 750 by the Abbasids.
- For maps of the world at various historical times (rise of Islam, Mongol Empires, 1500-1800, etc.) showing the major cultures throughout the world, see "Hyperhistory: Spread of Islam" and then the "Mongol Empires".
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