Chapter 4
Middle Islamic countries
Exercises
1. 1. Give a very short answer:
(a) What was the name of the book that Tabari translated from Arabic into English?
Answer: The book translated from Arabic into English by Tabari is called Tarikh.
(b) In whose day was the Hijri calendar introduced?
Answer: The Hijri year was introduced during the reign of Caliph 'Umar.
(c) Who founded the Umayyad dynasty?
Answer: The Umayyad dynasty was founded by Moab.
(d) What is 'medicine'?
Answer: Dawa is a well-organized movement.
(e) Where did the Abbasid revolt take place?
Answer: The Abbasid revolt took place in the remote region of Khorasan (eastern Iran).
(f) What is the position?
Answer: Maqam is a part of popular Arabic literature.
(g) Who wrote In an Antique Land?
Amitabh Ghosh wrote the book In an Antique Land .
(h) When was the Mustan Syria Madrasah in Baghdad built?
Answer: The Mustan Syria Madrassa in Baghdad was built in
(i) Who is said to be the father of the new Persian language?
Answer: The Samanid prince Rodaki is said to be the father of the new Persian language.
(j) Who wrote the Shahnama ( Book of Kings)?
Answer: The Shahnama (Book of kings) was written by Firdausi.
(k) What was the name of Alberuni's famous work?
Alberuni 's famous work was called Tahkik Ma Lil-Hindu (History of India).
(l) In what year did the Mongols conquer Baghdad?
Answer: The Mongols conquered Baghdad in 1258 AD.
2. 2. Write the short answer:
a) What were the characteristics of the Bedouin way of life in the early seventh century?
Answer: During the period 612-32, the Prophet Muhammad preached the worship of one God or Allah and a single community of believers. It is the birthplace of Islam. Muhammad was an Arab by language and culture and a merchant by profession. Sixth-century Arab culture was mainly confined to the Arabian Peninsula and southern Syria and Mesopotamia.
The Arabs were divided into several tribes. Tribes are societies organized on the basis of blood relationship. Arab tribes were divided into clans or large families. Some unrelated clans came together to strengthen a tribe. Non-Arabs could also become members of Arab society, sponsored by Mawasi tribal chiefs. Despite their conversion to Islam, the Mawalis were not given a place by the Arab Muslims and had to pray in other mosques. However, each tribe was led by a tribal middleman. The chief was chosen partly on the basis of his family ties and mainly for his courage, knowledge and generosity. Each tribe had its own god or goddess. He was worshiped as an idol in the mosque. Most of the Arab tribes were nomadic Bedouins. They roamed from dry places to wet green lands in search of food for themselves and their camels. Some of them settled in the cities and engaged in trade or agriculture. Muhammad's own tribe, the Quraysh, was in Mecca and ran a major house of worship in Ghana called the Ka-ba. There were several idols in this house. Tribes outside Mecca took it as a pilgrimage site and brought their idols there to worship. They visited this pilgrimage site once a year. Mecca was located at the confluence of a trade route between Yemen and Syria. This also increased the importance of Mecca. Mecca was a holy place where violence was forbidden and all visitors were given security. Pilgrimage and trade helped the nomadic and settled tribes to get to know each other and to exchange customs and beliefs in Mecca. The polytheistic Arabs had a vague idea of a supreme god - Allah, but their attachment to idolatry and pilgrimage sites was stronger.
b) What do you mean by the Abbasid Revolution?
Answer: The Abbasid Revolution means the Umayyads who centralized the rule of the Muslim community.
c) Give examples of the universal character of the states founded by the Arabs, Iranians and Turks.
Answer:
d) What were the effects of the Crusades in Europe and Asia?
Answer: The effects of the Crusades in Europe and Asia were that many people were weakened by the Crusades. Many Christians died at the hands of Muslims.
3. Essay-like questions
a) In what ways does Islamic architecture differ from Roman architecture?
Answer: It was the main center of Islamic civilization in the region that developed between 600 and 1200 AD. The term Islamic was not used only in a religious sense. It covers society and culture associated with Islam. Not everything that happened in society was caused by religion. Those events took place in another society that recognized Muslims and religion as socially dominant.
In the 19th century, accurate histories of Islam began to be written by professors from Germany and the Netherlands. British and French researchers also studied colonial Islam. Christian priests studied Islamic history and wrote high-quality books. They were fluent in Arabic and Persian. Ignaz Goldziher was a Hungarian Jew. He studied at the Islamic College Al-Azhar in Cairo. Twentieth-century Islamic historians mainly followed the methods of Oriental theorists. One example of how modern historical methods can study religion in Islamic history is about customs and religious people.
b) What cities are found from Samarkhand to Damascus?
Answer: These are the cities from Samarkand to Damascus
In 751, the Muslim governor of Samarkhand detained 20,000 Chinese invaders. Some of them could make paper. Paper was the main export of Samrakhand for a hundred years.
Iranian merchants traveled from Baghdad to China along the Silk Road via the desert cities of Bukhara and Samar Khan to bring paper and other goods from Central Asia and China along the eastern border. Samarkhand, on the other hand, did important commercial work. Financial systems and market exchanges increased the importance of currency in the Middle Islamic countries. Gold, copper and silver coins were minted in Islamic countries. Gold came from Sudan in Africa and silver from the Zarafsan Valley in Central Asia.
When Baghdad was established as the capital of the Abbasid caliphs, it had a population of about one million. Those cities, as well as old cities such as Damascus, Isfahan and Samarkhand, received new life. Production of food grains, sugar and cotton also increased for the consumption of the urban population.
c) State the reasons for the fall of the Caliphate.
Answer: The reasons for the fall of the Caliphate are mentioned below
The establishment of the caliphate was the biggest innovation. The leader of the Muslim community was the caliph. The first four caliphs (632-61) claimed the office as Muhammad's allies and followed him. The purpose of the Caliph was to increase the wealth of the state by controlling the tribes within the Ummah.
The Abbasid Caliphate was very weak from the ninth century onwards. This is because Baghdad's control of the distant provinces was not emphasized. In 810, civil war broke out between the supporters of Caliph Harun al-Basid's two sons, Amin and Mamun. The war led to more strife between the clans and a group of Turkish officers was formed. Abbasid rule was limited to central Iraq and western Iran. All of that was lost in the 945s. This is because the Shiite tribe of Bayid in the Caspian region of Iran occupied Baghdad.
They were wise and did not abolish the Caliph. After all, there was a Shia dynasty called the Fatimids. They hoped to rule the Muslims. The Fatimids were an Ismaili sect descended from Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad. They were not the sons of Muhammad. The Fatimids were based in Africa. They conquered Egypt in 969 and established the Caliphate.
The rise of the Turkish Sultanate in the 10th and 11th centuries led to the formation of a group of Arab-Iranians of the Caliph's state called the Third Group. The Turks were a nomadic tribe in the steppes of Central Asia. The Turks were skilled in warfare and served as slaves and soldiers in the Abbasid, Bayid, and Chamanid administrations. In 961, Alptgin established the Sultanate of Ghazni. For them, the Abbasid caliphs were not opposed.
d) Describe the nature of the agricultural economy and urban life in the early Islamic states.
Answer: The nature of the agricultural economy and urban life in the early Islamic states is mentioned below
During the period 612-32, the Prophet Muhammad preached a society or community to introduce the worship of one Allah. It was in that society that Islam originated. Muhammad was a merchant. In the 19th century, the exact history of Islam was written by a few professors from Germany and the Netherlands. British and French researchers also studied Islam.
Agriculture, Economy and Urban Life- Agriculture was the occupation of the inhabitants of the newly occupied areas. The Islamic State made no changes to it. All farmers, large and small, owned land in those areas. cultivateda large area . The villagers' property was converted from pastoral land to permanent agricultural land. After the Muslim conquest, large tracts of land were acquired by the state. The lands were divided among the Caliph's family.
Agricultural lands were controlled by the state. The rent for land cultivated by Muslims was 10/1 Along with the development of agriculture, political stability also increased. The expansion of agricultural land was due to the efforts and cooperation of the farmers. There was no change in agricultural technology, but cotton, oranges, watermelons, eggplant, vegetables and bananas had to be cultivated newly.
The civilization of the Islams developed as cities grew. Many cities were established to station Arab troops. They were the backbone of local administration. The army-fortified cities were Bosra, Kofa, Fustat and Cairo in Egypt. These cities, as well as some older ones such as Damascus, Samarkhand and Isfahan, received new life. Production of food grains, sugar and cotton for urban consumption also increased. They connected one city with another and gained a large urban area.
Expressing cultural and economic strength, there were two large buildings in the center of the city and a mosque (Masjid al jami) for religious gatherings. That mosque was very large. He could see the mosque from a distance. The second building is the Large Central Market Suq. There were rows of shops , money exchanges and offices of the merchants who lived there. The soldiers and the common people lived outside the city. They were all getting along. The gate was outside the city wall. After the door was closed, there was a guest house and a cemetery for anyone who stayed outside.
The field had to be widened due to political consolidation and the demand for luxury goods and food for the citizens. The Muslim empire was helped by its geographical location. The empire covered the region between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. The importance of the Red Sea route increased from the 10th century onwards with the growth of Italian trading cities.
4. The Write short notes.
a) The Islamic Calendar
Answer: The Islamic calendar - Hijri was introduced during the reign of Caliph 'Umar. The first year of this year was 622 AD. AH is written after the date of the Hijri calendar.
The Muslims faced opposition from the rich Meccans. Those Meccans were outraged that Islam had rejected their gods and goddesses. Muhammad's departure from Mecca was a decisive moment in Islamic history. The year he entered was the first year of the Muslim calendar.
The Hijri year is a lunar year of 354 days. There were 12 months in the year. There were 29 and 30 days in the month. (From Muharram to Dhul Hijjah) Each day started at sunset. And each month began with the appearance of the moon. The Hijri year was 11 days shorter than the solar year. Matching the Gregorian date to the Hijri calendar was a difficult task. The formula corresponding between the Islamic 'H' and the Gregorian Christian year 'C' is (H x 32 / 33 ) + 622 = C
( C - 622 ) x 33 / 32 = H
Religion can survive if the community of religious people survives. Muhammad introduced Islam among his followers by reforming those who followed religious practices.
b) Abd al-Malik’s currency reforms
Answer: The currency reform of Abd al-Malik-
Built on the coins of Abd al-Malik, it was the first example of Islamic architecture. It is built as a testimony to the Muslim presence in Jerusalem. Abd al-Malik (685-705) and his successors placed greater emphasis on Arab and Islamic identity. The gold dinar and the silver dirham were in circulation in the Caliph's kingdom . These were copies of Byzantine and Iranian coins with crosschines and fire altars. These scripts were in Greek and Pahlavi languages.
Coinage examples converted from Byzantine to Arab Islamic currency. The second coin showed the caliph with a beard and long hair in traditional Arab dress. He has a sword in his hand. This was an intact Muslim picture. This is because, in later times, he created opinions against the depiction of living people in art. In terms of restructuring, Abd al-Malik's monetary reforms were linked to the finances of the state. For hundreds of years, weights and model coins of the third coin were minted. And they are:
1. Solidus made of Byzantine gold The coin depicted Emperor Heraclius and his two sons.
2. Abd al-Malik made gold dinars engraved with his name and portrait.
3. Of a dinar of superior quality, this is entirely epigraphical. He wrote Kalimar here. The coin states that there is no god but Allah.
c) The Qur'an
Answer: The Qur'an - The Qur'an was written in Arabic. It had 114 chapters. These chapters were written in order from largest to smallest. He wrote the big chapter first, and the small chapter at the very end. The first peak was a short prayer. Muslims believed that the Qur'an was a collection of sayings. They were sent by God between 610 and This entire Qur'an was written in the ninth century.
For religious scholars, knowledge was learned from the Koran. The jurists demonstrated their strength in drafting Islamic law. Because not everything was clear in the Qur'an.
There were some problems in using the Qur'an as a source of early Islamic history. This is because it is a scripture, belonging to religious authority. They used the words of the Qur'an literally as the words of God. In 833, the Abbasid Caliph al-Mamun said that the Qur'an was not the word of God, but His creation. The second problem is that most of the Qur'an is allegorical and, unlike the Old Testament, does not mention events. It only mentions their context.
D. Religion, Society and Politics of Middle Islamic Countries
Answer: Religion, society and politics of the Middle Islamic countries
History has mentioned three important aspects of Islamic countries in human civilization. They are religion, society and politics. In the seventh century, religion, society and politics merged. The circle was then divided again in the fifth century. Eventually, the influence of Islam in the state and government was limited. Many incidents happened against politics and religion. Religion and community were united by keeping the Muslim community together by using charisma in religious and personal activities.
Medieval Islamic society mentions beautiful language and imagination as highly praised qualities. These qualities have been elevated to the level of a person's manners. Adab was expressed in poetry and prose. These are used in a timely manner. They were popular among the Islamists for composing praise songs. They appeared in the holy books of ancient Iran during the Arab conquest of Iran. At the same time, the Pahlavi language was dying. It contained a large number of Arabic words. Firdausi completed the Shahnama at the age of
In the ninth century, the literature covered biography, ethics, statesmanship, geography, and history. Heritage was established in the writing of history by educated Muslims. He wrote books in Persian to discover the unity and diversity of the Islamic world. Alberuni wrote the famous Tahkik Ma Lil-Hindu.
Religious buildings were the greatest symbols of society. It was a high foundation for the teacher. He preached there on Friday afternoons. In towns and villages, prayers were held five times a day and sermons were held weekly.
