The Abbasid Empire

Chapter 6 (part 5 of 5)

Arab Empire Becomes More Islamic

Abbasid more righteous in their

Sunni Islam

Turn on Shia, who had helped them

gain power

Move capital from Damascus to

Baghdad

The Baghdad Bureaucracy

Increased power over empire (increased taxes)Caliphs kept separated from public

Abbasid lived even more lavishly than Umayyad

An executioner followed the caliph around

At a moment’s notice, the caliph would order a person

murdered

Wouldn’t shy away from killing important Muslims to show

Abbasid caliph in charge of the religion

Abbasid Start Converting People

Treated converts as equals (no jizya)

Now incentive

to convert, most do

Persians take full advantag

e and gain

power

Economic Boom

Merchant class grew under Abbasid rule

(Afro-Eurasian trade revived)

Traded with Tang and Song

dynasties in China

Muslim merchants worked with Jewish

and Christian merchants

Dhows – triangular Arab sailing ships, influenced later European ships

New handicraft production led to new workshops

opening, and cities growing

Products made by Muslims under the Abbasid caliphate included:

Artisans mostly poor,

but not slaves (owned own

tools)

Skilled artisans

formed guilds (like labor

unions)

Furniture Carpets Glassware Jewelry Tapestries

Slaves

Used by wealthy for

domestic service and on public works

Slaves could advance in status and

buy freedom

Others in Abbasid Empire

Ayan

Wealthy elite class that arose in the

countryside under Abbasid rule

Peasants

Most did not own land, instead

worked as sharecroppers on

estates

Islamic Art and Architecture

Mostly focuses on building mosques

Math and

Science

At 1st uneducated,

mostly preserved ancient learning

Through trade, Arab merchants spread learning

Indian number system brought

by Arabs to Europe (why it’s

called Arabic)

Eventually Arabs start

creating math and scientific discoveries on

their own

Abbasid Decline

• By 800s, Abbasid began losing control of huge empire

• Non-Arab Muslims in empire began setting up own kingdoms (like Turks)

Great Achievements of the Arab Empire

Nobody thought that “backwards” camel nomads could build an empire so large and so

quickly

Successfully used religion (Islam) as political power

Arab dominance began a period in time when nomads dominated much of the world