Chapter 6 Notes

Question 1

Bedouin

Answer 1

Nomadic dominant cultures- camel/ goat herding

Question 2

Social oganization

Answer 2

Kin-clans> tribes(war, severe crisis)
Kicked out= death> survival linked to family (struggle for subsistence)
Conflict over pasture/water land= cycle of revenge- weak/vulnerable
-small communities of farmers/ townpeople

Question 3

Shayks

Answer 3

Leaders of tribe/clan

• lots of wives/children- elected by counsel
• orders enforced by bands of free warriors> slave fam.s under warriors from defeated rivals

Question 4

Mecca

Answer 4

Dominated
Red Sea area
Founded by Umayyad clan of Quraysh tribe
-ka’ba: increase wealth/stat. & merch

Question 5

Medina (yathrib)

Answer 5

Oasis of wells/ springs= agr
Muhammad
Control split between 2 Bedouin/ 3 Jewish familys

Question 6

Women(Bedouin culture)

Answer 6

Greater freedom/ varied higher stat
Key Econ. Roles:milk, weave, kids
Highly regarded advice
No veil or seclusion
Poetry
Not = men, no warrior, male lineage, only polygamy

Question 7

Material culture

Answer 7

Not highly developed, little art, oral poetry/story telling,

Question 8

Bedouin religion

Answer 8

Polytheistic and animism
god= Allah
Not taken seriously

Question 9

Muhammad

Answer 9

Quraysh tribe- banu hashim clan- orphan> uncle Abu Talib/ grandpa
Merchant> Khadijah (work 20 yrs, wife) exposed to world (mono-religions/ new faith of prophets)

Question 10

Muhammad religious life

Answer 10

610- fist revelation>later written in Qur’an
Threat to Umayyad’s wealth/ power in Mecca (ka’ba)
Flee to medina- negotiate peace- new converts
622- Hijra to medina(secured by Ali)
620s- Umayyad attack muha. - courageous leader/ fighter
628- treaty w/ Quraysh- Muslim permission to visit ka’ba- in Mecca> smashs idols + converts

Question 11

Arabian geography

Answer 11

Inhospitable desert- unlikely birthplace of first global civilization
Agriculture on the coast
On periphery of major civs

Question 12

Arabs and Islam

Answer 12

Provided political/ religious unity, distinctively Arab, Umma (community of the faithful) zakat(tax for charity)- wealthy don’t take advantage, ethics- prepare for last judgement

Question 13

Islam

Answer 13

5 pillars- no god but Allah, pray 5x facing Mecca, fast during Ramadan, zakat, hajj(pilgrimage to ka’ba)
Egalitarian
Sim to Jew/ Christians

Question 14

ARAB Empire

Answer 14

632- muha. Dies> succession fight
Ruled by small Arab warrior elite under Islamic banner
-caliph: political and religious leader
-Ali(cousin, too young) vs. Abu bakr(friend, knew genealogy, alliances/rivalries, loose control of mil.)

Question 15

Ridda wars

Answer 15

Defeat Bedouin tribes

Raid for booty

Question 16

Motives for Arab conquest

Answer 16

Islam provided unity, release pent up energy of bedouins, not to win converts(less tax collected), JIHADS-holy wars

Question 17

Weaknesses of adversary empires: Sassanian (Persia) empire:

Answer 17

More vulnerable, autocratic emperor manipulated by aristos, Zoroastrianism not pop., mazdak religion followed by peasants, delayed too long to realize threat, last rulers killed in 651

Question 18

Byzantine: weaknesses:

Answer 18

Survives but bleeds, defection of their own frontier Arabs, Muslims got t support from Syria/ Egypt, Copts/ Nestorians wanted less tax/ persecution

Question 19

Sunni-Shi’a split

Answer 19

Victories distracted from continuous divisions over divided booty
Sunni=Umayyads. Shi’a=Alli/kids
Uthman-3caliph Umayyad clan- killed> Alli supporters call him caliph>war-Alli shows weakness(negotiate) loses followers> mu’awiya 660-caliph in Jerusalem - challenge Alli-assinated- son Hasan renounces caliphate

Question 20

The Umayyad imperium

Answer 20

C. Asia-rivalry w/ budd.> Spain- no further, blocked by Charles Martel @ Poitiers 732- Damascus: political center- bureaucracy 
Muslim Arabs- 1st class citizens, Muslim warriors separate from pop.
Intermarriage=conversion= less tax

Question 21

Converts/ “people of the book”

Answer 21

Mawali- converts: property/Jizya(non-believers) tax

Dhimmi-people of the book(non Muslim region followers): tax but tolerated

Question 22

Family/ gender roles:

Answer 22

Up to 4 wives(must support and treat equally)

-women: say in marriage, divorce, inheritance

Question 23

Umayyad decline/ fall

Answer 23

Fat cats- lux/ soft living> people revolt
Begins in Merv- many warriors intermarry>Abbasid(shi’a + Mawili) win
-invite Umayyad fam for dinner-kill-one escape> caliphate of córdoba in Spain

Question 24

Arab>Islamic empire

Answer 24

Abbasids reject shi’a/Mawili, est. Islam,Sunni rule, Baghdad-cap. Near Persian cap.> Persian jeweled throne, bureaucrats, Wazir-chief admin., royal executioner, revenue/law/ order- but harder the farther away

Question 25

Islamic conversion/ Mawili acceptance

Answer 25

Full integration of new converts- equality> schooling/admin careers, Persian converts dominate

Question 26

Town/ country: commercial boom/ agrarian expansion- Abbasid age

Answer 26

merch/ landlords grow in wealth/soc. Stat, urban expansion linked to revival of Afro-Eurasian trade, DHOWS- small fast ships, money to charity/land/mansions/commercial enterprises/mosques/schools/baths/rest houses/hospitals*, long distance trade(lux)

Question 27

Artisans/slaves/ayan

Answer 27

Artisans- highly valued, poorly paid, had workshops
Slaves- unskilled labor(domestic servants), could buy freedom, rise to great power, others had hard life
Ayan- landed elite

Question 28

1st Flowering if Islamic learning

Answer 28

Mosques/great palaces, learning focused on sciences/ math
Recovered: preserved learning of ancient civs
Traded ideas- indian # system