Revision Topic Sheet 17: Muslim Army & Significance

Question 1

What were the Seljuk Institutions?

Answer 1

Two different leadership systems set up by the Muslims after the conquest of Syria. The two different leaders were atabergs and iqtas. Atabergs were military chiefs who were rewarded with an iqta. An iqta was a grant of revenue or land for services to the state, which was developed into a unit of military administration in Syria.

Question 2

What factors led to the political weakness of the Muslims?

Answer 2

1. The sultan needed an army larger than his askar (personal army) to defeat the Franks because they had both a field army and fortified cities, but he required soldiers from his ataberg in order to do this.
2. The Muslim armies were rarely led by the sultan which led to divided leadership. Despite this the atabergs preferred this to forced leadership.

Question 3

How did later Muslim leaders remove these weaknesses?

Answer 3

• Zengi created a Syrian state which was able to rule independent of the sultan, which brought the leadership of jihad closer to Syria.
• Nur-al-Din (Zengi’s son) continued Zengi’s work but also relied on the support of other ataberg’s to be successful.
• Saladin conquered all potential Muslim enemies to prevent civil disputes, he led his army personally to stop divided leadership and he controlled the wealth and power resources of Egypt after the fall of the Fatamids.

Question 4

What weaknesses did the Muslim army have in the field?

Answer 4

They had limited service time which limited the effectiveness of the soldiers, and they were given land for their service which limited the action of the army. Also, they struggled during the harvest and winter seasons due to the seasonal nature of their religion, which ensured that Saladin was unable to capture Tyre in 1187 due to the majority of Muslim soldiers wanting to go home in November.

Question 5

What advantages did the Turks have over the Franks in battle?

Answer 5

The Turks had 4 main advantages over the Franks in battle:

1. They could stay at a distance from the enemy and avoid taking damage in close combat.
2. They could utilise superior speed and feigned retreats to draw the Franks away from their bases or into an ambush.
3. They could easily attack the heavily-armoured Franks from the side or rear in an attempt to surround them.
4. They could force the Franks to fight on the march and compromise the effectiveness of their co-operative tactics.