TURKISH EMPIRES

Rise of the TurksTurks and Persian SupportCrusaders and Mongols

ABBASIDS HOLD POWER

The family, Umayyads, came to power in the 7th century and soon moved the Muslim capital to Damascus

Umayyids did not lead simple lives, but surrounded themselves with wealth and pomp

These actions gave rise to a fundamental division in the Islamic faith

In interest of peace, Muslims accepted the Umayyads, but resist did fester and later spawned violence and division

Rebel groups led violent opposition to the Umayyads Umayyads lost power to the Abbasids by 750

ABBASIDS CONSOLIDATE POWER

Abbasids came to power and murdered the Umayyad family (only one family escaped, went to Spain)

Berbers, Muslim armies from Northern Africa, had already conquered Spain by 750

Abbasids moved Muslim capital to Baghdad, Iraq which was located on key trade route

Abbasids developed a strong bureaucracy to conduct affairs, manage money flow and manage an army

MAJOR TRADE NETWORK

The Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean were two major trade networks

Water and land networks allowed Muslim Empire to engage in trade with Europe and Asia

Muslim merchants needed only to know Arabic to travel the empire

Muslim money changers were set up throughout empire Banks offered letters of credit that could be exchanged

for cash at any bank throughout Muslim empire European called these letters “Checks”

Extent of Abbasid Control

Southern Spain

Iraq

Iran

Egypt

Byzantine

RISE OF TURKS

Abbasids constantly struggled to maintain control of their empire

Spain broke away from Abbasid control by 756

Abbasids lost their control of Morocco, Tunisia, parts of Persia and Egypt by mid-9th century

Persians invaded Baghdad in 945, but Persians also lost grip of power to the Turks

SELJUKS

Chinese have written records of people called Tu-Kiu living west of their borders (as early as 1300 BCE)

The Tu-Kiu may well have been Turks (scholars are uncertain) Nomads rode horses, herded goats and sheep and lived in tents The Abbasids came in to contact with the Turks and took note of their

military skills Abbasids bought Turkish children; raised them as slaves, soldiers and

bodyguards In the tenth century Turks began migrating into the Abbasid empire

and converting to Islam The migrating Turks were known as Seljuks and they eventually grew

powerful enough that they conquered Baghdad from the Persians in 1055

By 1071 the Turks were powerful enough that they occupied most of Anatolia from the Byzantines

TURKS AND PERSIANS

Seljuks worked for the support of Persians in order to receive loyalty in return

Turks appointed Persians as gov’t officials and also showed admiration for Persian learning.

Seljuks arrived basically illiterate and were unfamiliar with the tradition of Islam which they adopted

Seljuks looked to Persian subjects for guidance in language, arts and way of life

Seljuk leaders (like Malik Shah) had mosques built throughout empire

Arabic was kept alive by Qur’an scholars (The Turks’ preference for Persian culture led to almost complete disappearance of Arabic language in Persia)

The Great Mosque, Isfahan, Iran. Built during the time of Malik Shah

The Diyarbakir Great Mosque (Armenia); city was ruled by Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Arab Armies, Turks; Mosque was originally a church, then a mixed-use church and mosque and then rebuilt into mosque under orders of Malik Shah in 1091.

SELJUKS, CRUSADES AND MONGOLS

After Malik Shah’s death in 1092, no capable Shah took his place The Seljuk empire began to disintegrate into loose collection of

small kingdoms At this time, the West launched counterattack against the Turks and

other Muslims for control of the Holy Land in the Middle East (known as the Crusades)

Pope Urban II launched the first Crusade in 1095 He called on Christian kings and knights to drive Turks out of Anatolia and

recover Jerusalem Christians captured Jerusalem in 1099 and killed the Jewish and Muslim

inhabitants Muslims recaptured the city in 1187 and signed an agreement with

King Richard I of England Jerusalem will remain under control of the Muslims, but western Christians

were granted pilgrimage access to holy places Popes and Kings will continue to call for Crusades to the Holy Land,

well into the 13th century, but Turks were able to withstand European invasions

SELJUKS AND MONGOLS

Mongols were a nomadic tribe from Asian steppes They grew into unified force under Ghengis Khan by the early 1200s They conquered China and swiftly moved through Russia and western

Asia By 1258, Ghengis’s grandson Hulagu, led forces to the outskirts of

Baghdad Mongols besieged Baghdad for 50 days, built catapults and laid waste

to the city with stones, fire and arrows Halugu finally took the city and killed thousands of people The last Abbasid caliph was wrapped in carpet and trampled to

death by horses Warrior Mongols knew little about administration and their

empires crumbled after a few decades A new Turkish empire will come out of this: the Ottomans

Ottomans will build an empire that will last into the 20th century