Among world religions, the youngest is Islam, the birth of which dates back to the 7th century and is associated with the name of the Prophet Muhammad, who professed monotheism. Under his influence, a community of fellow believers was formed in Hadjiz - on the territory of Western Arabia. Further conquests by Muslims of the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Iran and a number of other states led to the emergence of an Arab caliphate - a powerful Asian state. It included a number of conquered lands.
Caliphate: what is it?
The very word "caliphate" in Arabic has two meanings. This is the name of that huge state created after the death of Muhammad by his followers, and the title of the supreme ruler under whose rule the countries of the Caliphate were. The period of existence of this state formation, marked by a high level of development of science and culture, went down in history as the Golden Age of Islam. Conventionally, it is considered to be its borders in 632–1258.
After the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the history of the caliphate has three main periods. The first of these, which began in632, due to the creation of the Righteous Caliphate, headed by four Caliphs in turn, whose righteousness gave the name to the state they ruled. The years of their reign were marked by a number of major conquests, such as the capture of the Arabian Peninsula, the Caucasus, the Levant and large parts of North Africa.
Religious disputes and territorial conquests
The emergence of the caliphate is closely connected with the disputes about his successor that began after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. As a result of numerous debates, a close friend of the founder of Islam, Abu Bakr al-Saddik, became the supreme ruler and religious leader. He began his reign with a war against apostates who departed from the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad immediately after his death and became followers of the false prophet Musailima. Their army of forty thousand was defeated in the battle of Arkaba.
The subsequent righteous caliphs continued to conquer and expand their territories. The last of them - Ali ibn Abu Talib - became a victim of rebellious apostates from the main line of Islam - the Kharijites. This put an end to the election of the supreme rulers, since Muawiyah I, who seized power and became caliph by force, appointed his son as the successor at the end of his life, and thus a hereditary monarchy was established in the state - the so-called Umayyad Caliphate. What is it?
New, second form of Caliphate
This period in the history of the Arab world owes its name to the Umayyad dynasty,from which Muawiya I was a native. His son, who inherited supreme power from his father, further pushed the boundaries of the caliphate, gaining high-profile military victories in Afghanistan, North India and the Caucasus. His troops even captured part of Spain and France.
Only the Byzantine Emperor Leo the Isaurian and the Bulgarian Khan Tervel were able to stop his victorious offensive and put a limit to territorial expansion. Europe, however, owes its salvation from the Arab conquerors, first of all, to the outstanding commander of the 8th century, Charles Martel. The Frankish army led by him defeated the hordes of invaders in the famous battle of Poitiers.
Restructuring the consciousness of warriors in a peaceful way
The beginning of the period associated with the Umayyad Caliphate is characterized by the fact that the position of the Arabs themselves in the territories they occupied was unenviable: life resembled the situation in a military camp in a state of continuous combat readiness. The reason for this was the extremely religious zeal of one of the rulers of those years, Umar I. Thanks to him, Islam acquired the features of a militant church.
The emergence of the Arab caliphate gave rise to a large social group of professional warriors - people whose only occupation was participation in aggressive campaigns. So that their consciousness would not be rebuilt in a peaceful way, they were forbidden to take possession of land and acquire a settled life. By the end of the reign of the dynasty, the picture had changed in many ways. The ban was lifted, and, having become landowners, many yesterday's warriors of Islam preferred lifepeaceful landowners.
The Abbasid Caliphate
It is fair to note that if during the years of the Righteous Caliphate for all its rulers, political power in its significance gave way to religious influence, now it has taken a dominant position. In terms of its political grandeur and cultural flourishing, the Abbasid Caliphate deservedly acquired the greatest glory in the history of the East.
What is it - most Muslims know these days. Memories of him still strengthen their spirit. The Abbasids are a dynasty of rulers who gave their people a whole galaxy of brilliant statesmen. Among them were generals, and financiers, and true connoisseurs and patrons of art.
Caliph - patron of poets and scientists
It is believed that the Arab caliphate under Harun ar Rashid - one of the most prominent representatives of the ruling dynasty - has reached the highest point of its heyday. This statesman went down in history as the patron of scientists, poets and writers. However, having devoted himself entirely to the spiritual development of the state he headed, the caliph turned out to be a poor administrator and a completely useless commander. By the way, it was his image that was immortalized in the collection of oriental tales “A Thousand and One Nights” that survived the centuries.
"The golden age of Arab culture" is an epithet that the caliphate headed by Harun ar Rashid deserved the most. What it is can be fully understood only by familiarizing yourself with that stratification of Old Persian, Indian, Assyrian, Babylonian and partly Greekcultures, which contributed to the development of scientific thought during the reign of this enlightener of the East. All the best that was created by the creative mind of the ancient world, he managed to combine, making the Arabic language the basic basis for this. That is why expressions such as "Arab culture", "Arab art" and so on have entered our everyday life.
Trade Development
In the vast and at the same time orderly state, which was the Abbasid Caliphate, the demand for the products of neighboring states has increased significantly. This was the result of an increase in the general standard of living of the population. Peaceful relations with neighbors at that time made it possible to develop barter trade with them. Gradually, the circle of economic contacts expanded, and even countries located at a considerable distance began to enter into it. All this gave impetus to the further development of crafts, art and navigation.
The collapse of the Caliphate
In the second half of the 9th century, after the death of Harun ar Rashid, the political life of the caliphate was marked by processes that eventually led to its collapse. Back in 833, the ruler Mutasim, who was in power, formed the Praetorian Turkic Guard. Over the years, it has become such a powerful political force that the ruling caliphs became dependent on it and practically lost the right to make independent decisions.
The growth of national self-consciousness among the Persians subject to the caliphate belongs to the same period, which caused their separatist sentiments, which later became the reason for Iran's breakaway. General collapse of the Caliphateaccelerated due to separation from it in the west of Egypt and Syria. The weakening of centralized power made it possible to declare their claims to independence and a number of other previously controlled territories.
Intensifying religious pressure
The caliphs who lost their former power tried to enlist the support of the faithful clergy and take advantage of its influence on the masses. The rulers, starting from Al-Mutawakkil (847), made the fight against all manifestations of freethinking their main political line.
In the state, weakened by the undermining of the authority of the authorities, an active religious persecution of philosophy and all branches of science, including mathematics, began. The country was steadily sinking into the abyss of obscurantism. The Arab caliphate and its collapse were a clear example of how beneficial the influence of science and free thought on the development of the state, and how destructive their persecution.
The end of the era of Arab caliphates
In the 10th century, the influence of the Turkic commanders and emirs of Mesopotamia increased so much that the previously powerful caliphs of the Abbasid dynasty turned into petty Baghdad princes, whose only consolation was the titles left from the old times. It got to the point that the Buyid Shia dynasty, which had risen in Western Persia, having gathered a sufficient army, captured Baghdad and actually ruled it for a hundred years, while representatives of the Abbasids remained nominal rulers. There could be no greater humiliation to their pride.
In 1036 forA very difficult period began throughout Asia - the Seljuk Turks began an aggressive campaign, unprecedented at that time, which caused the destruction of Muslim civilization in many countries. In 1055, they drove the Buyids who ruled there from Baghdad and established their dominance. But their power also came to an end when, at the beginning of the 13th century, the entire territory of the once powerful Arab caliphate was captured by countless hordes of Genghis Khan. The Mongols finally destroyed everything that had been achieved by Eastern culture over the previous centuries. The Arab caliphate and its collapse have now become just pages of history.
