The Middle East

Overview• Mesopotamia, Egypt River Valleys• Akkad, Assyria, Babylon, etc.• Persia• Islamic Empire– Umayyad Dynasty– Abbasid Dynasty– (stretching to India) Delhi Sultanate

• Seljuks, Mamluks• Mongols• Ottomans, Safavids, (stretching to India) Mughals

Persian Empire

• Talking about the O.G. Persians, c. 550 BCE – 330 BCE–Fought Greece a lot–Very tolerant of other faiths–Good imperial bureaucracy

Foundation of Islam• Creates a new religion• Quickly spreads via missionary armies–Cultural and linguistic expansion

• First trans-regional religion and empire• Ali and Sunni-Shi’a split: first succession

problem

Umayyad Dynasty

• Early Muslim rulers focused on military expansion• Obsessed with booty–Only let Arab Muslims fully share in

conquests–Expanded, gathered luxury, but did

little to rule effectively

Abbasid Dynasty• Overthrow Umayyads by pushing for inclusion• Allow converts and People of the Book to have

near equal status• Imperial bureaucracy– Inefficient–Dominated by nobles (vizier) who were

Persians, then Seljuk warlords• Weak when conquered by Mongols• Culturally very significant

A Few Others• Seljuk Turks–Nomads, moved to Persia and Iraq, became

military elite and dominated end of Abbasid Dynasty

• Mongols–Conquered, ruled very briefly

• Mamluks–Military slaves became elite, took over Egypt

and fought back the Mongols

Ottomans• Form in Turkey, conquer Byzantines and the

disorganized Middle East• Very scary for Europe (land and sea)• Major political problems–Succession conflicts– Janissaries: warrior elites–Conservative religious elements

• All prevent adaptation to Europeans, used to Europe as a backwater

Safavids• Shi’a counterpart to Ottomans, based in

Persia (Iran)–More Persian culture than Arabic

• Also “absolute” monarchy with strong warrior elite• Killed by weak rulers, internal conflicts,

and pressure from tribal neighbors and Europe

Delhi Sultanate• Muslims in control of northern India• Wins some converts to Islam–Former Buddhists (which was attacked) or low-

caste Hindus–Sufism–Lots of syncretism, mostly for Islam

• Social separation between Muslims and Hindus, Hindus worked in government but not at the very top

Mughals• Like two different empires– Akbar• Tolerant, improved Hindu-Muslim relations and

women’s rights• Built administrative systems

– Successors• Focused on art, luxury, pleasure• Ignored reforms and corruption• Made themselves powerful while hurting the

people and the empire