The Islamic Empire - Essay Example

The Islamic Empire The Islamic Empire grew very quickly with the spreading of the religious teachings brought by Mohamed. The common moral and religious framework in the holy writings helped people from different countries to work together towards common aims. Many of the Caliphs were benevolent rulers, and they showed respect for other religions, especially the Jews and Christians who shared belief in one God, and all the prophets and holy men. Because the religion depended so much on written texts, there was a focus on education and on gathering of knowledge which ensured that Islamic societies were relatively enlightened at a time when many surrounding civilisations were not very advanced and largely illiterate. In terms of technology also, the Islamic Empire was superior, and they used knowledge from the ancient civilisations of Greece and Persia to build stable and ordered societies. The Islamic Empire benefited from scientific knowledge like the compass, the astrolabe and astronomy, which meant that they were very successful traders over long distances using ships, or in some terrains, camels. They made agricultural improvements to increase crop yields, and studied different crop types and how to grow them. Much of their progress was done peacefully, but when necessary they could also resort to war. Other regions rarely had the expertise and commitment to stand up to them. 2 Europe inherited a great deal of scientific and literary knowledge from the Muslim empires. The Western numerals are derived from Arabic, and many scientific procedures and methods too. Arab libraries also preserved classical Greek texts in translation, and these would have been lost to the Christian world because after the fall of the Roman Empire there was very little investment in education and scholarship beyond a very few noblemen and clergy. The Muslims made dozens of medical advances, including the awareness of hygiene and how to sterilise wounds and make various pharmaceutical products. Alcohol and distillation came from Muslim scientists and they also invented cough syrups and various narcotic drugs made from plants that grew in the Middle East. The Muslim physicians were very early and keen experimenters too, and they invented many surgical techniques and dietary improvements. Unlike Christian doctors of the period, they believed in active intervention to heal people and had considerably more success than western monks and nuns, who mainly offered basic nursing and religious support. 3 The Christian Crusades started out as pious journeys which individuals made as a way of doing penance for their sins. They were extensions of local pilgrimages to various churches and holy places and people banded together to set off for Jerusalem, which was revered above all places on earth because of its association with Jesus Christ. Over time the need for protection against the hazards of the journey grew more intense, whether from opportunist robbers or from some powerful Islamic figures who resented the Christian presence on their lands. The people who went on large scale and well-armed pilgrimages were usually noblemen and their entourage, and they were motivated by greed and a sense of adventure, rather than religion. Kings and churches supported the crusades also for political and economic reasons, since they distracted people from troubles at home and offered chances to bring back spoils of war. Inventing a horrible enemy (Moorish or Islamic hate figures) encouraged people to become mercenaries and defend their own culture. In an imitation of Islamic ideas, the concept of a “Holy War” was used to drum up support but in fact a lot of this was just propaganda with no real basis in fact. Christians and Moslems lived largely in peace during the period of the crusades but the history books record more instances of warlike behaviour because it is more interesting, and inspires more tales of heroic and chivalrous adventure. 4 The single most important factor in the way that people in Western Europe emerged out of the Dark Age between the fall of the Roman Empire and the start of the Middle Ages was that they began to make contact with cultures outside the narrow region that they themselves inhabited. Contact with other nations and the discovery of new trade routes encouraged more exploration. At home populations were rising, and demands for goods, homes and food was growing. For the first time the rising demographics gave an incentive for economic expansion. Towns grew larger, and more sophisticated, and social structures grew more complex. Despite periodic setbacks like famines and plagues, there was a real broadening of horizons which ushered in a new age. 5 In the Sui Dynasty there was a unified coinage that allowed for prosperity and trade across a large area. In the Tang dynasty printing was invented, with the use of movable type carved on to wood. Gunpowder was invented, for the making of fireworks but also for military purposes. Porcelain was perfected which was a very fine white type of china far superior to previous clay artefacts and much more versatile, weighing less and becoming a highly prized commodity. The first mechanised clocks were also used in this period. Tea became a popular drink. The Song dynasty profited from all of this increased trade, and in this period acupuncture was discovered, and many agricultural improvements were made, along with diversification of crops, including rice. Paper money and new accounting systems were introduced and cities became more bureaucratic with early banking systems and tax collecting well developed. 6 The mongols were a nomadic people and they perfected the art of horsemanship to the extent that they were faster and more deadly in war. They could also transport goods over longer distances because of their husbandry of animals. They were successful because they were adapted to their landscape and able to live well from its resources, and they made contact with the Chinese civilisations in order to trade for things they could not make themselves, or to seek food and other basic produce when their own supplies ran out. Their social structures were flexible, based on kinship, with leaders being chosen for particular purposes, then retiring again to tend their flocks. This meant that they could adapt to different challenges. They were disciplined and orderly but also at times very cruel and most surrounding nations feared them. It was easier for civilisations to succumb to Mongol rule, since taxation was low or non-existent, and so their advance was often welcomed. The Mongols contributed to the world a unified culture stretching over most of Asia and well into Europe and this enabled trade between nations. It also may have been the route along which the plague came, ultimately devastating large parts of Europe. 7 In the middle of the Ming dynasty the Chinese were involved in far flung trade including luxury goods and a lot of ships. The main reason why they curtailed this expansion was that they could not afford it any more, due to the cost of containing the Mongol invasions coming at them from all sides. The culture of the time was also rather non-materialistic, due to the influence of Confucianism. It was decided that they should concentrate on the simple life of farming in order to live out the ideas of Confucius. References Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe. The World: A History, Volume 1. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2006. Read More