Crusades and Mongols Invasions - Essay Example

Running Head: CRUSADES AND MONGOLS’ INVASIONS Crusades and Mongols’ Invasions Impacts on Islamic World [The name of the writer] [The name of the institution] Crusades and Mongols’ Invasions Introduction The thirteenth century witnessed an unparalleled massacre of millions of people during the Crusades and the Mongols’ invasions of the Muslim world. The Crusades attacked from the west and the Mongols from the east and slaughtered men and animals, molested women, destroyed cities, damaged heritage and altered the entire culture of the areas that came under the footsteps of their horses. The reasons were multiple; religious, political and economic. This paper provides a brief account of when, why and how the Crusades and Mongols warrior marched into the Muslim empires and what impacts did these attacks left on the almost entirely devastated Muslim areas. An analysis of the immediate and long-term effects of those incursions is part of this research. The paper starts with an introduction of Crusades and the Mongol warriors and an overview of their intentions behind the attacks. It talks of the impacts of Crusades and Mongol attacks on the Muslim world as well as the counter effects on the invaders themselves. In the first place, it would discuss the scenario that was prevalent in the Muslim world that motivated the outer world to invade their territories. Muslim World at the Eve of Crusaders Invasion The existing circumstances and settings that led the Crusades and later, the Mongols attack the Muslims were almost the same. The lack of mutual unity and internal rivalry among the Muslims provided an opening to the rivals to step forward. The clash of interests between the Syrian aristocracy and the disagreement among the Fatimids and the Seljuks paved way for the foreign invaders to enter the Muslim territories. Similarly, the rising difference among various Muslim sects mainly Sunni and Shi’aa also added to the disintegration of Muslim world. This led to the first shock and attack to the booming and flourishing civilizations of the grand Muslim empires worldwide. The Crusades This part deals with a brief introduction of Crusades as to when and where they started and the reasons they were fought for. The Crusades was the name given to wars fought in the name of Christianity and the Cross starting almost at the end of eleventh century and continued for the next almost one hundred years. The invasions were an immediate response to the news of the Muslim occupation of the holy city of Jerusalem. In the following days, hordes of Christians proceeded towards Asia in order to “free the church of God” (Munro 1895, p. 12). The appeal for Crusades was made on November, 1095 (metmuseum.org) by Pope Urban II that resulted in a military struggle between Europe and Asia that continued for almost two centuries. The Italian French and German diehards known as the “Knights” participated in those wars; some of them with a missionary zeal and others to seek the riches of the enemies killed during wars. The political reasons behind the Crusades were the European expansionist desires that were sown either by the Christian church or driven by the political motives of the monarch to expand their boundaries. Beside that, the eventual conversion of the Scandinavian Vikings and Magyars reduced pressure on Europe and allowed them to have time and energy to look out for other opportunities. Impacts on Muslims The Crusades resulted in weakening and an eventual demolition of the Muslim Empires around the globe. The Muslims were deprived of their kingdoms and were reduced to a rank of second class subjects in the territories they ruled for centuries. Despite being subjugated, the Muslims were not influenced, in any way, by their captors. They protected and preserved their culture and civilization of which they always took pride. To them the outsiders were no more than loutish, unrefined, merciless, and brutish warriors (Ochsenwald 2004, p.131). Although their civilization retreated and declined in the later years but that was not due to the Crusaders but of the Muslim’s own weaknesses and attitudes. The rigidity of Muslims towards opening and acceptance of western ideas led to an ultimate decline and disaster of their civilization in the later years (Maalouf 1984, pp 261-262). Impacts on Europe Europe gained more in term of quantity and quality as compared to the Muslims as the Christians had very little to give in return. They became a major beneficiary of the Crusades as the interactions led to an exchange of culture and knowledge. The Muslim world of that period was known for its high achievements in art, architecture, literature, philosophy, science, medicine and other fields of learning. The Muslim capitals and main cities possessed universities, learning centers and large libraries that contained a huge collection of books brought in from all around the world. On the other hand, the European continent was passing through the dark ages of their history. Thanks to their urge and respect for learning, the European utilized the treasure of the Muslims to its fullest. The great Muslim culture and civilization helped the Europeans towards a renaissance (Maalouf 1984, p. 261). In addition, the Europeans got an access to the great Greek civilization that was transmitted through Muslim mediators (Maalouf 1984, p. 264). The economic benefits for Europeans were manifolds. Intercontinental trade started between Europe and Asia and as a result, a larger merchant class emerged in countries like England, France, Holland and Italy. This led to weakening of aristocracy and in some states, paved way for absolutism (Anderson 1974). The larger influx of wealth also introduced the concept of banking. More changes were introduced in art and architecture as the Muslim world was full of marvelous forts, mosques, palaces and other buildings that were considered as masterpieces of all times. Many of the architectural designs were later followed by the Christians all over Europe. Similarly, inspired by the literary achievements, the European literature was reborn and imaginative and romantic prose and poetry was introduced (Maalouf 1984). Since Crusades initially was an outcome of Papal efforts, the religious cult also reaped the fruit as well as the some of the European monarchs as most of the barons and feudal who was a source of trouble for them went away on Crusades or were weakened by the new merchant class (Walker 1985, p. 290). The weakening of the aristocracy is observed by Anderson (1974, p. 15) as being a product of socio-economic conflict. ‘The long crisis of European economy and society during the 14th and 15th centuries marked the difficulties and limits of the feudal mode of production in the late medieval period’ The Mongol Invasions By the time Muslim warriors were confronted with the Crusades, (Lapidus 1988, p. 414) they received yet another blow during the thirteenth from the east in form of the Mongols invasions. Led by the tribal chieftain Temujin or later Genghis Khan (1167-1227), (Encarta) the Mongols occupied China in the first go. The first Mongol invasion of the Muslim world started in 1219 when they entered Persia in response to the killing of Mongol emissaries by Persians (Encarta). The war resulted in total destruction to both sides. After the Persian conquest, the Mongol troops marched forward to the Caspian and continued with a series of victories in the coming decades. The Mongol attack was even more fierce and devastating from that of the Crusades. The main reason probably was that Mongols were completely barbaric in nature and had no respect towards the great civilization, art, and architecture and learning centers created by the Muslims. Besides killing millions they literally turned several cities into ashes. Some of the greatest centers of Muslim civilization such as Herat, Samarkand and Bukhara (Maalouf 1984, p.236) were eliminated completely. However in the long run, the Mongols failed to leave any lasting impacts on the Muslims rather fell prey to the great Muslim religion and culture. Impacts on Muslims The immediate effect of the Mongol raids was the massive killings and the immense destruction of civil societies across the Muslim countries. The Mongol devastated the Muslim seats of learning and destroyed the treasures of knowledge that were an outcome of their centuries-old endeavors (Lapidus 1988). The conquest of a larger territory by the Mongols however, resulted in the amalgamation and reconciliation in that area that led to greater economic activity. Moreover, trade and business between Europe and Asia increased considerably. Since peace and stability prevailed, the cross border interaction flourished. The memorable journey of Marco Polo could be credited to that period. Additionally, during the first half of the fourteenth century, there was extensive exchange of diplomatic missions between Europe and the newly established Mongol states. Similarly, there was exchange of technology especially that related with warfare (Lapidus 1988). In the longer run, historians agree to the fact that the instant results of the Mongolian occupation were a minimal or somehow non-existent in the social and economic life of their Muslim subjects (Juwaini 1958, pp. 96-115). Impacts on Mongols It is strange to know that the effects on Mongols were more lasting and evident than those on the Muslims. Being a marshal and barbaric race, the Mongols were hardly exposed to any religion or set of moralities and virtues and were also not acquainted with any civilized ways of living. Secondly, they never settled permanently in any of their besieged territories and always remained in minority in comparison to the local inhabitants. Therefore, the interaction with the local Muslim population brought several influences that left certain unending effects on the Mongols (Barthold 1962). With passage of time, the Mongols came under the influence of Turks but were also moved by the Islamic religious orders. The influences soon became obvious as some well known Mongol chiefs and Turks rulers converted to the Islamic faith. Mass conversion also took places among their Turkish and Mongol subjects who were highly impressed by the moral character of several Muslim saints and religious leader in central Asia and other adjoining territories. Among the most famous Turks and Mongols who converted to Islam were Uzbek Quan, from the Ulus of Jochi that brought a series of conversion by ordinary Turks and Mongols. The brother of Ilkhan Abaqa Quan, also adopted Islam after his death. Another important conversion took place in the fourteenth century was that of Kebek (1318- 1326) of the Ulus of Chaghatai Qan's (Barthold 1962, p.8). Kazan Khan was popularly called Khalil Ata (Togan 1947, p.102) of the Chaghatai is reported to have ruined all the non-Muslim population after his adoption of the Islamic faith. This conversion to Islam by the Mongols and their adoption of sedentary living resulted in lowering the migration rate of Muslim scholars of India (Bayur 1943, p.53) to central Asia. The Islamization of the Mongols introduced them to a new culture and to adopt new civilized practices. Some of the Mongol rulers gave up their nomadic living and got settled at one place. The converted Mongols, however, had an incredible impact on the Islamic world in the later centuries. Some of the celebrated Mongol Muslim rulers created Islamic states in Central Asia, Afghanistan and India. The Turk-Mongol, Tamerlane (1336-1405) created an empire in Central Asia and his descendant, Babur expanded and founded the Muslim empire in the Indian Sub-continent and Akbar the Great took it to its zenith. Conclusions Based on the above discussed facts, it may conclude that the Crusades and Mongol invasions of the Muslim world changed the face of the entire European and Asian continents. This change was very obvious and could been seen in the political, cultural, economic and social fabric of the affected areas. European found a way to renaissance whereas the many of the Mongols adopted Muslim religion and culture and gave up nomadic style of living. Muslims however, lost their glory that has not been regained till date. In addition, the Mongol incursion never came again but the Christians and Muslims are still at war; the Israel issue still moldering and religious extremism more prevalent than ever. References Anderson, Perry 1974, Lineages of the Absolutist State, Verso, London Barthold, V.V. 1962, Four Studies on the History of Central Asia, Leiden Bayur, Hikmet 1943, Introduction to the Turkish Translation of Baburnama, Ankara. Genghis Khan, Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 97 Encyclopedia. (c), CD edition, 1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Juwaini, 1958, The History of the World-Conqueror, trans. Boyle. Massachusetts, Vol.1. Lapidus, Ira 1988, A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA Maalouf, Amin 1984, The Crusades Through Arab Eyes. Schocken Books, New York Munro, Dana C. 1895, "Urban and the Crusaders", Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, Vol 1:2. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Ochsenwald, William and Sydney Nettleton Fisher 2004, The Middle East: A History, McGraw Hill, New York The Crusades (1095–1291). Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters. In Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000– Retrieved on April 02, 2008 from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/crus/hd_crus.htm Togan, Z.V. 1947, Turkistan Tarihi, Istanbul Walker, Williston. Richard A. Norris, David W. Lotz, and Robert T. Handy (ed). 1985, A History of the Christian Church, 4th ed. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York Read More