The Abbasid Dynasty - Essay Example

Running Head: THE ABBASID DYNASTY The Abbasid Dynasty [Name Of Student] [Name Of Institution] INTRODUCTION The modern Arab states are comparatively new, many of them are the product of an operation of boundary drawing in the present century which was not founded on historical feelings of national or regional identity. In any case, the Arabs have been divided by history or geography or politics since the break up of the Abbasid Empire in the thirteenth century and their loyalty to countries or regions, being often dependent on externally imposed authority, has always been in various degrees weak. The modern states have now begun to develop each of them patriotism of its own. AIM OF THE PAPER It is often said that during the Abbasids each building that was made had a character of its own. Unlike the contemporary architecture that is composed of pillars and arches for decorative purposes but have no usefulness it all, the architecture of the Abbasid’s era was far more superior to its modern counterparts in terms of decoration and beauty and yet every element in it served a meaningful purpose. In this paper I shall discuss the cultural achievements of the Abbasids. I will focus mainly on the rich art and architectural contributions by the Abbasids. BACKGROUND The genius of the Arab governors, sent from the heart of the Muslim empire in Syria, was that they fostered an equilibrium between local ethnic, social, religious or cultural tensions and a Muslim militancy. It was in some ways almost an accident of history that transformed a remote frontier province into something quite different (Brauer, 1999). After a period of civil war in Syria and Iraq, the Umayyad dynasty was overthrown and the Caliphate replaced by a new dynasty the Abbasids. The centre of power was shifted from Syria to Iraq. The symbol of this change was the foundation of the imperial capital of Baghdad in 762. The first Abbasids did their best to kill all the important members of the Umayyad. One of these, Abd al-Rahman, escaped and arriving in Andalusia, became ruler of Cordoba. His successors ruled from their capital, Cordoba, until early in the eleventh century. From Damascus and Baghdad, the great centres of Arab power, Muslim Spain appeared little more than an upstart province (Gregorian, 2003). The great period of the dynasty was under Abd al-Rahman III (912-961). In 929 he adopted the title of Caliph, that is the successor-to the rule of the Prophet, thereby competing directly with the rulers of Baghdad (Gibb, 2002). Political relations with Iraq and then with Fatimid Egypt may have been strained, but cultural and commercial interaction was high. DISCUSSION A short account of the organization of the Abbasid caliphate by Abu-Al-Abbas and his fellow brother Al-Mansur is furnished at the extreme outset of the Islamic art and architecture till date. The Abbasids, all through their period in office, were in charge of a massive empire that crossed the region amid North Africa and Western Central Asia. The fresh capital, Baghdad, continued to foster till it became the heart of scientific, theoretical, religious learning, as well as a heart for all kinds of fine art and architectural actions. The metropolis itself was prearranged in a smoothed shape nearby an district of a mile and a half in a width (Brauer, 1999). Situated in the hub were Muslim places of worship- mosques and directorial edifices around the fortress. All other structures were bounded around this plan. The palaces amid the architectural constructions emerged to have been shaped with beautification of tile, marble, furnishings, mats and curtains. During al-Rashid's time in power, Baghdad turned out to be a most constructive place for inexpensive, communal, cultural activities, the length of with the significant efforts initiated and sustained by the direction. All over again, the merchants, trades-people and artisans who took pleasure in the support of the caliphs amused the people with various alarming roles in alteration in the social living of the Abbasids (Hooker, 2000). The subsequent city Samarra, which was constructed in 836 close to the Tigris River by al-Mustasim, who was the primary caliph to shape an army of overseas soldiers. Two brilliant mosques, the Great Mosque and the Mosque of Abu Dulaf, were erected. In those times many Abbasid suppliers developed unusual techniques in creating new types of sstructure corresponding to the fort and other organizational edifices and embellishing them with splendid designs and methods (Hooker, 2000). Such pioneering techniques and developments had not been limited to the architectural buildings merely; they had been extended to the practical arts, as well, such as ceramic objects, yard goods, metalwork, glass and stony crystal, work of art, inscription and melody. Below Harun and the Barmakids the Abbasid courtyard invited poets. Such talented were these men that their works are still read and benefited from these days, counting the stern and philosophical Abu'l-Atahiya and his opponent, Abu Nuwas who in difference renowned, in unrestrained speech, the bliss of wine and affectionate young lads (Brauer, 1999). With the territory within principally at the Abbasids had lastly established themselves culturally and economically. Revolutionized by new agricultural techniques and by the cultivation of new products like rice and vegetables hitherto unknown in the Mediterranean and silk worms, Andalusia became a rich producer of consumer goods which were then carried from Spain all the way to India by merchants of many faiths. As the century drew to a close, weaknesses in the centralised Umayyad system appeared (Gregorian, 2003). Provincial cities like Malaga, Granada, Valencia and Saragossa became the fiefs of rival Muslim kings; but in spite of the increasingly apparent political instabilities, these cities were centres of literature and the arts. Here, then, was a thriving, rich and complex civilisation, in the words of Irving: The cities of Arabian Spain became the resort of Christian artisans, to instruct themselves in the useful art (Kennedy,2005). The Universities of Toledo, Cordova, Seville, and Granada, were sought by the pale student from other lands to acquaint himself with the sciences of the Arabs and the treasure lore of antiquity; the lovers of the gay sciences resorted to Cordova and Granada to imbibe the poetry and music of the East, and the steel-clad warriors of the North hastened thither to accomplish themselves in the graceful exercises and courteous usages of chivalry (Brauer, 1999). There was nostalgia during Muslim Spain too. But it was linked to the origins of the ruling dynasty, the Umayyads. During their time in Spain, Muslims looked back on the lands that they had come from, from far away Syria (Gregorian, 2003). Nostalgia for Syrian names and culture permeated Muslim Spain. But after the downfall of Muslim Spain the Andalus syndrome would form an essential part of Muslim literature throughout the world. What the Muslims left behind still endures. Take the Alhambra in Granada, a haunt of beggars and thieves when Irving lived there: (Gregorian, 2003) Earthquakes have shaken the foundations of this pile and rent its rudest towers, yet see, not one of those slender columns has been displaced, not an arch of that light and agile colonnade has given way, and all the fairy fret-work of these domes, apparently as unsubstantial as the crystal fabrics of a morning's frost, yet exist after the lapse of centuries, almost as fresh as if from the hand of the Moslem artist. (Gregorian, 2003) Little wonder many consider what followed in Spain as 'an arrogant intrusion' and 'gloomy solemnity'. There are many ruins that bring back the glory of Muslim Spain. But it is the Alhambra which has captured the imagination of the world and found expression in novels, paintings and films. It was a complex of fortified palaces and gardens above the city of Granada; as a backdrop the imcomparable, perennially snow-covered Sierra Nevada, the highest mountains in Spain. the Nasirid dynasty, which built the Alhambra, was finally overthrown by the forces of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabell in January 1492 (Hooker, 2000). Abu Abdallah (Boabdil), the ruler, recovered his son who had been kept hostage by the king and queen, and left the Alhambra; no Muslim was ever allowed to sleep in the Alhambra again by law. The main square in Granada has a statue of the king and queen signing the final expulsion order. Muslim kings, perhaps aware of the emerging Christian power, perhaps reflecting a central Muslim truth, repeated over and over again one line from the Quran in the stone calligraphy of the Alhambra proclaiming that God alone was 'Ghalib'- the dominant, the triumphant (Brauer, 1999). After the expulsion of the Muslims, the Catholic Church built a cathedral within the Great Mosque at Cordoba, (much to the horror of Charles V, whose own palace, however, was itself to overshadow the Alhambra), suggesting a pattern often repeated in human history: church on mosque, mosque on church. (Across the world in Ayodhya, India, Hindu revivalists wished to reimpose a temple on a medieval mosque, which in turn was once built upon a temple) (Brauer, 1999). Truly, in this contest, only God is Ghalib, every other name passes. The day Granada fell was a momentous day for Europe, a day of rejoicing, the ultimate triumph; for the Maghreb it was the day of eternal sorrow. just as the day is marked by celebrations in Spain, in Morocco, black flags are hung to indicate loss and mourning. Descendants of those expelled still retain the keys of their Andalusian homes as a symbol of the Andalusian syndrome (as in the Moroccan town of Said). The romance of Muslim Spain afflicted many like Chateaubriand and Victor Hugo. (Gregorian, 2003) But it was reinforced by anthropological emphathy for my colleague David Hart, who has lived in, and worked on, the Maghreb for decades. 'I only attend the first day of the two-day annual festival,' he confided to me, 'when Muslims and Christians are shown battling each other; my side, the Muslims, win on the first day and I leave after that because the next day they will lose'. The Muslim impact must have indeed been great. Five centuries later, after the horrors of the Inquisition which strove to stamp out any influence of the Muslims, their presence in the literature, language and food of Spain is still evident (Kennedy, 1982). The characteristically Spanish guitar, the al in the language and even the cry ole which accompanies the flamenco (from wallah) are all believed to be derived from Muslim Spain. Perhaps it was the Andalus syndrome that attracted the Aga Khan to Granada and who this June assisted the civil authorities in hosting a major international conference (which brought me to Granada) on Muslim Spain and the restoration of the Zafra house, which dates from the Nasirids (Brauer, 1999). The presence of the King of Spain at the conference indicated the high regard the country has for its Muslim heritage. Islamic sculpture is usually taken to include the whole lot from the vast congregational mosques and sumptuousness manuscripts specially made by authoritative rulers from enormous draftsmen and calligrapher-painters till the inlaid metal-wares and complicated rugs fashioned by nameless city craftsmen and wanderer women (Kennedy,2005). Nevertheless, a good deal of what numerous historians of Islamic art by and large examine--inlaid metal-wares, shiny earthenware, enameled goblets, brocaded fabric, and tangled carpets--is not the characteristic preview of the historian of Western sculpture, who normally deems such handiworks to be "negligible" or "ornamental" arts put side by side with the "nobler" fine art of architecture, picture, and statuette. Whilst architecture is as imperative in Islamic culture as it is in any other part of the world, image demonstration, which plays such a giant role in the inventive ethnicity of Europe and Asia, is a comparatively slight and limited constituent of Islamic culture, and statue is almost unidentified. (Brauer, 1999) During the period of rule of the Abbasids, the historians of Islamic skill, similar to those in a lot of other fields of art narration, keenly contributed in the present fashion to benefit the text over the job of art itself. Painting historians, maybe in suitable response to the wilder speculations of previous age groups of devotees and enthusiasts, have turned to the printed statement to answer all their problems. (Gregorian, 2003) This inclination at that time too has had quite a lot of corollaries. The importance of study had transferred to the later periods, mainly for the reason that more documentary proof is accessible for them. It is more convenient to apply texts when symbols about Ottoman skill of the eighteenth century, than it is on the subject of Abbasid art of the eighth century (Frazier, 2005). On the other hand, archaeology, which is further significant for accepting the previous periods, has developed into less imperative in the eyes of lots of art historians, a rather distressing movement, because our field developed in element out of the learning of Islamic archaeology. Perhaps as a consequence, Islamic archaeology is fetching a more dedicated ground more and more dissimilar from Islamic art narration. Islamic art exceeds easy structural forms and comprises of a variety of inventive methods and artistic insights. In new words, a lot of sections of information in the ground necessitate to be clarified in an investigative style (Frazier, 2005). For example, During the Abbasids, architecture meant more than erecting a large gap; it also contained figurative or purposeful features in harmony with its character and display intended for a valuable order. It is rightly said that the architecture of the Abbasid period had a character of its own. Mosques similarly comprised both representative and functional connotation (Hooker, 2000). The sensible aspects of art for all time presage and dwell in approximately the complete freedom of the works so far available on Islamic art, and as a consequence, countless of the other imperative aspects often linger unaffected. CONCLUSION In summation, the Abbasids added to the rich cultural heritage of the Muslims by giving them forms of art and architecture that they are proud of. The expression "Islamic art" appears to be an expedient misnomer for the whole thing left greater than from all over the place. It is most effortlessly distinct by what it is not: neither a area, nor a phase, nor a discipline, nor a group, nor a reign, but the image culture of a place and moment in time when the populace (or at least their privileged) adopted a scrupulous religion. REFERENCES Brauer, Ralph 1999, Boundaries and Frontiers in Medieval Muslim Geography, Diane Publishing Co. Frazier, Ian 2005: Annals of history: Invaders: Destroying Baghdad, in The New Yorker 25 April, 2005 Gibb, Hamilton 2002: Studies on the civilization of Islam. Princeton University Press. Gregorian, Vartan 2003: Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith, Brookings Institution Press, 2003, Hooker, Richard 2000: The Abbasid dynasty Kennedy, Hugh 1982: The Early Abbasid Calpihate: A political history, The American Historical Review, Vol.87, No. 3 Kennedy, Hugh 2005: When Baghdad ruled the Muslim World. Spuler, Bertold 2001: The Muslim World. Vol.I The Age of the Caliphs. Read More