The Spread of Islam to both Eastern and Western Christianity between 600-1000 - Assignment Example

?History and Political Science Assignment Compare the spread of Islam to both Eastern and Western Christianity between 600-1000. Include the role of geography and the methods used to convert people to both Islam and Christianity. The spread of Islam in Eastern and Western Christian-favored regions took the intervention of strong Islamic Empires. Ottoman Empire is accredited for the spread of Islam in the regions. The Ottoman Empire was able to conquer the most revered states and empires of the West given the numbers it had. Even in events where stable states arose, they did not match the sizes and authorities of the Ottoman and Ming Empires. Portugal and Spain were the most expansive and populous European states in the sixteenth century. Portugal had a population of 1million while Spain had a population of 9 million. The Ottoman Empire had a population of 25 million loyal and dedicated citizens (Tignor and Hague, 2007). This gave the empire an upper hand in penetrating other kingdoms and states in the West and the East to spread Islam. Ottoman’s assault on Central Europe and Balkans and invasion of Croatia and Hungary in 1492 and 1493 marked the beginning of serious conversion attempts of the West to Islam. The invasion was so voracious and threatening that the French invaded Italy to try spread their crusade against the Ottomans in the territory. One of the methods used by the Ottoman Empire to lead a successful conversion was the adoption of administrative practices that unified the large empire. Mehmed, the ruler of the time made Istabul administrative capital of the Ottoman Empire and adopted Byzantine administrative style thus incorporating the powerful families of the Byzantines to the empire. Using the effective administrative system, the ruler and his successors expanded the territories of Ottoman Empire and eventually seized Greece and Balkan (Tignor and Hague, 2007). The empire used geographical advantage to spread Islam. The navies of the empire controlled the Eastern Mediterranean Sea-lanes and prohibited the Europeans from accessing the wealthy and strategic ports that controlled caravan trade. By the late 15th Century, the empire captured Christendom’s greatest capitals in Vienna. The Western merchants became so worried at the successful use of port controls to capture the capital by the Ottoman that they never thought it would ever be possible to gain riches from Asia via the traditional overland route. Ottoman’s strategic use of geographic points denied the West of their riches and merchandise, thus weakening the states. Invasion became easy and thus they were able to spread Islam. Unlike the Christian crusades that wielded their dynastic dominance on the power of the sword, ottoman dynasty was centered on sound religious foundation. The Christian crusades used excess force to force to convert the people they targeted with the crusades. The crusades gained a false tag of “holy wars”. There was practically no choice of staying out of the crusades. The battles divinized, and Pauline metaphor, “fighting for Christ” became a rule. At first, the adventures appeared to have a humane focus as the initial military sacerdotal orders demanded high ideals of chivalry, charity and medical care for the wounded. Grand and petty political intrigues often overrode these well-intended acts (Tignor and Hague, 2007). By the time the Fourth Crusades began, the Papal authority had lost control over monastic knights. Innocent III thereby excommunicated Templers. Ottoman dynasty that spread Islam, on the other hand, centered on religious ideals. The Sultans combined warriors’ ethos with unshaken devotion to Islam. They claimed to be the shadows of God on earth and took it upon themselves to be caretakers of the welfare of Islamic faith. Efforts of the Ottomans to spread Islam in both the West and the East were successful because of the ruling elite’s ability to win favor of diverse populations. Unlike the Christian Crusaders, the Ottoman’s capture of a city state or kingdom did not lead to complete elimination of the empire’s culture (Tignor and Hague, 2007). The Ottoman’s policy was that of complete tolerance and flexibility. Turkish was the official language for the Ottoman Islamists, but Arabic remained the primary language for Arab Provinces. Arabic was the common tongue in the street life. Cadences and sounds of various tongues continued to prevail within the empire’s European corners. By the 15th Century, the Ottoman Empire was the most multilingual of any other Empires of the time. In contrast to the Christian Crusaders, the anxiety and foreboding of the Orthodox East in 1095 materialized into open hostility immediately Eastern Christians came under statute of the crusaders. Like all the other warriors, the battles of the crusaders were equally destructive and brutal. Capturing a city by the crusaders meant a lot of suffering to the local population (Tignor and Hague, 2007). The crusaders did not have a clear way of discerning who among the captured public was a genuine Christian or Muslim. An umbrella prosecution of people would ensue, leading to several deaths and undue destructions. Everybody was helpless before the invaders and lives and properties were at their mercies. The rule of the crusaders did not improve the lives of the Eastern Christians. In fact, it brought more suffering and oppression than the Muslim rule that Christianity perceived as totalitarian and brutal. The Eastern populace suffered most under the rule of crusaders. Unlike earlier conquerors of the region, the Western Crusaders did not allow established religions to continue their practices. They molested even established Orthodox Christians in the regions they captured (Tignor and Hague, 2007). This is in contrast the Christian teachings that state nowhere in the scriptures that death should result from the spread of the gospel. In the contrary, biblical teachings are strict in ensuring peaceful coexistence of societies despite their faith and ethnicities. The crusaders felt they had the obligation to convert Orthodox Christians in the East to Latin Christians. The crusaders confiscated their church buildings and imprisoned their clergy. The clergy suffered mistreatment and humiliation as if they practiced a completely new form of religion. 1. By the year 1000, Islam was a mainstream religion. However, Muslims were not united into one kingdom. Discuss the reasons for the diversity within the Islamic world as well as the elements that brought the religion together while never uniting into a political unit. Whirlwind rise and spread of Islam across the world presented internal tensions within the religion from the start. Irrespective of the belief in one God, Muslims divided along differing schools of thought soon after the death of Muhammad (Tignor and Hague, 2007). Upon the death of the charismatic prophet, believers in Islam disagreed upon who was right to take his position and lead the religious group. Religious and political differences between the groups grew deeper as the religion spread across Afro-Eurasia. Disputes on who was best placed to take over the position of Prophet Muhammad led to the creation of the Sunni Muslims and the Shiite Muslims. To date, the dispute between the Shiites and the Sunnis present the most powerful opposition movement in North Africa, Iranian Plateau and lower Iraq. The disagreement between the factions was about who would inherit the position of Muhammad, the manner in which the succession would take place and the persons who would be responsible for spreading the message of the prophet to the wider world. The Sunni Muslims accept the succession of Muhammad through the four caliphs that they believe were saintly appointed. They are the traditional Muslims and believe the caliphs were rightfully guided to take charge of the political dynasty of Prophet Muhammad. They believe that the Abbasid and Umayyad dynasties were the correct ones. Shiites are the dissidents who oppose this version of succession. Both groups had their versions of sharia and believed in their own collections of hadith (Tignor and Hague, 2007). They had differing versions of theological tenets. Shiites are the dissidents of the opinion that Ali, the husband of the prophet’s daughter would have been the best placed to succeed Muhammad. Ali’s followers do not hold the opinion that the four caliphs were rightfully guided to take charge of the political issues of Islam. They believe that imams, Ali’s descendents have the political and religious authority over Muslims all over the world (Tignor and Hague, 2007). The school of thought of Shiites appeals to the groups that the Abbasids and Umayyad excluded from power and authority over Islam Irrespective of the challenges Muslims faced in the early days of the religion to date, the efforts to spread the message of Prophet Muhammad did not suffer from this division. The Muslims remained united under their leaders in spreading the religion across the West and the East. Despite initial threats of the faithful having different versions of hadith, they later came to unite under the teachings of basic texts. They were also united under the reverence of one God. Political and religious divisions described did not interfere with their need to see the message reach as far from Mecca as possible. 1. How did the plague spread throughout Afro-Eurasia? What were the effects of the plague in society; political, economic and social? The Plague in Europe came in the wake of famine in 1347. The Plague became known as the Black Death. The infections were caused by Black Rats. It ravaged the populations of Italian Peninsula then got hold of France (Tignor and Hague, 2007). The same year, the plague spread to the Lowe Countries representing the current day Luxembourg, Belgium and Netherlands. Finally, the disaster caught up with England and Germany. Unsanitary and overcrowded cities were the most vulnerable for the plague. Cities like Bremen that had overcrowded population lost around 8,000 people representing 66% of its total population. Hamburg, another crowded and unsanitary port city lost as many souls. Although the poor sleeping in crowded quarters were the most affected, rich bankers and aristocrats too perished in the disaster. Only those who were able to flee to the countryside on time before the infection escaped death by the plague. An estimated 25% to 50% of the European population was lost in the course of the plague (Tignor and Hague, 2007). As a result of the European Black Rat infection, the continent lost a population that took close to three centuries to replace. The effect was far reaching and diverse. On social lives, some people developed debauchery with the aim of enjoying their last days on earth before they died. Others became extremely pious with the hope of impressing their creators to gain access to eternal lives after the inevitable Black Death (Tignor and Hague, 2007). Eccentric groups like the Brethren of the Free Speech took shape to condemn the lives of sin the people and their leaders lived as the cause for heavenly punishment. Some believed that the death was a show to the rulers to let their subjects do as they wished while alive. Politically, the plague destabilized the political structures of states and cities around the time. Rulers lost their loved ones and loved servants. There was loss of armies in war camps given the congested conditions of camps. City states such and kingdoms remained weak and vulnerable to external attacks. Florence and the Portuguese state were the most affected. In economic sphere, the plague completely disoriented the workforce of states and city states. Empires lost the workforce in the plague that came over every seven years to claim more lives. Trade was disrupted as no caravans could access the deadly Europe (Tignor and Hague, 2007). The West became a death trap and Westerners were feared. Famine struck most of Europe. This killed more people, weakening economy of the region further. 1. What were the key factures of the Renaissance in Europe? How did it spread and change society? Renaissance in Europe was about the new exposure to the old and classical art, architectural forms and text. Some works of Roans and Greeks were known in the Islamic World and Europe, but the fall of Constantinople made them accessible to most western scholars for te first time. The feature of the Renaissance was that it enlightened the rest of Europe on the vast knowledge the Romans and Greeks had. The world learnt about the expertise the Romans and Greek had in caring and representation of the human body, astronomy, geography, architecture and efficient government of states and armies (Tignor and Hague, 2007). The second feature of Renaissance is that it replaced the prior existence of the sole need to trust the mediaeval authorities and understand the Christian teachings to be considered knowledgeable. It added a new twist to the discernment of knowledge in which people had to interpret original sources, learn new languages and understand history. The dive back into the historic times of the Greek and the Romans was known as humanism (Tignor and Hague, 2007). Its main objective was to aspire to be aware of the human experiences beyond Christian and Islamic teachings. The third feature of Renaissance is that it was sponsored and made possible by the sponsorship and support of rich and powerful families and the ruling class. For instance, the di Medici family patronized ancient models for three generations from 1480s. The family made Florence a major showplace for Renaissance and ancient arts and architecture. 1. Did Suleiman deserve the title “the magnificent” Discuss why or why not, what role did Topkapi palace play in Suleiman’s rule? Suleiman deserved the title “the Magnificent” given the role he played in sustenance and expansion of the Ottoman Empire (Tignor and Hague, 2007). During his reign between 1520 and 1566, the ruler showed astounding leadership skills that saved the Ottoman Empire at the brink of collapse. He expanded the empire both in the West and in the Arab world.teh Ottoman reached the limits of its territorial expansion under the rule of Suleiman. He led thirteen military campaigns and several other small scale military engagements to sustain the existence and expand Ottoman Empire. He deserved the term “the Magnificent” given the superior administrative skills he had. Suleiman was such a good administrator that his subjects looked upon him as the Lawgiver. He had efficient bureaucratic administrative frameworks and dispensed justice to all under his rule. His eminence was so much that the Europeans who were not under his rule recognized him and referred to him as “the Great Turk”. As the ruler of Ottoman Empire, Suleiman was able to bring under his rule a total of 20 million to 30 million subjects (Tignor and Hague, 2007). He bridged the Arab world with Europe by the time of his death. 6. Discuss the Mongolian rise from China to Europe. How did they hold the empire together? How did the occupation affect Russia? What was the impact on trade routes? The spread of Mongolian Empire from China to Europe was through battles. The Mongolian invasion of Europe in the thirteenth century entailed the destruction of East Slavic Principalities. These included the capture of Kingdom of Hungary in the battle of Mohi, the battle of Legnica that saw the fragmentation of Poland, and destruction of Kiev and Vladimir. The grandsons of Genghis Khan (Batu Khan and Kadan Khan) instituted the invasion under the mastership of General Subutai (Tignor and Hague, 2007). Many of the conquered territories by the Mongols became part of the Golden Horde Empire. History reports that invasion of Europe by the Mongolian rulers was one of the deadliest attacks in the historic times. The empire exceeded the violence that had been witnessed before as it made its way through Russia into Europe. It was an orgy of violence and destruction. The Mongolian Empire brought fear to the wider Europe in the scales the people would not see again till the 20th Century (Tignor and Hague, 2007). Eastern Europe and Central Asia were the most affected by the Mongolian violence. The arrival and spread of the empire spread terror and panic. The Mongol invasion of Russia had far reaching effects on the people of Russia. The Mongolian armies burned down and looted the villages and cities of Russian principalities. They slaughtered people as they took many as slaves of war. They captured, sacked and destroyed the symbolic center of Russian empire, Kiev. Even the principalities that lay in the south western part of Russia that survived the onslaught felt the rule of the Golden Horde through indirect subjection and tributes to the rule (Tignor and Hague, 2007). The Mongolian empire revered trading and trade routes as important source of information on neighbor’s culture. The rulers used traders as diplomats and spies to get to understand the people they intended to invade next. As the empire expanded, merchants and ambassadors with proper authorization and documentation received sanctuary and protection as they transacted within the Mongolian realms (Tignor and Hague, 2007). This way, Mongolian Empire got hold of the trade routes and had control of all the wealth in the regions they invaded and captured. 7. Describe how the Ming dynasty centralized its power in China. What political innovations did the Ming dynasty pursue, and what traditions did they keep? The Ming dynasty did not focus its powers on the ruler as the fallen Mongolian dynasty did. The dynasty had powers decentralized into provincial administrators. The Ming Emperors took over the provincial administration system from the Yuan dynasty. Throughout the rule, the largest political division was circuit. Upon Jurchen invasion, four semi-autonomous regional command systems were formed. This marked the decentralization of power in the Ming dynasty (Tignor and Hague, 2007). The divisions were based on military and territorial units. They had detached service secretariats that served as provincial administrators. Political inventions of the Ming were geared towards maintaining its position as the world’s biggest economy of the time. It had increased political influence on merchants. In addition, the Ming rulers improved their political rule on matters of imperial rule and technological advancements. Politics of the time allowed for privatization of empirically owned enterprises, unlike the Song dynasty. Its politics ensured taxation was light. It was 1/30 of agricultural produce. Commercial earnings attracted a tax of 1.5% (Tignor and Hague, 2007). The low taxation of the Ming escalated trade and increased development of the dynasty. The Ming dynasty kept their culture in literature, painting, music, Chinese operas and poetry. The period of the reign saw the development of vernacular novels and storybooks. Novels such as Journey to the West and Water Margins were written and published 1610 (Tignor and Hague, 2007). Famous artists such as Dong Qichang and Ni Zang drew and represented techniques, complexities and styles of Chinese art (Tignor and Hague, 2007). The Ming also revered the tradition of ceramics and porcelain in the period. Utensils and ornaments made of clay marked the reign of Ming dynasty. Works Cited Tignor, S and B Hague. Worlds Together, Worlds Apart. Third Edition. NewYork: Norton and Company Inc, 2007. Read More