What peoples inhabited the empire of the Arab Caliphate under Harun ar Rashid.

Historical prerequisites for the emergence

The initial core of the caliphate was the Muslim community created by the prophet Muhammad at the beginning of the 7th century in Hijaz (Western Arabia) - the ummah. As a result of the Muslim conquests, a huge state was created, which included the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Iran, most of the Transcaucasus (in particular the Armenian Highlands, the Caspian territories, the Colchis lowland, as well as areas of Tbilisi), Central Asia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa, most of the Iberian Peninsula, Sindh.

From the founding of the caliphate () to the Abbasid dynasty ()

This period includes the era of the first 4 caliphs, "walking the right path" (ar-râshidin) - Abu Bakr (632-634), Umar (634-644), Usman (644-656) and Ali (656-661) and the dominance of the Umayyads (661-750).

Arab conquests

In size, their empire, which was formed in less than a hundred years, surpassed that of Rome, and this turned out to be all the more amazing because at the beginning, after the death of Muhammad, one could fear that even the small successes of Islam, which he achieved in Arabia, would collapse. Muhammad, dying, left no heir, and after his death (632) a dispute arose between the Meccans and Medinans over the question of his successor. During the discussions, Abu Bakr was chosen as caliph. Meanwhile, with the news of the death of Muhammad, almost all of Arabia, except for Mecca, Medina and Taif, immediately departed from Islam. With the help of believing Medinese and Meccans, Abu Bakr was able to bring vast but disunited Arabia back to Islam; Most of all, the so-called Sayfullah “the sword of Allah” helped him in this - an experienced commander Khalid ibn al-Walid, who only 9 years ago defeated the prophet at Mount Care; Khalid defeated the 40,000th army of the followers of the false prophet Musailima in the so-called. "fence of death" at Akrab (633). Immediately after the pacification of the uprising of the Arabs, Abu Bakr, continuing the policy of Muhammad, led them to war against the Byzantine and Iranian possessions.

The limits of the caliphate narrowed somewhat: the surviving Umayyad Abd ar-Rahman I laid the first foundation in Spain () for an independent Emirate of Cordoba, which since 929 has been officially titled "caliphate" (929-). 30 years later, Idris, the great-grandson of Caliph Ali and therefore equally hostile to both the Abbasids and the Umayyads, founded the Alid dynasty of the Idrisids (-) in Morocco, whose capital was the city of Tudga; the rest of the northern coast of Africa (Tunisia, etc.) was actually lost to the Abbasid Caliphate, when the governor of Aghlab, appointed by Harun ar-Rashid, was the founder of the Aghlabid dynasty in Kairouan (-). The Abbasids did not consider it necessary to resume their foreign aggressive policy against Christian or other countries, and although military clashes arose from time to time both on the eastern and northern borders (like Mamun’s two unsuccessful campaigns against Constantinople), however, in general, the caliphate lived peacefully.

Such a feature of the first Abbasids as their despotic, heartless and, moreover, often insidious cruelty is noted. Sometimes, as with the founder of the dynasty, she was an open object of Caliph's pride (the nickname "Bloodshed" was chosen by Abu-l-Abbas himself). Some of the caliphs, at least the cunning al-Mansur, who liked to clothe himself before the people in the hypocritical clothes of piety and justice, preferred, where possible, to act with deceit and execute dangerous people on the sly, first lulling their caution with oaths and graces. With al-Mahdi and with Harun ar-Rashid, cruelty was obscured by their generosity, however, the perfidious and ferocious overthrow of the vizier family of the Barmakids, extremely useful for the state, but imposing a certain bridle on the ruler, is for Harun one of the most disgusting acts of Eastern despotism. It should be added that under the Abbasids, a system of torture was introduced into the legal proceedings. Even the religiously tolerant philosopher Mamun and his two successors are not too free from the reproach of tyranny and hardness of heart towards people unpleasant to them. Kremer finds (Culturgesch. d. Or., II, 61; compare Müller: Historical Isl., II, 170) that the very first Abbasids show signs of hereditary Caesarian madness, which intensifies even more in descendants.

In justification, one can only say that in order to suppress the chaotic anarchy in which the countries of Islam were located during the establishment of the Abbasid dynasty, worried by the adherents of the overthrown Umayyads, bypassed Alids, predatory Kharijites and various Persian sectarians of radical , terrorist measures were, perhaps, a simple necessity. Apparently, Abu-l-Abbas understood the meaning of his nickname "Bloodshed". Thanks to the formidable centralization that the heartless man but the brilliant politician al-Mansur managed to introduce, the subjects were able to enjoy internal peace, and the state finances were set up in a brilliant way. Even the scientific and philosophical movement in the caliphate dates back to the same cruel and insidious Mansur (Masudi: “Golden Meadows”), who, despite his notorious stinginess, treated science with encouragement (meaning, first of all, practical, medical goals) . But, on the other hand, it remains undoubted that the flourishing of the caliphate would hardly have been possible if Saffah, Mansur and their successors ruled the state directly, and not through the talented vizier family of the Persian Barmakids. Until this family was overthrown () by the unreasonable Harun ar-Rashid, burdened by her guardianship, some of its members were the first ministers or close advisers to the caliph in Baghdad (Khalid, Yahya, Jafar), others were in important government positions in the provinces (like Fadl ), and all together managed, on the one hand, to maintain for 50 years the necessary balance between Persians and Arabs, which gave the caliphate its political fortress, and on the other hand, to restore the ancient Sasanian life, with its social structure, with its culture, with its mental movement.

"Golden Age" of Arab culture

This culture is usually called Arabic, because the organ of mental life for all the peoples of the Caliphate has become the Arabic language, - therefore they say: "Arabic art", "Arab science”, etc.; but in essence, these were mostly the remnants of the Sassanian and Old Persian culture in general (which, as is known, also adopted a lot from India, Assyria, Babylon and, indirectly, from Greece). In the Western Asian and Egyptian parts of the Caliphate, we observe the development of the remnants of the Byzantine culture, just as in North Africa, Sicily and Spain - the culture of the Roman and Roman-Spanish - and homogeneity in them is imperceptible, if we exclude the link that connects them - the Arabic language. It cannot be said that the foreign culture inherited by the Caliphate rose qualitatively under the Arabs: the Iranian-Muslim architectural buildings are lower than the old Parsi ones, similarly, Muslim silk and wool products, household utensils and jewelry, despite their charm, are inferior to ancient products.

But on the other hand, in the Muslim, Abbasid period, in a vast, united and ordered state, with carefully arranged communication routes, the demand for Iranian-made items increased, and the number of consumers increased. Peaceful relations with neighbors made it possible to develop remarkable foreign barter trade: with China through Turkestan and - by sea - through the Indian archipelago, with the Volga Bulgars and Russia through the kingdom of the Khazars, with the Spanish emirate, with all of Southern Europe (with the possible exception of Byzantium), with the eastern shores of Africa (from where, in turn, ivory and blacks were exported), etc. The main port of the caliphate was Basra. The merchant and the industrialist are the main characters of Arabian tales; various high-ranking officials, military leaders, scientists, etc., were not ashamed to add to their titles the nickname Attar (“moskateur”), Heyat (“tailor”), Javhariy (“jeweler”), and so on. However, the nature of the Muslim-Iranian industry is not so much the satisfaction of practical needs as luxury. The main items of production are silk fabrics (muslin, satin, moire, brocade), weapons (sabers, daggers, chain mail), embroideries on canvas and leather, braided work, carpets, shawls, chased, engraved, carved ivory and metals, mosaic works, faience and glassware; less often purely practical items - paper, cloth and camel wool.

The well-being of the agricultural class (for reasons, however, taxable, not democratic) was raised by the restoration of irrigation canals and dams, which were launched under the last Sassanids. But even according to the consciousness of the Arab writers themselves, the caliphs failed to bring the people's ability to pay to such a height as was achieved by the tax system of Khosrow I Anushirvan, although the caliphs ordered the Sasanian cadastral books to be translated into Arabic on purpose for this purpose.

The Persian spirit also takes possession of Arabic poetry, which now, instead of Bedouin songs, gives the refined works of the Basrian Abu Nuwas (“Arabic Heine”) and other court poets Harun al-Rashid. Apparently, not without Persian influence (Brockelman: “Gesch. d. arab. Litt.”, I, 134) a correct historiography arises, and after the “Life of the Apostle” compiled by Ibn Ishak for Mansur, a number of secular historians also appear. From Persian, Ibn al-Mukaffa (circa 750) translates the Sassanid "Book of Kings", the Pahlavi adaptation of Indian parables about "Kalila and Dimna" and various Greek-Syro-Persian philosophical works, which Basra, Kufa first of all get acquainted with, then and Baghdad. The same task is performed by people of a language closer to the Arabs, the former Persian subjects of the Aramean Christians of Jondishapur, Harran, etc. Moreover, Mansur also takes care of the translation into Arabic of Greek medical, and at the same time mathematical and philosophical works (Masudi: "Golden Meadows") . Harun gives the manuscripts brought from the Asia Minor campaigns for translation to the Jondishapur doctor John ibn Masaveih (who even engaged in vivisection and was then a life doctor for Mamun and his two successors), and Mamun arranged, already specifically for abstract philosophical purposes, a special translation board in Baghdad and attracted philosophers (Kindi). Under the influence of Greek-Syro-Persian philosophy, the commentary work on the interpretation of the Koran turns into scientific Arabic philology (Basrian Khalil, Basrian Persian Sibaveyhi; Mamun's teacher is the Kufi Kisviy) and the creation of Arabic grammar, the philological collection of works of pre-Islamic and Umayyad folk literature (Muallakat, Hamasa, Khozeilit poems, etc.).

The age of the first Abbasids is also known as a period of the highest tension of the religious thought of Islam, as a period of strong sectarian movement: the Persians, who were now converting to Islam en masse, took Muslim theology almost completely into their own hands and aroused a lively dogmatic struggle, among which heretical sects, outlined even under The Umayyads, received their development, and the orthodox theology-jurisprudence was defined in the form of 4 schools, or interpretations: under Mansur - the more progressive Abu Hanifa in Baghdad and the conservative Malik in Medina, under Harun - the relatively progressive ash-Shafi'i, under Mamun - ibn Hanbal. The attitude of the government towards these orthodoxies has not always been the same. Under Mansur, a supporter of the Mu'tazilites, Malik was flogged to mutilation. Then, during the next 4 reigns, orthodoxy prevailed, but when Mamun and his two successors raised (since 827) Mutazilism to the level of state religion, the followers of orthodox interpretations were subjected to official persecution for "anthropomorphism", "polytheism", etc., and under al-Mu'tasim was flogged and tortured by the holy imam ibn-Hanbal (). Of course, the caliphs could fearlessly patronize the Mu'tazilite sect, because its rationalistic doctrine of the free will of man and the creation of the Koran and its inclination towards philosophy could not seem politically dangerous. To sects of a political nature, such as, for example, the Kharijites, Mazdakites, extreme Shiites, who sometimes raised very dangerous uprisings (the false prophet Moqanna in Khorasan under al-Mahdi, 779, the brave Babek in Azerbaijan under Mamun and al-Mutasim, etc. ), the attitude of the caliphs was repressive and merciless even at the time of the supreme power of the caliphate.

Fall of the Caliphate

Loss of political power of the caliphs

Witnesses of the gradual disintegration of X. were caliphs: the already mentioned Mutawakkil (847-861), the Arab Nero, highly praised by the orthodox; his son Muntasir (861-862), who ascended the throne, having killed his father with the help of the Turkic guards, Mustain (862-866), Al-Mutazz (866-869), Mukhtadi I (869-870), Mutamid (870-892 ), Mutadid (892-902), Muktafi I (902-908), Muktadir (908-932), Al-Qahir (932-934), Al-Radi (934-940), Muttaqi (940-944), Mustakfi (944-946). In their person, the caliph from the ruler of a vast empire turned into the prince of a small Baghdad region, at enmity and reconciliation with his sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker neighbors. Inside the state, in their capital Baghdad, the caliphs became dependent on the masterful praetorian Turkic guard, which Mutasim (833) saw fit to form. Under the Abbasids, the national identity of the Persians revived (Goldzier: "Muh. Stud.", I, 101-208). Harun's reckless extermination of the Barmakids, who knew how to rally the Persian element with the Arab, led to discord between the two peoples. Under Mamun, the strong political separatism of Persia was expressed in the founding of the Tahirid dynasty in Khorasan (821-873), which proved to be the first symptom of the coming secession of Iran. After the Tahirids (821-873), independent dynasties arose: the Saffarids (867-903; see), the Samanids (875-999; see), the Ghaznavids (962-1186; see), and Persia slipped from the hands of the caliphs. In the West, Egypt, together with Syria, seceded under the rule of the Tulunids (868-905); True, after the fall of the Tulunids, Syria and Egypt were again under the control of Abbasid governors for 30 years; but in 935 Ikhshid founded his dynasty (935-969), and since then not a single area west of the Euphrates (Mecca and Medina also belonged to the Ikhshids) was subject to the secular power of the Baghdad caliphs, although their rights as spiritual rulers were recognized everywhere (except , of course, Spain and Morocco); a coin was minted with their name and a public prayer (khutba) was read.

Persecution of free thought

Feeling their weakness, the caliphs (the first - Al-Mutawakkil, 847) decided that they should gain new support for themselves - in the orthodox clergy, and for this - renounce Mutazilite free-thinking. Thus, since the time of Mutawakkil, along with the progressive weakening of the power of the caliphs, there has been an increase in orthodoxy, the persecution of heresies, free thinking and heterodoxy (Christians, Jews, etc.), religious persecution of philosophy, natural and even exact sciences. A new powerful school of theologians, founded by Abul-Hasan al-Ash'ari (874-936), who left Mu'taziliteism, conducts scientific polemics with philosophy and secular science and wins public opinion. However, in fact, to kill the mental movement of the caliphs, with their more and more falling political power, they were not able to, and the most glorious Arab philosophers (Basri encyclopedists, Farabi, Ibn Sina) and other scientists lived under the auspices of vassal sovereigns just in that the era ( - c.), when officially in Baghdad, in Islamic dogma and in the opinion of the masses, philosophy and non-scholastic sciences were recognized as impiety; and literature towards the end of the said epoch produced the greatest free-thinking Arab poet Ma'arri (973-1057); at the same time, Sufism, which had taken root very well in Islam, with many of its Persian representatives passed into complete freethinking.

Cairo Caliphate

The last caliphs of the Abbasid dynasty

The Abbasid Caliph, that is, in essence, a petty Baghdad prince with a title, was a toy in the hands of his Turkic commanders and Mesopotamian emirs: under Al-Radi (934-941), a special position of mayordom (“emir-al-umarâ”) was established. Meanwhile, in the neighborhood, in western Persia, the Shia dynasty of the Buyids, which had separated from the Samanids in 930, advanced (see). In 945, the Buyids captured Baghdad and owned it for more than a hundred years, with the title of sultans, and at that time there were nominal caliphs: Mustakfi (944-946), Al-Muti (946-974), Al-Tai (974-991 ), Al-Qadir (991-1031) and Al-Qaim (1031-1075). Although from political calculations, to counterbalance the Fatimids, the Shiite sultans-Buids called themselves vassals, "emirs al-umar" of the Sunni Caliphate of Baghdad, but, in essence, they treated the caliphs as prisoners, with complete disrespect and contempt, patronized philosophers and freethinkers sectarians, and in Baghdad itself Shiism made progress.

Seljuk invasion

A ray of hope for getting rid of the oppressors flashed to the caliphs in the face of the new conqueror, the Turkic sultan Mahmud Ghaznevi (997-1030), who, having created his own huge sultanate instead of the Samanid state he had overthrown, showed himself to be an ardent Sunni and introduced orthodoxy everywhere; however, he took away Media and some other possessions only from the small Buyids, and avoided clashes with the main Buyids. In cultural terms, the campaigns of Mahmud turned out to be very disastrous for the countries he conquered, and in 1036 a terrible misfortune struck the entire Muslim Asia: the Seljuk Turks began their devastating conquests and dealt the first mortal blow to the Asian Muslim civilization, already shaken by the Ghaznevid Turks . But the caliphs got better: in 1055, the leader of the Seljuks, Togrul-bek, entered Baghdad, freed the caliph from the power of the heretic Buyids, and instead of them he himself became a sultan; in 1058 he solemnly accepted an investiture from Al-Qa'im and surrounded him with outward signs of reverence. Al-Qaim (d. 1075), Mukhtadi II (1075-1094) and Al-Mustazhir (1094-1118) lived in material contentment and respect, as representatives of the Muslim church, and Al-Mustarshid (1118-1135) Seljukid Mas'ud granted Baghdad and most of Iraq for independent secular government, which remained with his successors: Ar-Rashid (1135-1136), Al-Muktafi (1136-1160), Al-Mustanjid (1160-1170) and Al-Mustadi (1170) -1180).

The end of X. Fatimid, so hated by the Abbasids, was put by the faithful Sunni Saladin (1169-1193). The Egyptian-Syrian Ayyubid dynasty (1169-1250) founded by him honored the name of the Baghdad caliph.

Mongol invasion

Taking advantage of the weakness of the disintegrated Seljuk dynasty, the energetic caliph An-Nasir (1180-1225) decided to expand the boundaries of his small Baghdad X. and dared to fight against the powerful Khorezmshah Muhammad ibn Tekesh, who advanced instead of the Seljuks. Ibn Tekesh ordered a meeting of theologians to transfer X. from the Abbas clan to the Ali clan and sent troops to Baghdad (1217-1219), and An-Nasir sent an embassy to the Mongols of Genghis Khan, inviting them to invade Khorezm. Neither An-Nasir (d. 1225) nor Caliph Az-Zahir (1220-1226) saw the end of the catastrophe they had brought about, which destroyed the Islamic countries of Asia both culturally, materially and mentally. The last caliphs of Baghdad were Al-Mustansir (1226-1242) and the completely insignificant and mediocre Al-Mustasim (1242-1258), who in 1258 surrendered the capital to the Mongols Hulagu and was executed 10 days later with most of the members of his dynasty. One of them fled to Egypt, and there the Mamluk sultan Baibars (-), in order to have spiritual support for his sultanate, elevated him to the rank of "caliph" under the name Mustansir (). The descendants of this Abbasid remained nominal caliphs under the sultans of Cairo until the power of the Mamluks was overthrown by the Ottoman conqueror Selim I (1517). In order to have all the official data of spiritual leadership over the entire Islamic world, Selim I forced the last of these caliphs and the last of the Abbasid family, Motawakkil III, to solemnly renounce his caliphic rights and title in favor of

In old Russian sources it is also known under the names Kingdom of Agaria and Kingdom of Ishmael, which thus included it in the general list of kingdoms (empires) of the world known to bookish people in Russia of that time.

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Medina community

The initial core of the caliphate was the Muslim community, the ummah, created by the Prophet Muhammad at the beginning of the 7th century in Hijaz (Western Arabia). Initially, this community was small and was a proto-state formation of a super-religious nature, similar to the Mosaic state or the First Communities of Christ. As a result of the Muslim conquests, a huge state was created that included the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Iran, most of the Transcaucasus (in particular the Armenian Highlands, the Caspian territories, the Colchis Lowland, as well as areas of Tbilisi), Central Asia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, North Africa, most of the Iberian Peninsula, Sindh.

Righteous Caliphate (632-661)

After the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632, the Righteous Caliphate was created. It was headed by four Righteous Caliphs: Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, Umar ibn al-Khattab, Usman ibn Affan and Ali ibn Abu Talib. During their reign, the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant (Sham), the Caucasus, part of North Africa from Egypt to Tunisia and the Iranian Highlands were included in the Caliphate.

Umayyad Caliphate (661-750)

The position of the non-Arab peoples of the Caliphate

By paying a land tax (kharaj) in exchange for providing them with protection and immunity from the Muslim state, as well as a head tax (jizya), the Gentiles had the right to practice their religion. Even the aforementioned decrees of "Umar, it was fundamentally recognized that the law of Muhammad is armed only against pagan polytheists; "People of Scripture" - Christians, Jews - can, by paying a fee, remain in their religion; in comparison with neighboring Byzantium, where any Christian heresy was persecuted, Islamic law, even under Umar, was relatively liberal.

Since the conquerors were not at all prepared for complex forms of state administration, even "Umar was forced to preserve the old, well-established Byzantine and Iranian state mechanism for the newly formed huge state (before Abdul-Malik, even the office was not conducted in Arabic), - and therefore gentiles were not denied access to many government positions.For political reasons, Abd al-Malik considered it necessary to remove non-Muslims from public service, but with complete consistency this order could not be carried out either during his time or after him; -Malik and his courtiers close to him were Christians (the most famous example is Father John of Damascus). Nevertheless, among the conquered peoples there was a great inclination to renounce their former faith - Christian and Parsi - and voluntarily accept Islam. law of 700, did not pay taxes; on the contrary, according to the law of Omar, he was given an annual salary from the government and was completely equal with the winners; higher government positions were made available to him.

On the other hand, the conquered had to convert to Islam also out of inner conviction; - how else to explain the mass adoption of Islam, for example, by those heretic Christians who before that in the kingdom of Khosrov and in the Byzantine empire could not be deviated from the faith of their fathers by any persecution? Obviously, Islam, with its simple dogmas, spoke to their hearts quite well. Moreover, Islam did not appear to the Christians, or even to the Parsees, as some kind of abrupt innovation: in many points it was close to both religions. It is known that for a long time Europe saw in Islam, highly revering Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin, nothing more than one of the Christian heresies (for example, the Orthodox Arab Archimandrite Christopher Zhara argued that the religion of Muhammad is the same Arianism)

The adoption of Islam by Christians and - then - Iranians had extremely important consequences, both religious and state. Islam, instead of indifferent Arabs, acquired in its new followers such an element for which to believe was an essential need of the soul, and since these were educated people, they (Persians much more than Christians) engaged in the end of this period with the scientific processing of Muslim theology and, combined with him jurisprudence, subjects which until then had been modestly developed by only a small circle of those Muslim Arabs who, without any sympathy from the Umayyad government, remained faithful to the teachings of the prophet.

It was said above that the general spirit that permeated the Caliphate in the first century of its existence was Old Arabic (this fact, much clearer even than in the Umayyad government reaction against Islam, was expressed in the then poetry, which continued to brilliantly develop the same pagan-tribal, cheerful themes that were outlined in the Old Arabic poems). In protest against the return to pre-Islamic traditions, a small group of companions (“ Sahabs”) of the prophet and their heirs (“ Tabiins”) was formed, which continued to observe the precepts of Muhammad, led in the silence of the capital she left - Medina and in some places in other places of the Caliphate theoretical work on the orthodox interpretation of the Qur'an and on the creation of an orthodox sunnah, that is, on the definition of truly Muslim traditions, according to which the impious life of the contemporary Umayyad X would have to be reconstructed. These traditions, which, among other things, preached the destruction of the tribal principle and the egalitarian unification of all Muslims in the bosom of the Muhammadan religion, came to the newly converted foreigners, obviously, to the heart more than the arrogant un-Islamic attitude of the ruling Arab spheres, and therefore the Medinan theological school, clogged, ignored by pure Arabs and the government, found active support in the new non-Arab Muslims.

There were, perhaps, well-known disadvantages for the purity of Islam from these new, believing followers: partly unconsciously, partly even consciously, ideas or trends began to creep into it, alien or unknown to Muhammad. Probably, the influence of Christians (A. Müller, “Ist. Isl.”, II, 81) explains the appearance (at the end of the 7th century) of the Murjiites sect, with its doctrine of the Lord’s immeasurable merciful long-suffering, and the Kadarite sect, which is the doctrine of free will man prepared the triumph of the Mu'tazilites; probably, mystical monasticism (under the name of Sufism) was borrowed by Muslims at first from Syrian Christians (A. f. Kremer "Gesch. d. herrsch. Ideen", 57); in the lower In Mesopotamia, Christian Muslim converts joined the ranks of the republican-democratic sect of the Kharijites, equally opposed to both the unbelieving Umayyad government and the Medinan orthodox believers.

An even more double-edged benefit in the development of Islam was the participation of the Persians, which came later, but more actively. A significant part of them, not being able to get rid of the age-old ancient Persian view that “royal grace” (farrahi kayaniq) is transmitted only through heredity, joined the Shiite sect (see), which stood behind the Ali dynasty (husband of Fatima, daughter of the prophet) ; besides, standing up for the direct heirs of the prophet meant for foreigners to constitute a purely legal opposition against the Umayyad government, with its unpleasant Arab nationalism. This theoretical opposition took on a very real meaning when Umar II (717-720), the only one of the Umayyads devoted to Islam, took it into his head to implement the principles of the Koran that were favorable to non-Arab Muslims and, thus, introduced disorganization into the Umayyad system of government.

30 years later, the Khorasanian Shia Persians overthrew the Umayyad dynasty (the remnants of which fled to Spain; see related article). True, due to the cunning of the Abbasids, the throne of X. went (750) not to the Alids, but to the Abbasids, also relatives of the prophet (Abbas is his uncle; see the corresponding article), but, in any case, the expectations of the Persians were justified: under the Abbasids, they received an advantage in state and breathed new life into it. Even the capital of X. was moved to the borders of Iran: first - to Anbar, and from the time of Al-Mansur - even closer, to Baghdad, almost to the same places where the capital of the Sassanids was; and for half a century members of the vizier family of the Barmakids, descended from Persian priests, became hereditary advisers to the caliphs.

Abbasid Caliphate (750-945, 1124-1258)

First Abbasids

The limits of the caliphate narrowed somewhat: the surviving Umayyad Abd ar-Rahman I laid the first foundation in Spain () for an independent Cordoba emirate, which since 929 has been officially titled "caliphate" (929-). 30 years later, Idris, the great-grandson of Caliph Ali and therefore equally hostile to both the Abbasids and the Umayyads, founded the Alid dynasty of the Idrisids (-) in Morocco, whose capital was the city of Tudga; the rest of the northern coast of Africa (Tunisia, etc.) was actually lost to the Abbasid Caliphate, when the governor of Aghlab, appointed by Harun ar-Rashid, was the founder of the Aghlabid dynasty in Kairouan (-). The Abbasids did not consider it necessary to resume their foreign aggressive policy against Christian or other countries, and although military clashes arose from time to time both on the eastern and northern borders (like Mamun’s two unsuccessful campaigns against Constantinople), however, in general, the caliphate lived peacefully.

Even the scientific and philosophical movement in the caliphate dates back to the same cruel and insidious Mansur (Masudi: “Golden Meadows”), who, despite his notorious stinginess, treated science with encouragement (meaning, first of all, practical, medical goals) . But, on the other hand, it remains undoubted that the flourishing of the caliphate would hardly have been possible if Saffah, Mansur and their successors ruled the state directly, and not through the talented vizier family of the Persian Barmakids. Until this family was overthrown () by the unreasonable Harun ar-Rashid, burdened by her guardianship, some of its members were the first ministers or close advisers to the caliph in Baghdad (Khalid, Yahya, Jafar), others were in important government positions in the provinces (like Fadl ), and all together managed, on the one hand, to maintain for 50 years the necessary balance between Persians and Arabs, which gave the caliphate its political fortress, and on the other hand, to restore the ancient Sasanian life, with its social structure, with its culture, with its mental movement.

"Golden Age" of Arab culture

This culture is usually called Arabic, because the Arabic language has become the organ of mental life for all the peoples of the Caliphate, - therefore they say: "Arabic art", "Arab science”, etc.; but in essence these were mostly the remnants of the Sasanian culture and, in general, the Old Persian culture (which, as is known, also adopted much from India, Assyria, Babylon and, indirectly, from Greece). In the Western Asian and Egyptian parts of the Caliphate, we observe the development of the remnants of the Byzantine culture, just as in North Africa, Sicily and Spain - the culture of the Roman and Roman-Spanish - and homogeneity in them is imperceptible, if we exclude the link that connects them - the Arabic language. It cannot be said that the foreign culture inherited by the Caliphate rose qualitatively under the Arabs: the Iranian-Muslim architectural buildings are lower than the old Parsi ones, similarly, Muslim silk and wool products, household utensils and jewelry, despite their charm, are inferior to ancient products. [ ]

The merchant and the industrialist are the main characters of Arabian tales; various high-ranking officials, military leaders, scientists, etc., were not ashamed to add to their titles the nickname Attar (“moskateur”), Heyat (“tailor”), Javhariy (“jeweler”), and so on. However, the nature of the Muslim-Iranian industry is not so much the satisfaction of practical needs as luxury. The main items of production are silk fabrics (muslin muslin, satin, moire, brocade), weapons (sabers, daggers, chain mail), embroideries on canvas and leather, braided works, carpets, shawls, chased, engraved, carved ivory and metals, mosaic works, faience and glassware; less often purely practical items - paper, cloth and camel wool.

The well-being of the agricultural class (for reasons, however, taxable, not democratic) was raised by the restoration of irrigation canals and dams, which were launched under the last Sassanids. But even according to the consciousness of the Arab writers themselves, the caliphs failed to bring the people's ability to pay to such a height as was achieved by the tax system of Khosrov I Anushirvan, although the caliphs ordered the Sasanian cadastral books to be translated into Arabic on purpose for this purpose.

Moreover, Mansur (Masudi: “Golden Meadows”) takes care of the translation into Arabic of Greek medical works, and at the same time - mathematical and philosophical ones. Harun gives the manuscripts brought from the Asia Minor campaigns for translation to the Jondishapur doctor John ibn Masaveih (who even engaged in vivisection and was then a life doctor for Mamun and his two successors), and Mamun arranged, already specifically for abstract philosophical purposes, a special translation board in Baghdad and attracted philosophers (Kindi). Under the influence of Greek-Syro-Persian philosophy, the commentary work on the interpretation of the Koran turns into scientific Arabic philology (Basrian Khalil, Basrian Persian Sibaveyhi; Mamun's teacher is the Kufi Kisviy) and the creation of Arabic grammar, the philological collection of works of pre-Islamic and Umayyad folk literature (Muallaki, Hamasa, Khozeilit poems, etc.).

Then, during the next 4 reigns, orthodoxy prevailed, but when Mamun and his two successors raised (since 827) Mutazilism to the level of state religion, the followers of orthodox interpretations were subjected to official persecution for "anthropomorphism", "polytheism", etc., and under al-Mu'tasim was flogged and tortured by the holy imam ibn-Hanbal (). Of course, the caliphs could fearlessly patronize the Mu'tazilite sect, because its rationalistic doctrine of the free will of man and the creation of the Koran and its inclination towards philosophy could not seem politically dangerous. To sects of a political nature, such as, for example, the Kharijites, Mazdakites, extreme Shiites, who sometimes raised very dangerous uprisings (the false prophet Moqanna in Khorasan under al-Mahdi, 779, the brave Babek in Azerbaijan under Mamun and al-Mutasim, etc. ), the attitude of the caliphs was repressive and merciless even at the time of the supreme power of the caliphate.

Loss of political power of the caliphs

Persecution of free thought

However, in fact, to kill the mental movement of the Caliph, with their more and more falling political power, they were not able to, and the most glorious Arab philosophers (Basri encyclopedists, Farabi, Ibn Sina) and other scientists lived under the auspices of vassal sovereigns just in that the era (- c.), when officially in Baghdad, in Islamic dogma and in the opinion of the masses, philosophy and non-scholastic sciences were recognized as impiety; and literature towards the end of the said epoch produced the greatest free-thinking Arab poet Ma'arri (973-1057); at the same time, Sufism, which had taken root very well in Islam, with many of its Persian representatives passed into complete freethinking.

Cairo Caliphate

The Shiites (c. 864) also became a powerful political force, especially their branch of the Carmatians (q.v.); when in 890 the strong fortress Dar al-Hijra was built in Iraq by the Qarmatians, which became a stronghold for the newly formed predatory state, since then “everyone was afraid of the Ismailis, but they were nobody,” in the words of the Arab historian Noveyria, and the Qarmatians disposed of as they wanted, in Iraq, Arabia and border Syria. In 909, the Qarmatians succeeded in founding a dynasty in northern Africa

The homeland of the Arabs is Arabia (or rather, the Arabian Peninsula), so named by the Turks and Farces (Persians). Arabia is located at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and the Mediterranean Sea. The southern part of the peninsula is more suitable for living - there is a lot of water here, it rains. Nomadic Arabs are called “Bedouins” (people of the desert). At the end of the 6th - beginning of the 7th centuries, the Arabs were at the stage of transition from the primitive system to feudalism. Mecca was the largest trading center.The nature of the Arab Caliphate and Islamic societies,
which are controlled by the clergy.

The Arabs were originally idolaters. From 610, the Prophet Muhammad began to preach a new, Islamic religion. In 622 the Prophet moved (hijrat) from Mecca to Medina. Returning to Mecca in 630, Muhammad founded the Arab state. Most Arabs converted to Islam. The fundamental book of Islam - the Quran consists of 114 suras. A faithful Muslim must comply with five main conditions: 1) know the formula for witnessing the unity of Allah; 2) pray; 3) observe fasting; 4) give alms; 5) if possible, visit the holy places (hajj) - Mecca. After the Prophet Muhammad, the Caliphs (successor, deputy) began to rule the country. The history of the Arab state is divided into three periods:

630-661 years. The period of the reign of the Prophet Muhammad and after him four caliphs - Abu Bekr, Omar, Osman, Ali. Mecca and Medina were the capitals of the Caliphate.
661-750 years. The reign of the Umayyad dynasty beginning with Mu'awiyah. The capital of the Caliphate was the city of Damascus.
750-1258 years. The reign of the Abbasids. Baghdad has been the capital since 762. Under the Abbasids, 120 km from Baghdad, in the city of Samira, the residence of the caliph was built. How has the Arab Caliphate developed throughout history?

The Arabs fell like an avalanche on Byzantium and Iran. The reason for their successful offensive was: 1) a large army, especially numerous light cavalry; 2) Iran and Byzantium were exhausted by a long war with each other; 3) local residents, exhausted by this war, looked at the Arabs as deliverers.

At the beginning of the 8th century, the Arabs captured North Africa and in 711, led by Tarig, crossed Gibraltar (the Arabic name is “Jaballutarig” - in honor of Tarig) and conquered the Iberian Peninsula. In 732, the Arabs lost at the battle of Poitiers and withdrew to the south. Muslim troops conquered the Caucasus and Central Asia, in the east they reached China and the Indus River valley. At the end of the 7th - the first half of the 8th centuries, the borders of the caliphate stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to India and China. At the head of the country was the caliph, who during the war was the supreme commander.

Sofas were created to manage various sectors of the economy: the military affairs sofa was engaged in providing for the army, the internal affairs sofa controlled the collection of taxes. The divan of the postal service played an important role in the Caliphate. Carrier pigeons were even used. All state affairs in the Caliphate were conducted in Arabic. Within the caliphate, the gold dinar and the silver dirham were in circulation. All conquered lands were the property of the state. In order to gain a foothold in the conquered territories, the Arabs widely practiced a resettlement policy. This pursued two goals:

creating an ethnic support, to strengthen;
relocating those who were in state support, to free the treasury from unnecessary payments.

The peoples, forcibly included in the Caliphate, rebelled. In Central Asia, under the leadership of Muganna in 783-785. an uprising broke out. The teachings of Muganna were based on the teachings of Mazdak.

During the reign of Caliph Mokhtasim (833-842), the military positions of the Turks strengthened, a special army was created, consisting only of Turks. In the fight against Byzantium and in the suppression of uprisings, Mokhtasim attracted the Turks.

In state institutions, the Turks were given high positions, as they were more knowledgeable in administrative matters.

The Tulun dynasty ruling Egypt was of Turkic origin. During the time of the Egyptian governor Ahmed ibn Tulun, a strong flotilla was built, which reigned in the Mediterranean Sea. Tulun supervised the construction work and took care of the well-being of the people. Egyptian historians call the period of his reign (868-884) the "golden time".

In the middle of the 8th century, Spain separated from the caliphate and an independent state arose here - the Emirate of Cordoba. In the 9th century, Egypt, Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan also broke away from the Caliphate.In the 11th century, all the territories of the caliphate were taken over.