The golden age of Islam

The use of the word "Mussulman" might be a bit odd for the modern reader, but this concise text (just 82 pages, with added introductions) was first published in 1918. The author was the foremost expert on the Islamic world in Russia and believed that interaction between cultures was the main factor of progress. His attention to Persia and the Mongol Conquest are the main attractions.

The Arabs took Egypt with an army of only 4 thousand men from a Byzantine Empire tired of war with Persia. Northern Mesopotamia had been another easy victim. The first Muslim rulers needed the help of non-Muslims and Christianity flourished under the Caliphate. Greek texts were translated into the languages of the new empire. The cliques the Christians formed hindered their later development. The conversion to Islam shattered the government's financial system. Upon conquest, the Arabs maintained separate quarters for their various tribes in the towns they conquered. This was also implemented in Damascus. In material culture the Caliphate owed more to Byzantium than to Persia, transplanting Egypt's textile industry to Syria. At a later date with regard to material culture the Mussulmans assigned first place to the Chinese and second to the Greeks (p.21).

In the beginning the Arabs often mixed up Greek philosophers, e.g. Plato and Plotinus, which also influenced Europeans. Tenth century Arab geographers expanded Greek geographical knowledge beyond the Caspian Sea to the littoral above Korea. Eloquence remained a characteristic of Arab literature and ideas a distinctive trait of the Persian. In Persia and Turkistan Islam brought down the caste system and large landed properties.

The various rulers of Persia and its northern borderlands all tried to attract writers and scholars. The Buids who had their home near the Caspian Sea submitted wholly to the influence of Arabic literature while remaining indifferent to the Persian. In Iran Islamic culture continued to flourish after the 11th century when decline set in elsewhere. City life passed from the shahristans of towns to the suburbs. Muslim traders converted the Bulgars living on the Volga while trade spread Islam to the East. Later Turkic invaders of the Islamic core had already been converted to the new religion. At the beginning of the 13th century trade between Mongolia and China was in Muslim hands and Muslims figured in the general headquarters of Genghis Khan before he began his campaign of conquests. Islamic literature in Chinese does not appear until the 17th century despite an Islamic presence since the 8th century.

After the mayhem and murder of a Mongol conquest, a time of greater political stability set in. The Khans brought cultured councillors who helped to establish their rule. The Khans helped with the reconstruction of town life and accorded patronage to medicine, mathematics (for bookkeeping) and astronomy (for astrology). Their rule did not lead to a return of barter but remained based on gold and later silver. The caravan trade with the Far East rose to new levels. After the division of the Mongol Empire close relations between Persia and China remained in place. They also improved ties with Europe as they shared enmity towards Egypt. This helped European culture to progress. China's astronomical studies came under Persian influence, which continued until the arrival of the Jesuits. Timur in Turkistan enhanced Islamic architecture with buildings in the Persian style, but bigger. The great mosque of Samarqand was already in decay during his lifetime.

Islamic culture kept shining for some time, but the Europeans obtained the upper hand. Chinese book printing was known in Persia, but not practiced. The Osmanli dynasty, was at first quite indifferent to religion at the beginning and had been given to dervish freethinking, was forced under stress of circumstances to renew the traditions of militant Islam. In 1593, during one of the European wars, the hitherto undocumented "green standard of the Prophet" that was found in Damascus, was taken for the first time into battle. The Moghul Empire in India was richer and more tolerant and had greater agricultural capacity than Europe (the author does not mention the intolerant later Moghuls here). ( )