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Module I The Origins and Emergence of The Ottomans: (... c. 1446) |
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The Turks were among the major waves of invaders
who first attacked, then settled in the Middle East. There was a constant tension between
the inhabitants of settled areas and the nomadic peoples of the steppes and deserts that
surrounded the Middle East. Nomadic tribes were often peaceful trading partners of settled
peoples. But in large numbers they were a threat to both rulers and farmers. If vast
armies of nomads entered the Middle East from Central Asia, they could be expected to turn
farm land into grass land to support their flocks, to the considerable detriment of those
who had farmed the land. Nomad raids would disrupt trade, damage farming, and generally
harm the tax base upon which rulers depended. Nomads themselves did not pay taxes.
Therefore, Middle Eastern rulers defended their borders against nomads. Nevertheless,
nomad groups periodically succeeded in overwhelming the defenses. After a period of
upheaval, nomads settled down and their rulers became the new guardians of the Middle East
against the next group of nomads." [pp.4,5]
See Map
"Under the Prophet Muhammad (c.570-632) and his immediate successors, Arabia had been unified under the rule of Islam. The religious and political descendants of Muhammad had then taken lands from North Africa to the borders of Central Asia. During the rule of the Umayyad Caliphs (661-750), Arab armies had conquered Transoxania. The Abbasid Caliphate: (map), which succeeded the Umayyad Caliphate in 750, cemented Islamic rule from western India to the Atlantic Ocean in a vast empire. No other state of the time could compare to it. Charlemagne (ruled 771-814) and the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid (ruled 786-809) of Arabian nights fame both ruled at the same time, but the area of Charlemagne's empire would have fitted many times over into Harun's Caliphate. Moreover, the Frankish standards of learning and commerce were considerably lower than those of the Abbasid Caliphate. The bastion of the Abbasid Caliphal Empire in the east was in Khurasan (northeastern Iran) and Transoxania. In the eighth to ninth centuries, Islam became the majority religion in Iran and Transoxania, which was a cultural and economic extension of the Iranian world. Transoxania became a centre of Muslim religion, administration, and culture. Samarkand and Bukhara, the great cities of the region, became major economic centres, profiting from their position on the main routes of East-West trade. All the trappings of Muslim culture were to be found in them -- great mosques, schools, charitable institutions and the organs of Middle Eastern government. The traditions of Islam and pre-Islamic Persia mixed there, creating a high civilization at a time when the empire of Charlemagne had disintegrated, Vikings raided and much of Europe had descended into near-anarchy." [p.5]
"The nomads had their own laws, their own traditions of authority, shamanistic beliefs, and a proclivity for mystical religion -- all of which might have come into conflict with orthodox Islam. However, Islam showed a practical tolerance for the beliefs of new converts, expecting the descendants of the converts to become gradually more orthodox as generations passed. Moreover, the Muslim missionaries who converted the Turks were themselves not always orthodox. Conversion of the heathen in an uncomfortable and dangerous region such as Central Asia appealed more to heterodox zealots than to the theologically conservative. The missionaries often accepted more ecstatic religious experiences and practices than did the more Law-minded orthodox Muslims. The new converts were allowed latitude in their religious beliefs... The full panoply of Islamic Law only gradually applied to them. In particular, many Turks kept their mystical orientation. Turkish Muslims showed a desire to extend religion beyond the realm of Islamic legalities into mystical communion with God. Mysticism remained a basic part of Turkish religion, and in time this mystical orientation was even recognized by the Islamic religious establishment as being a legitimate, if always somewhat suspect, part of true religion." [p.7]
