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Khilafah (Caliphate): Difference between revisions
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===Upon Muhammad's death (632)=== | ===Upon Muhammad's death (632)=== | ||
According to the [[hadiths]], the | According to the [[hadiths]], the ''Muhajirun'' and ''Ansar'' of [[Medina]] got together separately to ascertain a leader to take Muhammad's place shortly after [[Muhammad's Death|Muhammad's death]]. Abu Bakr and Umar, however, decided that these separate efforts to appoint a leader would lead to infighting, and thus Abu Bakr suggested to the entire assembly of Medinans either Umar or Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah be made leader. When the Medinans refused to make a choice between these two, Umar declared his allegiance to Abu Bakr as caliph. The Medinans present, it is said, then followed suit. | ||
It is also reported that upon Abu Bakr's designation as caliph, [[Ali]] refused to accept Abu Bakr as the caliph, presumably preferring that he himself, as son-in-law and cousin of Muhammad, be appointed caliph instead. Ultimately, Umar confronted Ali, perhaps physically, and extracted his allegiance. | It is also reported that upon Abu Bakr's designation as caliph, [[Ali]] refused to accept Abu Bakr as the caliph, presumably preferring that he himself, as son-in-law and cousin of Muhammad, be appointed caliph instead. Ultimately, Umar confronted Ali, perhaps physically, and extracted his allegiance. | ||
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The Umayyad rulers did not enjoy universal support among the Muslim ummah, as they gained their thrones through birth rather than appointment. This led to multiple rebellions against Umayyad rule, some of which resulted in the solidification of the Shia-Sunni split. As the number of people pushing for a caliph from the family of the prophet grew, however, the Umayyad Dynasty would succumb to the Abbasids (descendants of Muhammad's uncle Abd al-Muttalib), scattering their efforts. | The Umayyad rulers did not enjoy universal support among the Muslim ummah, as they gained their thrones through birth rather than appointment. This led to multiple rebellions against Umayyad rule, some of which resulted in the solidification of the Shia-Sunni split. As the number of people pushing for a caliph from the family of the prophet grew, however, the Umayyad Dynasty would succumb to the Abbasids (descendants of Muhammad's uncle Abd al-Muttalib), scattering their efforts. | ||
==== Umayyad Spain (756-1031) ==== | ====Umayyad Spain (756-1031)==== | ||
Following overthrow in 750, the Umayyad prince Abd al-Rahman I would flee in 756 to Codoba in modern day Spain and establish the Emirate of Cordoba. Though the Umayyad ''emirs'' of the Emirate of Cordoba would initially recognize the caliph and caliphate of the Abbasids, in 929, these Cordoban Umayyads, led by Abd al-Rahman III, would declare their own independent caliphate (to help in their fight against threatening Fatimids), transforming (heretofore-emir) Abd al-Rahman III into a caliph and transforming the ''Emirate of Cordoba'' into the ''Caliphate of Cordoba.'' The Caliphate of Cordoba would last until 1031, at which point it would dis-aggregate into various independently governed principalities. | Following overthrow in 750, the Umayyad prince Abd al-Rahman I would flee in 756 to Codoba in modern day Spain and establish the Emirate of Cordoba. Though the Umayyad ''emirs'' of the Emirate of Cordoba would initially recognize the caliph and caliphate of the Abbasids, in 929, these Cordoban Umayyads, led by Abd al-Rahman III, would declare their own independent caliphate (to help in their fight against threatening Fatimids), transforming (heretofore-emir) Abd al-Rahman III into a caliph and transforming the ''Emirate of Cordoba'' into the ''Caliphate of Cordoba.'' The Caliphate of Cordoba would last until 1031, at which point it would dis-aggregate into various independently governed principalities. | ||
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The Abbasid overthrow of the Umayyads ushered in the Islamic Golden Age, especially as the rationalist heresy of the Mu'tazilites became culturally dominant and as the ruling Abbasids themselves participated in and encouraged this heresy. The rationalists' obsession with knowledge and reason directly motivated the Mu'tazilite ruler al-Ma'mun (ruling from 813-833) to both found the famous House of Wisdom (''Bayt al-Hikmah'') in Baghdad, fund the works of scientists like [[Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi|al-Khwarizmi]], and begin an inquisition (''mihna'') against the traditionalist, and even anti-intellectual movement that would later become orthodox Sunni Islam and bring an end to the scientific and philosophical flourishing of the Islamic world as a result of the sort of dogmatism that would define the lives and works of [[Al-Ghazali]] (d. 1111) and [[Ibn Taymiyya]] (d. 1328) a few centuries later. By the 1250s, however, the once-loyal Mamluk members of the Abbasid military would take control of Egypt, and in 1258, Baghdad would be sacked, bringing an end to the original Abbasid caliphate. | The Abbasid overthrow of the Umayyads ushered in the Islamic Golden Age, especially as the rationalist heresy of the Mu'tazilites became culturally dominant and as the ruling Abbasids themselves participated in and encouraged this heresy. The rationalists' obsession with knowledge and reason directly motivated the Mu'tazilite ruler al-Ma'mun (ruling from 813-833) to both found the famous House of Wisdom (''Bayt al-Hikmah'') in Baghdad, fund the works of scientists like [[Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi|al-Khwarizmi]], and begin an inquisition (''mihna'') against the traditionalist, and even anti-intellectual movement that would later become orthodox Sunni Islam and bring an end to the scientific and philosophical flourishing of the Islamic world as a result of the sort of dogmatism that would define the lives and works of [[Al-Ghazali]] (d. 1111) and [[Ibn Taymiyya]] (d. 1328) a few centuries later. By the 1250s, however, the once-loyal Mamluk members of the Abbasid military would take control of Egypt, and in 1258, Baghdad would be sacked, bringing an end to the original Abbasid caliphate. | ||
==== Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo (1261-1517) ==== | ====Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo (1261-1517)==== | ||
A memory of the Abbasid caliphate would persist under the Mamluk rule of Egypt, who then founded the Mamluk sultanate (also known as the Abbasid caliphate of Cairo) in 1261, which would last until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1517. | A memory of the Abbasid caliphate would persist under the Mamluk rule of Egypt, who then founded the Mamluk sultanate (also known as the Abbasid caliphate of Cairo) in 1261, which would last until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1517. | ||
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===Muslim India=== | ===Muslim India=== | ||
==== | ====Ghaznavid Dynasty (977-1186)==== | ||
The Ghazvanid dynasty, centered in Persia and descendant of the Turkic mamluks of the Abbasids, would come to rule modern day Afghanistan, large parts of modern day Iran, Turkmenistan, and Pakistan, as well as portions of northwestern modern day India by 1030. Under the rule of the dynasty's founder, Sabuktigin, ruling from 977 till his death in 997, the Ghaznavids would be subservient to the Samanid Empire of Persia (which had itself been subservient to the Abbasid empire until c. 900). In 997 the Ghaznavids would declare independence from the Samanid Empire, which would itself come to an end in 999 | |||
In 1011, the Ghaznavids would conquer the Ghurid dynasty operating in modern day Afghanistan. After peaking in 1030, the Ghaznavids would begin to lose control of their territories, however, and in 1186 the Ghurids, would turn the tables and conquer the Ghaznavids. | |||
==== | ====Muslim Ghurid Dynasty (1011-1215)==== | ||
Upon being conquered by the Muslim Ghaznavids in 1011, the Iranian-descendant and Buddhhist Ghurid dynasty of Afghanistan converted to Sunni Islam. A few decades later, starting in 1163 under the rule of sultan Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad, the Ghurids would come to conquer the majority of Northern India (all the way to Bengal) and in 1186 would over throw the ruling Ghaznavids themselves. After reaching its zenith under the rule of sultan Ghiyath al-Din, however, Ghiyath al-Din's death in 1206 would lead to infighting between his potential Ghurid successors. This would weaken the state substantially, and by 1215, the Ghurids would come to be conquered by the Khwarazmian dynasty in Persia and Khorasan (modern day Afghanistan) and by the Mamluk Dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate in India. | |||
==== Mughal Empire ==== | ====Delhi Sultanate==== | ||
====Mughal Empire==== | |||
===Ottoman caliphate (1517-1924)=== | ===Ottoman caliphate (1517-1924)=== | ||