Arabs

by Tim Mackintosh-Smith

  fighting is ended, rival claims are put to inconclusive arbitration

  661

  Ali assassinated by disaffected supporters of his shi’ah, ‘party’

  Mu’awiyah, of Meccan old regime, widely accepted as caliph

  Mu’awiyah first of the Umayyad dynasty of caliphs

  his capital, Damascus, becomes that of the Arab empire

  670

  foundation of al-Qayrawan, garrison city in Tunisia

  680

  death of Mu’awiyah

  al-Husayn b. Ali revolts against Umayyad rule and is killed

  he becomes the first great martyr of the shi’ah, the party of Ali

  680s

  Arab-led forces reach the Atlantic shore of N Africa

  Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr establishes anti-caliphate in Mecca

  a ‘N–S split’ has re-emerged in those of peninsular origin

  Ibn al-Zubayr courts ‘Northerners’, wins territory even in Syria

  691

  Dome of the Rock completed in Jerusalem

  692

  Meccan anti-caliphate of Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr defeated

  peninsular Arabia sidelined politically

  peninsular Arabia sidelined culturally

  694 on

  al-Hajjaj tries to exterminate anti-Umayyad opposition in Iraq

  by late 7th century

  population of al-Basrah, Iraq, reaches 200,000

  spoken Arabic begins to ‘mongrelize’

  large numbers of non-Arabs are affiliated to Arab tribes

  c. 700

  an Arabic-inscribed coinage is introduced

  high Arabic is made the language of imperial administration

  an upsurge in writing brings about improvements in Arabic script

  the use of high Arabic spreads rapidly among non-Arabs

  linguistic sciences (grammar, philology, etc.) begin to develop

  early 8th century

  Arab-led forces established in C Asian Transoxania

  Arabs establish limited rule in Sind (Pakistan)

  711

  Tariq b. Ziyad leads mainly Berber forces into Spain

  715

  the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus is completed

  by c. 720

  construction of N Arab lines of descent from Isma’il

  construction of S Arab lines of descent from Qahtan

  all Arabs now united in theory by genetics, if not by politics

  732

  Arab-led forces clash with Carolingian force near Poitiers

  747

  Abbasid revolution launched in Khurasan (E Persia)

  fellow revolutionaries include supporters of the shi’ah of Ali

  750

  Abbasid forces defeat and exterminate Umayyads

  al-Saffah becomes first Abbasid caliph

  Abbasids start eliminating fellow revolutionaries

  751

  Arab-led forces clash with Chinese, E of the Syr Darya River

  754

  al-Mansur succeeds al-Saffah as Abbasid caliph

  mid-8th century on

  paper-making spreads through the Arabic world

  written Arabic proliferates because of the cheapness of paper

  smoothness of paper promotes further improvements to script

  Islamic legal and moral systems begin to be synthesized

  756

  an Umayyad survivor, Abd al-Rahman, founds Spanish dynasty

  Arab migration to Spain increases

  762

  al-Mansur founds Baghdad

  762 on

  al-Mansur eliminates opposition within Abbasid family

  he eliminates potential opposition from Abbasid revolutionary elite

  he begins a trend by relying on non-Arab slaves as soldiers

  774

  King Offa of Mercia, England, imitates Abbasid coinage

  788

  a descendant of Ali founds the Idrisid dynasty in Morocco

  late 8th century on

  beginning of ‘the age of setting down’

  during this age, Arab cultural legacy and identity are enshrined for posterity

  a ‘bedouin’ past is promoted (actual bedouins are now marginal)

  Persians, then many others, resuscitate their own cultures

  their ‘Shu’ubi’ movements challenge Arab cultural hegemony

  809

  death of Caliph al-Rashid

  the empire is divided between three of al-Rashid’s sons

  two of the sons, al-Ma’mun and al-Amin, fight each other

  813 on

  al-Ma’mun is victorious, establishes rule over all the empire

  al-Ma’mun imports Transoxanian troops into Baghdad

  early 9th century

  intellectual openness under the caliph al-Ma’mun

  the Mu’tazilah promote theological debate

  written Arabic prose at last becomes a medium of expression

  816

  al-Ma’mun designates the Shi’i imam al-Rida as his heir

  818

  al-Rida dies; reconciliation with the Shi’ah is shelved

  832

  al-Ma’mun founds the House of Wisdom

  833

  al-Mu’tasim becomes caliph, imports Turkish and other troops

  the troops cause havoc in Baghdad

  836

  al-Mu’tasim moves non-Arab troops to a new capital, Samarra’

  9th century

  al-Baladhuri records Arab conquests

  al-Jahiz analyses arabness, rebuffs the Shu’ubis

  islamization accelerates, belatedly, across the empire

  ‘being Arab’ now matters less: the empire is cosmopolitan

  Byzantines and Chinese imitate Arab clothing fashions

  Spanish Christians become completely arabicized

  mid 9th century

  under Caliph al-Mutawakkil, theological speculation is banned

  861

  al-Mutawakkil killed in plot by son and Turkish guards

  real power in hands of Turkic military commanders

  868

  Persian Saffarid dynasty independent of Baghdad in the E

  Egypt breaks away from Baghdad under C Asian Tulunids

  869–83

  rebellion in Iraq of the Zanj (plantation slaves from E Africa)

  890 on

  rebellion in Iraq and beyond of peasants under Hamdan Qarmat

  the rebellion allies itself to the Isma’ilis, a Shi’i splinter-group

  late 9th century

  Samarra’ abandoned

  early 10th century

  from now, political power of Baghdad caliphate only covers Iraq

  10th century

  the Arab empire fragments irreparably

  but in the C and the W culture is still Arabic, patrons proliferate

  multi-volume anthologies and histories enshrine Arab heritage

  Arab Hamdanid dynasty prominent in N Iraq and N Syria

  910

  Fatimid dynasty (of dubiously Arab origin) established in N Africa

  Fatimids adopt the title ‘caliph’

  922

  execution of the nonconformist visionary al-Hallaj

  929

  Abd al-Rahman III (Spanish Umayyad) claims the title ‘caliph’

  930

  Qarmati rebels raid Mecca and remove the sacred Black Stone

  938

  Bajkam, Turkish generalissimo, effective ruler in Baghdad

  940

  death of al-Radi, ‘the last real caliph’ (even if powerless)

  now there are three rival titular caliphates: Baghdad, Cairo, Cordova

  the idea of Arab unity is at a low, 300 years after its high point

  945

  Iranian Buwayhids take power in Baghdad

  mid 10th century

  Cordova now a great centre of Arabic culture

  966–8

  the eunuch slave Kafur holds power in Egypt

 
968

  Fatimids enter Egypt

  969

  Cairo founded as new Fatimid capital

  c. 970

  Turkic Saljuqs begin takeover of caliphal territory

  later 10th century

  the Qarmati-Isma’ili ‘intellectual wing’ synthesizes scientific lore

  1031

  the Umayyad caliphate in Spain fragments

  the ‘Party Kings’ rule numerous small Iberian states

  1055

  Saljuqs take Baghdad

  mid-11th century

  Banu Hilal and other big Arab tribes are moved W from Egypt

  belated arabization of rural N Africa

  1061 on

  Normans take over Arab-ruled Sicily

  later 11th century

  Saljuqs control the entire E wing of the old Arab empire

  Saljuqs have adopted Persian as their cultural language

  Saljuq Vizier Nizam al-Mulk encourages madrasahs and Arabic studies

  1085

  Christian Spanish retake Toledo

  Christian Spanish maintain traditions of Arabic learning

  1086 on

  Berber Almoravids stop Christian advance and take over S Spain

  Almoravids claim Arabian ancestry

  1099

  Crusaders take Jerusalem, massacre inhabitants

  1130s

  court of Roger II, Norman king of Sicily, largely Arabic in culture

  12th century

  the Crusades channel Arabic words and ideas to Europe

  Arabic learning spreads into Europe via Sicily and S Italy

  mid-12th century

  Berber Almohad alliance takes over S Spain

  Almohad leader is first avowed non-Arab to adopt the title ‘caliph’

  Almohads embrace urban Arabic culture

  1169

  Kurdish Ayyubids established in Cairo

  1171

  Ayyubid Salah al-Din (Saladin) abolishes Fatimate caliphate

  Saladin re-establishes nominal suzerainty of Abbasid caliphs

  1219

  Crusaders take Damietta (Egypt)

  Mongols appear in Islamic lands

  Mongols perpetrate urban massacres, cause rural devastation

  13th century

  Ibn Khallikan’s biographical dictionary, Notable Deaths

  1248

  Christian Spanish retake Seville

  1250

  Turkic Mamluk slave-soldiers take over in Egypt and Syria

  1258

  Mongols under Hulagu take Baghdad, kill Caliph al-Musta’sim

  any last pretense of Arab unity ends

  social breakdown: tribal Arabs raid settled lands

  Mamluks host Abbasid puppet caliphate in Egypt

  1260

  Mamluks halt Mongol advance at Ayn Jalut (Palestine)

  late 13th century

  Arabs found sultanate of Kilwa Kisiwani (Tanzania)

  W Mongols adopt Islam and Persian culture

  most Crusaders have left the Levant

  early 14th century

  Arab tribes switch loyalties from Mamluks to Mongols and back

  14th century

  Pax Mongolica: hemiglobal trade and travel flourish

  Egypt-based Karim merchants active from Atlantic to Pacific

  Arabic culture and Islam spread between W Africa and E Indies

  Arabic script used for many languages, Africa to Asia

  start of 250-year diaspora of Arabs around Indian Ocean rim

  Moroccan Ibn Battutah travels in three continents

  Cairo is the biggest city outside China and the capital of Arabic culture

  Arabic culture also flourishes in Granada, Spain

  1343

  Sultanate of Delhi a nominal vassal to Abbasid puppet caliph

  1340s on

  plague destroys a third of humanity from China to Europe

  1375–9

  Ibn Khaldun works on his History

  c. 1400

  Mongol leader Timur Lang (Tamerlane) devastates Levant etc.

  15th century

  Arab al-Ma’qil tribe begin to penetrate Mauritania

  belated arabization from this last major migration

  1453

  Ottoman Turks take Constantinople

  1485

  Ottomans ban printing in Arabic

  1488

  Portuguese round the Cape of Good Hope

  start of European attempts to monopolize Indian Ocean trade

  1492

  Granada falls to Christian forces from Castile

  1516

  Ottomans take Damascus

  1517

  Ottomans take Cairo and its dependencies, Medina and Mecca

  Ottomans remove Abbasid puppet caliph to Constantinople

  1519

  Algiers submits to Ottoman suzerainty

  1520s

  Ottomans established in Yemen

  1534

  Ottomans take Baghdad

  16th century on

  much of Arabic world Ottoman-ruled for most of the next 300 years

  Arabs are united politically, but at the cost of their independence

  any sense of widely-shared Arab identity enters a trough

  1543

  last Abbasid puppet caliph dies

  in time, Ottoman sultans assume the title ‘caliph’

  early 17th century

  Lebanese Christian Arabs experiment with Arabic printing

  the experiment does not spread

  1630s on

  opposition to Ottoman rule in Yemen

  Ottomans withdraw from Yemen

  1662–84

  English control Tangier (Morocco)