RBSE Class 11 History Notes Chapter 4 The Central Islamic Lands

These comprehensive RBSE Class 11 History Notes Chapter 4 The Central Islamic Lands will give a brief overview of all the concepts.

RBSE Class 11 History Chapter 4 Notes The Central Islamic Lands

→  Prophet Muhammad preached the worship of a single god, Allah and the membership of a single community of believers.

→ Muhammad was an Arab by language and culture and a merchant by profession.

→ 6th century Arab culture was confined to Arabian peninsula and areas of southern Syria and Mesopotamia.

→ Arabs were divided into tribes. Each tribe was led by a chief.

→ Most of Arab tribes were Bedouins.

→ Muhammad declared himself to be the messenger of god. He preached that Allah alone should be worshipped.

→ Hijra era was established during the caliphate of Umar.

→ A date in Hijra year calendar is followed by letters AH.

 

→ A Hijra year is consist of 354 days and 12 months. Each month was of 29 to 30 days.

→ A Hijra year is also called a Lunar year. It was shorter than a Solar year.

→ Rough equivalents between Islamic and Christian years can be calculated by using formula :
H × \(\frac{32}{32}\) + 622 = C
H = C - 622 × \(\frac{33}{32}\)

→ Prophet Muhammad was bom in 570 CE in Quraysh tribe and was the founder of Islam.

→ After the death of Prophet Muhammad the institution of Caliphate came into being.

→ Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali were the four main Khalifas who rose to power after the death of Prophet Muhammad.

→ Khalifas made a tremendous progress in the development of Islam.

→ Umayyad dynasty was founded by Muawiyash in 661 CE. The greatest Khalifa of this dynasty was Abd-al-malik, who ruled from 685 to 705 CE.

→ Umayyad dynasty which was founded in 661 CE ruled till 750 CE.

→ Abbasid dynasty founded in 750 CE by Abu-al-Abbas and this dynasty ruled till 1258 CE.

→ In medieval period the economy of Islamic country was vibrant, it was due to progress made in the field of agriculture and industry.

→ Crusades were fought from 1096 to 1272 CE, between Christians and Muslims.

→ The Great Mosque of al-Mutawwakil in Samarra was built in 850. It is 50 meter high and is made of brick.

→ A crusader castle in Syria was built in 1110 during crusades.

→ Various sources are available for the history of central Islamic lands for the period between 1096 to 1272 CE.

→ Family was the basic unit of the Arabian society.

→ The families were patriarchal in nature. The eldest male of the family was head of the family.

→ The Arabians experienced a very hot, dry and humid climate and receives less than 12 cm of rainfall. 

→ Five pillars of Islam are :

• Reciting Kalma
• Namaz
• Zakat
• Rauja
• Hajj Islam lay special stress on the theory of Karma.

→ Islam lay stress on the unity of Allah and his teachings.

→ Some of the moral principles of Islam are, speak the truth, respect your parents, always honour your guest, lead a simple and pure life etc.

→ The Quran is the Holy Book of Islam.

→ The Quran is a book in Arabic divided into 114 chapters and arranged in descending order of length, the short being the last.

→ The religious and social experiences of the Muslims deepened through contact with other people.

→ Sufism is open to all regardless of religious affiliation, status and gender.

→ By the 20th century, an Islamic world had emerged which was easily recognisable by travellers.

→ History of Islamic world brought together three aspects of human civilisation—Politics, religions and community.

→ Contributions of Arab Civilization

• In the 7th century, a new religion, Islam, arose in Arabia, which led to the establishment of a big empire.
• Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, was bom in Mecca in 571 AD.
• When he was 40, he had ‘visions of truth’ and became a prophet.
• Muhammad’s visions completely convinced him that Allah was the only god.
• He forbade the worship of idols and made many enemies. Ultimately, he had to leave Macca and take refuge in Medina. This event took place in 622 AD and is known as the year of Hijira, or migration, and from it Muslims date their era (Hijira Samvat).
• The Quran, the holy book of Islam, is divided into a number of suras, or chapters, and contains the teachings of Muhammad. Besides the Quran, the life of a Muslim is guided by the Sunna, the practices of Muhammad, and the Hadees, the sayings of the Muhammad.
• Muhammad was not only a religious leader but also a political leader.
• After his death (632 AD), his successors, were known as Caliphs, or Khalifas who held both religious and political authority.
• Nearly all Arabia had accepted the new religion and become a unified state before the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 AD.
• From Arabia, Islam spread very fast to many other parts of the world. Within a hundred years, the Khalifas and their generals, had conquered Iran, Syria, Egypt, Central Asia, North Africa and Spain. The Arab empire was the largest that world had so far seen.
• The establishment of a vast empire facilitated the coming together of intellectual and scientific traditions of various civilizations. The Arabs made all knowledge their own and developed in further.
• Al Razi (Rhazes), an Arab scientist discovered the true nature of small pox, and Ibn Sina (Avicenna) discovered that tuberculosis is infectious.
• In Mathematics, the Arab learned the Indian numerals (Hindsah) and spread their use far and wide, are to this day called Arabic numerals.
• Some of the famous literary work of the Arab civilization are the ‘Rubaiyat’ by Omar Khayyam, ‘Shahnama’ by Firdausi and the ‘Arabian Nights’, a collection of 1001 stories.
• The Arabs developed their own decorative designs. Their buildings had bulblike domes, small minarets, horse-shoe arches and twisted columns.
• The Arabs also developed a decorativestyle of writing called Calligraphy and made book- illumination an art.

→ Crusades : 1095 AD - 1291 AD

• Crusades means the military expeditions, under the banner of the cross, organised in western Christendom primarily to recover the Holy Places of Palestine from Muslim occupation.
• Four Crusades were fought by the European Christian to liberate Jerusalem from Seljuq Turks (Muslims) who did not permit Christian pilgrims to enter the holy land.
• The 1st Crusade (1095-99) was launched sifter the provoking preachings of Pope Urban II. Jerusalem was captured and the Crusader states of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the country of Edessa, Antioch and Tripoli were created.
• The fall of Edessa (1144) inspired the unsuccessful Ilnd Crusade (1147-48).
• The capture of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187 led the inconclusive Illrd Crusade (1189¬92), led by Philip II Augustus of France, Frederich I Barbarossa of Germany, and Richard I (the ‘Lion Heart’) of England.
• The TVth Crusade (1202-91) was diverted from its original objective, Egypt, and sacked Constantinople (1204). This Crusade failed to recover lost ground and Acre, the last foothold of West is Palestine, was lost in 1291.

→ Timeline

Date	Events
595	Muhammad marries Khadija, a wealthy Meccan trader who later supports Islam
610-12	Muhammad has first revelation; first public preaching of Islam (612)
621	First agreement at Aqaba with Medinan converts.
622	Migration from Mecca to Medina. Arab tribes of Medina (ansar) shelter Meccan migrants (muhajir)
632-61	Early caliphate; conquests of Syria, Iraq, Iran and Egypt; civil wars.
661-750	Umayyad rule; Damascus becomes the capital.
750-945	Abbasid rule; Baghdad becomes the capital.
945	Buyids capture Baghdad; literary and cultural efflorescence.
1063-92	Rule of Nizamul mulk, the powerful Saljuq wazir who established a string of madrasas called Nizamiyya; killed by Hashishayn (Assassins)
1095-1291	Crusades; contacts between Muslims and Christians.
1111	Death of Ghazali, influential Iranian scholar who opposed rationalism.
1258	Mongols capture Baghdad.