Course Outline - LIC

Legacy of Islamic Civilisations 632-1924

9 Sessions (2 hours per session): Weekly

The world is held up by four pillars: the wisdom of the learned, the justice of the great, the prayers of the righteous, and the valour of the brave. This inscription was found above the entrance to universities in Spain during the Muslim era. Few of us realise that the present day powerful and prosperous Europe passed through a long historic period called the Dark Ages. It lasted for more than a thousand years of stagnation and backwardness extending from the 5th century after Christ until the Renaissance in the 16th century. It was, however, during this period that the Islamic civilisations flourished stretching from China in the East to Spain in the West. This period of Islamic history lasted until the beginning of the 20th century when the Caliphate was abolished in 1924 by Ataturk.

One cannot fully understand the impact Islam had on European consciousness without having some historical background on the history of the contributions of Islam to learning and the arts. Medieval and early modern Muslim scientists, and other intellectuals ushered in the era of the Islamic golden age that was followed by the Ottoman Renaissance in the 16th century under the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent. This era witnessed both intellectual and artistic accomplishments that were truly astounding with developments in all disciplines including medicine, chemistry, algebra and monumental architectural and other artistic wonders. In what ways can medieval and early modern Islam be seen as responsible for the making of Western civilisation? How much did Europe borrow and made it a part of its heritage? The course traces these achievements and contributions to human civilisation by Islamic civilisations leaving a lasting historical legacy.

Following the decline of the Islamic civilisations in the 18th century, perceptions of Islam in the West shifted from respect to enmity. The course examines these changing perceptions.

Aims

This course aims to allow participants to gain understanding of the historical forces that have shaped the rise and fall of the Islamic civilisations from its founding in the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century until the demise of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1924. In this process the significance of the historical continuity will be made evident to the students. The impact of Qur'anic revelation on Muslim mindset shaped their understanding of Reality engendering the founding of multiple poly-ethnic empires throughout their history contributing profoundly not only to religious knowledge but philosophy, science, mathematics, sociology and the art of discourse. Medieval Muslim scholars integrated Aristotelian and Ancient Greek reasoning with the Qur'anic revelation contributing to the making of the European Renaissance in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Studying the rise and fall of empires especially that of the Ottomans that managed to survive for over six centuries provides students understanding of the continuing legacy of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans and the Middle East today and the changing perceptions of Islam in the West.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

Discuss the nature of the rise and fall of empires
Analyse the rise of Islamic civilisations beginning in the seventh century
Recognise historical continuity
Develop and extend their knowledge and understanding of cultural, artistic and political systems of Islamic civilisations
Appreciate the cross-cultural interactions that shaped world history
Recognise the cultural contributions of Islamic civilisations to world history

Content

This course covers the following topics:

Session 1: Pre-Islamic Arabia and the birth of Islam in the 7th century

This session briefly focuses on the pre-Islamic period in Arabia before the onset of Islam in the 7th century. We will be looking at the life of Muhammad before and after his prophethood, and how that played a significant role in the development of the early Muslim community in the Arabian Peninsula and beyond.

Session 2: The Islamic Empire: the Umayyads - from Damascus to Cordoba

This session looks at the rise and fall of the Umayyad Caliphate with its capital at Damascus (632-750) and the flowering civilisation it established in Spain (750-1492) with great cities like Granada, Cordoba, Seville.

Session 3: The Abbasid Dynasty: From China to North Africa - 750-1258 - Islamic Enlightenment: Glory of medieval Baghdad - Islamic Philosophy, Arts and Sciences, and Sufi Humanism, 8th-12th centuries

This week's lecture focuses on the rise of the Abbasids with its capital in Baghdad in 750. The Abbasid Empire spread from China in the East to North Africa and Anatolia. Baghdad became the centre of learning of the medieval world where ancient and classical texts of the Greeks were translated into Arabic with added commentaries. Islamic learning spread to Europe via Muslim Spain and contributed to the making of the Renaissance in Europe. The decline of the Abbasids led to the rise of independent Islamic dynasties including the Fatimids in Egypt (909-1171). It was a Shi'a Islamic caliphate that spanned a large area of North Africa, from the Red Sea in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west. The dynasty of Arab origin ruled across the Mediterranean coast of Africa and ultimately made Egypt the centre of the caliphate making its contributions to learning and the arts.

Session 4: The Great Seljuk Empire 1037-1194 & The Seljuk Sultanate of Rum 1077-1308

The rise of the Turks in Central Asia witnessed the establishment of number of Turkic empires. The Seljuk Empire was founded by Tughrul Beg (1016-1063) and his brother Chaghri Beg (989-1060) in 1037. From their homelands near the Aral Sea, the Seljuks advanced first into Khorasan and then into mainland Persia, before eventually conquering eastern Anatolia. Here the Seljuks won the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 and conquered most of Anatolia from the Byzantine Empire, which became one of the reasons for the first crusade (1095-1099). From their capital in Konya, in central Anatolia, they went on to create a distinct civilisation under the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum (1077-1308) embedded with Islamic and Sufi mysticism, and Central Asian Turkic flavour. The Seljuk dynasty rejuvenated the Islamic civilisation hitherto dominated by Arabs and Persians. The Seljuks founded universities and were also patrons of art and literature. Their reign is characterised by Persian astronomers such as Omar Khayyam, the Persian philosopher al-Ghazali and the Sufi mystic Rumi. Under the Seljuks, New Persian became the language for historical recording, while the centre of Arabic language culture shifted from Baghdad to Cairo. From c. 1150-1250, the Seljuk Empire declined, and was invaded by the Mongols around 1260. The Mongols divided Anatolia into emirates. Eventually one of these, the Ottoman, would conquer the rest.

Session 5: Islamic Dynasties: Mongols, Timurids, Safavids and Mughals

After the decline of Mongol Muslim rule, the region split into autonomous dynasties leading to the rise of other Muslim political entities in Central Asia and India namely the Timurids in Central Asia, Safavids in Iran and the Mughals in India that went on to create their distinct Islamic civilisations and renaissances.

Session 6: The Rise of the Ottoman State: 1299-1453

The collapse of the Seljuks of Rum contributed to the rise of semi autonomous Turkic dynasties in Anatolia until the rise of the tribe of Osman in Bursa (ancient Prusa) around 1299. Osman (or Othman) and his successors went on to consolidate their power over the region until the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the seat of the Eastern Roman Empire, by the 21 year old Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror.

Session 7: The Ottoman Empire 1453-1595: From the Conquest of Constantinople to World Empire

After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, renamed Istanbul, the Ottoman State founded by Osman became one of the universal empires of the early modern period in the Mediterranean alongside Spain and Venice. The expansionist policies of Sultan Mehmed II and his successors saw the empire expand in the East against their Shia rivals of Iran and the Mameluks of Egypt; and the West against Venice and the rising Habsburgs in the Balkans.

Session 8: Perceptions of the Other: Ottomans, Orientalism and the West, 17th -19th centuries

The onset of the long decline of the Ottoman Empire from 1699 onward contributed to the oscillating perceptions of the Muslim East. These European perceptions varied from one of curiosity to utter contempt. This session looks at these changing perceptions of the Ottomans and Islam via primary sources from European travellers and artists of the period to the Ottoman court.

Session 9: Decline, Fall and Legacy of the Ottoman Empire 1878-1924

The rise of nationalism and imperialism in the West, and of Tsarist Russia, combined with economic stagnation led to the fall of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War 1in 1918. The Allied occupation of the capital Istanbul at the end of the war witnessed the rise and triumph of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the abolishment of the Ottoman Empire and the Caliphate with the birth of the Republic of Turkey.

Prerequisites

Intended audience

Participants interested in extending their knowledge Islamic history with a revisionist, inclusive and global approach will appreciate the course.

Those interested in Islamic history, art and culture will find the course beneficial.

Delivery style

Weekly Online Lecture with audio-visual presentation
Online discussion forums
Analysing written and visual sources

Materials

Writing pad / laptop

PRESCRIBED TEXT AND OR RECOMMENDED READING

Brockelmann, Carl (ed). History of the Islamic Peoples. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982.

Grousset, Rene. The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1970.

Inalcik, Halil. Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600: London: Phoenix, 1973.

Lapidus, Ira M. A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Lings, Martin. Muhammad: his life based on the earliest sources. London: Unwin Paperbacks, 1986.

Mustafa, Metin. The Ottoman Renaissance: A Reconsideration of Early Modern Ottoman Art, 1413-1575. New Jersey: Blue Dome Press, 2019.

Mustafa, Metin. History of Ottoman Renaissance Art: From Mehmed I to Selim II. Sydney: Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisations, 2020. Revised Edition.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

TUTOR BIOGRAPHY

Metin Mustafa is an art historian specialising in Ottoman and Islamic art history with over two decades of teaching experience. He holds a PhD in Ottoman Renaissance art from The University of Notre Dame Australia and Bachelor of Education in Humanities from The University of Sydney. He taught History, Religion and Teaching Methodology at The University of Notre Dame Australia, Charles Sturt University and Australian Catholic University. He presented at numerous history conferences on cross-cultural interactions in the early modern period including:

Sultan Mehmed II and Rethinking the Renaissance (University of Sydney)
Ottoman Renaissance Material Culture in Early Modern Europe (University of Sydney)
Renaissance Self-Fashioning of Süleyman the Magnificent (University of Notre Dame Australia)
Representations of the Divine and Salvation: An Alternative Reading of Sinan's Iznik tiles of Rustem Pasha Mosque and Michelangelo's Last Judgement (University of Sydney)
History and gender in Sultan Murad III's Surname-i Hümayun 1582,
Islam, Ottoman Turks and Orientalism (Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, 1999)
Abraham: Our Ancestor - Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Aquinas Academy, Sydney, 1998)

Metin is the founder of the Centre for Ottoman Renaissance and Civilisation. Between 2019 and 2023, he taught Ottoman and Renaissance art history courses at The University of Sydney Centre for Continuing Education. His research interests include: Early modern Mediterranean cross-cultural interactions; civilisation of the Ottoman Renaissance (1400-1683); the idea of many renaissances. He is the author of the monograph: The Ottoman Renaissance: A Reconsideration of Early Modern Ottoman Art, 1413-1575 and History of Ottoman Renaissance Art: From Mehmed I to Selim II. His other publications include: Michelangelo meets Sinan: Representations of the Divine, Salvation and Paradise in Renaissance Art, The Ottoman Renaissance and the Early Modern World, 1400-1699 (Essays Series Complete Edition), 'The Divine Comedy’ of Süleyman Çelebi and Mir Heidar: A Sufi Mystical Reading of Early Modern Turkic Representations of Prophet Muhammad's 'Isra' and 'Mir'aj' and Oriental Imaginings, Occidental Re-Fashioning: Turquerie, the Tulip Age and Ottoman Modernity, 1683-1867.