MMW 12 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Abbasid Caliphate, Dhimmi, Quran
21 Mar 2017
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How could small arab forces quickly beat 2 empires. Wars of byzantium vs persia exhausted both empires. Persians, used to arab raids were taken by surprise by a permanent invasion and they were not prepared to resist. Heretical christians in syria and north africa welcomed in the arabs as liberators from the orthodox byzantine emperor. Dhimmi - protected communities of people of the book. Without full legal rights and pay higher. Acknowledged muslim government but managed their own internal affairs. Troops = clans with their own leaders and contribute revenue to but not controlled by the central government. Early caliphs and governors try to run empires like villages, without an institutional government. No power to enforce, just personal persuasion. Conflicts of authority between weak center and the conquerors of new territories. Iraq was crowded, but syria doesn"t want iraqi arabs. Because syria did not think of iraqis as a brother muslim clan but more like another separate clan.
