Politics
In
the Middle East, during these centuries, the 'Abbasids,
after their victory over the Umayyads, had transformed
the Umayyads' Arab empire into a multinational Muslim
empire. They moved the capital of the empire from Syria
to Iraq, where they built a new capital, Baghdad, from
which, during the next five centuries, they would influence
many of the main events of Islamic history.
In
the early period of 'Abbasid rule, al-Mansur, the second
caliph of the dynasty, continued the reorganization of
the administration of the empire along the lines that
had been laid down by his Umayyad predecessor, 'Abd al-Malik.
Much of the 'Abbasid administration, for example, was
left in the hands of well-educated Persian civil servants,
many of whom came from families that had traditionally
served the Sassanid kings. The important office of wazir
or vizier, chief counselor, may well have developed from
Sassanid models. The vizier was much more than an advisor;
indeed, when the caliph was weak, a capable vizier became
the most powerful man in the empire.
The
creation of the office of the vizier was only one of the
innovations the 'Abbasids brought to statecraft. Another
was the development of the Umayyad postal system into
an efficient intelligence service; postmasters in outlying
provinces were the eyes and ears of the government and
regular reports were filed with the central government
on everything from the state of the harvest to the doings
of dissident sects.
Under
the 'Abbasids too a whole literature was created for the
use and training of the clerical classes that had come
into being. Since all government business was by now transacted
in Arabic, manuals of correct usage were written for the
instruction of non-Arabic speakers who had found government
employment. There was also a vast literature on the correct
deportment of princes, as well as anthologies of witty
sayings and anecdotes with which to enliven one's epistolary
style.
In
some ways the 'Abbasids were more fortunate than the Umayyads.
When, for example, al-Mansur died in 775 after a reign
of twenty years, his son, al-Mahdi, inherited a full treasury
and an empire that was more devoted to trade than war.
The
developments in trade, indeed, are among the achievements
of the 'Abbasids that are too often overlooked. Because
Islamic rule unified much of the Eastern world, thus abolishing
many boundaries, trade was freer, safer, and more extensive
than it had been since the time of Alexander the Great.
Muslim traders, consequently, established trading posts
as far away as India, the Philippines, Malaya, the East
Indies, and China.
From
the eighth to the eleventh centuries this trade was largely
concerned with finding and importing basic necessities--grain,
metals, and wood. To obtain them, of course, the Muslims
had to export too, often using the imports from one region
as exports to another: pearls from the Gulf, livestock
from the Arabian Peninsula (particularly Arabian horses
and camels), and - one of the chief products - cloth.
The Muslims also traded medicines, an offshoot of 'Abbasid
advances in medical science, as well as paper and sugar.
This
expansion of commercial activity led to other developments
too. One was a system of banking and exchange so sophisticated
that a letter of credit issued in Baghdad could be honored
in Samarkand in Central Asia or Kairouan in North Africa.
The
demands on trade also generated development of crafts.
From Baghdad's large urban population, for example, came
craftsmen of every conceivable sort: metalworkers, leatherworkers,
bookbinders, papermakers, jewelers, weavers, druggists,
bakers, and many more.
As
they grew in importance to the economy these craftsmen
eventually organized themselves into mutual-benefit societies
which in some ways were similar to later Western guilds
and which offered many social services: lodging travelers,
engaging in pious works such as caring for orphans, and
endowing schools.
Because
of this growth in commerce the 'Abbasids also developed
a system by which a muhtasib, an inspector made sure that
proper weights and measures were given and that dishonest
practices of all sorts were avoided.
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