Islam and the Development of Trade across Afro-Eurasia
Kenya Smith
History 211: World History I
November 11, 2014
Islam is a monotheistic belief system that was established by the prophet Muhammad in Mecca. During the 7th and early 8th centuries, Islam began to expand from the Middle East to as far as the southern portion of France. There are many factors that resulted from the spread of Islam across Afro-Eurasia; one was the control of commerce or trade in various places. Most importantly, Islamic control of the Mediterranean Sea and North Africa promoted trade in Afro-Eurasia. In Elizabeth Jefferies and Ruth Gertwagen’s book “Shipping, Trade and Crusade in Medieval Mediterranean”, contributor Yaacov Lev studies
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Instead, they adopted policies and attitudes that enhanced commerce in the Mediterranean Sea. In order for Lev to prove how the Fatimids promoted Mediterranean trade, he focuses on the economy of the nation of Tunisia and the incident that happened in Cairo in 996. During the ninth and tenth centuries, Tunisia’s economy was based agriculture as well as trade. In addition, Tunisia was “dominated by huge and medium size olive estates cultivated by slave labour obtained by the trans-Saharan trade and by raiding Sicily and southern Italy”. Most of the slaves that were shipped to the Middle East were Berbers who converted to Islam. The Islamic conversion of the Berbers caused a lack of supply of slaves, but it introduced a new source of slaves to the Middle Eastern slave market, the sub-Sahara region of Africa. As a result, the sub-Saharan slave trade began. Black slaves were not only used for agricultural purposes, they were also used for military purposes, especially for the Aglabids and the …show more content…
First, he examines the Fatimids’ trade based relationship with Amalfi and Byzantium. Amalfi is a coastal town in Italy that was an important commerce location during the Fatimid rule. Lev explains that even though the ships that came from Amalfi were not big, they had huge triangular sails, and they traveled to Muslim Spain, Byzantium, Fatimid Sicily, and Tunisia. Based on the locations that they traveled to, the Amalfitans did a lot of coastal trading. The Amalfitans was already a political ally of the Byzantines, and they “established parallel trade relations with the Fatimids”. The evidence that there were trade relations between the Fatimids and the Amalfitans is recorded by Yahay ibn Sa’id al-Antaki, a Christian chronicler who stated that on Friday May 12, 996 in Cairo, 16 ships were burned in an arsenal and the Amalfitan merchants were blamed for the incidnet. Then, riots erupted in Cairo which resulted in many deaths. The Fatimids convinced the Amalfitans that they were willing to protect them from the violence that occurred in Cairo. As a result, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Italian and Byzantine merchants visited Egypt to purchase spices and goods from India. This caused trade to enhance in
Anson Rainey and R. Steven Notley are the authors of The Sacred Land Bridge, which is an Atlas of the biblical world and includes maps, pictures, and historical cementation as to the significance of this region. The biblical world that this atlas focuses on is defined as the eastern Mediterranean littoral, or more commonly called the Levant in modern archeological discussions. In my critique of this book I will be focusing on pages 30-34 which will define the boundaries and explain the importance of the Levant.
Reginald of Durham states “In his travels he often (visited) the homes of past saints and meditate on their lives with abundant tears.” This shows that this man is always traveling and finally sees something he wants, solitude. This document explains trade in a traveler's point of view and how trade had a positive impact on him. The reason for his view on trade is due to how trade made a positive impact on him due to religion. It also talks about how there was a philosophical system due to religion and trade. Document 4, from “Pope Innocent III: License to Venice to trade with the Saracens”, explains how the people aren’t allowed to help the Muslims due to them being at war. This document states “[They] commanding you under pain of anathema not to aid the Saracens by selling or giving to them or exchanging with them.” This quote is saying that the people under Pope Innocent III shall not help the Saracens under any cost. In this case, the philosophical system in trade caused conflict between the two societies. Document 5 is from the “Humbert de Romans: An account of Medieval European fairs and markets” that was written
The town of Mecca was the birthplace of Islam, at first the leaders of the city refused the changing of this new religion and forced Muhammad to leave. Muhammad returned and preached to the people about what he had heard, that there is only one god. Islam spread quickly for two main reasons they are the message and military conquest.
By the mid- sixteenth century the Ottomans had control over the sea trade on the Eastern Mediterranean, such as Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and the rest of North Africa, as their power had extended into Europe as well. The Ottoman Empire had continued to expand, and this had really frightened the Europeans. The strength of the Ottomans had led to new missionary commitments that the Christians had brought to new territories. Since the Ottomans had the
Brian. A Catlos’ novel, Infidel Kings and Unholy Warriors: Faith, Power, and Violence in the Age of Crusade and Jihad, provides a detailed account of various sites of inter-religious interaction throughout the medieval Mediterranean from the 10th to 12th centuries. Throughout the novel, Catlos illustrates the influence of religion on the relationships and coexistence between the three Abrahamic religions - Christianity, Judaism, and Islam - and the role it plays in the immense violence of the period. The varying perspectives demonstrate how religion acted more as a bridge between cultures than a barrier, and how conflicts deemed as of religious origin were oftentimes driven predominantly by the mundane factor of greed and self-interest rather than existential resentment of opposing groups.
Leftzion, Nehemia. “Islam in the Bildad al-Sudan to 1800,” in The History of Islam in
In 610 CE, Muhammad first founded the religion known as Islam. It soon spread out through the Middle East, North Africa, the Mediterranean, and Spain. Once Muhammad died, new Muslim leaders took over the Islamic Empire. Known as caliphs, they ruled the Muslim community instead of Muhammad. When Islam reached Spain, the Jews living there were affected in a positive way. The Jews of the Muslim world led a fair and comfortable life under the Caliphate, however, once the Caliphates were gone, the Jewish golden age was terminated.
(Bianchini, Lecture). There became extensive amounts of landless sons because of this demographic takeoff, and they eventually turn to piracy in order to make a profit. However, while Scandinavian men turned outwards for financial gain, also in the 8th century Western Europe’s economy began to improve. This positive economic turn was due to the influx of Arabic silver into the European economy. (Bianchini, Lecture). The influx of silver was mainly cause of the European slave trade that was happening across the Mediterranean and North Africa. The decrease of people and increase of silver became a major stimulant for the Western European economy (Bianchini, Lecture). Eventually, Western Europe’s progressing economy caught the Vikings’ attention. By realizing the wealth growing in Western Europe and that is was readily accessible, this was enticing for the Vikings to see and wanted it for
Maalouf’s main thesis in The Crusades Through Arab Eyes is that the crusades are a major part of history and have truly influenced every one of our lives. The second pa...
Morocco’s during the late 16th and early 17th century was a relatively large land mass, although it contains a large amount of inhabitable dessert, geographically located between the Ottoman Empire to the East, the Spanish to the North, and the Atlantic Ocean to the West. This positioning gave the country a great opportunity to exert its independence through the ability to form alliances. One example of this can be seen through the constant struggle for control of the sea ports, the Eastern Moroccan shore. These ports not only made trade accessible to much of the Western and Northern world but were also essential for any navel attacks on nea...
One of the reasons why Islam spread so quickly was because of the trading that was happening about the time islam first began. The people how were trading goods with the muslims would spread the word about muhammad in their home towns. Muhammad lived in Mecca, which was a very important and rich town . Mecca was a major crossroads for for the caravan trade. Everything from silk to spices came through Mecca. People from every direction came to Mecca to trade. Muhammad and his followers would tell the traders about Islam and some
attacking the Genovese Cathedral City and trading ports of Caffa on the black sea for a
Islam continued to spread by making the idea of being a Muslim sound great. The Muslim Empire didn’t force any Muslims to pay taxes(Doc 1). The idea of changing religions made a lot of sense money wise. The change to Islam was not a large difference, pray more, and eat a little less during sun up. The idea of going to paradise after your death seemed Marvelous (Doc 2). It also gave you an idea about fighting for the Muslim Army, if you died, you would be taken to Heaven with Allah and his Apostle. To some
... had control various territories. Many merchants learned the Islamic language and became custom to their traditions. This allowed for its culture to spread and Islam had received converts. The trading industry has a major effect on the economy and allows the spread of one’s culture.
The concept of the slave trade came about in the 1430’s, when the Portuguese came to Africa in search of gold (not slaves). They traded copper ware, cloth, tools, wine, horses and later, guns and ammunition with African kingdoms in exchange for ivory, pepper, and gold (which were prized in Europe). There was not a very large demand for slaves in Europe, but the Portuguese realized that they could get a good profit from transporting slaves along the African coast from trading post to trading post. The slaves were bought greedily by Muslim merchants, who used them on the trans-Sahara trade routes and sold them in the Islamic Empire. The Portuguese continued to collect slaves from the whole west side of Africa, all the way down to the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa), and up the east side, traveling as far as Somalia. Along the way, Portugal established trade relations with many African kingdoms, which later helped begin the Atlantic Slave Trade. Because of Portugal’s good for...