Class

Overall,I felt that this class was very informative and explained a lot about the Middle East and its history. My favorite topics that I learned about in class pertain to three powerful empires; the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires. All three of these empires here revered by numerous countries during their reign. Because I have taken this class this semester, I have more knowledge about these empires as well as Middle Eastern power struggles.

Arab Israeli Conflict Continued

The Arab–Israeli conflict is approximately one full century of political tensions, opening hostilities though out the Middle East. This war helped the beginning the Zionist movement and created the modern State of Israel. It established territory pertaining to the Palestinians, and Muslims, Christians.

The conflict, which started as a political conflict over territorial ambitions following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, has shifted over the years from the large scale Arab-Israeli conflict to a more regional Israeli-Palestinian conflict, though the Arab World and Israel generally remain at odds with each other over territory. Present day issue must be approached with a recognition that neither the Arab-Israel dispute in general nor the Israel-Palestinian conflict in particular is based on or driven forward by primordial antagonisms and that it has in fact been less than a century since Jews and Arabs began to view each other as enemies.

Arab-Israeli Conflict

One of the most notorious clashes that presently takes place in the Middle East, is known as the Arab-Israeli Conflict. This feud has been taking place for nearly fifty year due to the Promised Land. During this time frame, both the Arabs and the Israelites have been battling over the Palestinian land, which is known as the Promised Land to the Jews. Overall, this battle has been taking place since the mid nineteen-hundreds. As allies of Israel, we believe that the Palestinians are the cause of this war since they frequently bomb Israel and cause turmoil. Since we as Americans have been supporting Israel from the beginning of the conflict, we are now one of Israel’s biggest allies. Overall, the novel Gate of the Sun by Elias Khoury” portrays how a Palestinian, named Khalil, has been experiencing the Arab-Israeli Conflict. In this novel, Khalil relays how his adopted father, Yunes, has suffered due to being a Palestinian refugee of the Arab-Israeli War.

The year that marked the start of the beginning of the Arab-Israeli Conflict was nineteen-forty-seven. During September, Britain pronounced that the Mandate of Palestine would come to a closure on May 15, 1948. Because of this, the Arabs and Israelis would not be under the British control. Since the Arabs and Israelis did not have to abide by Britain’s government and verdict, this caused the beginning of turmoil in Palestine. Due to there desertion, two divers groups with unique believes formed. Since the United States helped resolve previous problems, dealing with Israel, we felt that the Promised Land was rightfully the Jews.

The Jews felt that it was a necessity to fashion their military in order to defend themselves against the Palestinian’s. The Palestinians during this time felt that they were being spitted out of their land, since their ancestors lived there and they felt that they had the right to live in the current land of Palestine. Different Israeli military groups including the Haganah completely destroyed an Arab resistance to their goal. Other Palestinians became fearful that the Israeli army would overtake their lands as well, and they began to flee out of fear.

Touba and the Meaning of Night

It is known that Iran, during the 1900’s, began to experience numerous transformations due to their unstable government. Because of a chain of similar events, such as rebellion, weak or eccentric ruling, and economical failure, Iran suffered greatly causing this country to slip into turmoil and disorder. These events inevitably caused Iran to suffer into present times. One novel that portrays Iran’s flaws is known as the Touba and the Meaning of Night by Shahruush Parsipur. Overall, this author depicts how an Iranian women, named Toba, witnesses both corruption and suffrage in present day Iran.

From 1848-1896 Iran was under the control of the Qajar Dynasty, which was ruled by Nasar O-Din Shah. The novel Touba and the Meaning of Night portrays a woman, named Tuba, who was living during Nasar O-Din Shah’s rein. Overall, during this time frame Nasar O-Din Shah was unable to rule his empire with the proper authority. While ruling Iran, it was evident that the Europeans were eager to take over new regions. Unfortunately, the Qajar Dynasty was under the scoop of the European Countries, such as Russia and Britain.

In relations with the novel, Tuba was influenced, along with other characters in this novel, by both Russia and Britain’s constitutions and laws. Overall, these individuals felt that having a set constitution and aid from other countries would inevitably help their society flourish. This is seen when Parsipur depicts the Cossack Brigade, an act passed by Nasar O-Din Shah, in the novel Touba and the Meaning of Night. Overall, Russia would supply Iran during this time frame with both weaponry and cavalry. By doing this, Iran was inevitably able to defend themselves against foreign invaders and foes. In relation to Tuba, the Cossack Brigade was evident when she marries Feraydun Mirza, an Iranian prince. While visiting another Iranian prince, Tuba and Prince Mirza were frequently asked by army personal who they were and what the password was in order to continue their journey. Even though the Cossack Brigade was a good idea, it eventually failed due to poor ruling by Naser O-Din Shah’s.

The Bastard of Istanbul

In the novel “The Bastard of Istanbul,” there were several themes that Elif Shafak expresses when telling the stories of Asya and Armanoush’s families. When writing this novel, Elif depicts three important themes that pertain to their families; these themes are the importance of one’s heritage and women’s portrayal in society. In this novel Elif Shafak portrays both a Turkish and Armenian family, showing both similarities and differences in their heritage and women’s portrayal. Overall, due to their upbringing, Armanoush and Asya delve into their past uncovering the Armenian Genocide.

During this time frame, the Armenian inhabitance of Turkey were persecuted and massacred because of their race. She uncovers that the Ottoman government was arresting and imprisoning Armenian’s, including intellects and leaders, within the community. Overall, any Armenian during this time frame was arrested, persecuted, and were eventually killed. The Ottoman government planned on exterminating as much of the Armenian race as possible.

Not long after the round up of Armenian intellects, there was a law passed allowing the Ottoman military to deport Armenian civilians. This law was known as the Tehcir Law and was passed by the Grand Vizier as well as his cabinet. Overall, this deportation act was passed in order to aid in the extermination of the Armenian race. This is seen when the Ottoman soldiers would export the Armenian civilians to death camps in order to perform acts of violence leading to death. Not long after this law was passed, the Law of Confiscations was passed. This law was passed on September thirteenth, nineteen-fifteen, enabling the Ottoman government to strip any Armenian civilian of their property.

Zayni Barakat and the Muhtasib

While learning about the muhtasib in class, I was interested to learn more about the role he played in Mamluk Dynasty. Overall, a basic definition of a muhtasib is someone who is an overseer of both bazaars and trade routes in Islamic countries. His obligations were, not only to provide public safety, but to guarantee that public business was conducted in harmony with the law of sharia. An example of this can be seen Cairo during the reign of Sultan Barqūq. During this time, the muhtasib of Cairo had to make sure that there was a proper regulation of weights, money, prices, public morals, and the cleanliness of public places, as well as the supervision of schools, instruction, teachers, and students, and attention to public baths, general public safety, and the circulation of traffic.

An example of this can be seen in the novel Zayni Barakat by Gamal al-Ghitani. In this novel Ghitani portrays what obligations the muhtasib had to fulfill. In this novel the muhtasib’s was expected to inspect the market place. Overall, this individual has to monitor the prices in the market place as well as ethical affairs. The muhtasib can also be seen as the enforcer in Egypt during this time frame. After reading this novel, it was evident that without the muhtasib, there would have been even more corruption that existed in Cairo during the Mamluk reign.

Rise and Fall of the Mamluk Dynasty

As time progressed, the Mamluk Dynasty began to take control of important religious cities. Some of the cities that this dynasty gained control of were Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem.Overall, this caused a surplus amount of trade and economical commerce for the Mamluk Dynasty. During this time frame, the Mamluks were unable to develop a systematic procedure that marked who should rule after the present sultan died. Overall, this was one of the pitfalls of the Mamluk Dynasty. The reason why they were indecisive was because they had broken the original law stating that power can not be transferred to their offspring. This law was frequently broken during the Bahri period.

During this time of anarchy, power became the main factor that decided who should become new sultan. Unfortunately this caused turmoil and destruction between Mamluk groups in Egypt. As time progressed the Mamluk Dynasty developed a set principle which marked who precedes the sultan after death. The main principle that developed was that the sultan always came from the same group, first Bahri, then Burji.

As time lapsed, the Mamluk Dynasty eventually reached its golden age lasting from 1250 until 1350. This was a period known for its comfortable living standards, which caused peace and prosperity due to improved relations both internally and externally. Unfortunately, the next hundred-seventy years marked the overall decline of the Mamluk dynasty. During this time frame, the Mamluk Dynasty experienced setbacks, economic failures, military defeats, and loss of territory. Because of these pitfalls, the Mamluk Dynasty inevitably merged with the Ottoman Empire in 1517. The Mamluks were still the leading class in the Egypt after the fall and during the 17th century they won back actual power in the country. They would continue to keep power in Egypt for approximately two-hundred years.

The Beginning's of the Mamluk Dynasty

The Mamluk Dynasty can be characterized as the “slave dynasty of Egypt” during its time frame. During its reign, the Mamluk Dynasty was a self-governing state from 1250 until 1517. This dynasty came to power by the formation of an aristocracy of white slaves, which was known as the Mamluks. By law the Mamluk slaves had restricted rights to transfer positions and wealth to their offspring’s in order to prevent them from developing hereditary dynasties.

As time progressed the Mamluks rose to power and become the strongest and best organized organization in Egypt under the ruling of Ayyubid Sultan. Overall, Ayyubid during his reign helped capture large quantities of slaves from foreign lands in order to protect his own position. After his death the Mamluks decided to have his wife and rightful heir to the throne murdered. After the murder of Ayyubid’s wife, the Mamluks began to transfer power within their own ranks.

Overall, these events helped re-establish the caliphate in Cairo causing the Mamluk Dynasty to prosper.

Fall of the Safavid Empire

Not only did recurrent enemies, such as the Ottomans and Uzbeks, cause the Safavid Empire to fall, new enemies during the 17th century began to rise. During this time frame Russian began to pose a threat to the Middle Eastern regions. Eastern empires, such as the Mughal dynasty, began to expand into Afghanistan; this inevitably caused the take over of Qandahar. Not only were foreign powers picking apart the Safavid Empire, trade began to shift. Overall, trade routes between the East and West had shifted away from Iran, causing a substantial loss of business and trade. This caused the Shah Abbas to switch his military system, due to lack of funds, to a ghulam-based military.
Even though the first two Shahs’ were great rulers during their reign, the Shahs preceding them were ineffectual. By the end of Shah Abba’s era in 1666, the Safavid Empire was plagued and marked by failure. Because of lavish lifestyles, of the Shahs, and “the finer things in life,” so they thought, they were blinded by the falling revenues and military threats imposed by the Europeans. As you can see the once great Safavid Empire fell victim to poor ruling, military failures, and economic turmoil, like the Ottoman Empire.

The Falling of the Ottoman Empire

While learning about the Ottoman Empire, I learned that this unique empire had district qualities, such as their military and trade, that helped them flourish. Even though the Ottoman Empire symbolizes one of the greatest empires in the Middle East, it inevitably fell due to economic problems, lack of trade, and military. During this time frame the Ottoman economy started exhibit failure, overall leading to its decline. During this time, the western civilizations began to move toward industrialization. Even though this seemed like a good idea for the west, the Ottomans failed to adapt from agricultural to industrialization. Because of this, the Ottoman Empire began to lose trade opportunities.
Do to their economic problems; the once great Ottoman military began to suffer as well. By trying to keep the empire intact due to internal and external affairs, it became a costly process, because of casualties and economical expenses. Due to the lack of technology, weaponry became obsolete. The Ottomans needed to develop better weaponry in order to defeat the Europeans. Because of this, the Ottomans began to equip their infantry with better firearms, even though this was a great expense. In order to fuel the military with men and the proper weaponry the Ottoman Empire moved toward taxation. Heavy taxation became a huge burden on the Ottoman society, this inevitably caused numerous revolts. An example of a revolt during this time frame was Anatolia. Overall, this revolt caused abandonment of farm lands, and depopulation of villages.

The Great Safavid Empire

The Safavid Empire can be seen as one of the greatest of the empires in the Middle East. There are multiple reasons why I feel this way, some of which are the trade networks, art, culture, and the growth of Isfahan. As trade grew in this empire, other countries such as Europe were astounded by the variety of goods that the Safavid Empire had to offer. Some of the goods that the Safavid Empire offered were sugar, bread, and silk. Due to trade, culture as well the growth of Isfahan developed. As quoted in class Isfahan was considered "half the world." I feel that this is true due to the beauty and prestige of this capital.

The Safavid Empire is truly one to be admired by the rest of the world. For centuries, it was one of the most powerful empires aside from the Ottomon Empire. It shared various aspects with the Ottomon Empire (such as the establishment of well put out laws), but the Safavids stood out in different ways. While the Ottomons used much of the Kanun law, the Safavids were less secular about their laws.

In these different ways, the Safavids shined out from their fellow empire builders and established themself as extremely successful.

The Ottoman Empire and Military Prosperity

I was amazed to hear that during the Ottoman Empire’s reign, they developed one of the most powerful militaries along with weaponry. From 1299 to 1923 the Ottoman Empire was feared by a multitude of countries including Europe. During their reign, they acquired complex military techniques as well as advanced weapons. Their military system consisted of Janissary, Sipahi, Akinic, and Mehterân. Each unit played a significant role in the way the Ottoman military functioned. Another attribute that the Ottoman Empire obtained, that no other empire or country attained, was gun powder. With the discovery of gun powder, the Ottoman military was able to delve into the technology of modern weapons. For example instead of using daggers, the Ottoman soldiers were able to develop weapons such as muskets and cannons. Because of this, Ottoman soldiers were able to vanquish their enemies from any distance.

World Religions

After today’s class I was interested in how easy it is to practice the Islamic religion. Unlike other religions, such as Catholicism and Buddhism, Islam is relatively easy to practice due to its one teaching. The religion Islam teaches that if you just practice the five pillars you are being a devoted worshiper of Islam. The five pillars consist of faith or belief in the Oneness of God and the finality of the prophet-hood of Muhammad, the establishment of the daily prayers, the concern for and almsgiving to the needy, self-purification through fasting, and the pilgrimage to Makkah. With the completion of these of the Five Pillars you can be considered devoted to the Islamic faith.

Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land

Even though I support this country, at times I feel that we act before we think. In this case I don't like the fact that the Israelis have persicuted and treated the Palestinians unjustly. For example I never knew that the Israelis invaded Palestine and forced the Palestinians out of their own country. It was evident that the Israelis were forcing the Palestinians out of their own country, taking over their properties, and even their own children. As seen in the video observed in class, the American media portayed that the Israelis were being percicuted by the Palestinians but in actuality the Palestinians were just defending themselves.