The Post-Classical Era: 600-1450 C.E.
Name______________________________________
Period_____
WHAP Ch 7 Reading Study Guide #1 P. 162-172
1. From the opening story, describe dhows and the use of lateen sails?
(Timeline P. 164) 2. What were the years of the Umayyad caliphate?_____
3. When did the Abbasids take control?_____4. When did the Baghdad Caliphs become „puppet‟ rulers?
5. When was the first Christian Crusade in Palestine?_____
6. What was Abbasid caliph al-Madhi (775-785) known for?
7. Describe European contacts with the Abbasids during the reign of Harun al-Rashid.
8. What classic Islamic literature is identified with Harun‟s reign?
9. What was the outcome and impacts of the civil war that took place after Harun‟s death?
10. List some of the issues plaguing the stability of the Abbasid Empire at this time.
11. What were the “twin emblems” of the increasing subjugation of women?
12. Why did the status and freedom of women (especially wealthy & middle class) decline at this time?
13. How did the Persian Buyids and later the Seljuk Turks take control then indirectly rule the empire?
14. What were the Seljuk Turks able to accomplish in the empire?
15. How did the Turks (of modern-day Turkey) gain that territory?
The Post-Classical Era: 600-1450 C.E.
16. What happened to the inhabitants for Jerusalem when the European Crusaders took over?
17. How many crusades did the Europeans send against the „Holy Land‟?
18. What was Saladin able to accomplish? When did he die? When did the Europeans finally leave?
19. What were some of the products, ideas, science & technology gained by Christian Europe as a result
of the Crusades and other non-warfare contact w/ the Islamic world?
20. Why does Stearns assert that this cultural exchange was mostly a one-way process? Which way?
21. Describe some of the items traded within & exported from the Islamic World.
22. What is the „paradox‟ (in bolded print) about the Abbasid Decline?
23. Who/what were the important writers/works of the Persian literary tradition?
24. Name two Muslim accomplishments in chemistry.
25. What technologies did Muslim traders introduce to Europe?
26. What did Muslim scholar al-Ghazali seek to do?
27. Who were the Sufis and how do they figure in this era of Muslim history?
28. Who were the Mongols? Who was their “great war commander”?
29. When did the Mongols assault Baghdad & put the last Abbasid caliph to death?
The Post-Classical Era: 600-1450 C.E.
30. Where were the Mongols stopped? By what group?
31. Which two cities supplanted Baghdad after its fall to the Mongols and further fall after Tamerlane?
32. Does Islam appear to be able to co-exist with other religions?
The Post-Classical Era: 600-1450 C.E.
WHAP Ch 7 Reading Study Guide #2 P. 172-183
1. How did Islam differ from Hinduism?
2. Why did the Umayyad Empire launch a punitive expedition to the Indian kingdom of Sind?
3. Who led this attack? What was the result?
4. What special accommodations were made for Hindus & Buddhists by early Muslim rulers?
5. What contributions did Indian civilization make to Islamic civilization? (Esp. under the Abbasids)
6. Name the 3 Muslim warlords (1 Turk & 1 Persian & the Persian‟s slave) who expanded Muslim
controlled lands into the HEART of India in the late 1100s.
7. Why is it significant that the capital of this Sultanate was located in Delhi?
8. Which two groups (hint: not warriors) carried the message of Islam throughout India?
9. What groups did most of the Indian converts to Islam come from?
10. What was the high-caste Indians‟ general opinion of the Muslim invaders?
11. How did the Muslim rulers fit themselves into the caste system?
12. What is the tradition of sati?
13. How did the bhakti cult groups attempt to counter the impact of Islam in India?
The Post-Classical Era: 600-1450 C.E.
14. Name two saints/poets and two gods worshipped in these cults.
15. Why do you think SO FEW Indians convert to Islam?
16. What event “opened the way” for the spread of Islam into “Island Southeast Asia”?
17. Once again, what two groups carried the message of Islam in this region?
18. How was Islam slightly different in practice and teaching in island Southeast Asia?
Read: “Conversion & Accommodation in the Spread of World Religions”
19. In what ways did the World Religions: Christianity, Hinduism & Buddhism change to
accommodate the cultures and societies to which they spread?
20. Is it necessary for a World Religion to be flexible as is grows and spreads?
21. Why or why not?
22. Though it did not endure, what was the significant accomplishment of the Abbasid caliphate during its
era of dominance/existence?