27
votes
Were the Islamic Caliphates (Umayyad and Abbasid) and the Mongol Empires truly as benevolent as they are portrayed?
If your textbook indeed says this, it is evidently biased. First of all, these things (the Caliphate, the Mongol Empire, and European empires) belong to very different historical periods, and thus ...
- 38.1k
12
votes
Why did European writers and artists continue to depict the Moors as being black skinned, even though they were mostly Berbers and Arabs
The "Moors" were a very diverse group.
The first invading "Moors" were Arabs and Berbers from North Africa, the Berbers being descended from the Moors of Classical antiquity and thus probably mostly ...
- 18.4k
9
votes
Accepted
Are there any books solely about the Umayyad Invasion of Gaul?
Consider this doctoral dissertation: The hammer and the crescent: Contacts between Andalusi Muslims, Franks, and their successors in three waves of Muslim expansion into Francia, available at https://...
- 6,779
8
votes
Accepted
Why did the Byzantines not try to recover Syria during the war between Ali and Muawiya?
Because they had just lost the battle of Masts to Muawiya bin abu sufyan in the previous year (655). The emperor Constans II was almost killed.
And notice, when the pressure from the East was ...
- 6,991
5
votes
Accepted
A zoo during the rule of Omayyad or Abbasid dynasty?
I am afraid that this might only be a legend. From historical sources, we know that Zoos existed since ancient times as Menageries.
First such instance would be in Heirakonpolis, Egypt which existed ...
- 8,153
5
votes
Why did the Moors invade the Iberian peninsula?
"because it was there".
If the Moors were going to invade anyplace under the leadership of their Arab overlords it would have to be either Spain to the north or parts of Africa to the southwest, ...
- 2,118
4
votes
How did Muhammad bin Qasim die?
I am no expert on the topic, but I know Arabic and I have access to sources in Arabic (but disclaimer, I am a Sunni Muslim, so my sources are "Wahhabist" sources, and I do not agree with that ...
- 140
4
votes
Accepted
Why was Caliph Suleyman disliked by the noted generals in the Umayyad army?
Other than Suleyman's notorious short temper and tendency to keep grudges against people who caused offence whether real or imaginary, With further reading, it looks like that It wasn't Suleyman that ...
- 8,153
3
votes
Why did European writers and artists continue to depict the Moors as being black skinned, even though they were mostly Berbers and Arabs
I believe it was the exotic nature they were going for. Moor came to equate with foreign and negroid people were the most foreign looking at the time. There is also St Maurice who was depicted as ...
- 677
2
votes
What were the religious effects of the initial Arab conquests in the Byzantine Empire?
The Muslims did not pursue a convert-all policy in their conquered territories, one reason being that that would cause revolts and make those territories terribly difficult to manage. But this doesn't ...
- 1,641
2
votes
Why did the Umayyads spare some of the male members of the Family (Ahl-al-Bait) after Karbala?
Yazid went by the standards of the day, but went about them in a somewhat twisted way. Women and children were off-limits for killing, but anyone who took up arms against him was killed. Husayn was ...
- 655
1
vote
Why did European writers and artists continue to depict the Moors as being black skinned, even though they were mostly Berbers and Arabs
The key is the theoretical term "Imaginary." The imaginary is a post-structuralist influenced term which claims that cultures have, effectively, a collective subconscious. As you note the "imaginary" ...
- 14.6k
1
vote
What were the religious effects of the initial Arab conquests in the Byzantine Empire?
Somewhat more narrowly, the traditional account of iconoclasm in Byzantium is that it was at least partly motivated by the successes of Islam with its aniconic tradition. See Byzantine Iconoclasm, ...
- 513
1
vote
Was the Battle of Tours really the turning point for the Umayyad expansion into Europe?
As a complementary answer:
While the battle of Tours was an important moment in the Arab expansion into Europe, it was not the only one, for the simple reason that the Arab expansion in that direction ...
- 1,920
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