Geo 328: Geography of the Middle East and North Africa

24 January 2017

 

The Essay Exam

 

• In this exam you will have the option of answering two prompts out of a total of three.
• you are allowed to have notes on one side of a 3x4 index card

 

In an essay exam DO NOT:

Spend a long time on drafting an introduction or conclusion paragraph. Instead, immediately start answering the question.

 

DO:

Backup statements with examples from the reading.

Write Clearly. If you have issues with handwriting, see me before the exam.

Essay Exam Topics:

• Stereotype of the MENA
• geopolitical position vis-a-vis naming
• Orientalism
• Clash of Civilizations
• Islam

Your exam will cover everything for weeks 1-3. Exam is scheduled for 2/8

The Quran

• The material therein is divided into Suras
• It is the first book of the Arabic Language and the catalyst behind the documentation of arabic grammar

The Prophet Mohammad

630, the Prophet Mohammad returns to Mecca

632, He is dead.

 

Successes:

Built a community in Arabia that believed in the oneness of God.

developed news ideas of morality

 

Problems after the death of the prophet Mohammad

•  who will rule the Islamic Community?
  • the prophet mohammad had no sons
  • no instructions in the Quran

Will the new leaders remember all of the prophet Muhammad's teachings?​

 

• "Be kind to parents, and the near kinsman, and to orphans, and to the  needy, and to the neighbor who is of kin, and to the neighbor who is a stranger, and to the companion at your side and to the traveller"

Ali

 

• Cousin of the prophet.
• Married to Fatima, one of the Prophet's daughters.
• Many within the Ummah wanted leadership of the Islamic community to be in the hands of the prophet's family
• Ali's claim to lead the Islamic community was challenged by Mu'awiyah

Mu'awiyah

• Mu'awiyah is from the same tribe as Uthman and at the time a governor of Syria
• later solidifies the Umayyad Dynasty in Syria

 

Sunni Islam

Represents the majority of Islam world wide. Accept the history of succession after the prophet's death.

• caliphs are mortal, nothing divine about them
• religious matters left to the Ulama

Shia Islam

Outraged at the treatment of members of the prophet's family .

• Mohammad divinely inspired by God and that this passed to the people belonging to his family.
• Shi'a Imams has special knowledge of the Quran and a special connection with God

After the death of Ali, beginnings of important dynasties:

Umayyad 661-750, initiated by Mu'awiyah

Abbasid 750-1258, ended by Mongol Invasions

 

The Origins of the Ottoman Empire

• Osman and the Osmanlis (Ottomans) 
  • leader of a small principality in Anatolia
• Expansion during 14-16th century into Byzantine and Islamic Lands
  • Constantinople taken by the Ottomans on May 29, 1453 
• Late successes due in part to the use of gunpowder

The Ottoman Empire 

Early Muslim Conquest

From the early 1500s to the end of WWI the Ottoman empire ruled over the Middle East

Leaders of the Islamic Community

• Syria and Egypt captured in 1516 and 1517, driving out the Mamluks
• Ottomans over time become protectors of Mecca and Medina and rule over Jerusalem, Damascus and Baghdad

Practices of the Ottoman State

• War for the sake of land expansion/empire
• Investments in scholarship
• leadership of the Islamic community
• Administrative flexibility over conquered territories
• clear distinction between ruler-elites and subjects
• Fratricide (until the 17th century)

Slave System

• Devshirme
  • produced soldiers and civil servants
  • collection of Christian boys from the Balkans
  • oversaw almost all Ottoman ruling Institutions

Janissaries

• elite branch of slave-soldiers
• known for professionalism
• not allowed to engage in other endeavors, political or business
• best soldiers in the world during 15th century

Short Clip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIBO-meEtC8

17:00-21:48

Tax-farming

Muslim military men were given parcels of land, on which they could collect taxes as payment for their service. The scheme assisted rulers with control of provinces and helped them deal with the cost of empire. Primarily practiced in the Balkans and Anatolia.

 

Shaykh al-Islam appointed and oversaw judges and teachers in Islamic schools

 

Ulama are scholars important for spreading and maintaining Islamic law (shari'ah) throughout the empire.

 

Millets were communities of non-muslims that were administered by leaders of their own faith

Religious Governance

Transformation of the Empire

beginning in the late 16th century :

• The entrance of European goods
• Capitulation
• loss of military dominance

The Entrance of European goods into the Ottoman Empire

• Late 17th and 18th century, industrial era goods competed with domestic artisans
• Regions of the empire produced raw goods in exchange for finished products from Europe
• local economies transformed to address European trends.

Capitulations

A set of legal privileges given to foreigner residing or trading in the Ottoman Empire.

• Outside countries had jurisdiction over their nationals who lived/worked in the empire
• foreigners exempt from prosecution in Ottoman courts
• Foreigners exempt from taxes
• Barats: certificates of protection for non-Muslims

Loss of military dominance

• Janissaries become ineffective and corrupt 
• Europe now militarily superior
  • nizam-i-jedid under Selim III
• loss of control over provinces
  • Egypt under the Mamluks and Mohammad Ali

Egypt under Muhammed Ali

• Of albanian/Greek origin
• Becomes governor in 1805
• Egypt becomes an autonomous province in the Ottoman empire
  • launches military campaigns
  • industrializes the country
  • draws heavily on European knowledge
  • seeks to establish a dynasty

19th century

• Tanzimat, era of reforms
  • European systems of governance widely adopted
  • Tax-farming abolished
  • equality of all subjects
    • The idea of citizenship
  • society begins to embrace secularism
  • 1826 Janisseries abolished

Europe pecks away at the Ottoman Empire

• For European powers wishing to become colonial powers, the lands of the Ottoman empire are rich in resources, strategic military importance and sites for the growth of economic wealth
  • The French make inroads throughout North Africa during the 19th and 20th century. After World War 1 they become protectors of Lebanon and Syria.
  • Britain interest in the Middle East is tied initially toward control of water routes and eventually oil for its naval fleets.

World War 1

• Ottomans sided with the Central powers (Ottoman Empire Germany, Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary)
• During the war Britain convinced Arabs, Led by the Amir of Mecca, Sharif Husain ibn Ali,  to launch attacks against Ottoman forces in exchange for an independent Arab State
  • Husain-Mcmahon correspondence (July 1915-March 1916)
    • Sharif Husayn ibn Ali (the Amir of Mecca) enters secret negotiations with Sir Henry McMahon
    • Hussain desired an independent state for Arabs.
    • In addition to getting an ally, Britain wanted Arab support for control of Baghdad and Basra

Sykes-Picot 1916

• Went against promises to Sharif Husayn
• Divided the region from southern anatolia to Iraq between the British and the French.

Balfour declaration

November 1917

Arthur Balfour promised to Lord Rothschild that Britain would support Jewish settlement in Palestine.

The Ottoman Empire formally ends:

Treaty of Sevres 1920

• Iraq made into a new state
• Kurds given autonomy
• Britain, Greece, France and Italy receive portions of the empire.
• Transjordan created a little later to appease upset over war betrayal

Mustafa Kemal 'Ataturk'

• Military officer
• moves to adopt European political and cultural customs
• Name Ataturk mean 'Father of the Turks'

The Ottoman Empire

• Diverse nationalities
• Islam has an important role within state affairs and daily life
• lead by a Sultanate in Istanbul

The Turkish Republic

• Embrace of Turkishness
• secularism in public life
• democratically elected body of national delegates

• Removes Ottoman royal family
• adoption of swiss civil code
• public religious worship curtailed
• bans Islamic clothing
• Latinization of the Turkish language

Cultural Transformations

Diversity

• Armenians sidelined by Turkish Republic
• Kurds repressed
• Greeks forcibly removed
• Christians and Jews seen outside the turkish nation-state

Women In turkey

• given the right to vote in 1934
• entrance of women into Turkish parliament in 1935
• women encouraged to adopt western dress
• Polygamy banned