06 Contextual Framework: 1000-1500 CE

06 Contextual Framework: 1000-1500 CE

During the second half of Abbasid rule, from roughly 1000 to 1258 CE, or 390 to 656 H, Abbasid rule was essentially symbolic. During this time, many empires were springing up within the Islamic world, like the Ghaznavid Empire, The Seljuks, and the Mamluks. Powers rose, powers fell, and Islamic culture, calligraphy, and architecture became even more defined. In 1258, the Mongols, led by the grandson of Ghangis Khan, sacked Baghdad, killing more than a million people and officially ending the Abbasid era. In Egypt, some who claimed to be part of the escaped Abbasid family took power in Egypt and called themselves the Fatimids. In 1260 the Mongol invasion was stopped by the Mamluk Empire, an empire ruled by manumitted slaves. During this time, there were several Crusades by Europeans to retake Holy Lands in the Islamic world. Later on in the period, the Selim and Sulymein Ottoman Empire conquered much of the Islamic world, took Constantinople and renamed it Istanbul, and remained until the end of the First World War in the early 20th century.

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