Western Civilization I / Unit 9 WC1 0828 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Umayyad Government: Arabic, the Mosque, the Army
Captions available
The idea
Arabs ruled as a minority through adopted Byzantine and Persian bureaucracies, salaried every Arab soldier, and taxed even Arabs to fund a standing army. Arabic replaced the vernaculars except Persian. Garrison and grid cities grew around the mosque: worship, court, bank, school.
In practice
Cairo's seed as one such city.
Where people slip
Commercial law inside Sharia, from a merchant prophet. Trade spread the faith by sea.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Unlocks
- 0829Dhimmis: The Head Tax and Tolerance Within Limits
- 0838Byzantium and the Caliphate Compared: Ruler, Law, Learning, Trade
- 0840Two Heirs of Rome: How Byzantium and Islam Each Carried the Ancient World
- 0911Charles Martel, Tours, and Pepin's Coup, 751
- 1005The Reconquista: From Lisbon to Las Navas to 1492
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it