A Series of Changes in Society Reflected by Islamic Empirical Dynasty

The over throw of Umayyad caliphate to Abbasid leadership within the Islamic Empirical dynasty reflected a series of fundamental changes within a rapidly growing society. As Islamic civilization spread even farther under the Abbasids, regional interests and loyalties made it difficult to hold together the vast areas conquered. The rule of the Abbasids resulted into bureaucratic expansion and cultural cohesion. The Arabic way of life got root into the Islamic society with every bit of cohesion resulting to massive breakthroughs in several sectors of the caliphate system. One such breakthrough is the architectural layout of the Abbasid structures. Before, they adopted the contemporary Persian style architectural design also called the empirical design but later, as a result of several reasons, began using modern East Asian architectural design also called the International design. The Abbasid imperial and the Abbasid international styles therefore refer to the architectural designs of the great Abbasid caliphate dynasty since it came into existence. This dynasty happens to be one of the worlds biggest dynasties that ever existed with the name Abbasid; coded from prophet Mohammeds uncle, Al-Abbas. Abbasid imperial style of design therefore refers to the original and primary architectural design that was inherited by this caliph from the traditional Mesopotamian architectural design of Persia. Abbasid International style is rather a new architectural design that was adopted as a result of the expansion of the Abbasid caliphate dynasty. This style of design was copied by the successor states such as Iran, Egypt and China immediately the Abbasid lost control of the large and ever growing empire. The international style basically was inherited from the designs of the central Asian culture.

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The early Abbasid architectural design had great resemblance to that of the Sassanid dynasty. A good example is the palace of Ukhaidhir. Many buildings here are of mud blocks which are plastered but since mud blocks are weak, these buildings were quickly renovated. This palace is one conspicuous feature found in the desert south of Baghdad. As a result of increase in size of the dynasty, such contemporary structural regalia seize to exist; with architectural styles now taking shape of the Asian way of design. This is seen when the level of influence of the Soghdian design of structural development took place. With this level of architectural interactions, the form of design used got mingled making it a difficult task noting the difference between the contemporary olden architectural design of Persia (Abbasid) and the new architectural style of central Asia, the Umayyad. An instance worth noting is the al-Ashiq and alJiss buildings of Samara. They display a mixed architectural form since they look like a foliate arch from the use of polylobed moldings on the wall and tiled floors on the inside. Another good example is the Ahman ibn Tulun Mosque of Cairo Egypt which was built from a combined architectural design. It displays a combinational feature of the Umayyad and Abbasid architectural design.

Samara is one of the cities of Iraq located east of River Tigris and several kilometers north of Baghdad. It is of interest to study since it once was the capital of the Abbasid caliphate and furthermore, the only Iraqi city which has so far retained its relics and original architectural design. The great palaces of the Abbasid caliph include the Balkhuwara, the Qasr-al-Ashiq and the Jawsaq-al-Khaqani. These palaces display an enriched structural heritage. They have an appearance of a foliate arch due to the carvings done deeply on the arches. In the inside, the floors are either marbled or tiled. The reception rooms are decorated using molded stucco dados. Other excavated palaces are seen to be having dome shaped chamber surrounded by four iwans that have a characteristic of facing out way. This would allow for renovation and expansion.

Under the Abbasid caliphate, a dynasty that succeeded the Umayyad, a lot of cultural, political and religious shifts took place in the Islamic realm. It is during this caliph that a new technique emerged and spread like bone fire in the Muslim society. This change had impact and influenced majorly the Islamic art and architectural design. Variant use of squared letter forms began to take shape. Decorative illuminations appeared on manuscripts which consisted of foliate, flora and geometric motifs. Traced back to Egypt, is the style of literature that led to the writing of manuscripts reference. There were the inscriptions of silk on cotton and linen clothing, ink on cotton inscriptions, wool tapestry, ikat and reed writings. These early artistry and literature designs led to the art of documentation and resourcing which is a key element that led to the development of the Quran. In the Abbasid caliph, Quranic inscriptions were preciously done on stone pallets if band form and ran around the interior and the outer areas of mosques and other religious edifices. With the advent rule of the Umayyad dynasty the Arab Shaykhdom was terminated and an Islamic empire a rose which exclusively depended on religion and military power for stability. Caliphs were to protect faith at all costs. When this dynasty ended, a rather centralized system of dynasty, the Abbasid, flourished. They came to power under the banner of Islam and continued the dynastic reign where Islam dominated Abbasid borrowed Umayyad set of practices but were rather strict on religion and ordained to it.

Of the many changes of art and artistic designs that arose in the Abbasid Caliph was the art of design which included inscriptions on textile fabrics. Textile was ubiquitous in the Abbasid Empire serving purposes of clothing, house hold furnishing and as well used as tents. With the increasing territory, the business of manufacturing and selling textile goods was sophisticated, highly profitable and encouraging. These practices were built upon Sasanian traditions. Inscribed textile recorded information that conveyed broad historical relics. One of the pronounced textile product used was the Tiraz. This is an inscribed arm band that was presented as an element of honor, favor or a distinction by a caliph official. The use of the Tiraz led to the strengthening of the dynasty as ultimate sovereignty cropped. This was also instrumental in the expansion of the empire and centralization of Islam as a religion. Some of the common examples of Tiraz textile in the Abbasid dynasty include the Kuwait Al- Sabah collection, fabrics of Tiberias Israel which consists of plain weave with inscriptions on it and decorations of brocading weft fringe along the edges of the fabric. Among the most valuable possessions of a caliph were the fabrics. They possess countless number of cloths and other common materials crafted from textile. Those that they were out of passion for, they gave away as gifts of distinction. A caliph would always accord a robe of honor called a Khila, to a man esteemed by the empire. Its also realized that members of the royal entourage wore special fabric outfits, distancing them from the commoners of the society.

When goods and services are exchanged between countries or states, or rather between individuals of different countries or areas of jurisdiction; we term this as international trade. In the era of the Abbasid dynasty, international trade was one of the major activities carried out. With an increase in trade, the caliphate was undergoing the era of golden age. Caravans connected Aden, Syria and Egypt while another, went to India and china; from Baghdad. Muslim trade via sea dominated the Mediterranean and thus extended to the ocean of India and the Far East. The central factor of influence was the Arab merchant families. In Guangzhou-China alone, Arabs and Persians had taken control of the trading process. The central network of trade area was Baghdad since it had roads and rivers plus an added advantage of direct linkage to the Persian Gulf. River crafts and other instruments of water travel could dock in Ubullah and Siraf. This was one vital organ that led to the growth of Baghdad. Under the reign of the Abbasids, Arab sources got interested in making adventurous long-haul sailings to china. For such a long trip, sources notify that it would take at least a year to round up the whole journey. Bearing in mind the natural order of settings such as the occurrence of tides and prevalence of the monsoon winds; such journeys would commence in November or December. On reaching, the shippers would take up to six months subjected to strict regulations of the Chinese navy. Some ships as noted would sail further to trading destinations such as far south Madagascar. Though the risk of such long journeys was high, the profits generated from the same were such bountiful. The empire grew a great deal as a result of the same. Areas that were earlier dry and unproductive such as Sarif and Banbhore flourished in wealth and recorded highest number of immigrants. This act of interaction led to the change of face of the dynasty. Direct contact with the people of far East and parts of Africa stimulated the growth of a worldwide dynasty the earth ever recorded. In Persia, markets grew fast and robust influenced by the fact that there was the presence of rich consumers in Baghdad. Investment in international shipping produced realm of greed of profits and a consequent attraction to adventure and confidentiality resulting to merchants venturing in other fields.

It is work noting that Baghdad is a well-known city in the lands of Iraq in other terms, the capital city of the Republic of Iraq. It is located along river Tigris and in the tenth century, it became the worlds point of interest since it became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Abbasid after over throwing the Umayyads moved their capital from Damascus to Baghdad since the shift of geographical power appeased the Persian support base. In a short time after inception, Baghdad evolved into a significant cultural, commercial and intellectual center of the Islamic world. Apart from well-structured schooling and healthcare systems, this city also happen to be the worlds biggest. This is due to the massive influx of Muslims during the era of the caliphates. The name Baghdad is pre-islamic; Bagh means god while dad meaning given while Madina al Salam means the city of peace. This was accorded during the reign of the caliphate when the dynasty was lively, peaceful and resourceful. The citys growth has been helped by its excellent location with considerations to factors such as control trading routes along the Tigris. From the architectural design, we note a cord of brilliance. The bricks used were 18inches on all four sides with marbles used to make the buildings of the city throughout the inside. The basics of its framework are a two large semicircular design 19kilometers in diameter. The outlook of such sketch resulted into a round form making the city possess its name, the round city. From the original outlook of the sketch, single rings of residential and commercial structures are present in the inner section of the city walls. In the final construction, another inner ring happened to have been added. At the center of the city is a mosque and a guard headquarters. The walls were named Kufa, Basra, Khurasan and Syria with a distance of about 2.4 kilometers of the gates of these walls to each other. In the middle of the city, a palace; Golden Gate Palace stands. This was the area of residence of the caliphs and their families. From the overview of the structural out lay of Baghdad, we realize that this design was picked from the ancient Persian Susanian architectural design. The roundness too po...