Essay on Abbasid Empire

Q1.Meaning of Abbasid imperial style and Abbasid international

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Abbasid imperial style is the reign of Muslim from Spain to khurasan which also included the Tulunids in Egypt .The Abbasid imperial was responsible for the construction of Egyptian Mosque between 876 AD and 879 AD. This was the period when many of the mosques were designed all over the Muslim dominated areas and palaces as well. The Abbasid international style is different from the Abbasid imperial .Abbasid international is the period when Muslims came up with many different innovations especially the ceramics and textiles. This is the period Muslims invented and came up with new ideas of building palaces and mosques as well.

These two styles are not interchangeable and they were two different reigns at that time. The Abbasid international came up with the internalization of Islamic art after the reign of the first rulers which was in ca 850AD.This was in Samarra which was founded in 835 when the Islamic concept of ideas was between Arabic caligraph which was based on the exact size and the thickness of the letter in reed pen. Dot was used as a unit whenever something was to be written or drawn. This system was oassed in court by Ibn-Muqla,Viziera at Abhasid court.

There are many concrete examples according to Abbasid 1 manuscript. Abbasid International is in the 870 the governorship which had been fully on control of Ibn Tulun after the death of his stepdad. This stand as a concrete example of the Abbasids dynasty . 872AD Abbasids attempted to bring back the provinces of Egypt under direct control which was a bit cumbersome to venture into. Their leader by then who was IbnTulun managed to protect his governorship and did this by sending gifts to Samarra. His relationship however with the Abbasids had already started to deteriorate. Troops could send to his empire to extract money by force although the attempt was abandoned after some time. By the year 880 the international empire had much gained though Ahmad strikes dinars in his name. It was among the prerogatives of the Caliph. Ahmad boosted the economy of Samarra by investing in Egypt and later sending it to his own country Samarra. This was a go ahead for the economy of Samarra.

The fragments always provide an important capture of the figurative art in the Islamic art world .It was the Asian heritage through carvings of distinctive face, lock hair curling at the cheek and also a large chin. The same familiar faces had been detected in pre-Islamic Iranian frecoes and metal works especially in Turkest. The same place had their wall painted with large scene of hunters .drinkers and dancers as well .Their palaces had been decorated with wooden carves panels and stucco which was also called plaster.

Q2.Description of architectural building and palaces of Samarra

Mosques were entirely built on bricks which were baked though it was not the usual building material in Egypt. In Samarra this was the main building material that was used in the constructions especially in mosques and other buildings. The only structure that was made of limestone was minaret which was later being compared to mosque construction materials. The country yard was around 92 square m though it was four sided? The speed of building a mosque structure was roughly three years .The mosque was surrounded by arcades with an opening at the end which was supposed to be 113 inches on each side. Arches were supposed to stand on piers which were innovated in Egypt. They were considered to be an essential part of the mosque in Samarra. There came a time when churches had to be sent to the desert to allow a construction of 30 column mosque .The Christians then were forced to go to the countryside and the deserted lands.

At samara the columns were expected to match with the piers and they had to be plastered to give a match. This was later attached to each corner of the mosque making the whole mosque uniform. This was repeated at Ibn Tulun though their bricks and columns engaged to the corners of the piers and later the decorations made on the wet plaster of the building. The arches as well were modeled and this facilitated flow of fresh air in and out of the mosque.

The Friday mosque stand tall as a result of continuous construction and restructures which were taken as renovations around 771 up to the end of 20 th century. The presence of archeological excavations had been set to determine Abbasid hypostyle in mosque by the 10th century. The Buyid construction lined a facade around the two minarets that had been added and also around the country yard. Selijuqs constructions included addition of brickworks which were doomed chambers and the mosque was renowned. Mihrab was housed in the south dome in 1086-87 by Nizam al-Mulk who was the famous Vizier of Malik Shah.The dome was known to be the largest known at its time. Nizam al-Mulk constructed the north dome an year later though the function was uncertartain. The dome was situated along the north-south axis which was located at the outskirts boundaries of the mosque

Palaces in Samarra were built in a different way from the mosque and the whole of Samarra region contained 19 palaces and the land was about 3oo million dirham where the palaces were built. The larges palace in Samarra was built in Mu-tasim which was renovated now and then but finally built in Caliphs with the right standards. In the palace were other features built along to make the palace more attractive and habitable and this included reserves .This area of Samarra compared to Baghdad was known for hunting activities. The architectural design of the palace was different from that of the mosques .The mosques had different dimensions and measurement since the two served different purposes. The people of Sammara used the Stucco method in their major constructions .This was got from Egypt where majority of the people living in Egypt use to construct. By 1905 the Abbasids decided to demolish all the structures leaving behind only mosques which were known to be holy places. The left overs were taken as architectural elements .This was during the reign of Ibn Trun who interpreted mosque as a political symbol. He gained in a way because he had gotten something innovative from the Egypt. His architectural deals earned him the name patron and this motivated his architecture structures in Samarra.

Samarra was known to be the fountain building due to the many towers that had been constructed .There was the unique Minaret which had been the first in Egypt which had a unique design making it symbolic in the lives of Abbasid. They named it Abbasid towers in the land of Samarra .Many people related Samarra to being graceful and more accessible.

Question 3.Developments that took place under the Abbasid dynasty and how they differ with their predecessors.

The first and major development under Abbasid was the construction of many structures including the mosques which were admired by many people. Abbasid concentrated a lot of effort in ensuring that Samarra had enough and better structure. The Abbasid were very much dedicated in ensuring that the mosques were habitable and the places too. Development in terms of architecture made Samarra an admirable place unlike when it was in the hands of their predecessors who were the Ummaye .The Abbasid were able to restructure and renovate their old building by demolishing most of them and leaving behind the Mosque only which were holy symbols.

The Quran and manuscripts were respected and this made the Abbasids not demolish the mosque but instead renovated and constructed better structures which hold .The other development of the Abbasud was the ceramic invention which created international and local market to the Abbasid communities. The Abbasid were able to attract many people into their land which was very different to the people who had come before them. This too earned reputation since the Abbasid were responsible of modeling differ forms of pottery and jewels as well which boosted their mark.

The Abbasid also valued gold and silver .These were things which were very much valued in the life of Muslims for trapping wealth though many religions rejected it the Muslim did not lose it . During hardship items made from gold were melted down to make more important jewels which could later be sold and bring money in return. Other times the items were burnt to mark an important condition the life of Muslims.

The Abbasid too have made a lot of improvement on bricks innovation. These bricks are used for decoration of surfaces and they no longer used stucco which their predecessors were using in their decoration purposes. The Abbasid too made very beautiful basket weave layers in the bricks they had innovated. Arches were very well constructed both internally and externally utilizing all the corners of the gallery. The inscriptions too looked very genuine combined with the decorative motives of the 10th century that were found in their excavations. The Abbasid were much different from their predecessors.

Reflecting on the needs of space , Religious developments and political ambitions the Abbasid had a great taste for change. The Abbasid made many modifications which incorporated elements from Mongols, Timurids , Safavids and Muzzafarids. The stucco to was well elaborated. The stucco was commissioned in 1310 by Mongol ruler Oljaytu together with additional Muqams glazed tile work and Minarets which were flanking to the south of Iwan .The structures were located at the side prayer hall which was within the western arcade. Safavid was extremely decorative with an addition of Muqamas glazed tile works and to the south were minaret franking. Piers and cupolas form a hypostyle area which is between the iwans. These piers are undated and varied in style .The piers had endless repairs and reconstructions

Q4. How Abbasid Empire functioned according to Tiraz and the use of textile

Tiraz explains very vivid how the Abbasid Empire functioned. In the 836 is when Calipha al-Mutasim changed his capital from Bagdad to the nearby Samarra .He had an army which was mainly the converted Turkish Mercenaries who had had been picked to reduce the growing tension between the Arab , Turkish Garrison and Persian of Baghdad.Later Samarra was abandoned for about 56 years as the major capital .Samarra was about 25 miles away from the back of Tigris .The place had palaces and mosques as well which had been built along the waterside with steps that lead the artificial water basin..Most of the palaces in this place were located next to the water basin which was just few meters away.

The Abbasid textiles found in Egypt included Silk inscription which was mainly used to make linen and cotton garments as well..This type of textile was mainly used in Yemen, Iraq, Egypt and Khurasan region.There was also the silk woven in Egypt which was also very common among the Muslims there. The wool taps try was still used by the Egyptian as well. People from Iraq especially the Muslim used Ink inscribed cotton in their linens and other type of garments which was very common in the place. Ikat was type of textile which was very common in Yemen while reed mats was common in Palestine.

Tiraz textile was used to mark the Tulunid period which was in the 9th century held at Cleveland and is stored at Museum of Art 5904. The inscribed floor mat of 10th century and was made in Tiberas which is today known as Israel was made in undyed best fiber inscription and decoration made in a brocading weft. The fridge along one of the edges was 115v by 223 cm. This mat is sill stored in Athens in a museum called Benek .The significance of this mat was abundant blessing and well being .It was also to bring constant happiness wherever it was used in Abbasid Empire....