Chapter 10 5. Farewell to Baghdad

Baghdad was only a step away from Ctesiphon. Ctesiphon was the former capital of the Persian Sasanian Dynasty, while Baghdad was originally a village on the west bank of the Tigris River, only 32 kilometers away from Ctesiphon.Al-Mansur, the second caliph of the Abbasid Dynasty, designated it as the new capital, and, like the Roman Emperor Constantine who moved the capital to Byzantium and Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty who built Luoyang, he personally selected the site and personally supervised the construction. Not on a whim. In fact, the name "Baghdad" probably comes from Persian, meaning "gift of Allah".Its official name after completion is Madinah al-Salaam, which means City of Peace.Obviously, this means that the empire will take the path of peaceful development in the future, abandoning the Mediterranean, relying on Persian traditions and seeking Persian support.No wonder the Abbasids are calling their regime Dawla, they are indeed ushering in a new era.

New, in all aspects. First of all, the dynasty is "one country, two governments" in Mansour and after him.The caliph is the religious leader and head of state, while administrative affairs and power are entrusted to the prime minister or chief minister called a vizier (Wazir).They were usually held by Persians, and they were so powerful that they not only presided over the State Council as a matter of course, but also appointed and dismissed provincial governors.Christians and Jews were also entrusted with important positions of ministers and advisers, and the Abbasid Dynasty became a multi-ethnic empire led by a coalition government.

This is very different from the style of Wu Maiye, who is the capital of Damascus.The Umayyad royal family does not trust non-Arabs, nor will they hand over state affairs to others, and they are even less interested in the civilizations of other nations.This family, which rose all the way from the Ummah of Medina to the Caliphate, is more like the Guanlong Group in the early Sui and Tang Dynasties.Their "Guanzhong standard" policy is to rely on the Arabs, especially the Arab warriors. The Abbasid Dynasty appeared to be open and tolerant, and people of all colors could enjoy themselves in this empire.This is actually forced out.As the overthrowers of the old regime and the minority in the past, they could neither rely on Umayyads nor have the ability to govern themselves, so they had to use local materials and use Persian officials and the Persian official system.What's more, the Abbasids got the support of Shiites, Christians, Jews, and Persian Zoroastrians during their rebellion.

As a result, the nature of the regime changes. Change also has two sides.On the one hand, the ruling group changed from the Arab nobles and Arab warriors in the past to a group composed of professional civil servants, merchant landlords and jurists.On the other hand, the empire also became a Persianized dynasty.In fact, these Arab conquerors who have lived in Iraq for a long time have long flirted with the conquered Sasanian nobles, and now they have taken over the Persian tradition with peace of mind, imitated Persian customs, and became obsessed with Persian women.When Persian music wafted from the luxurious villas on the banks of the Tigris River, they were separated from their nomadic life in the desert.

This again brought a series of changes. The biggest change is that the warriors of the past have become more refined, and the policies of the empire have become more tolerant.This kind of tolerance was not available in the Western world at that time.Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians were allowed to stick to their beliefs and even use their own language.There was no burning of books or inquisitions, although the ties that kept the empire together were Islam and the Arabic language. Tolerance and elegance gave birth to the flower of civilization, and the politics, economy and culture of the Abbasid Dynasty flourished.The fertile Mesopotamia provides a variety of agricultural products. The papermaking technology learned from the prisoners of war in the Tang Dynasty has spread throughout the country. The textile and banking industries are thriving. The transportation is well-connected. Checks issued by Baghdad can be cashed in Morocco.In short, when China's Tang Dynasty fell into the quagmire of the Anshi Rebellion and could not extricate itself, the Abbasids ushered in the golden age of Islamic civilization.

Of course, it is also an era of peace - Salam. So there was the "Hundred Years of Translation Movement" with great merit.From 830 to 930 AD, that is, during the late Tang and Five Dynasties in China, large-scale, organized and long-term translation and promotion activities for the achievements of other national civilizations were carried out with Baghdad as the center.It was this feat that allowed the ancient Greek classics to be preserved intact, provided a guiding light for the rise of Europe, and enabled the great men of the Renaissance to stand on the shoulders of giants with a vision.

But at the same time, the empire is also declining. Decay begins with the ruler.The long period of peace and prosperity has made them more arrogant and extravagant, and more incapable of governing.The caliphs claimed to be "the shadow of Allah on the earth", but they were actually the shadow of the Persian civil government, and later became the puppets of the Turkic Guards who were abolished at will.By the middle of the 9th century AD, when the Tang emperor was murdered by eunuchs one after another, and the Charlemagne Empire was divided into three, the government of the Abbasid dynasty had changed from Persian to Turkic.

This is not far from subjugation.In 1055 AD, which is the second year of Renzong Zhihe in the Northern Song Dynasty in China, Baghdad was occupied by the Seljuk Turks.Turkic leaders proclaimed themselves Sultans (Sultan) became the actual rulers, and the caliphs became religious leaders in name only.In 1258 AD, that is, the sixth year of Lizong Baoyou in the Southern Song Dynasty, the grandson of Genghis Khan led the Mongolian army to bloodbath Baghdad.With the separation of church and state, only the pitiful Arab Empire in the Mesopotamia officially perished. Counting this year, the Abbasid dynasty has maintained its rule for nearly five centuries, about one third of which were brilliant, one third had ups and downs, and one third survived in name only.The dynasty was divided even from the start.Spain has the "Host Wumayyad Dynasty", which is called the Western Dashi in Chinese history; Tunisia and Egypt have the Shia Fatimid Dynasty, known as the Southern Dashi in history; the Abbasid Dynasty is only the Eastern Dashi.

The two separate dynasties also had their own good times.Cordoba, the capital of the post-Umayyad dynasty, was as famous as Constantinople and Baghdad, and was one of the world's cultural centers at that time.The Fatimid dynasty not only occupied Egypt, but also conquered Syria, Palestine and Hijaz. The Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo is a world-renowned institution of higher learning. Three kingdoms in the Arab world. However, before the fall of Baghdad, both the late Umayyad and Fatimid dynasties had passed away, and only Abbas survived.There are various indications that the glory of the Arabs is a thing of the past and can only be left to future generations to pay tribute to and sing in the sunset.

That being the case, let someone else take over! In fact, the spread of Islam afterwards mainly relied on the Persians, Turks and Mongols, and the three most influential empires were the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal empires.The Ottomans belonged to the Turks, in today's Turkey; the Safavids belonged to the Persians, in today's Iran; the Mughals belonged to the Mongols, in what was then India.None of them are in the Arabian Peninsula. Arabs have instead become a "minority", accounting for only one-eighth of Muslims today.More importantly, after the 10th century AD, the spread of Islam was not mainly by force, but by commercial activities and cultural exchanges.The areas Islamized under the influence of missionaries, immigrants, and merchants included the Indonesian archipelago, the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, and parts of Africa. Even the conquerors, the Mongols, automatically converted.This cannot but be said to be miraculous, and there must be a reason.

But let's leave that question for the future! It is now perfectly clear.The Ummah of Medina, the Caliphate, the Umayyad Empire, the Abbasid Dynasty, the Arabs have walked their own path step by step.But this way is neither Roman nor Chinese.In fact, due to the three spirits of humanism, reality, and art established by the Western Zhou Dynasty, the land of China did not have religious soil, so it was only possible to produce a worldwide civilization, and it was impossible to spontaneously produce religions, let alone world religions.There's no right or wrong here, it's just the facts. However, during the Sui and Tang Dynasties in China, it was the era of world religions.We have experienced the splendor, turbulence and magnificence of Christianity and Islam, as well as their profound influence on human civilization and the course of history, from the Byzantines and Arabs.The Chinese Empire is not isolated from the world, and it should not be indifferent to this, not to mention that another world religion has already been introduced to China.Then, when Buddhism, as a foreign culture, encounters Chinese tradition, how should the two parties, who originally had many conflicts, get along with each other, and will a new ideological culture be born as a result?

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