الفنون المعمارية في العصر العباسي الثاني .. كتاب العمارة العربية الاسلامية

Architectural arts in the second Abbasid era

Historical framework:

We do not find any art that characterizes the second Abbasid era. Rather, this expression has only a political meaning.

By this era, we mean the second stage of the life of the Abbasid Caliphate, since the weakness of the authority of the caliphs began to creep in, and the leaders of the Persians and Turks dominated them, and the lands of the state were taken by division and division, and numerous mini-states appeared in the East and West, and this era ends with the fall of Baghdad and the elimination of the Abbasid Caliphate at the hands of the Mongols. In the year 656/1258.

The book of political history dates the beginning of this weakness to the era of Al-Mutawakkil in the year 232 / 846. Because of the ambiguity surrounding the history of the Levant in this era, we decided to divide it into three distinct periods:

The first period: It extends from the middle of the third century AH until the emergence of the Seljuks in the late fifth century. The situation in the Levant was characterized by chaos, fragmentation, and a struggle for influence between the many centers of power. The Levant, in general, was affiliated with the independent states that were established in Egypt, namely the Tulunid state (1), the Ikhshidid state (2), and then the Fatimid caliphate (1). However, independent states appeared from time to time, especially in the north and Aleppo, such as the Hamdanid state (from 333/944 to 1392/1001) and the Mirdasid state (from 415/1025 to 473/1080).

The first was contemporary with the Ikhshidid state and the second was contemporary with the Fatimid Caliphate. The conflict was intense in the Levant between the rulers of Egypt on the one hand and the rulers of Baghdad on the other. Contributing to this conflict were sometimes the Qarmatians, who came from the Arabian Peninsula and who emerged as a rebellious Arab force, and sometimes the Byzantines, who took advantage of the fragmentation of the Islamic state and expanded at the expense of Syrian lands in the north and the coast, and their campaigns sometimes reached Damascus (2).

The second period: It extends for approximately a century, beginning with the emergence of the Seljuks in the Levant in the year 468 / 1075 and ending with the establishment of the Ayyubid state in the year 569 / 1174.

The Seljuks are a race of Muslim Turks who follow the Sunni doctrine. Their original homeland is the country of Turkestan or the country of Transoxiana. They succeeded in establishing a state in Khorasan during the reign of their first sultan (Tughrulbek) in the year 429 / 1048 that recognized the nominal sovereignty of the Abbasid Caliphate. Then they took control of Baghdad and imposed their influence on the Abbasid Caliphate in the year 448 / 1056. Tughrulbek was granted the title of Sultan by the Abbasid Caliph. During the reign of his successor, Sultan Alp Arslan, the Seljuk expansion took place in the Jazira and the Levant, with the aim of eliminating the independent mini-states there and the Fatimid influence and returning the Levant to the Abbasid Caliphate. This was accompanied by the migration of the Turks or Gazans and their withdrawal in the form of military battalions in the areas of the Levant, north and south. This led to the seizure of Damascus by one of their leaders, called “Atsiz bin Awq,” and the expulsion of the Fatimids from it and from part of Palestine, and the establishment of a state affiliated with the Seljuks in the year 468 / 1076. Then the kingship was taken from him after he was killed by Prince (Tetch), the son of Sultan Alp Arslan, and he established a hereditary state that included The Aleppo region as well. After his death, it was divided among his children. The rule in Damascus passed to the atabeg (1) Zaheer al-Din Toghtekin, who established a state also subordinate to the Seljuks. The rule continued in his family until the year 549/1154, the year in which Nur al-Din Mahmud took Damascus. He had He succeeded his father, the atabeg Imad al-Din Zengi, in the rule of Aleppo in the year 541 / 1145. He was the Seljuk governor of Mosul, and extended his authority to the rest of the peninsula and the northern region of Syria. He liberated many strongholds and cities from the hands of the Franks (2). After taking Damascus, Nur al-Din became king of The Peninsula and the Levant were subject to both Seljuk sovereignty and the Abbasid Caliphate. His rule expanded to include Egypt, when he sent an army to save it from the danger of the Franks, led by Asad al-Din Shirkuh and his nephew Saladin al-Ayyubi. The latter ended the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt and ruled it in the name of Nur al-Din and delivered sermons to the Abbasid Caliph on pulpits.

The third period: It begins with the establishment of the Ayyubid state in Egypt and the Levant by Saladin Yusuf bin Ayyub. Saladin was the leader of Nur al-Din. He participated with his uncle Asad al-Din Shirkuh in occupying Rayna and became sultan over Egypt and the Levant after Nur al-Din’s death in the year 569/1173. The island and Yemen were annexed to them. The Ayyubid state was completely independent, but it was nominally linked to the Abbasid Caliphate.

The Ayyubids continued the policy of struggle against the Crusaders to liberate what they occupied in the Levant. Their state in the Levant continued until the Mongol invasion led by Hulagu and the fall of Damascus into their hands in the year 658/1259. As a result, the Mamluks entered Damascus to liberate it from the Mongols, led by Sultan Saif al-Din Qutuz. The Mamluks, who were the leaders of the army from the freed slaves of the Ayyubids, had caused a coup in the year 648 / 1250 Egypt to seize power and eliminate the Ayyubid state.

This is a summary of the political conditions prevailing in the Levant during the second Abbasid era, in which we distinguished three political periods, which had an impact on cultural and artistic life. During it, flourishing arts emerged that were attributed to the Fatimids, Seljuks, and Ayyubids. We will see below the characteristics of each of these three arts and their architectural effects.