| Popis: |
A T THE beginning of the twelfth century, the Abbasid empire, /% descending from Abbas (750), was in full decadence. The ? ^ Seljuk Turks were, by this time, a powerful force which had conquered much of the Arabic East, and had adapted for itself the religion and culture of the Arabic people. Torgul Bey (1083-1063) had carved out a huge empire from Lahore to Samarkand and Isfa han. The Turkish attacks reached to Baghdad and finally to Con stantinople. This was one of the determining reasons for the crusades which were, in turn, a partial cause of the eventual disintegration of the great Muslim science and civilization. Further invasion from the East, especially by the Tartars of Gen ghis Khan (1206-1227) led to the final breakdown of Muslim culture in Persia. In 1258, Hulagu, a later general of the Mongols, took Baghdad. Libraries were destroyed and manuscripts were cast into the Tigris. In fact, one writer claimed that one could walk on the manuscripts in the river from one side to the other. Persia, at this time, suffered its greatest disaster in history. In Herat alone, about one and a half million people were massacred. Other cities met with a similar fate. |
