 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| • |
By the mid
9th century the Abbasids were losing control
|
|
|
over their
vast Muslim empire.
|
|
| • |
Distance
hampered efforts to move armies and control
|
|
|
local
administrators.
|
|
| • |
Most subjects
also retained local loyalties.
|
|
| • |
Shi'i
dissenters were particularly troublesome, while slave
|
|
and peasant
risings weakened the empire.
|
|
| • |
Mongol
invasions in the 13th century ended the very
|
|
|
weakened
state.
|
|
| • |
Despite the
political decline, Islamic civilization reached
|
|
|
new cultural
heights, and Islam expanded widely in the
|
|
|
Afro-Asian
world through conquest and peaceful
|
|
|
conversion.
|
|