1. Timeline

630. Muhammad (Muḥammad) captures Mecca.

642. Arabs conquer Persia.

711. Islamic forces enter Spain.

732. Battle at Tours.

766. caliph al-Mansur (al-Manṣūr) founds Baghdad.

786 to 809. Rule of caliph Harun al-Rashid (Hārūn al-Rashīd). He establishes a library.

813-833. Rule of caliph al-Mamun (al-Ma’mūn). He founds the House of Wisdom (بيت الحكمة Bayt al-Ḥikma, Bayt al Hikma). It last for almost 200 years.

2. Geography

Conquest of Alexander the Great

Big Version

Roman Empire

After the death of Theodosius I, in 395 AD:

Sassanid Empire (Erānshahr ايرانشهر)

Its greatest extent around 620. Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon were only briefly in the Empire. (Arab conquest 637–651).

Scholarship was encouraged.

Works from both the East and West were translated into Pahlavi.

State language : Pahlavi.

State religion: Zoroastrianism. (Also Judaism, Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism).

High period for Art.

Grandiose architecture.

Rock sculptures on limestone cliffs

Metalwork, gem engraving.

Khosrau I, or Anushirvan (Persian: انوشيروان )

He founded many new cities and magnificent palaces, art and science flourished, the Sassanid empire was in its peak of glory and prosperity.

King Khosrau I was interested in Greek learning and philosophy. He invited the scholars from Plato's Academy in Athens to come to Persia when the Academy was closed.

His religion was Zoroastrian, but he was tolerant of Christians and other religions.

He was interested in Indian learning and literature. Chess made its way from India to Persia about this time. (Checkmate comes from shāh māt, which is Persian for "the king is finished").

Arab Conquest

Caliph (kalīfa خليفة) means "successor".

3. al-Khwārizmī ( الخوارزمي )

Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī (محمد بن موسى الخوارزمي‎) (c. 780-850). Either he or his ancestors came from Khwārizm (خوارزم), usually written Khwarezm, a region along the Amu Darya river. It was traditionally associated with Persia, and today its is part of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. It was important because of its location on the silk road. Later it was conquered by, among others, Ghengis Khan around 1220, Timur around 1380, and by the Russians around 1873. It became part of the U.S.S.R, and now it is part of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

The Amu Darya river (Persian: آمودریا‎, darya "sea or a very large river") called the Oxus by the Greeks, is a major river in Central Asia (over 1500 miles long).

Today he is honored with Crater Al-Khwarizmi, is on stamps, and is called "the father of algebra" (which is also what some call Diophantus).

Algebra book. Hisab al-jabr w'al-muqabala. In 825 he wrote the earliest known algebra book: al-Kitāb al-mukhtaṣar fī ḥisāb al-jabr wa-l-muqābala (الكتاب المختصر في حساب الجبر والمقابلة) "The Condensed Book on Calculation of al-Jabr and al-Muqābala". The phrase al-Jabr (الجبر) gives us our word algebra. He meant this work to be simple and practical. His justifications are in terms of geometry. His basic idea was the unknown and equation. He also dealt with the square of the unknown. He classifies the problem into six types. He wants both sides of an equation to be positive. He gives a recipe for each case and justifies them with a geometrical drawing.

In Europe he was also famous as the author of Algoritmi de numero Indorum. See manuscript . Of course, it was originally written in Arabic, but no Arabic manuscripts have survived. The Latin translation dates from 12th century in the European middle ages. Its original title translates can be translated as Book on Addition and Subtraction after the Method of the Indians. This book gives algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, halving, doubling, and square roots. The technique involves using a dust board (erasing as you go). The word algorithm comes from the Latin version of his name. Later authors discussed how to do these computations on paper, and how to deal with decimal fractions.

Other accomplishments. Geography: better than Ptolemy, especially in the cities in the East. Astrology: he was one of the astronomers selected to cast horoscopes for a caliph who was dying (in 847). According to the story, the al-Khwārizmīpredicted the caliph would live 50 more years. He died 10 days later.

See also: Encyclopaedia Britannica

(Developed 2006 by Professor Wayne Aitken for Math 330).