Ghaznavids: A minaret in Ghazni (Afghanistan), from about 1000 AD Abbasid soldiers Beginning in the 850s AD, the Abbasid caliphs of the Islamic Empire were looking for soldiers they would be able to trust, who [...]
Fatimids built Bab Zuweila (Cairo, 1092 AD) Overthrowing the Abbasids in Egypt In 908 AD, a new family rose up in Egypt. They took control of Egypt from the Abbasids. This family [...]
Minaret at Samarra, 847 AD The first Abbasid caliphs In 750 AD, the Abbasid caliphs murdered all of the surviving Umayyad men but one. Who were the Umayyads? All our medieval Islam articles [...]
Islamic art: Mosaic from the Great Mosque in Damascus (about 710 AD) Umayyad art: no people or animals As soon as the Islamic Empire formed, under the Umayyad dynasty, artists began exploring the [...]
Empress Wu of the T'ang Dynasty Who was Wu Chao? Wu Chao was one of T'ai Tsung's girlfriends. After he died, she became his son's girlfriend too! The son's name [...]
The tomb of the Samanid rulers. Bukhara, Uzbekistan, about 900 AD. Who were the Samanids? The Samanids were people who lived in the easternmost part of the medieval Abbasid Empire. They [...]
The Mongol court (1200s AD) Starting around 300 AD the Indo-Europeans in Central Asia began to lose ground to the Altaic people. The Altaic people divided into the Mongols and the [...]
East African history: Debre Dano Christian church (Ethiopia, 500s AD) East Africa trading on the Indian Ocean Because it is on the coast, East Africa had contacts with India and Egypt [...]
