Southernization in the Muslim Caliphates

  • Arabs take the Byzantine and Sassanian empires
    600

    Arabs take the Byzantine and Sassanian empires

    Muslims conquer former Christian territories in the Byzantine empire and former Zoroastrian territories in the Sassanian empire. They officially become established on what Shaffer terms as the "Indian frontier," and open themselves to southernization.
  • Period: 869 to 884

    Zanj slaves rebel

    Arabs start to rely on large groups of slave from East Africa to cultivate sugar. By 869, the Zanj slaves mount a rebellion in modern-day Iraq, which takes the caliphate 15 years to resolve. Arab slaveholders stop employing large populations of slaves in the same place.
  • Gold/Silver Values Stabilize in the Arab World
    940

    Gold/Silver Values Stabilize in the Arab World

    Arabs find large quantities of silver in Tashkent and then large quantities of gold in North Africa.
  • 1000

    Sugarcane becomes the most important crop in the Muslim world

    Through southernization, sugar production became possible in mass quantities. Arabs worked to develop planting and irrigation strategies that would be compatible with the land.
  • Umar Khayyam (famous Persian mathematician) Dies
    1123

    Umar Khayyam (famous Persian mathematician) Dies

    Al-Kharazmi introduced Indian mathematics to the Arab world, which allowed Khayyam to make significant advancements in algebra and trigonometry.