Periodization of Islamicate history
Key dates in medieval Arab-Islamic history:
- c. 570 Birth of the Prophet Muhammad in Mecca
- c. 610 Qur'anic revelations begin.
- 622 Hijra. Prophet transfers to Madina (start of Hijri calendar). First Muslim community.
- 632 Death of the Prophet. al-Khulafa' al-Rashidun ("Rightly-guided caliphs") rule from Madina. Conquest of Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan. Rise of musical patronage and the "Old Arabian" school.
- 661 Mu'awiyah establishes the Umayyad Caliphate and transfers the imperial capital to Damascus. Conquest of most of Spain. Musical patronage continues.
- 750 Abbasid dynasty, based at Baghdad. "Golden age of Arabic literature" as well as music; Caliph Harun al-Rashid (d. 809) supported arts & culture; Bayt al-Hikma translation movement under his son Caliph Ma'mun, d. 833). Influence from Hellenic and Near Eastern cultures. Musical treatises flourish alongside high musical culture, featuring famed musicians of 9th cenutry: Ibrahim al-Mawsili, Ishaq al-Mawsili, Ibrahim al-Mahdi.
- 756 ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu‘awiya escapes Abbasids to al-Andalus establishing the Andalusian Umayyad Marwanid dynasty of Cordoba (756-912). Ziryab appears from Baghdad, revolutionizing Andalusian music. Development of muwashshah and zajal forms.
- 912 Abd al-Rahman III, takes power in al-Andalus, establishing competing caliphate. Golden age of Andalusia flourishes. Baghdad declines.
- 969 The Berber Fatimids conquer Egypt and establish Cairo as the center of yet another Caliphate.
- late 9th - 11th centuries: Fragmentation of power, decline of Arabic-speaking andrise of non-Arabic-speaking dynasties: Persian, Turkic and Berber speaking groups.
- 11th c: First Crusades.
- 12th - 15th centuries: With accelerating "reconquista", transfer of Andalusian music to North
- 13th century: rise of Mamluke dynasties (ruling slave class) in Egypt and Levant
Africa.
- 1258. Mongols under Hulagu destroy Baghdad, formally end Abbasid caliphate
- 1492. Fall of Granada (last Muslim city of Andalusia).
- c. 1500: rise of Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal empires (Ottomans actually originate early, in 1299)
