1.
Abbasid Caliphate
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The Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic caliphates to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Abbasid dynasty descended from Muhammads youngest uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib and they ruled as caliphs, for most of their period from their capital in Baghdad in modern-day Iraq, after assuming authority over the Muslim empire from the Umayyads in 750 CE. The Abbasid caliphate first centered its government in Kufa, but in 762 the caliph Al-Mansur founded the city of Baghdad, the political power of the caliphs largely ended with the rise of the Buyids and the Seljuq Turks. Although Abbasid leadership over the vast Islamic empire was reduced to a ceremonial religious function. The capital city of Baghdad became a center of science, culture, philosophy and this period of cultural fruition ended in 1258 with the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols under Hulagu Khan. The Abbasid line of rulers, and Muslim culture in general, though lacking in political power, the dynasty continued to claim authority in religious matters until after the Ottoman conquest of Egypt. The Abbasid caliphs were Arabs descended from Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, one of the youngest uncles of Muhammad, the Abbasids claimed to be the true successors of Prophet Muhammad in replacing the Umayyad descendants of Banu Umayya by virtue of their closer bloodline to Muhammad. The Abbasids also distinguished themselves from the Umayyads by attacking their moral character, according to Ira Lapidus, The Abbasid revolt was supported largely by Arabs, mainly the aggrieved settlers of Marw with the addition of the Yemeni faction and their Mawali. The Abbasids also appealed to non-Arab Muslims, known as mawali, Muhammad ibn Ali, a great-grandson of Abbas, began to campaign for the return of power to the family of Prophet Muhammad, the Hashimites, in Persia during the reign of Umar II. During the reign of Marwan II, this culminated in the rebellion of Ibrahim the Imam. On 9 June 747, Abu Muslim successfully initiated a revolt against Umayyad rule. Close to 10,000 soldiers were under Abu Muslims command when the hostilities began in Merv. General Qahtaba followed the fleeing governor Nasr ibn Sayyar west defeating the Umayyads at the Battle of Nishapur, the Battle of Gorgan, after this loss, Marwan fled to Egypt, where he was subsequently assassinated. The remainder of his family, barring one male, were also eliminated, immediately after their victory, As-Saffah sent his forces to Central Asia, where his forces fought against Tang expansion during the Battle of Talas. Barmakids, who were instrumental in building Baghdad, introduced the worlds first recorded paper mill in Baghdad, As-Saffah focused on putting down numerous rebellions in Syria and Mesopotamia. The Byzantines conducted raids during these early distractions, the first change the Abbasids, under Al-Mansur, made was to move the empires capital from Damascus, in Syria, to Baghdad in Iraq. Baghdad was established on the Tigris River in 762, a new position, that of the vizier, was also established to delegate central authority, and even greater authority was delegated to local emirs. During Al-Mansurs time control of Al-Andalus was lost, and the Shiites revolted and were defeated a year later at the Battle of Bakhamra, the Abbasids had depended heavily on the support of Persians in their overthrow of the Umayyads
2.
Jordan
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Jordan, officially The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an Arab kingdom in Western Asia, on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Jordan is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the east and south, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north, Israel, Palestine and the Dead Sea to the west, Jordan is strategically located at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe. The capital, Amman, is Jordans most populous city as well as the countrys economic, what is now Jordan has been inhabited by humans since the Paleolithic period. Three stable kingdoms emerged there at the end of the Bronze Age, Ammon, Moab, later rulers include the Nabataean Kingdom, the Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. After the Great Arab Revolt against the Ottomans in 1916 during World War I, the Emirate of Transjordan was established in 1921 by the then Emir Abdullah I and became a British protectorate. In 1946, Jordan became an independent state known as The Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan. Jordan captured the West Bank, which it later lost in 1967, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Jordan is a founding member of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and is one of two Arab states to have signed a peace treaty with Israel. The country is a monarchy, but the king holds wide executive and legislative powers. Jordan is a relatively-small, semi-arid, almost-landlocked country with a population numbering at 9.5 million, Sunni Islam, practiced by around 92% of the population, is the dominant religion in Jordan. It coexists with an indigenous Christian minority, Jordan is considered to be among the safest of Arab countries in the Middle East, and has avoided long-term terrorism and instability. The kingdom is also a refuge to thousands of Iraqi Christians fleeing the Islamic State, while Jordan continues to accept refugees, the recent large influx from Syria placed substantial strain on national resources and infrastructure. Jordan is classified as a country of high human development with a middle income economy. The Jordanian economy, one of the smallest economies in the region, is attractive to foreign investors based upon a skilled workforce, the country is a major tourist destination, and also attracts medical tourism due to its well developed health sector. Nonetheless, a lack of resources, large flow of refugees. Jordan is named after the Jordan River, where Jesus is said to have been baptized, the origin of the rivers name is debated, but the most common explanation is that it derives from the word yarad, found in Hebrew, Aramaic, and other Semitic languages. Others regard the name as having an Indo-Aryan origin, combining the words yor and don, another theory is that it is from the Arabic root word wrd, as in people coming to a major source of water. The name Jordan appears in an ancient Egyptian papyrus called Papyrus Anastasi I, the lands of modern-day Jordan were historically called Transjordan, meaning beyond the Jordan River. The name was Arabized into Al-Urdunn during the Muslim conquest of the Levant, during crusader rule, it was called Oultrejordain
3.
Harun al-Rashid
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Harun al-Rashid (/hɑːˈruːnɑːlrɑːˈʃiːd/ Arabic, هَارُون الرَشِيد, Hārūn Ar-Rašīd, in English, Aaron the Just,17 March 763 or February 766 —24 March 809 was the fifth Abbasid Caliph. His birth date is debated, with sources giving dates from 763 to 766. His surname translates to the Just, the Upright, or the Rightly-Guided, fully translated, Al-Rashid ruled from 786 to 809, during the peak of the Islamic Golden Age. His time was marked by scientific, cultural, and religious prosperity, Islamic art and music also flourished significantly during his reign. He established the legendary library Bayt al-Hikma in Baghdad in present-day Iraq, during his rule, the family of Barmakids, which played a deciding role in establishing the Abbasid Caliphate, declined gradually. In 796, he moved his court and government to Raqqa in present-day Syria, since Harun was intellectually, politically, and militarily resourceful, his life and his court have been the subject of many tales, some factual, but most believed to be fictitious. One factual tale is the story of the clock that was among various presents that Harun sent to Charlemagne, the presents were carried by the returning Frankish mission that came to offer Harun friendship in 799. Charlemagne and his retinue deemed the clock to be a conjuration for the sounds it emanated, among what is known to be fictional is The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, which contains many stories that are fantasized by Haruns magnificent court and even Harun al-Rashid himself. Amongst some of the Twelver sect of Shia Muslims he is disliked for his role in the murder of their 7th Imam, although Sunnis. Hārūn was born in Rey, then part of Jibal in the Abbasid Caliphate, in present-day Tehran Province, the latter expedition was a huge undertaking, and even reached the Asian suburbs of Constantinople. Hārūn became caliph in 786 when he was in his early twenties and he began his reign by appointing very able ministers, who carried on the work of the government so well that they greatly improved the condition of the people. It was under Hārūn ar-Rashīd that Baghdad flourished into the most splendid city of its period, tribute was paid by many rulers to the caliph, and these funds were used on architecture, the arts and a luxurious life at court. In 796, Hārūn decided to move his court and the government to Raqqa at the middle Euphrates, here he spent 12 years, most of his reign. Only once did he return to Baghdad for a short visit, several reasons might have influenced the decision to move to Raqqa. It was close to the Byzantine border, the communication lines via the Euphrates to Baghdad and via the Balikh river to the north and via Palmyra to Damascus were excellent. The agriculture was flourishing to support the new Imperial center, and from Raqqa any rebellion in Syria and the middle Euphrates area could be controlled. Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani pictures in his anthology of poems the splendid life in his court, in Raqqa the Barmekids managed the fate of the empire, and there both heirs, al-Amin and al-Mamun grew up. For the administration of the empire, he fell back on his mentor
4.
Islam
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Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which professes that there is only one and incomparable God and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God. It is the worlds second-largest religion and the major religion in the world, with over 1.7 billion followers or 23% of the global population. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and He has guided mankind through revealed scriptures, natural signs, and a line of prophets sealed by Muhammad. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the word of God. Muslims believe that Islam is the original, complete and universal version of a faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses. As for the Quran, Muslims consider it to be the unaltered, certain religious rites and customs are observed by the Muslims in their family and social life, while social responsibilities to parents, relatives, and neighbors have also been defined. Besides, the Quran and the sunnah of Muhammad prescribe a comprehensive body of moral guidelines for Muslims to be followed in their personal, social, political, Islam began in the early 7th century. Originating in Mecca, it spread in the Arabian Peninsula. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various caliphates and empires, traders, most Muslims are of one of two denominations, Sunni or Shia. Islam is the dominant religion in the Middle East, North Africa, sizable Muslim communities are also found in Horn of Africa, Europe, China, Russia, Mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, Northern Borneo, Caucasus and the Americas. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world, Islam is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root s-l-m which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, safeness and peace. In a religious context it means voluntary submission to God, Islām is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root, and means submission or surrender. Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the verb form. The word sometimes has connotations in its various occurrences in the Quran. In some verses, there is stress on the quality of Islam as a state, Whomsoever God desires to guide. Other verses connect Islām and dīn, Today, I have perfected your religion for you, I have completed My blessing upon you, still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. In the Hadith of Gabriel, islām is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān, Islam was historically called Muhammadanism in Anglophone societies. This term has fallen out of use and is said to be offensive because it suggests that a human being rather than God is central to Muslims religion
5.
Tigris
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The Tigris is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq, the Tigris is 1,850 km long, rising in the Taurus Mountains of eastern Turkey about 25 km southeast of the city of Elazig and about 30 km from the headwaters of the Euphrates. The river then flows for 400 km through Turkish territory before becoming the border between Syria and Turkey and this stretch of 44 km is the only part of the river that is located in Syria. Close to its confluence with the Euphrates, the Tigris splits into several channels, First, the artificial Shatt al-Hayy branches off, to join the Euphrates near Nasiriyah. Second, the Shatt al-Muminah and Majar-al-Kabir branch off to feed the Central Marshes, further downstream, two other distributary channels branch off, which feed the Hawizeh Marshes. The main channel continues southwards and is joined by the Al-Kassarah, finally, the Tigris joins the Euphrates near al-Qurnah to form the Shatt-al-Arab. According to Pliny and other ancient historians, the Euphrates originally had its outlet into the sea separate from that of the Tigris, Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, stands on the banks of the Tigris. The port city of Basra straddles the Shatt al-Arab, in ancient times, many of the great cities of Mesopotamia stood on or near the Tigris, drawing water from it to irrigate the civilization of the Sumerians. Notable Tigris-side cities included Nineveh, Ctesiphon, and Seleucia, while the city of Lagash was irrigated by the Tigris via a canal dug around 2400 B. C, the Tigris has long been an important transport route in a largely desert country. Shallow-draft vessels can go as far as Baghdad, but rafts are needed for transport upstream to Mosul, General Francis Rawdon Chesney hauled two steamers overland through Syria in 1836 to explore the possibility of an overland and river route to India. One steamer, the Tigris, was wrecked in a storm which sank, Chesney proved the river navigable to powered craft. Later, the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company was established in 1861 by the Lynch Brothers trading company and they had 2 steamers in service. By 1908 ten steamers were on the river, tourists boarded steam yachts to venture inland as this was the first age of archaeological tourism, and the sites of Ur and Ctesiphon became popular to European travelers. In the First World War, during the British conquest of Ottoman Mesopotamia, Indian, see Siege of Kut and the Fall of Baghdad. The Tigris Flotilla included vessels Clio, Espiegle, Lawrence, Odin, armed tug Comet, armed launches Lewis Pelly, Miner, Shaitan, Sumana, and stern wheelers Muzaffari/Mozaffir. These were joined by Royal Navy Fly-class gunboats Butterfly, Cranefly, Dragonfly, Mayfly, Sawfly, Snakefly, and Mantis, Moth, the Ancient Greek form Tigris was borrowed from Old Persian Tigrā, itself from Elamite Tigra, itself from Sumerian Idigna. The Sumerian form was borrowed into Akkadian as Idiqlat, and from there into the other Semitic languages, another name for the Tigris used in Middle Persian was Arvand Rud, literally swift river. Today, however, Arvand Rud refers to the confluence of the Euphrates, in Kurdish, it is also known as Ava Mezin, the Great Water
6.
Greater Khorasan
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Khorasan is a historical region lying in the northeast of Persia. Khorasan in its proper sense comprised principally the cities of Balkh and Herat, Mashhad and Nishapur, Merv and Nisa, and Bukhara and Samarkand. Some believe that at certain times Khorasan covered an area, which included parts of Transoxiana, Soghdiana, Sistan. Sources from the 14th to the 16th century report that areas in the south of the Hindu Kush mountain range formed a frontier between Khorasan and Hindustan, in the Islamic period, Persian Iraq and Khorasan were the two important territories. The boundary between these two was the surrounding the cities of Gurgan and Qumis. In particular, the Ghaznavids, Seljuqs, and Timurids divided their empires into Iraqi, the adjective Greater is added these days to distinguish the historical region from the Khorasan Province of Iran, which roughly encompassed the western half of the historical Greater Khorasan. The name Khorāsān is derived from Middle Persian Khwarāsān, a compound of khwar, thus the name Khorasan means land where the sun rises or east. The Persian word Khāvar-zamīn, meaning the land, has also been used as an equivalent term. First established as an entity by the Sassanids, the borders of the region have varied considerably during its 1. Initially the Khorasan province of Sassanid empire included the cities of Nishapur, Herat, Merv, Faryab, Taloqan, Balkh, Bukhara, Badghis, Abiward, Gharjistan, Tus or Susia, Sarakhs and Gurgan. It acquired its greatest extent under the Caliphs, for whom Khorasan was the name of one of the three political zones under their dominion. Under the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, Khorasan was divided into four sections or quarters, each section based on a single major city, Nishapur, Merv, Herat. In the Middle Ages, the term was applied in Persia to all its territories that lay east and north east of Dasht-e Kavir. Ghobar uses the terms Proper Khorasan and Improper Khorasan in his book to distinguish between the usage of Khorasan in its sense and its usage in a loose sense. Improper Khorasans boundaries extended to as far as Hazarajat and Kabul in the east, Sistan and Baluchistan in the south, Transoxiana and Khwarezm in the north, and Damghan and Gorgan in the west. It is mentioned in the Memoirs of Babur that, The people of Hindustān call every country beyond their own Khorasān, in the manner as the Arabs term all except Arabia. On the road between Hindustān and Khorasān, there are two great marts, the one Kābul, the other Kandahār. Caravans, from Ferghāna, Tūrkestān, Samarkand, Balkh, Bokhāra, Hissār and this country lies between Hindustān and Khorasān
7.
Rey, Iran
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Rey or Ray, also known as Rhages and formerly as Arsacia, is the capital of Rey County in Tehran Province of Iran, and the oldest existing city in the province. Ray today has been absorbed into the Greater Tehran metropolitan area, Ray is connected via the Tehran Metro to the rest of Tehran and has many industries and factories in operation. Note on spelling, According to the Iranian Chamber Society, the spelling of the city in both English and Persian is Ray, though variations in spelling also exist. The city university also uses the spelling Ray, as does the Encyclopædia Iranica published by Columbia University, a settlement began here c 6,000 BCE as part of the Central Plateau Culture. The settlement was used as a capital by the Arsacids called Rhaga, in Classical Greco-Roman geography it was called Rhagae. It is mentioned several times in the Apocrypha and its name dates back to the pre-Median period. Some historians attribute its building to ancient mythological monarchs, and some believe that Ray was the seat of a dynasty of Zoroastrian leader. During the Seleucid period, Alexander the Greats general Seleucus I Nicator renamed the city as Europos, Rey is also shown on the 4th century Peutinger Map. It has been home to pillars of science like Rhazes, Rey was one of the capital cities of the Seljuq Empire in the 11th century. In the 13th century after the Mongol conquest the town was severely damaged, there is also a shrine there, dedicated to commemorate Princess Shahr Banu, eldest daughter of the last ruler of the Sassanid Empire. She gave birth to Ali Zayn al Abidin, the fourth holy Imam of the Shia faith and this was through her marriage to Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. A nearby mountain is named after her. In the middle of the 19th century Ray was described as place of ruins, being the only important pilgrimage site in vicinity to the royal court in the new capital Tehran brought more people to visit the shrine and a major restoration was sponsored by the court. Thus Ray was the first place in Iran to be connected to the capital by a railroad in 1888, the shrine contains the tomb of ‘Abdul ‘Adhīm ibn ‘Abdillāh al-Hasanī, a fifth generation descendant of Hasan ibn ‘Alī and a companion of Muhammad al-Taqī. He was entombed here after his death in the 9th century, some of the discovered objects are displayed at museums in Iran, Chicago, and Philadelphia. The hill, which is now leveled out and most artifacts unrecoverable due to real estate expansion in the 1980s and 1990s, was the home of Aryans about 6,000 years ago. Since Ray was used as a center due to its beautiful attractions under the reign of the Qajar dynasty. In 1831 his portrait and that of some Qajar princes were engraved on a rock at Cheshmeh Ali hill, Tuğrul Tower, constructed under the Seljuqs at the order of Tuğrul Beg in 1140, once he transferred the capital city from Nishapur to Ray
8.
Fire temple
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A fire temple in Zoroastrianism is the place of worship for Zoroastrians, often called dar-e mehr or agiyari. In the Zoroastrian religion, fire, together with water, are agents of ritual purity. For, one who sacrifices unto fire with fuel in his hand, as of 2010, there were 50 fire temples in Mumbai,100 in the rest of India, and 27 in the rest of the world. First evident in the 4th century BCE, the Zoroastrian cult of fire is much younger than Zoroastrianism itself and it appears at approximately the same time as the shrine cult and is roughly contemporaneous with the introduction of Atar as a divinity. There is no allusion to a cult of fire in the Avesta proper. That the cult of fire was a modification and absent from early Zoroastrianism is also evident in the later Atash Nyash. In the oldest passages of that liturgy, it is the fire that speaks to all those for whom it cooks the evening and morning meal. The temple cult is a later development, from Herodotus it is known that in the mid-5th century BCE the Zoroastrians worshipped to the open sky. The second, the atroshan, were the places of burning fire which became more and more prevalent as the movement gained support. Following the rise of the Sassanid dynasty, the shrines to the Yazatas continued to exist, also, as Schippman observed, there is no evidence even during the Sassanid era that the fires were categorized according to their sanctity. It seems probable that there were only two, namely the Atash-i Vahram, and the lesser Atash-i Adaran, or Fire of Fires. The faith was practiced largely by the aristocracy but large numbers of fire temples did not exist, some fire temples continued with their original purpose although many Zoroastrians fled. The oldest remains of what has been identified as a temple are those on Mount Khajeh. Only traces of the foundation and ground-plan survive and have been dated to the 3rd or 4th century BCE. The temple was rebuilt during the Parthian era, and enlarged during Sassanid times, the characteristic feature of the Sassanid fire temple was its domed sanctuary where the fire-altar stood. This sanctuary always had a ground plan with a pillar in each corner that then supported the dome. Archaeological remains and literary evidence from Zend commentaries on the Avesta suggest that the sanctuary was surrounded by a passageway on all four sides. On a number of sites the gombad, made usually of masonry with courses of stone, is all that survives
9.
Hajj
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It is one of the five pillars of Islam, alongside Shahadah, Salat, Zakat, and Sawm. The Hajj is the largest annual gathering of people in the world, the state of being physically and financially capable of performing the Hajj is called istitaah, and a Muslim who fulfills this condition is called a mustati. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, the word Hajj means to intend a journey, which connotes both the outward act of a journey and the inward act of intentions. The pilgrimage occurs from the 8th to 12th of Dhu al-Hijjah, because the Islamic calendar is lunar and the Islamic year is about eleven days shorter than the Gregorian year, the Gregorian date of Hajj changes from year to year. Ihram is the given to the special spiritual state in which pilgrims wear two white sheets of seamless cloth and abstain from certain actions. The pilgrims then shave their heads, perform a ritual of animal sacrifice, Pilgrims can also go to Mecca to perform the rituals at other times of the year. This is sometimes called the lesser pilgrimage, or Umrah, the present pattern of Hajj was established by Muhammad. However, according to the Quran, elements of Hajj trace back to the time of Abraham, according to Islamic tradition, Abraham was ordered by God to leave his wife Hagar and his son Ishmael alone in the desert of ancient Mecca. In search of water, Hagar desperately ran seven times between the two hills of Safa and Marwah but found none, returning in despair to Ishmael, she saw the baby scratching the ground with his leg and a water fountain sprang forth underneath his foot. Later, Abraham was commanded to build the Kaaba and to people to perform pilgrimage there. The Quran refers to incidents in verses 2, 124-127 and 22. It is said that the archangel Gabriel brought the Black Stone from Heaven to be attached to the Kaaba, in pre-Islamic Arabia, a time known as jahiliyyah, the Kaaba became surrounded by pagan idols. In 630 CE, Muhammad led his followers from Medina to Mecca, cleansed the Kaaba by destroying all the pagan idols, in 632 CE, Muhammad performed his only and last pilgrimage with a large number of followers, and instructed them on the rites of Hajj. It was from this point that Hajj became one of the five pillars of Islam. During the medieval times, pilgrims would gather in big cities of Syria, Egypt and this was done in order to protect the caravan from Bedouin robbers or natural hazards, and to ensure that the pilgrims were supplied with the necessary provisions. Muslim travelers like Ibn Jubayr and Ibn Battuta have recorded detailed accounts of Hajj-travels of medieval time, the caravans followed well-established routes called in Arabic darb al-hajj, lit. Pilgrimage road, which usually followed ancient routes such as the Kings Highway, the date of Hajj is determined by the Islamic calendar, which is based on the lunar year. Every year, the events of Hajj take place in a period, starting on 8 and ending on 12 Dhu al-Hijjah
10.
Mecca
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Mecca or Makkah is a city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia that is also capital of the Makkah Region. The city is located 70 km inland from Jeddah in a valley at a height of 277 m above sea level. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although more than triple this number every year during the hajj period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of Dhu al-Hijjah. Mecca is home to the Kaaba, by majority description Islams holiest site, Mecca was long ruled by Muhammads descendants, the sharifs, acting either as independent rulers or as vassals to larger polities. It was conquered by Ibn Saud in 1925, during this expansion, Mecca has lost some historical structures and archaeological sites, such as the Ajyad Fortress. Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca annually, including several million during the few days of the Hajj, as a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the Muslim world, despite the fact that non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the city. The Saudi government adopted Makkah as the spelling in the 1980s. The full official name is Makkah al-Mukarramah or Makkatu l-Mukarramah, which means Mecca the Honored, the ancient or early name for the site of Mecca is Bakkah. An Arabic language word, its etymology, like that of Mecca, is obscure, the form Bakkah is used for the name Mecca in the Quran in 3,96, while the form Mecca is used in 48,24. In South Arabic, the language in use in the portion of the Arabian Peninsula at the time of Muhammad. Other references to Mecca in the Quran call it Umm al-Qurā, another name of Mecca is Tihamah. Arab and Islamic tradition holds that the wilderness of Paran, broadly speaking, is the Tihamah, yaqut al-Hamawi, the 12th century Syrian geographer, wrote that Fārān was an arabized Hebrew word. One of the names of Mecca mentioned in the Torah, Mecca is governed by the Municipality of Mecca, a municipal council of fourteen locally elected members headed by a mayor appointed by the Saudi government. As of May 2015, the mayor of the city was Dr. Osama bin Fadhel Al-Bar, Mecca is the capital of the Makkah Region, which includes neighboring Jeddah. The provincial governor was prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud from 2000 until his death in 2007, on 16 May 2007, prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud was appointed as the new governor. The early history of Mecca is still disputed, as there are no unambiguous references to it in ancient literature prior to the rise of Islam. The Roman Empire took control of part of the Hejaz in 106 AD, ruling cities such as Hegra, even though detailed descriptions were established of Western Arabia by Rome, such as by Procopius, there are no references of a pilgrimage and trading outpost such as Mecca. The first direct mention of Mecca in external literature occurs in 741 AD in the Byzantine-Arab Chronicle, claims have been made this could be a reference to the Kaaba in Mecca
11.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
12.
Vizier
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A vizier is a high-ranking political advisor or minister. In modern usage, the term has been used for ministers in the Arab world, Iran, Turkey, East Africa Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It is also used in the only absolute Asian monarchy. It is given to the current King Hassanal Bolkiahs second brother, in Brunei, an ordinary vizier is known as Pengiran Temenggong. The word entered into English in 1562 from the Turkish vezir, Wazir itself has two possible etymologies, The most accepted etymology is that it is derived from the Arabic wazara, from the Semitic root W-Z-R. The word is mentioned in the Quran, where Aaron is described as the wazir of Moses, on the other hand, the presence of a Middle Persian word vizīr or vicīr, cognate to the Avestan vīcira, meaning decreer or arbitrator, could possibly indicate an Indo-European origin. In modern Turkey, there is no usage of vezir for any ministry as suggested in the description above, the Muslim office of vizier, which spread from the Persians, Turks, Arabs and Mongols and neighboring peoples, arose under the first Abbasid caliphs. The vizier stood between sovereign and subjects, representing the former in all matters touching the latter, if one such vizier is the prime minister, he may hold the title of Grand Vizier or another title. In Al-Andalus appointed by the Caliph of Cordoba, similarly in many of the emirates and sultanates of the taifas which the caliphate was broken up into. In Muslim Egypt, the most populous Arab country, Under the Fatimid Caliphs. Again since the end of Ottoman rule, remarkably since 1857 (i. e. before the last Wali, Ismail Pasha, was raised Khedive. During the days of the Ottoman Empire, the Grand Vizier was the—often de facto minister, second only to the Sultan and was the leader of the Divan. Vizier was also the title of some Ottoman provincial governors, use of the title indicating a greater degree of autonomy for the province involved. In the Sherifian kingdom of Morocco, a Sadr al-Azam was in office until 22 November 1955, Grand Vizier, Chief Minister or Prime Minister. Wazir al-Amala, Minister for the Interior, Wazir al-Bahr, Minister of the Sea, i. e. for the Navy/ Marine. Wazir al-Harb, Minister for the Army or Minister for War, Wazir al-Qalam, Minister of the Pen. In Oman the Hami/Sultans Chief minister was styled Wazir till 1966, Viziers to the Sultans of Zanzibar, since 1890 filled by British, also known as First ministers, the British Resident s, an extremely direct form of indirect rule. Grand Viziers to the Sultan of Sokoto – this is however disputed, the title Waziri is apparently a derivative of this word, and is a highly regarded chieftaincy title in most of northern Nigeria
