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During the
Islamic Golden Age, usually dated from the 8th century to the 13th century,Matthew E. Falagas, Effie A. Zarkadoulia, George Samonis (2006). "Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 C.E.) and today",
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 20, p. 1581-1586. engineers,
scholars and
traders of the
Muslim world contributed enormously to the arts, economics,
industry,
literature,
navigation, philosophy, sciences, and
technology, both by preserving and building upon earlier traditions and by adding many inventions and innovations of their own.Howard R. Turner,
Science in Medieval Islam, University of Texas Press,
November 1,
1997, ISBN 0-292-78149-0, pg. 270 (book cover, last page) Muslim
philosophers and
poets, artists and scientists, and princes and
laborers, created a unique culture that has influenced societies on every continent.
Foundations
The Islamic Golden Age was inaugurated by the ascension of the Abbasid
Caliphate and the transfer of the capital from Damascus to Baghdad. Vartan Gregorian, "Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith", Brookings Institution Press, 2003, pg 26-38 ISBN 081573283X The Abbassids were influenced by the
Qur'anic injunctions and hadith such as "the ink of scientists is equal to the blood of martyrs" stressing the value of knowledge. During this period the Muslim world became the unrivaled intellectual center for science, philosophy, medicine and education as the Abbasids championed the cause of knowledge and established a "House of Wisdom" in Baghdad; where both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars sought to translate and gather all the world's knowledge into
Arabic language. Many classic works of antiquity that would otherwise have been lost were translated into Arabic and later in turn translated into Turkish, Persian, Hebrew and Latin. During this period the Muslim world was a cauldron of cultures which collected, synthesized and advanced the works collected from the
China,
Persian Empire,
Egyptian, North African,
Ancient Greece, Spain,
Sicily and
Byzantine civilizations. Rival Muslim dynasties such as the Fatimids of Egypt, the Umayyads of al-Andalus were also major intellectual centers with cities such as
Cairo and Córdoba, Spain rivaling
Baghdad. Religious freedom, though limited, helped create
cross-cultural networks by attracting
Muslim,
Christian and
Jewish intellectuals and thereby helped spawn the greatest period of philosophical creativity in the Middle Ages during the 12th and 13th centuries.
A major innovation of this period was
paper - originally a secret tightly guarded by the
Han Chinese.Arnold Pacey, "Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-Year History", MIT Press, 1990, ISBN 0262660725 pg 41-42 The art of papermaking was obtained from prisoners taken at the
Battle of Talas (751), resulting in paper mills being built in Samarkand and Baghdad. The Arabs improved upon the Chinese techniques of using
mulberry bark by using
starch to account for the Muslim preference for pens vs. the Chinese for brushes. By AD 900 there were hundreds of shops employing scribes and binders for books in Baghdad and even
public library began to become established, including the first lending libraries. From here paper-making spread west to
Fez and then to
al-Andalus and from there to Europe in the 13th century.
By the 10th century,
Córdoba, Spain had 700
mosques, 60,000 palaces, and 70 library, the largest of which had 600,000 books, while as many as 60,000
treatises,
Arabic poetry, polemics and
compilations were published each year in al-Andalus.Dato' Dzulkifli Abd Razak, Quest for knowledge,
New Straits Times,
3 July 2005. The library of
Cairo had more than 100,000 books, while the library of
Tripoli, Lebanon is said to have had as many as three million books. The number of important and original Arabic works on science that have survived is much larger than the combined total of Greek language and Latin works on science.N. M. Swerdlow (1993). "Montucla's Legacy: The History of the Exact Sciences",
Journal of the History of Ideas 54 (2), p. 299-328 .
Much of this learning and development can be linked to geography. Even prior to Islam's presence, the city of
Mecca served as a center of trade in
Arabia and the
Islamic prophet Muhammad was a merchant. The tradition of the pilgrimage to Mecca became a center for exchanging ideas and goods. The influence held by Muslim merchants over African-Arabian and Arabian-Asian trade routes was tremendous. As a result, Islamic civilization grew and expanded on the basis of its merchant economy, in contrast to their Christian, Indian and Chinese peers who built societies from an agricultural landholding nobility. Merchants brought goods and their faith to China, India (the
Indian subcontinent now has over 450 million followers),
Southeast Asia (which now has over 230 million followers), and the kingdoms of
Western Africa and returned with new inventions. Merchants used their wealth to invest in textiles and plantations.
Aside from traders, Sufi missionaries also played a large role in the spread of Islam, by bringing their message to various regions around the world. The principal locations included:
Persia,
Ancient Mesopotamia,
Central Asia and North Africa. Although, the mysticism also had a significant influence in parts of Eastern Africa, Ancient Anatolia (Turkey), South Asia, East Asia and
Southeast Asia. {{cite web| url = http://mb-soft.com/believe/txo/sufism.htm
| title = Sufism
| author = Bülent Þenay
| accessdate = 2007-06-26
-->{{cite web| url = http://www.theislamproject.org/education/B04_SpreadofIslam.htm
| title = Muslim History and the Spread of Islam from the 7th to the 21st century
| publisher = The Islam Project
| accessdate = 2007-06-26
-->
Age of discovery
See also: Inventions in the Muslim world#Navigational technology, Ibn Battuta, and Pre-Columbian Islamic contact theories
The earliest forms of
globalization began emerging during the Arab Empire and the Islamic Golden Age, when the knowledge,
trade and economy from many previously Isolationism regions and
civilizations began integrating due to contacts with Muslim
explorers,
sailors, scholars, traders, and travelers. Some have called this period the "Pax Islamica" or "Afro-Asiatic age of discovery", in reference to the Muslim Southwest Asian and
North African traders and explorers who travelled most of the
Old World, and established an early
global economy across most of Asia and Africa and much of Europe, with their trade networks extending from the
Atlantic Ocean and
Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Indian Ocean and
China Sea in the east.Subhi Y. Labib (1969), "Capitalism in Medieval Islam",
The Journal of Economic History 29 (1), p. 79-96. This helped establish the
Arab Empire (including the
Rashidun Empire,
Umayyad, Abbasid and Fatimid caliphates) as the world's leading extensive economic power throughout the 7th-13th centuries.John M. Hobson (2004),
The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation, p. 29-30, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521547245.
Apart from the
Nile,
Tigris and Euphrates, navigable rivers were uncommon, so transport by sea was very important. Navigational sciences were highly developed making use of a magnetic compass and a rudimentary
sextant known as a
kamal, used for celestial navigation and for measuring the altitudes and latitudes of the stars. When combined with detailed maps of the period, sailors were able to sail across oceans rather than skirt along the coast. Muslim sailors were also responsible for introducing the lateen sails and large three-Mast (sailing) merchant vessels to the Mediterranean. The origins of the caravel ship, used for long distance travel by the Spanish and Portuguese since the 15th century, also date back to the
qarib used by al-Andalus explorers by the 13th century.John M. Hobson (2004),
The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation, p. 141, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521547245.
Ibn Battuta (1304-1368) was a traveler and explorer, whose account documents his travels and excursions over a period of almost thirty years, covering some 73,000 miles (117,000 km). These journeys covered most of the known
Old World, extending from North Africa,
West Africa,
Southern Europe and Eastern Europe in the west, to the Middle East,
Indian subcontinent,
Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China in the east, a distance readily surpassing that of his predecessors and his near-contemporary Marco Polo.
Several contemporary medieval Arabic reports suggest that Muslim explorers from
al-Andalus and
Maghreb may have travelled in expeditions across the Atlantic Ocean, possibly even to the Americas, between the 9th and 14th centuries. Ali al-Masudi (896-956) reported that the navigator Khashkhash Ibn Saeed Ibn Aswad, from Córdoba, Spain, al-Andalus, sailed from Delba (Palos) in 889, crossed the Atlantic, reached an unknown land, and returned with fabulous treasures.Tabish Khair (2006).
Other Routes: 1500 Years of African and Asian Travel Writing, p. 12. Signal Books. ISBN 1904955118.Dr. Youssef Mroueh (2003). Pre-Columbian Muslims in the Americas. Media Monitors Network.
Ali al-Masudi (940).
Muruj Adh-Dhahab (
The Book of Golden Meadows), Vol. 1, p. 138. Another Muslim navigator, Ibn Farrukh, from
Granada, sailed into the Atlantic on February 999, landed in Gando (
Canary islands) visiting King Guanariga, and continued westward where he eventually saw and named two islands, Capraria and Pluitana. He arrived back in Spain in May 999.Abu Bakr Ibn Umar Al-Gutiyya. Other theories suggest that explorers from the Muslim
West African
Mali Empire may have reached the Americas, or possibly the
Hui people Muslim explorer Zheng He according to the
1421 hypothesis. When Christopher Columbus made his first voyage to the Americas in 1492, he was accompanied by a number of Muslim sailors (
Al-Andalus Moors), who travelled with him to the New World.S. A. H. Ahsani (July 1984). "Muslims in Latin America: a survey",
Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 5 (2), p. 454-463.
Agricultural Revolution
The Islamic Golden Age witnessed a fundamental transformation in
agriculture known as the "Muslim Agricultural Revolution", "Arab Agricultural Revolution", or "
Green Revolution". Due to the global economy established by Muslim traders across the Old World, this enabled the
diffusion of many
plants and farming techniques between different parts of the Islamic world, as well as the adaptation of plants and techniques from beyond the Islamic world. Crop (agriculture) from
Africa such as
sorghum, crops from
China such as
citrus fruits, and numerous crops from
India such as
mangos,
rice, and especially
cotton and sugar cane, were distributed throughout Islamic lands which normally would not be able to grow these crops. Some have referred to the diffusion of numerous crops during this period as the "
Globalisation of Crops", The Globalisation of Crops, FSTC which, along with an increased
mechanization of agriculture (see
#Industrial growth below), led to major changes in
economy, population distribution,
vegetation cover,Andrew M. Watson (1983),
Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 052124711X. agricultural production and
income,
population levels, Urbanization, the distribution of the labour force, linked industries, cooking and
Diet (nutrition),
clothing, and numerous other aspects of life in the Islamic world.Andrew M. Watson (1974), "The Arab Agricultural Revolution and Its Diffusion, 700-1100",
The Journal of Economic History 34 (1), p. 8-35.
During the Muslim Agricultural Revolution,
sugar production was refined and transformed into a large-scale industry by the Arabs, who built the first
Sugar refinery and sugar plantations. The Arabs and Berbers diffused sugar throughout the
Arab Empire from the 8th century.
Muslims introduced
cash cropping and the modern
crop rotation system where land was cropped four or more times in a two-year period. Winter crops were followed by summer ones, and in some cases there was in between. In areas where plants of shorter growing season were used, such as spinach and eggplants, the land could be cropped three or more times a year. In parts of
Yemen,
wheat yielded two
harvests a year on the same land, as did
rice in Iraq. Muslims developed a Science approach based on three major elements; sophisticated systems of crop rotation, highly developed
irrigation techniques, and the introduction of a large variety of crops which were studied and catalogued according to the season, type of land and amount of
water they require. Numerous encyclopaedias on
farming and botany were produced, with highly accurate precision and details.Al-Hassani, Woodcock and Saoud (2007),
Muslim heritage in Our World, FSTC publishing, 2nd Edition, p. 102-123. The earliest cookbooks on Arab cuisine were also written, such as the
Kitab al-Tabikh (
The Book of Dishes) of Ibn Sayyiir al-Warraq (10th century) and the
Kitab al-Tabikh of
Muhammad bin Hasan al-Baghdadi (1226).David Waines (1987), "Cereals, Bread and Society: An Essay on the Staff of Life in Medieval Iraq",
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 30 (3), p. 255-285 278, 282.
-operated
reciprocating engine suction
piston pump of al-Jazari, the father of modern day
engineering.
Many other agricultural innovations were introduced by Muslim farmers and engineers, such as new forms of
land tenure, improvements in
irrigation, a variety of sophisticated irrigation methods,Elias H. Tuma (1987), "
Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World: The Diffusion of Crops and Farming Techniques, 700-1100 by Andrew M. Watson",
The Journal of Economic History 47 (2), p. 543-544. the introduction of
fertilizers and widespread artificial irrigation systems, the development of
gravity-flow irrigation systems from
rivers and Spring (hydrosphere), the first uses of noria and
chain pumps for irrigation purposes,Zohor Idrisi (2005), The Muslim Agricultural Revolution and its influence on Europe, FSTC. the establishment of the
sugarcane industry in the Mediterranean and experimentation in
sugar cultivation,J. H. Galloway (1977), "The Mediterranean Sugar Industry",
Geographical Review 67 (2), p. 177-194. numerous advances in industrial
milling and water-raising machines (see
#Industrial growth below), and many other improvements and innovations.
The Caliphate understood that real incentives were needed to increase
productivity and wealth, thus enhancing tax revenues, hence they introduced a social transformation through the changed
ownership of land, where any individual of any genderMaya Shatzmiller, p. 263. or any ethnic or religious background had the right to
buy,
sell,
mortgage and inherit land for
farming or any other purposes. They also introduced the
Signature of a contract for every major
financial transaction concerning
agriculture,
industry, commerce, and employment. Copies of the contract was usually kept by both parties involved.
The two types of economic systems that prompted agricultural development in the Islamic world were either politically-driven, by the conscious decisions of the central authority to develop under-exploited lands; or
market-driven, involving the spread of advice, education, and free
seeds, and the introduction of high value crops or
animals to areas where they were previously unknown. These led to increased
subsistence, a high level of economic security that ensured
wealth for all citizens, and a higher quality of life due to the introduction of
artichokes,
spinach, aubergines, carrots, sugar cane, and various exotic plants;
vegetables being available all year round without the need to dry them for winter;
citrus and olive plantations becoming a common sight, market gardens and
orchards springing up in every Muslim
city; intense
cropping and the technique of intensive irrigation agriculture with land fertility replacement; a major increase in animal husbandry; higher quality of
wool and other
clothing materials; and the introduction of
selective breeding of animals from different parts of the Old World resulting in improved
horse stocks and the best load-carrying camels.
Many dams, acequia and qanat
water supply systems and "Tribunal of Waters"
irrigation systems were built during the Islamic Golden Age and are still in use today in the Islamic world and in formerly Islamic regions of Europe such as Sicily and the Iberian Peninsula, particularly in the Andalusia, Aragon and
Valencia (province) provinces of Spain. The Arabic systems of irrigation and water distribution were later adopted in the
Canary Islands and Americas due to the Spanish and are still used in places like
Texas,
Mexico, Peru, and
Chile.Ahmad Y Hassan, Transfer Of Islamic Technology To The West, Part II: Transmission Of Islamic Engineering
Botany
Main article: Islamic science#Botany
Capitalist market economy
The origins of
capitalism and free markets can be traced back to the Caliphate,
The Cambridge economic history of Europe, p. 437. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521087090. where the first market economy and earliest forms of
merchant capitalism took root between the 8th-12th centuries, which some refer to as "Islamic capitalism".Subhi Y. Labib (1969), "Capitalism in Medieval Islam",
The Journal of Economic History 29 (1), p. 79-96 83, 85, 90, 93, 96. A vigorous
monetary economy was created on the basis of the expanding levels of
List of circulating currencies of a stable high-value currency (the dinar) and the integration of
monetary areas that were previously independent. Innovative new
business techniques and forms of business organisation were introduced by
economists, merchants and traders during this time. Such innovations included the earliest
Trading company, big businesses,
contracts,
bills of exchange, long-distance
international trade, the first forms of partnership (
mufawada) such as
limited partnerships (
mudaraba), and the earliest forms of
Credit (finance),
debt, profit,
loss, Capital (economics) (
al-mal), capital accumulation (
nama al-mal), circulating capital, capital expenditure, revenue, cheques, promissory notes,Robert Sabatino Lopez, Irving Woodworth Raymond, Olivia Remie Constable (2001),
Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World: Illustrative Documents,
Columbia University Press, ISBN 0231123574.
trusts (
waqf), startup companies,Timur Kuran (2005), "The Absence of the Corporation in Islamic Law: Origins and Persistence",
American Journal of Comparative Law 53, p. 785-834 . savings accounts,
transactional accounts,
pawning,
loaning,
exchange rates, bankers,
money changers, ledgers,
deposits, Assignment (law), and the double-entry bookkeeping system.Subhi Y. Labib (1969), "Capitalism in Medieval Islam",
The Journal of Economic History 29 (1), p. 79-96 . Organizational
enterprises similar to
corporations independant from the
state also existed in the medieval Islamic world.Said Amir Arjomand (1999), "The Law, Agency, and Policy in Medieval Islamic Society: Development of the Institutions of Learning from the Tenth to the Fifteenth Century",
Comparative Studies in Society and History 41, p. 263-293. Cambridge University Press.Samir Amin (1978), "The Arab Nation: Some Conclusions and Problems",
MERIP Reports 68, p. 3-14 13. Many of these early capitalist concepts were adopted and further advanced in
medieval Europe from the 13th century onwards.Jairus Banaji (2007), "Islam, the Mediterranean and the rise of capitalism",
Journal Historical Materialism 15 (1), p. 47-74, Brill Publishers.
A
market economy was established in the Islamic world on the basis of merchant capitalism. Capital formation was promoted by labour in medieval Islamic society, and financial capital was developed by a considerable number of owners of monetary
funds and
precious metals.
Riba (
usury) was prohibited by the
Qur'an, but this did not hamper the development of capital in any way. The capitalists (
sahib al-mal) were at the height of their power between the 9th-12th centuries, but their influence declined after the arrival of the
ikta (landowners) and after
production was
monopolized by the state, both of which hampered the development of
Capitalism#Industrial capitalism and laissez-faire in the Islamic world.Maya Shatzmiller, p. 402-403.
During the 11th-13th centuries, the "Karimis", the earliest multinational corporation, enterprise and
business group controlled by capitalistic entrepreneurs, came to dominate much of the Islamic world's economy.Subhi Y. Labib (1969), "Capitalism in Medieval Islam",
The Journal of Economic History 29 (1), p. 79-96 . The group was controlled by about fifty Muslim
merchants labelled as "Karimis" who were of
Yemeni, Egyptian and sometimes India (disambiguation) origins.
The Cambridge economic history of Europe, p. 438-440.
Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521087090. Each Karimi merchant had considerable wealth, ranging from at least 100,000 dinars to as much as 10 million dinars. The group had considerable influence in most important eastern markets and sometimes in
politics through its financing activities and through a variety of customers, including Emirs, Sultans, Viziers, foreign merchants, and common
consumers. The Karimis dominated many of the
trade routes across the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, and
Indian Ocean, and as far as Francia in the north, China in the east, and
sub-Saharan Africa in the south, where they obtained
gold from gold mines. Innovations introduced by the Karimis include the use of Agent (economics), the financing of projects as a method of acquiring capital, and a banking institution for loans and deposits. Another important difference between the Karimis and other entrepreneurs before and during their time was that they were not tax collectors or landlords, but their capitalism was due entirely to trade and financial
transactions.Subhi Y. Labib (1969), "Capitalism in Medieval Islam",
The Journal of Economic History 29 (1), p. 79-96 .
Commerce
Guilds were officially unrecognized by the medieval Islamic city, but trades were supervised by an official recognized by the city. Each trade developed its own identity, whose members would attend the same mosque, and serve together in the militia. Slaves were often employed on sugar plantations and salt mines, but more likely as domestic house servants or professional soldiers.
Technology and Industry of Islamic civilization was highly developed. Distillation techniques supported a flourishing
perfume industry, while
chemical ceramic glazes were developed constantly to compete with ceramics imported from China. A scientific approach to metallurgy made it easier to adopt and improve steel technologies from India and China. Primary
exports included manufactured
luxuries, such as wood carving,
metal and glass, textiles, and
ceramics.
The systems of contract relied upon by
merchants was very effective. Merchants would buy and sell on Commission (remuneration), with money loaned to them by wealthy
investors, or a joint
investment of several merchants, who were often Muslim, Christian and Jewish. Recently, a collection of documents was found in an Egyptian synagogue shedding a very detailed and human light on the life of medieval Middle Eastern merchants. Business partnerships would be made for many
Joint venture, and bonds of kinship enabled trade networks to form over huge distances. Networks developed during this time enabled a world in which
money could be promised by a bank in
Baghdad and cashed in
Spain, creating the cheque system of today. Each time items passed through the cities along this extraordinary network, the city imposed a
tax, resulting in high prices once reaching the final destination. These innovations made by Muslims and Jews laid the foundations for the modern economic system.
Transport was simple yet highly effective. Each city had an area outside its gates where pack animals were assembled, found in the cities markets were large secure warehouses, while accommodations were provided for merchants in cities and along trade routes by a sort of medieval motel.
Economic thought
Main article: Early Muslim sociology#Economic thought
Industrial growth
Muslim engineers in the Islamic world were responsible for numerous innovative
Industry uses of hydropower, the first industrial uses of
tidal power, wind power,
steam power, and fossil fuels such as petroleum, and the earliest large
factory complexes (
tiraz in Arabic).Maya Shatzmiller, p. 36. The industrial uses of
watermills in the Islamic world date back to the 7th century, while horizontal-
Water wheel and vertical-wheeled water mills were both in widespread use since at least the 9th century. A variety of industrial mills were first invented in the Islamic world, including fulling mills, gristmills,
hullers, paper mills, sawmills, shipmills,
stamp mills, steel mills,
Sugar refinery, tide mills, and windmills. By the 11th century, every province throughout the Islamic world had these industrial mills in operation, from
al-Andalus and North Africa to the
Middle East and
Central Asia.Adam Robert Lucas (2005), "Industrial Milling in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: A Survey of the Evidence for an Industrial Revolution in Medieval Europe",
Technology and Culture 46 (1), p. 1-30 . Muslim engineers also invented crankshafts and
water turbines, first employed
gears in mills and water-raising machines, and pioneered the use of
dams as a source of water power, used to provide additional power to watermills and water-raising machines. Such advances made it possible for many industrial tasks that were previously driven by
manual labour in
ancient times to be
Mechanization and driven by machinery instead in the medieval Islamic world. The transfer of these technologies to medieval Europe later laid the foundations for the Industrial Revolution in 18th century Europe.Adam Robert Lucas (2005), "Industrial Milling in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: A Survey of the Evidence for an Industrial Revolution in Medieval Europe",
Technology and Culture 46 (1), p. 1-30.
Many industries were generated due to the Muslim Agricultural Revolution, including the earliest industries for agribusiness, Islamic astronomy#Instruments, ceramics, Chemical industry,
distillation technologies, clocks, glass, mechanical
hydropowered and wind powered
machinery,
matting, mosaics,
Pulp and paper industry, perfumery,
Petroleum industry,
Pharmaceutical company, rope-making,
shipping, shipbuilding, silk, sugar, Textile industry, Water industry,
weapons, and the
mining of
minerals such as
sulfur,
ammonia,
lead and iron. The first large
factory complexes (
tiraz) were built for many of these industries. Knowledge of these industries were later transmitted to medieval Europe, especially during the Latin translations of the 12th century, as well as before and after. For example, the first glass factories in Europe were founded in the 11th century by Egyptian craftsmen in Greece.Ahmad Y Hassan, Transfer Of Islamic Technology To The West, Part 1: Avenues Of Technology Transfer The agricultural and
handicraft industries also experienced high levels of growth during this period.
Muslim engineers pioneered two solutions to achieve the maximum output from a water mill. The first solution was to mount them to piers of bridges to take advantage of the increased flow. The second solution was the shipmill, a unique type of water mill powered by
water wheels mounted on the sides of
ships Mooring (watercraft) in midstream. This was first employed along the
Tigris and
Euphrates rivers in 10th century Iraq, where large shipmills made of
teak and iron could produce 10
tons of Gristmill every day for the granary in
Baghdad.
Donald Routledge Hill, "Mechanical Engineering in the Medieval Near East",
Scientific American, May 1991, p. 64-69. (cf. Donald Routledge Hill, Mechanical Engineering) Industrial water mills were also employed in the first large factory complexes built in al-Andalus between the 11th and 13th centuries. Fulling mills, paper mills, steel mills, and other mills, spread from Islamic Spain to Christian Spain by the 12th century.Adam Robert Lucas (2005), "Industrial Milling in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: A Survey of the Evidence for an Industrial Revolution in Medieval Europe",
Technology and Culture 46 (1), p. 1-30 .
Windmills were first built in Sistan, Afghanistan, from the
7th century. These were verticle axle windmills, which had long vertical shafts with rectangle shaped blades.Ahmad Y Hassan, Donald Routledge Hill (1986).
Islamic Technology: An illustrated history, p. 54. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-42239-6. The first windmill was built by the
Rashidun caliph
Umar (634-644).Dietrich Lohrmann (1995). "Von der östlichen zur westlichen Windmühle",
Archiv für Kulturgeschichte 77 (1), p. 1-30 (8). Made of six to twelve sails covered in reed matting or
cloth material, these windmills were used to grind
corn and draw up water, and were used in the
gristmilling and
Sugar refinery.Donald Routledge Hill, "Mechanical Engineering in the Medieval Near East",
Scientific American, May 1991, p. 64-69. (
cf. Donald Routledge Hill, Mechanical Engineering)
After paper was introduced into the Islamic world by Chinese prisoners following the Battle of Talas, Muslims made significant improvements to papermaking and built the first paper mills in
Baghdad, Iraq, as early as
794. Papermaking was transformed from an art into a major industry as a result. The Beginning of the Paper Industry, Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation. This allowed the
manufacturing of paper in the Islamic world to be performed using water power rather than manual labour. The first
fulling mills were later invented in the 10th century, followed by the first
stamp mills and
steel mills in the 11th century.Adam Robert Lucas (2005), "Industrial Milling in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: A Survey of the Evidence for an Industrial Revolution in Medieval Europe",
Technology and Culture 46 (1), p. 1-30 .
The first
gristmills were invented by Muslim engineers in the Islamic world, and were used for Mill (grinding) corn and other
seeds to produce
meals, and many other Industry uses such as
fulling cloth, Huller,
papermaking,
Sugar refinery, and
Stamp mill before extraction. Gristmills in the Islamic world were often made from both
watermills and
windmills. In order to adapt water wheels for gristmilling purposes, cams were used for raising and releasing trip hammers to fall on a material. The first water turbine, which had water wheels with curved blades onto which water flow was directed
Rotation, was also first invented in the Islamic world, and was described in a 9th century Arabic text for use in a watermill.
Noria and
chain pump (saqiya) machines became more widespread during the Muslim Agricultural Revolution, when Muslim engineers made a number of improvements to the device.Thomas F. Glick (1977), "Noria Pots in Spain",
Technology and Culture 18 (4), p. 644-650. These include the first uses of noria and chain pumps for
irrigation purposes, and the invention of the
flywheel mechanism, used to smooth out the delivery of power from a driving device to a driven machine, which was first invented by Ibn Bassal (fl. 1038-1075) of al-Andalus, who pioneered the use of the flywheel in the saqiya and noria.Ahmad Y Hassan, Flywheel Effect for a
Saqiya.
(Geber) is considered the father of
chemistry, particularly for introducing the Scientific method in chemistry. He also established the
chemical industry and perfumery industry.
The
chemical industry and petroleum industry were established in the 8th century, when the
mineral acids (such as sulfuric acid) were first produced through
dry distillation, and when the
streets of Baghdad were paved with
tar, derived from
petroleum through
destructive distillation. In the 9th century,
oil fields were exploited in the area around modern Baku,
Azerbaijan, to produce
naphtha. These fields were described by
Masudi in the 10th century, and by
Marco Polo in the 13th century, who described the output of those oil wells as hundreds of shiploads. Petroleum was
Distillation by al-Razi in the 9th century, producing chemicals such as
kerosene in the
alembic, which he used to invent
kerosene lamps for use in the
oil lamp industry.Zayn Bilkadi (University of California, Berkeley), "The Oil Weapons",
Saudi Aramco World, January-February 1995, p. 20-27.
The first industrial use of steam power dates back to the
perfumery industry established by Alchemy (Islam) such as Geber,
al-Razi, and
Avicenna, who pioneered and perfected the extraction of fragrances and
essential oils through steam distillation, introduced new raw ingredients, and developed cheap methods for the mass production of perfumery and incenses. Both the raw ingredients and
distillation technology significantly influenced Western perfumery. Muslim traders had wide access to a variety of different spices,
herbs, and other fragrance materials. In addition to trading them, many of these exotic materials were cultivated by the Muslims such that they could be successfully grown outside of their native climates. Two examples of this include
jasmine, which is native to
South Asia and Southeast Asia, and various citrus fruits native to
East Asia. Both of these ingredients are still highly important in modern perfumery.
In 1206,
al-Jazari invented a variety of machines for raising water, which were the most efficient in his time, as well as water wheels with
cams on their axle used to operate
automata. He invented the
crankshaft and connecting rod, and employed them in a crank-connecting rod system for two of these water-raising machines. His invention of the crankshaft is considered the most important single mechanical invention after the wheel, as it transforms continuous rotary engine into a linear
reciprocating engine, and is central to modern machinery such as the
steam engine and the
internal combustion engine.Ahmad Y Hassan. The Crank-Connecting Rod System in a Continuously Rotating Machine. Al-Jazari's most sophisticated water-raising machine featured the first
suction pipes and suction
pump, the first use of the
Steam engine#Double-acting engine principle, the first
Reciprocating engine, the earliest valve operations, and the use of a water wheel and a system of gears. This invention is important to the development of modern machinery, including the steam engine, modern reciprocating pumps,
Ahmad Y Hassan. The Origin of the Suction Pump -
During the
Islamic Golden Age, usually dated from the 8th century to the 13th century,Matthew E. Falagas, Effie A. Zarkadoulia, George Samonis (2006). "Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 C.E.) and today",
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 20, p. 1581-1586. engineers,
scholars and traders of the
Muslim world contributed enormously to the arts,
economics,
industry,
literature,
navigation,
philosophy,
sciences, and technology, both by preserving and building upon earlier traditions and by adding many inventions and innovations of their own.Howard R. Turner,
Science in Medieval Islam, University of Texas Press, November 1,
1997, ISBN 0-292-78149-0, pg. 270 (book cover, last page)
Muslim philosophers and poets, artists and
scientists, and
princes and laborers, created a unique culture that has influenced societies on every continent.
Foundations
The Islamic Golden Age was inaugurated by the ascension of the Abbasid Caliphate and the transfer of the capital from Damascus to
Baghdad. Vartan Gregorian, "Islam: A Mosaic, Not a Monolith", Brookings Institution Press, 2003, pg 26-38 ISBN 081573283X The Abbassids were influenced by the Qur'anic injunctions and
hadith such as "the ink of scientists is equal to the blood of martyrs" stressing the value of knowledge. During this period the Muslim world became the unrivaled intellectual center for science, philosophy, medicine and education as the Abbasids championed the cause of knowledge and established a "House of Wisdom" in Baghdad; where both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars sought to translate and gather all the world's knowledge into Arabic language. Many classic works of antiquity that would otherwise have been lost were translated into Arabic and later in turn translated into Turkish, Persian, Hebrew and Latin. During this period the Muslim world was a cauldron of cultures which collected, synthesized and advanced the works collected from the
China, Persian Empire, Egyptian, North African, Ancient Greece,
Spain,
Sicily and Byzantine civilizations. Rival Muslim dynasties such as the Fatimids of
Egypt, the Umayyads of al-Andalus were also major intellectual centers with cities such as Cairo and Córdoba, Spain rivaling
Baghdad. Religious freedom, though limited, helped create cross-cultural networks by attracting
Muslim,
Christian and Jewish intellectuals and thereby helped spawn the greatest period of philosophical creativity in the Middle Ages during the 12th and 13th centuries.
A major innovation of this period was
paper - originally a secret tightly guarded by the
Han Chinese.Arnold Pacey, "Technology in World Civilization: A Thousand-Year History", MIT Press, 1990, ISBN 0262660725 pg 41-42 The art of
papermaking was obtained from prisoners taken at the
Battle of Talas (751), resulting in paper mills being built in
Samarkand and Baghdad. The Arabs improved upon the Chinese techniques of using mulberry bark by using starch to account for the Muslim preference for pens vs. the Chinese for brushes. By AD 900 there were hundreds of shops employing scribes and binders for books in Baghdad and even
public library began to become established, including the first lending libraries. From here paper-making spread west to
Fez and then to
al-Andalus and from there to Europe in the 13th century.
By the 10th century,
Córdoba, Spain had 700 mosques, 60,000 palaces, and 70 library, the largest of which had 600,000 books, while as many as 60,000 treatises, Arabic poetry,
polemics and
compilations were published each year in al-Andalus.Dato' Dzulkifli Abd Razak, Quest for knowledge,
New Straits Times,
3 July 2005. The library of Cairo had more than 100,000 books, while the library of Tripoli, Lebanon is said to have had as many as three million books. The number of important and original Arabic works on science that have survived is much larger than the combined total of Greek language and Latin works on science.N. M. Swerdlow (1993). "Montucla's Legacy: The History of the Exact Sciences",
Journal of the History of Ideas 54 (2), p. 299-328 .
Much of this learning and development can be linked to geography. Even prior to Islam's presence, the city of
Mecca served as a center of trade in Arabia and the Islamic prophet Muhammad was a merchant. The tradition of the pilgrimage to Mecca became a center for exchanging ideas and goods. The influence held by Muslim merchants over African-Arabian and Arabian-Asian trade routes was tremendous. As a result, Islamic civilization grew and expanded on the basis of its merchant economy, in contrast to their Christian, Indian and Chinese peers who built societies from an agricultural landholding nobility. Merchants brought goods and their faith to China, India (the Indian subcontinent now has over 450 million followers),
Southeast Asia (which now has over 230 million followers), and the kingdoms of
Western Africa and returned with new inventions. Merchants used their wealth to invest in textiles and plantations.
Aside from traders,
Sufi missionaries also played a large role in the spread of Islam, by bringing their message to various regions around the world. The principal locations included: Persia,
Ancient Mesopotamia, Central Asia and
North Africa. Although, the
mysticism also had a significant influence in parts of
Eastern Africa,
Ancient Anatolia (
Turkey),
South Asia,
East Asia and
Southeast Asia. {{cite web| url = http://mb-soft.com/believe/txo/sufism.htm
| title = Sufism
| author = Bülent Þenay
| accessdate = 2007-06-26
-->{{cite web| url = http://www.theislamproject.org/education/B04_SpreadofIslam.htm
| title = Muslim History and the Spread of Islam from the 7th to the 21st century
| publisher = The Islam Project
| accessdate = 2007-06-26
-->
Age of discovery
See also: Inventions in the Muslim world#Navigational technology, Ibn Battuta, and Pre-Columbian Islamic contact theories
The earliest forms of
globalization began emerging during the Arab Empire and the Islamic Golden Age, when the knowledge, trade and
economy from many previously
Isolationism regions and civilizations began integrating due to contacts with Muslim explorers,
sailors, scholars, traders, and
travelers. Some have called this period the "Pax Islamica" or "Afro-Asiatic
age of discovery", in reference to the Muslim Southwest Asian and
North African traders and explorers who travelled most of the
Old World, and established an early
global economy across most of Asia and Africa and much of Europe, with their trade
networks extending from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Indian Ocean and
China Sea in the east.Subhi Y. Labib (1969), "Capitalism in Medieval Islam",
The Journal of Economic History 29 (1), p. 79-96. This helped establish the Arab Empire (including the Rashidun Empire,
Umayyad, Abbasid and Fatimid caliphates) as the world's leading extensive economic power throughout the 7th-13th centuries.John M. Hobson (2004),
The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation, p. 29-30,
Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521547245.
Apart from the Nile,
Tigris and Euphrates, navigable rivers were uncommon, so transport by sea was very important. Navigational sciences were highly developed making use of a magnetic compass and a rudimentary
sextant known as a
kamal, used for
celestial navigation and for measuring the
altitudes and latitudes of the stars. When combined with detailed maps of the period, sailors were able to sail across oceans rather than skirt along the coast. Muslim sailors were also responsible for introducing the lateen sails and large three-Mast (sailing)
merchant vessels to the Mediterranean. The origins of the caravel ship, used for long distance travel by the Spanish and Portuguese since the 15th century, also date back to the
qarib used by al-Andalus explorers by the 13th century.John M. Hobson (2004),
The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation, p. 141, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521547245.
Ibn Battuta (1304-1368) was a traveler and
explorer, whose account documents his travels and excursions over a period of almost thirty years, covering some 73,000 miles (117,000 km). These journeys covered most of the known Old World, extending from North Africa,
West Africa,
Southern Europe and
Eastern Europe in the west, to the
Middle East, Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China in the east, a distance readily surpassing that of his predecessors and his near-contemporary
Marco Polo.
Several contemporary medieval Arabic reports suggest that Muslim explorers from al-Andalus and Maghreb may have travelled in expeditions across the
Atlantic Ocean, possibly even to the
Americas, between the 9th and 14th centuries. Ali al-Masudi (896-956) reported that the navigator Khashkhash Ibn Saeed Ibn Aswad, from Córdoba, Spain, al-Andalus, sailed from Delba (
Palos) in 889, crossed the Atlantic, reached an unknown land, and returned with fabulous treasures.Tabish Khair (2006).
Other Routes: 1500 Years of African and Asian Travel Writing, p. 12. Signal Books. ISBN 1904955118.Dr. Youssef Mroueh (2003). Pre-Columbian Muslims in the Americas. Media Monitors Network.
Ali al-Masudi (940).
Muruj Adh-Dhahab (
The Book of Golden Meadows), Vol. 1, p. 138. Another Muslim navigator, Ibn Farrukh, from Granada, sailed into the Atlantic on February 999, landed in Gando (
Canary islands) visiting King Guanariga, and continued westward where he eventually saw and named two islands, Capraria and Pluitana. He arrived back in Spain in May 999.Abu Bakr Ibn Umar Al-Gutiyya. Other theories suggest that explorers from the Muslim
West African Mali Empire may have reached the Americas, or possibly the Hui people Muslim explorer Zheng He according to the 1421 hypothesis. When Christopher Columbus made his first voyage to the Americas in 1492, he was accompanied by a number of Muslim sailors (
Al-Andalus Moors), who travelled with him to the New World.S. A. H. Ahsani (July 1984). "Muslims in Latin America: a survey",
Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 5 (2), p. 454-463.
Agricultural Revolution
The Islamic Golden Age witnessed a fundamental transformation in
agriculture known as the "Muslim
Agricultural Revolution", "Arab Agricultural Revolution", or "
Green Revolution". Due to the
global economy established by Muslim traders across the
Old World, this enabled the diffusion of many
plants and
farming techniques between different parts of the Islamic world, as well as the adaptation of plants and techniques from beyond the Islamic world.
Crop (agriculture) from
Africa such as sorghum, crops from China such as citrus fruits, and numerous crops from
India such as
mangos, rice, and especially cotton and sugar cane, were distributed throughout Islamic lands which normally would not be able to grow these crops. Some have referred to the diffusion of numerous crops during this period as the "
Globalisation of Crops", The Globalisation of Crops, FSTC which, along with an increased mechanization of agriculture (see #Industrial growth below), led to major changes in
economy, population distribution, vegetation cover,Andrew M. Watson (1983),
Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World,
Cambridge University Press, ISBN 052124711X. agricultural production and
income, population levels, Urbanization, the distribution of the labour force, linked industries, cooking and Diet (nutrition),
clothing, and numerous other aspects of life in the Islamic world.Andrew M. Watson (1974), "The Arab Agricultural Revolution and Its Diffusion, 700-1100",
The Journal of Economic History 34 (1), p. 8-35.
During the Muslim Agricultural Revolution,
sugar production was refined and transformed into a large-scale industry by the
Arabs, who built the first Sugar refinery and sugar plantations. The Arabs and Berbers diffused sugar throughout the
Arab Empire from the 8th century.
Muslims introduced
cash cropping and the modern crop rotation system where land was cropped four or more times in a two-year period. Winter crops were followed by summer ones, and in some cases there was in between. In areas where plants of shorter growing season were used, such as spinach and
eggplants, the land could be cropped three or more times a year. In parts of Yemen,
wheat yielded two harvests a year on the same land, as did rice in Iraq. Muslims developed a Science approach based on three major elements; sophisticated systems of crop rotation, highly developed
irrigation techniques, and the introduction of a large variety of crops which were studied and catalogued according to the season, type of land and amount of water they require. Numerous
encyclopaedias on
farming and
botany were produced, with highly accurate
precision and details.Al-Hassani, Woodcock and Saoud (2007),
Muslim heritage in Our World, FSTC publishing, 2nd Edition, p. 102-123. The earliest
cookbooks on Arab cuisine were also written, such as the
Kitab al-Tabikh (
The Book of Dishes) of Ibn Sayyiir al-Warraq (10th century) and the
Kitab al-Tabikh of Muhammad bin Hasan al-Baghdadi (1226).David Waines (1987), "Cereals, Bread and Society: An Essay on the Staff of Life in Medieval Iraq",
Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 30 (3), p. 255-285 278, 282.
-operated reciprocating engine
suction piston pump of
al-Jazari, the father of modern day
engineering.
Many other agricultural innovations were introduced by Muslim farmers and engineers, such as new forms of land tenure, improvements in
irrigation, a variety of sophisticated irrigation methods,Elias H. Tuma (1987), "
Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World: The Diffusion of Crops and Farming Techniques, 700-1100 by Andrew M. Watson",
The Journal of Economic History 47 (2), p. 543-544. the introduction of
fertilizers and widespread artificial irrigation systems, the development of
gravity-flow irrigation systems from
rivers and Spring (hydrosphere), the first uses of
noria and chain pumps for irrigation purposes,Zohor Idrisi (2005), The Muslim Agricultural Revolution and its influence on Europe, FSTC. the establishment of the sugarcane industry in the Mediterranean and
experimentation in sugar cultivation,J. H. Galloway (1977), "The Mediterranean Sugar Industry",
Geographical Review 67 (2), p. 177-194. numerous advances in industrial milling and water-raising machines (see #Industrial growth below), and many other improvements and innovations.
The Caliphate understood that real incentives were needed to increase productivity and wealth, thus enhancing
tax revenues, hence they introduced a social transformation through the changed ownership of land, where any individual of any genderMaya Shatzmiller, p. 263. or any ethnic or religious background had the right to buy,
sell,
mortgage and
inherit land for farming or any other purposes. They also introduced the
Signature of a contract for every major financial transaction concerning
agriculture, industry, commerce, and employment. Copies of the contract was usually kept by both parties involved.
The two types of economic systems that prompted agricultural development in the Islamic world were either politically-driven, by the conscious decisions of the central authority to develop under-exploited lands; or market-driven, involving the spread of advice, education, and free seeds, and the introduction of high value crops or animals to areas where they were previously unknown. These led to increased subsistence, a high level of
economic security that ensured
wealth for all citizens, and a higher quality of life due to the introduction of artichokes, spinach, aubergines, carrots, sugar cane, and various exotic plants;
vegetables being available all year round without the need to dry them for winter; citrus and
olive plantations becoming a common sight, market gardens and
orchards springing up in every Muslim city; intense
cropping and the technique of intensive irrigation agriculture with land
fertility replacement; a major increase in animal husbandry; higher quality of wool and other
clothing materials; and the introduction of
selective breeding of animals from different parts of the Old World resulting in improved
horse stocks and the best load-carrying
camels.
Many
dams, acequia and qanat water supply systems and "Tribunal of Waters"
irrigation systems were built during the Islamic Golden Age and are still in use today in the Islamic world and in formerly Islamic regions of Europe such as
Sicily and the
Iberian Peninsula, particularly in the Andalusia, Aragon and
Valencia (province) provinces of Spain. The Arabic systems of irrigation and water distribution were later adopted in the Canary Islands and Americas due to the
Spanish and are still used in places like
Texas,
Mexico, Peru, and Chile.
Ahmad Y Hassan, Transfer Of Islamic Technology To The West, Part II: Transmission Of Islamic Engineering
Botany
Main article: Islamic science#Botany
Capitalist market economy
The origins of
capitalism and
free markets can be traced back to the Caliphate,
The Cambridge economic history of Europe, p. 437. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521087090. where the first
market economy and earliest forms of
merchant capitalism took root between the 8th-12th centuries, which some refer to as "Islamic capitalism".Subhi Y. Labib (1969), "Capitalism in Medieval Islam",
The Journal of Economic History 29 (1), p. 79-96 83, 85, 90, 93, 96. A vigorous
monetary economy was created on the basis of the expanding levels of List of circulating currencies of a stable high-value
currency (the dinar) and the integration of monetary areas that were previously independent. Innovative new
business techniques and forms of business organisation were introduced by economists, merchants and traders during this time. Such innovations included the earliest Trading company,
big businesses,
contracts, bills of exchange, long-distance international trade, the first forms of partnership (
mufawada) such as limited partnerships (
mudaraba), and the earliest forms of
Credit (finance),
debt,
profit, loss, Capital (economics) (
al-mal), capital accumulation (
nama al-mal), circulating capital,
capital expenditure, revenue, cheques, promissory notes,Robert Sabatino Lopez, Irving Woodworth Raymond, Olivia Remie Constable (2001),
Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World: Illustrative Documents,
Columbia University Press, ISBN 0231123574.
trusts (
waqf),
startup companies,Timur Kuran (2005), "The Absence of the Corporation in Islamic Law: Origins and Persistence",
American Journal of Comparative Law 53, p. 785-834 .
savings accounts,
transactional accounts, pawning, loaning,
exchange rates, bankers, money changers, ledgers,
deposits, Assignment (law), and the
double-entry bookkeeping system.Subhi Y. Labib (1969), "Capitalism in Medieval Islam",
The Journal of Economic History 29 (1), p. 79-96 .
Organizational
enterprises similar to
corporations independant from the
state also existed in the medieval Islamic world.Said Amir Arjomand (1999), "The Law, Agency, and Policy in Medieval Islamic Society: Development of the Institutions of Learning from the Tenth to the Fifteenth Century",
Comparative Studies in Society and History 41, p. 263-293. Cambridge University Press.Samir Amin (1978), "The Arab Nation: Some Conclusions and Problems",
MERIP Reports 68, p. 3-14 13. Many of these early capitalist concepts were adopted and further advanced in medieval Europe from the 13th century onwards.Jairus Banaji (2007), "Islam, the Mediterranean and the rise of capitalism",
Journal Historical Materialism 15 (1), p. 47-74, Brill Publishers.
A
market economy was established in the Islamic world on the basis of merchant capitalism.
Capital formation was promoted by
labour in medieval Islamic society, and
financial capital was developed by a considerable number of owners of monetary funds and precious metals. Riba (
usury) was prohibited by the
Qur'an, but this did not hamper the development of capital in any way. The capitalists (
sahib al-mal) were at the height of their power between the 9th-12th centuries, but their influence declined after the arrival of the
ikta (landowners) and after production was
monopolized by the state, both of which hampered the development of
Capitalism#Industrial capitalism and laissez-faire in the Islamic world.Maya Shatzmiller, p. 402-403.
During the 11th-13th centuries, the "Karimis", the earliest multinational corporation, enterprise and business group controlled by capitalistic entrepreneurs, came to dominate much of the Islamic world's economy.Subhi Y. Labib (1969), "Capitalism in Medieval Islam",
The Journal of Economic History 29 (1), p. 79-96 . The group was controlled by about fifty Muslim merchants labelled as "Karimis" who were of Yemeni, Egyptian and sometimes India (disambiguation) origins.
The Cambridge economic history of Europe, p. 438-440. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521087090. Each Karimi merchant had considerable wealth, ranging from at least 100,000 dinars to as much as 10 million dinars. The group had considerable influence in most important eastern
markets and sometimes in
politics through its financing activities and through a variety of
customers, including
Emirs,
Sultans,
Viziers, foreign merchants, and common
consumers. The Karimis dominated many of the trade routes across the
Mediterranean Sea,
Red Sea, and
Indian Ocean, and as far as Francia in the north, China in the east, and sub-Saharan Africa in the south, where they obtained
gold from
gold mines. Innovations introduced by the Karimis include the use of
Agent (economics), the financing of projects as a method of acquiring capital, and a
banking institution for loans and deposits. Another important difference between the Karimis and other entrepreneurs before and during their time was that they were not tax collectors or
landlords, but their capitalism was due entirely to trade and financial transactions.Subhi Y. Labib (1969), "Capitalism in Medieval Islam",
The Journal of Economic History 29 (1), p. 79-96 .
Commerce
Guilds were officially unrecognized by the medieval Islamic city, but trades were supervised by an official recognized by the city. Each trade developed its own identity, whose members would attend the same mosque, and serve together in the militia. Slaves were often employed on sugar plantations and salt mines, but more likely as domestic house servants or professional soldiers.
Technology and Industry of Islamic civilization was highly developed.
Distillation techniques supported a flourishing
perfume industry, while
chemical ceramic glazes were developed constantly to compete with ceramics imported from China. A scientific approach to
metallurgy made it easier to adopt and improve steel technologies from India and China. Primary
exports included manufactured
luxuries, such as wood carving, metal and
glass, textiles, and
ceramics.
The systems of contract relied upon by
merchants was very effective. Merchants would buy and sell on
Commission (remuneration), with money loaned to them by wealthy investors, or a joint
investment of several merchants, who were often Muslim, Christian and Jewish. Recently, a collection of documents was found in an
Egyptian
synagogue shedding a very detailed and human light on the life of medieval Middle Eastern merchants. Business
partnerships would be made for many Joint venture, and bonds of kinship enabled trade networks to form over huge distances. Networks developed during this time enabled a world in which
money could be promised by a
bank in
Baghdad and cashed in
Spain, creating the cheque system of today. Each time items passed through the cities along this extraordinary network, the city imposed a tax, resulting in high prices once reaching the final destination. These innovations made by Muslims and Jews laid the foundations for the modern
economic system.
Transport was simple yet highly effective. Each city had an area outside its gates where pack animals were assembled, found in the cities markets were large secure warehouses, while accommodations were provided for merchants in cities and along trade routes by a sort of medieval motel.
Economic thought
Main article: Early Muslim sociology#Economic thought
Industrial growth
Muslim engineers in the Islamic world were responsible for numerous innovative
Industry uses of hydropower, the first industrial uses of tidal power,
wind power, steam power, and
fossil fuels such as petroleum, and the earliest large
factory complexes (
tiraz in Arabic).Maya Shatzmiller, p. 36. The industrial uses of
watermills in the Islamic world date back to the 7th century, while horizontal-
Water wheel and vertical-wheeled water mills were both in widespread use since at least the 9th century. A variety of industrial
mills were first invented in the Islamic world, including
fulling mills, gristmills,
hullers,
paper mills, sawmills, shipmills,
stamp mills, steel mills, Sugar refinery, tide mills, and
windmills. By the 11th century, every province throughout the Islamic world had these industrial mills in operation, from al-Andalus and
North Africa to the
Middle East and Central Asia.Adam Robert Lucas (2005), "Industrial Milling in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: A Survey of the Evidence for an Industrial Revolution in Medieval Europe",
Technology and Culture 46 (1), p. 1-30 . Muslim engineers also invented
crankshafts and water turbines, first employed
gears in mills and water-raising
machines, and pioneered the use of
dams as a source of water power, used to provide additional power to watermills and water-raising machines. Such advances made it possible for many industrial tasks that were previously driven by
manual labour in
ancient times to be Mechanization and driven by machinery instead in the medieval Islamic world. The transfer of these technologies to medieval Europe later laid the foundations for the Industrial Revolution in 18th century Europe.Adam Robert Lucas (2005), "Industrial Milling in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: A Survey of the Evidence for an Industrial Revolution in Medieval Europe",
Technology and Culture 46 (1), p. 1-30.
Many industries were generated due to the Muslim Agricultural Revolution, including the earliest industries for agribusiness,
Islamic astronomy#Instruments, ceramics, Chemical industry, distillation technologies, clocks,
glass, mechanical
hydropowered and
wind powered
machinery, matting,
mosaics,
Pulp and paper industry,
perfumery, Petroleum industry,
Pharmaceutical company,
rope-making,
shipping,
shipbuilding, silk,
sugar,
Textile industry, Water industry, weapons, and the
mining of minerals such as sulfur, ammonia,
lead and iron. The first large factory complexes (
tiraz) were built for many of these industries. Knowledge of these industries were later transmitted to medieval Europe, especially during the Latin translations of the 12th century, as well as before and after. For example, the first glass factories in Europe were founded in the 11th century by
Egyptian craftsmen in Greece.Ahmad Y Hassan, Transfer Of Islamic Technology To The West, Part 1: Avenues Of Technology Transfer The agricultural and
handicraft industries also experienced high levels of growth during this period.
Muslim engineers pioneered two solutions to achieve the maximum output from a water mill. The first solution was to mount them to
piers of
bridges to take advantage of the increased flow. The second solution was the shipmill, a unique type of
water mill powered by
water wheels mounted on the sides of ships Mooring (watercraft) in
midstream. This was first employed along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in 10th century Iraq, where large shipmills made of
teak and
iron could produce 10 tons of
Gristmill every day for the granary in Baghdad.Donald Routledge Hill, "Mechanical Engineering in the Medieval Near East",
Scientific American, May 1991, p. 64-69. (cf.
Donald Routledge Hill, Mechanical Engineering) Industrial water mills were also employed in the first large factory complexes built in al-Andalus between the 11th and 13th centuries. Fulling mills, paper mills, steel mills, and other mills, spread from Islamic Spain to Christian Spain by the 12th century.Adam Robert Lucas (2005), "Industrial Milling in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: A Survey of the Evidence for an Industrial Revolution in Medieval Europe",
Technology and Culture 46 (1), p. 1-30 .
Windmills were first built in
Sistan, Afghanistan, from the
7th century. These were verticle
axle windmills, which had long vertical
shafts with rectangle shaped blades.
Ahmad Y Hassan,
Donald Routledge Hill (1986).
Islamic Technology: An illustrated history, p. 54.
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-42239-6. The first windmill was built by the Rashidun caliph Umar (634-644).Dietrich Lohrmann (1995). "Von der östlichen zur westlichen Windmühle",
Archiv für Kulturgeschichte 77 (1), p. 1-30 (8). Made of six to twelve
sails covered in
reed matting or
cloth material, these windmills were used to grind
corn and draw up
water, and were used in the
gristmilling and
Sugar refinery.
Donald Routledge Hill, "Mechanical Engineering in the Medieval Near East",
Scientific American, May 1991, p. 64-69. (cf.
Donald Routledge Hill, Mechanical Engineering)
After paper was introduced into the Islamic world by Chinese prisoners following the Battle of Talas, Muslims made significant improvements to papermaking and built the first
paper mills in
Baghdad,
Iraq, as early as 794. Papermaking was transformed from an art into a major industry as a result. The Beginning of the Paper Industry, Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation. This allowed the manufacturing of paper in the Islamic world to be performed using water power rather than manual labour. The first
fulling mills were later invented in the 10th century, followed by the first
stamp mills and steel mills in the 11th century.Adam Robert Lucas (2005), "Industrial Milling in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: A Survey of the Evidence for an Industrial Revolution in Medieval Europe",
Technology and Culture 46 (1), p. 1-30 .
The first
gristmills were invented by Muslim engineers in the Islamic world, and were used for
Mill (grinding) corn and other seeds to produce meals, and many other
Industry uses such as
fulling cloth,
Huller, papermaking,
Sugar refinery, and Stamp mill before extraction. Gristmills in the Islamic world were often made from both
watermills and windmills. In order to adapt water wheels for gristmilling purposes, cams were used for raising and releasing
trip hammers to fall on a material. The first water turbine, which had
water wheels with curved blades onto which water flow was directed Rotation, was also first invented in the Islamic world, and was described in a 9th century Arabic text for use in a watermill.
Noria and chain pump (saqiya) machines became more widespread during the Muslim Agricultural Revolution, when Muslim engineers made a number of improvements to the device.Thomas F. Glick (1977), "Noria Pots in Spain",
Technology and Culture 18 (4), p. 644-650. These include the first uses of noria and chain pumps for
irrigation purposes, and the invention of the flywheel mechanism, used to smooth out the delivery of power from a driving device to a driven machine, which was first invented by Ibn Bassal (fl. 1038-1075) of al-Andalus, who pioneered the use of the flywheel in the saqiya and noria.
Ahmad Y Hassan, Flywheel Effect for a
Saqiya.
(Geber) is considered the father of chemistry, particularly for introducing the
Scientific method in chemistry. He also established the
chemical industry and
perfumery industry.
The
chemical industry and petroleum industry were established in the 8th century, when the mineral acids (such as
sulfuric acid) were first produced through
dry distillation, and when the
streets of Baghdad were paved with tar, derived from petroleum through
destructive distillation. In the 9th century,
oil fields were exploited in the area around modern
Baku, Azerbaijan, to produce
naphtha. These fields were described by Masudi in the 10th century, and by Marco Polo in the 13th century, who described the output of those
oil wells as hundreds of shiploads. Petroleum was Distillation by al-Razi in the 9th century, producing chemicals such as
kerosene in the alembic, which he used to invent
kerosene lamps for use in the oil lamp industry.Zayn Bilkadi (University of California, Berkeley), "The Oil Weapons",
Saudi Aramco World, January-February 1995, p. 20-27.
The first industrial use of steam power dates back to the perfumery industry established by
Alchemy (Islam) such as Geber,
al-Razi, and
Avicenna, who pioneered and perfected the extraction of fragrances and essential oils through
steam distillation, introduced new raw
ingredients, and developed cheap methods for the
mass production of perfumery and incenses. Both the raw ingredients and distillation technology significantly influenced Western perfumery. Muslim traders had wide access to a variety of different spices,
herbs, and other fragrance materials. In addition to trading them, many of these exotic materials were cultivated by the Muslims such that they could be successfully grown outside of their native climates. Two examples of this include jasmine, which is native to
South Asia and Southeast Asia, and various citrus fruits native to
East Asia. Both of these ingredients are still highly important in modern perfumery.
In 1206,
al-Jazari invented a variety of machines for raising water, which were the most efficient in his time, as well as water wheels with
cams on their
axle used to operate
automata. He invented the crankshaft and
connecting rod, and employed them in a crank-connecting rod system for two of these water-raising machines. His invention of the crankshaft is considered the most important single mechanical invention after the
wheel, as it transforms continuous
rotary engine into a linear reciprocating engine, and is central to modern machinery such as the
steam engine and the internal combustion engine.Ahmad Y Hassan. The Crank-Connecting Rod System in a Continuously Rotating Machine. Al-Jazari's most sophisticated water-raising machine featured the first suction pipes and suction pump, the first use of the Steam engine#Double-acting engine principle, the first
Reciprocating engine, the earliest
valve operations, and the use of a water wheel and a system of gears. This invention is important to the development of modern machinery, including the steam engine, modern reciprocating pumps,
Ahmad Y Hassan. The Origin of the Suction Pump -
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