What Ended Islam's Golden Age?

Warfare, politics, taxes, tribes, tribute, religion, family dynamics, bribery, incest, assassinations, oh my! Play your own role in history at play.crusaderkings.com/JackRa...
The man who escaped, Abd Al-Rahman: • He Ran 4,000 Miles to ...
You may have heard it said that in the Middle Ages, when Europe was thrown into centuries of darkness, far to the east there was a shining example of science and the arts - well yes, but that’s too far East, I’m talking about right here. You may have heard that it was the Islamic Caliphate that preserved the works of ancient Aristotle, invented new fields of mathematics, and created beautiful works of art in the Baghdad House of Wisdom, a library to rival Alexandria. And that’s usually where the story begins and ends. It’s a bit like pointing to the Pantheon and saying “See, Italians do have culture!” and leaving it at that.
I wanted to know more about the empire that put all this together, and, yeah I found some great characters. So let me tell you more about the time when Baghdad was one of the world’s preeminent cities, about the people who made it, and how it all came to an end.
Music (in order of appearance):
Derek & Brandon Feichter - Bedouin Tribe
CK3 OST - Echoes of an Empire
CK3 OST - Chronicles of the Caliphate
Junko Ohashi - 男と女 (Otoko to Onna)
CK3 OST - Legacy of Ancient Sands
Orchestralis - Journey to the Middle East

[@JackRackam]

Take on your role in history, and see the collapse of the Abbasid caliphate for yourself! play.crusaderkings.com/JackRackam

[@JNSP-kk7py]

Hi

[@WeirdMagnus]

Hi

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

I LOVE CK please SO Basil II

[@JackRackam]

​ @JNSP-kk7py Hello!

[@JackRackam]

Good Day @@WeirdMagnus

[@pearlstar5323]

The way I screeched at the "Last name PBUH (Peace Be Upon Him)"

[@HunterHogan]

Agreed. That was clever.

[@Cara-39]

I laughed so hard!

[@jonnywatts2970]

Yes peace be upon the liar child rapist Muhammad...

[@markgarrett3647]

*Police Be Upon Him.

[@BabylonianChad]

@@andyistphdhpc2726 jeez bro it doesn’t take much to have some class and respect

[@keiththorpe9571]

Baghdad House of Wisdom: Hey, we just invented Algebra! People of Baghdad: Yeah, we're never gonna use that in real life.

[@ismaeel747]

If I remember correctly one of the motivations for the invention of Algebra was the simplification of inheritance problems, which can get pretty complicated with larger families.

[@goldenfiberwheat238]

The mongols were the only group of Asians to dislike algebra

[@ShapezPuller64]

Jfc - what a lazy way to tell people you're racist.

[@coffeeblackisbestdrink]

​@@ShapezPuller64how was that racist?

[@swissarmyknight4306]

@@ShapezPuller64 For real, he's joking that ancient Iraqi's said the same thing modern American kids say about algebra. Its a really old joke and not racial in nature.

[@pastramiandrye]

Don't forget the mongols! They sacked Baghdad in 1258 under the leadership of Hulagu Khan and a lot of the collected knowledge of the House of Wisdom was destroyed. Purportedly the Tigris ran black with ink from all of the books the mongols threw in the river

[@HunterHogan]

The video starts with Charlemagne, who was crowned Emperor of the Romans in 800, which is _only_ 458 years before the event you want us to remember. To get an idea of how much history might have happened in that time, if you start with Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon in 49 BCE and go forward approximately 458 years, the Visigothic king Alaric I sacked Rome in 410 CE.

[@The_preserver_x16]

Well if they were dumb enough to fight the mongols and were arrogant enough to not surrender. Then the house of wisdom wasn’t doing its job, like seriously. Never mess with the mongols your better off surrendering and paying taxes then fighting.

[@Wakobear.]

Baghdad had been in decline since the Anarchy at Samara, 500 years earlier ... With the 'Big Chill' in the late 900s upto early 1100s making the city almost unliveable. (Tigris-Euphrates froze, 2 feet of snow didn't melt for 20 days, and even wine froze...) And the Seljuk invasions pushed nomadism instead of agriculture. But even after the Mongols devastated Baghdad. They rebuilt it, with Ibn Battuta visiting. It's final devastation was Timur in 1390s. So that Baghdad was a small town for the next 500 years, until modern times

[@chico9805]

​@@Wakobear.Imagine getting clapped once, just to get reamed again less than a century later by a Mongol reskin.

[@Wakobear.]

@@chico9805 yep. Timur was IMO the worst thing that happened to the Muslim world. At least the Mongols spread Islam to China and Russia. And unintentionally strengthened it in India and Anatolia. Timur destroyed every city in the GoldenHorde, allowing russians to take over. Prevented Bayezid from conquering Constantinople. Dealt the final blow to Delhi Sultanate. Ravaged all Syria. And forever ruined Iraq. Whilst also exterminating the Nestorian church

[@ballinlikestalin878]

I was waiting for the end to be like, "and then the Mongols came and burned everything down. Good night"

[@dejangegic]

wasn't that a bit earlier

[@quinnholloway5400]

I do feel people forget that theres a reason why Europe stagnated so badly after rome fell They weren't incapable of inventing and standing on their own But the largest power in the region collapsed suddenly, so of course they struggled while places that stayed intact like the Middle East and Far East would be immune to the effects of Rome falling apart That and people ignore the Byzantines who were pretty smart themselves

[@Killerbee_McTitties]

Rome didn't collapse "suddenly". Even after Romulus Augustulus was disposed by Theodooric many of the (political) strucutres stayed in place. they slowly decayed over the years. the biggest set back was the loss of trade routes. because Rome controlled all that space, travel within Roman borders was relatively convenient and safe. roads were kept intact, laws etc were fairly consistent and language as well (at least in the beauraucracy and official contexts).

[@brokenbridge6316]

The recent game Assassin's Creed: Mirage although quite short did a fairly good job of showing the Abbasid Caliphate at it's height. Loved the House of Wisdom in the game.

[@Makarosc]

it's out?

[@gstrikr7]

​@@Makaroscbeen a while already.

[@brokenbridge6316]

Yes I'm aware that the game is out. I got it only days after it did come out and have beaten it twice already.

[@starcapture3040]

@@brokenbridge6316 the city shown in the game do not reflect its history. the whole city outline was more implanted from the city of yazid in iran.

[@razinghavoc7419]

No it didn't. Not in any way. If you think that you do not know any of the history of the city. Baghdad had strict rules for women and highly religious. Something the game doesn't show. Not too mention the girl boss characters that do not make sense or the attempt they did to make it multi cultural except they forgot any Greeks and didn't seem to realise that a large majority of the middle east has fair skin. Not to mention it's just way way too tame. It does not reflect the history in any way. I from Iraq and have been all over the middle east and studied alot of its history. The game is pure fantasy.

[@ishakrahuya]

The Inquisition story is actually very relevant, as it lead to the immediate rise of the one of the 4 major scholars of Islam and also the rise of 2 new theological groups that changed how Baghdad understood religion.

[@fahadalghamdi9316]

Correct, Ashari Islam and Maturidi Islam *The two mainline theological schools of Sunni Islam" Rose as a Reaction to the Mutazilite Inquisition. thus redefining a lot of Islamic principles. Unfortunately in a sad case of throwing the baby with the bathwater, it also leads to the Rise of Abu-Baker Alghazali who opposed all rational and scientific thinking altogether. His work (particularly his book "the blabbering of the Philosophers" ) became massive and added to the decline of islamo-arabic intellectualism.

[@noahs.6743]

How exactly did Baghdad understand religion differently? What made these two schools distinct from prior time? Did Abu-Baker Alghazalk stem from them?

[@fahadalghamdi9316]

@@noahs.6743 it's a long and complicated story but I will try to keep it as simple as possible. Islam intellectually was pretty much divided between traditionalists an intellectuals. With local congregations focusing on more traditional views mixed with the local cultures. While the intellectual Muslims had a more cosmopolitan view. Due to limited contact between the two, each had very different theological conclusions, while maintaining common Muslim rituals. The Ashari School saw itself as a middle ground between the use of reason and tradition and was critical of the Mutazilite "reason only" approach. It became more dominant because of the brutality of the mutazilite inquisition. The Maturidi school believed in a more "reason" based approach, they became more popular in Persia and the Turkish zone. However, this sympathetic approach to traditionalism , gave rise to ultra-traditionalist scholars that fiercely criticize these schools. They were mainly abu baker al-ghazali and Ibn tayymyah. That criticized both schools on their leniency towards certain concepts (use of greek philosophy and local Sainthood). The ultra traditionalists argued that there is no place for reason in understanding scripture and that it can only be understood through purified tradition. While this view was not very popular among most Muslim intellectuals. In fact scholars such as Ibn-Rushd (known as Averros in the west) fiercely attacked it in both his book "the blabbering of the ignorant", and "God demands us to think" unfortunately, he was very far from the Muslim center of the world. The traditionalists gained slow and powerful traction with Muslim congregations. Also, a side note please understand that I'm really oversimplifying things here. There's a lot of synergy between Muslim scholars. With each accusing each other of being a heretic one day then being best friends at the other.

[@retf8977]

​@@fahadalghamdi9316Considering that the "blabbering of philosphers" led to this whole mess anyways, which would have destabilised islam not only as a force but as a religion as well, he was right.

[@Marinecoco]

I always thought this time was an overlooked part of the history of the middle east that I learned little about in school.

[@IStevenSeagal]

In western schools all they teach is the 1789 French revolution and the holocaust/naasiz("Do you feel sorry for our Jewish overlords yet?!"). You're basically on your own.

[@danhobart4009]

Because its over hyped plagiarism?

[@Bloodnut4life]

Wonder why.

[@victorconway444]

@@danhobart4009 I don't think you know what that word means

[@IStevenSeagal]

@@danhobart4009 Someone reeks of jealousy.

[@dr.nosborn6330]

Old extravagant gifts are the best. I love imagining medieval and modern kings and everyone in general to be honest marvel with something like an ostrich, an elefant , a big watch or an automaton. Simply amazing

[@mortache]

One south Asian king used to gift (usually) white elephants as punishments, because failing to take care of such a royal gift would be seen as improper so they would go bankrupt in the expensive maintenance of the animal

[@MapleLeaf2501]

@@mortache It was a (supposed) practice of the old kings of Siam (now modern day Thailand) and it was partly to give them a understated "leave now" because you couldn't refuse it but if you had weren't there to accept it in the first place... Its contentious issue though among historians because the validity is called into question but the idea has been around for some time.

[@MilnaAlen]

The automaton reminds me. It wasn't a gift, but the Yusupov family had a automaton cat chained to a tree, that would tell a story when walking one way, and recite poetry the other. Alexander Pushkin saw it when he was 2, his family rented a room in the Yusupov palace for 2 months. It scared him and inspired his Philosopher Cat character

[@MilnaAlen]

That's the family of Felix Yusupov, the Rasputin murderer. His family history is really interesting. Like he is a descendant of the Tatar Khans, who were vassals of Ottomans and had a big role in the Slavic slave trade (I don't understand why we were never taught about the entire Ottoman slave trade in school?? Like that only ended in 1921 and the Armenian genocide was a direct continuation of it) And just the basic fact that slavery existed between fall of Rome and the 1700s. The way we were taught about slavery was pretty misleading

[@themcat]

Definitely what I needed to watch before work tonight: NEW JACK RACKAM VIDEO! Thank you 😊

[@raulpetrascu2696]

Cool how we got AC Mirage in islamic golden age Baghdad, Age of Empires 4 Sultan's Ascend DLC about the Abbasids and Ayyubids, CK3 DLC about the Abbasid's decline and now we're getting videos (some sponsored) from OSP, Epic History TV, Jack Rackham about Baghdad and the Islamic world too. All in a relatively short period

[@baneofbanes]

Could say it’s a bit of a golden age huh?

[@hitmanamjed3034]

The internet content is just a tool u can control if u have enough money.

[@archsteel7]

If I had a nickel for every time an army designed to be personally loyal to it’s emperor ended up usurping the emperor’s power and then playing a huge role in the empire’s demise…

[@chinsaw2727]

You’d have enough money to declare yourself emperor and fund an army that will be personally loyal to you.

[@archsteel7]

@@chinsaw2727 Thank you for finding a funnier way to end that joke than I could have ever thought of.

[@carlosandredebrumdealmeida1889]

Jack created the MCU (muslim cinematic universe) and now is going to make a decade long series of videos on it.😂😂😂

[@21stCenturySchizoidGirl]

I’m ready for The Marv-als

[@therongjr]

This is so information-dense I'm gonna have to listen to it several times, at lower speed, and pausing to take notes.

[@AzelRavenWood]

Man, having seen your video on Al-Rahman and just loving that, seeing him again in this video was a bright spot to my day! Great Videos as Usual!

[@qct101]

I think the lesson here is that a heavy centralized state with a single strongman as its head is not a particularly stable form of government.

[@extrusdnterre1485]

Curious thing, cuz the world seems to move to that kind of system every once a while, everytime more centralized

[@qct101]

​@extrusdnterre1485 you know this is why I always find it hilarious when people insist that China will be the world's next super power. Like, it's only a matter of time before China goes the way of every other autocracy in history.

[@extrusdnterre1485]

@@qct101 Well that's another, more complicated and debatable matter I think Literally no one could imagine what US would become for example

[@qct101]

@@extrusdnterre1485 the US became what it is because republics are a very stable and capable form of government. Even a deeply flawed democracy is better than the most stable autocracy long term. China will not be able to succeed unless they become democratic it some way. It's clear that the current leader only cares about increasing his personal power at the expense of the states institutions. If China somehow became democratic then they may still overtake the US. If not then they will meet the same fate as the soviet union before them.

[@advanceringnewholder]

Yet, some Islam fundamentalist in my country think that's the best form of government

[@mayosonbear]

Great vid as always

[@abbas.raljuboory5978]

The rational conversation made tear from laughing and was so true u did good research

[@chronovac]

Those Mamluk guys seem pretty strong, I wonder if they ever went on to do anything else?

[@54032Zepol]

Haha this one was really great! Keep up the awesome content my bro!! 😎

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Love your content jack! Please consider doing a francisco franco video🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤

[@OneTrueVikingbard]

Lol hey I remember “Ali, handsome is he”! 🇸🇦

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Amazing video jack! You're awesome! Please do blessed karl!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@gus-vanover]

1:15 As someone who's most recent CK3 Run before this DLC drop was a Tullunid run, this ad run is personally attacking me at a time where I have a midterm tomorrow, and an essay due Friday that I haven't started on. I'll fight off the itch until Friday on the train ride home but it's going to be a battle.

[@tanerfox3284]

Wish this channel was more hyped, this desveres alot more than what it got in likes, views, and comments. Hope this blows up at least in the east.

[@makdm2405]

The tie is a great detail

[@samiai8905]

It's cool to see a rise in content about the Middle East of the past. And considering stuff you did before and what's happening now, i was wondering if you could break it down or recommend something since it's been so much

[@Notimportant253]

It’s weird that we didn’t learn anything of these civilizations in school. I never learned about the Islamic conquests or any of the preceding Persian civilizations until I graduated high school and started studying history in college

[@timon20061995]

⁠@@Notimportant253Chinese didn’t learn Eu history and Middle East didn’t learn Chinese history during high school. It’s just not enough time for high school to learn everything

[@zenoblues7787]

At least it's mentioned now. When I was in school nothing from rome straight to the middle ages of Europe. Even that was pretty rushed.

[@JackRackam]

True, I think I was taught about the five pillars of Islam and that the caliphate existed, and I don't remember more than that

[@Willie5000]

It is very easy to make the Middle Ages incredibly dry regardless of what region of the world you're teaching about.

[@legateelizabeth]

Jack, between you and me, I appreciate that dig at OSP’s vid on the House of Wisdom at the start. Including recognising China. I don’t care if it wasn’t intentional, feeling like someone else acknowledges China’s accomplishments, even in passing, when that vid failed to is the sort of thing that stops a woman going insane.

[@philipdawes2661]

OSP? (Curious)

[@C-Farsene_5]

@@philipdawes2661 Overly Sarcastic Productions

[@philipdawes2661]

@@C-Farsene_5My thanks :)

[@philipdawes2661]

I have always loved the mix of information, humour and monty-pythonesque graphics. Please keep these coming. Loved CK2, will give CK3 a try once most of the expected expansions have been released - far too expensive in overall cost otherwise.

[@danga55gan]

great video

[@HolyknightVader999]

Harun Al-Rashid and Charlemagne were not only friends, but both of them were great emperors whose descendants tore their great empires apart.

[@occam7382]

A true match made in heaven... or something.

[@CARL_093]

good pick for sponsor they fit on the narrative

[@Stoneworks]

Last name PBUH is a god tier joke

[@midshipman8654]

glad you mention how one note the islamic golden age tends to be presented and expanded it with the political situation. Lot of times its just “bagdad house of wisdom, math and greek stuff and some art was there” in a pretty self contained sort of point. kinda has that I got to prove something energy.

[@dargon1084]

I like how u do european and mideast history! Would be amazing to see more east, south, southeast asian history too!

[@mathdhut3603]

Im looking forward to a series on the Gunpowder Empires (i.e. the Ottomans, the Safavids and the Mughals), who were in some ways Islam's second Golden Age. One down, two to go, Jack...

[@MilnaAlen]

Also would love videos about the Ottomans vassals, the Crimean/Tatar Khans! They were actually the ancestors of Felix Yusupov, the Rasputin murderer, that's how I learned about them lol

[@MilnaAlen]

Also would love to hear more about Ivan the Terrible and Fyodor Basmanov! I'm trying to write a historical AU where Felix is a Khan's son in 16th century and Basmanov is taken as their hostage. But it's really hard to find information about Basmanov :/ I did learn there was a tradition of gay poetry in medieval Islam, which was really interesting! Apparently it was pretty accepted as long as you didn't have gay sex lol.

[@MasterGhostf]

Europe wasnt a dark ages like people think. They were advancing engineering, agriculture, and other daily uses. More advanced things like algebra wasn't as important because there weren't any states that could do it, but the Aachen and Cologne cathedrals were built in during this time among other buildings.

[@reteguy7338]

But did they had an Astrolabe tho? Because that was the most important things a commoner could ever had before the first millenia.

[@maddogbasil]

No Algebra 😭😭

[@dersuddeutschesumpf5444]

​@reteguy7338 for specific professionals it would have been important. 90% of commoners never travelled any worthwhile distance

[@reteguy7338]

@@dersuddeutschesumpf5444 but that was still very important, medieval middle easterners relied heavily on this things. It was like a medieval equivalent of a portable clock.

[@TransSappho]

God I’m excited to play that new dlc, I already have the season pass but I somehow didn’t know it came out

[@Casmaniac]

Charlemagne and his buddies bewildered by the water clock is a hilarious bit, well done lol

[@MatthewCaunsfield]

Splendid historical shenanigans! 😁

[@LeakyTrees]

I AM FOAMING AT THE MOUTH YOU CALLED IT THE DOOBLY-DOO! JOHN GREEN FAN LOCATED

[@Americanbadashh]

I didn't belieb you when you said they were pretty close at first but then ya, there's even a name for it. The Abbasid-Carolingian alliance

[@Apollo1989V]

During a shark tank pitch about the formation of the Mamluks was hilarious!

[@raintamer8121]

There you are sir!!!

[@TheAustralianMapper5378]

9:02 Those scoundrels

[@javaks]

Had there ever been a medieval feast that didn't end in massacre?

[@goldenfiberwheat238]

Yes but the only people present were peasants

[@emhyrinovaremreisirinokrip7124]

They were actually really safe on average, it's just that there was a lot of feasting in medieval times. Whenever people got together, they feasted.

[@LORDMEHMOODPASHA]

5:48 HEY WAIT A MINUTE, Jack, did you actually think that I wouldn't notice the historically inaccurate Ottoman Tuğra (Seal) on Harun's throne?!

[@josh10722]

Describing ck3 as “one more turn..” is the best way i’ve heard it described. Love forming the arch-duchy of Austria (when i’m not being elected Emperor of the HRE against my will!!) and often have a hard time putting the controller down

[@Apollo1989V]

I was afraid you weren’t going to do a Legacy of Persia video.

[@JackRackam]

I arrived fashionably late

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

​@@JackRackamyou're awesome 🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤

[@lerneanlion]

In your mind, what could be done to prevent the collapse of the total Abbasid Caliphate itself? And since they have massive amount of knowledge of the Ancient Greeks and Sassanid Persians, maybe the idea of reducing the Caliph to just the Head of State and Religion while the Grand Vizier became the Head of Government sounds like a good idea if you asked me.

[@Wakobear.]

Here are a list of them IMO: 1. Give the Caliphate to the Alids as planned. In 744, alMansur, Saffah and heads of the many branches of the Hashimids all gave loyalty to Muhammad ibn Abullah alKamil. Also known as Nafs azZakiyyah the pure soul. Who had developed an aura of being the Mahdi, and his father was the first person to combine the lineages of both Hassan and Hussain. This would create a far more stable Caliphate, since Sunni and Shia won't split. And the historical Alid/Shia revolts wouldn't happen, which were the only existential threat to the early Abbasids, and the main rivals to the lat Abbasids (Fatimids, Buyids, Qaramita etc). The only potential rival are the Husainids. But Jafar as-Sadiq was a quietist. And Abdullah alKamil grew up in Zayn al Abideen household, so ties are pretty close. The sacrosanctity of his Lineage and that of his descendants would make the anarchy at Samarra (slaves killing Caliph) more improbable But this wouldn't be an Abbasid Caliphate, rather an Alid one.... 2. Preventing Mamun-Amin civil war. The early Abbasids were pretty great. The main things that should be changed would be: to create an Umayyad style Mediterranean navy (allowing conquest of Algeria, Morocco and perhaps a successful conquest of Iberia). To have Ghaznavid style raids on India, and to take advantage of An Lushan Rebellion. But the main thing which broke the success streak of the early Abbasids was the devastating Mamun-Amin war. Due to Harun arRashid's terrible succession plans. The result was a massive civil war, which resulted in the siege of Baghdad, ravaging the great city. But then alMamun tried ruling the Caliphate from Marw, in Turkmenistan for 6 years. This led to total chaos in the central Caliphate, with dozens of revolts and independent governors. To deal with this, he gave Tahirids and Samanids independent hereditary governances, permanently reducing Abbasid control of its heartland in Khurasan. And also relying upon his brother alMutasim and his new Turkish slave corps, which would lead to the Anarchy. So instead alAmin is the sole ruler of the entire Caliphate. With Mamun being put under house arrest. Preventing the devastating civil war and reventing the loss of sacrosanctity of Abbasid blood by Tahir killing alAmin also preventing the demilitarisation of the Arabs in place of the Khurasani. Also preventing the revolts which led to the need of the Turkish slave army. AlAmin would have to be less forceful on demanding taxes from Khurasan in particular, to prevent it revolting again, as happened in the end of arRashid's reign. Other provinces lack a military powerbase, and so could remain to be taxed heavily. If a professional army were to be made, mercenaries seem to be more loyal than slaves. But a general voluntary professional army seems best. Though they would need to be indotrinatated into total loyalty to the Abbasid house, not a specific Caliph or General. 3. Preventing anarchy at Samarra. - the event which largely ended the Abbasids. Basically alMutawakkil toes the line. Follows the policies of alMutasim and alWathiq, except ending Mutazilism to gain more public support particularly in Baghdad. But continuing to give patronage to science. (Most Muslim scientists weren't Mutazila) Ideally being a military man, personally leading the Turkish troops in battle, thereby gaining their respect. Introducing Baybars style reforms to increase the discipline and professionalism of the army. Using it to end the autonomy of the Tahirids, and reduce the autonomy of the Aghlabids and Samanids. And start Ghaznavids raids in India, bringing in enormous funds for the state. Very gradually and Subtly beginning to reduce the power of the slave army. Gradually changing it from a slave professional army to a volunteer professional army made up of general masses. 4. The final chance for the Abbasids was Muqtadir in 908. His predecessors had managed to restore a surprising chunk of the Caliphate, depsite the anarchy at Samarra, Zanj revolt, Saffarids, Tulunids, Qaramita etc. Unfortunately Muqtadir was once of the worst, sitting in his palace, barely governing. While Viziers and generals devastated the state. Instead he should be just like his predecessors from Muwaffaq onwards. Starting by taking advantage of the Saffarid civil war to quickly snuff them with help from Samanids. Gaining total control of all western Persia. Then aiding Independent Sunni Sicily, to defeat Fatimids in Ifriqiyah, before they can take Sicily. Ending the Fatimids. Then ending revolts in Armenia and defeating Qaramita. Finally annual Ghaznavids raids on India to bring in desperately needed wealth to the Abbasids treasuries.

[@kukulkhaan]

@@Wakobear. mutazilite doctrine/theology was the reason that abbasids rose to such power to begin with, between free will and determinism, if you say we won this war by the grace of God because we did so and so VS we won this war because god willed it irrespective of what we have done, people wont be much excited about getting no recognition for all the scrifices they did if the latter was the motto, and mutazilites were with prior, but when things go bad instead of putting the blame on time/predestination/will of God, if the blame is put on king, ruling class and such, people might retaliate to get a better leader or stuff, and mutazilites advocated that too, as how can one support free will without taking responsibility for their own actions, and thus the caliph didn't like that, the generals didn't like that, the governors didn't like that, no one in power liked that when bad was attributed to them, but they loved it when good was attributed to them... anyway that was the main reason for the end of mutazilites, they did believed in divine decree, but on things that weren't prophesized already by the prophets, everything else is free to happen as long as God lets it happen... lets not talk about uncreatedness of quran being fact due to it being speech of God, because that'll make isa/Jesus the same for he is the word of God, Spirit from him, Sent via Gabriel to st/hazrat Mary?mariam...God made everything in pairs, The Creation and Command belong to God. what constitutes as command of God, you can ponder about that..... Anyway that's my take on history, + the most scientist that came after the eradication of mutazilites if they lived long enough went into madness, also termed as confusion, ibn sina madness i call it for he explained it well, and the root cause of that madness was calling quran an eternal attribute of God, search it up, don't fall into madness for too long though, nor do any self harm...

[@Wakobear.]

@@kukulkhaan From what I've read, the main reason the Caliphs chose Mutazilism was so that they could directly interpret the Qur'an since it was created. Since they rejected hadeeth, this would give Caliphs total control of Islamic law like a pope, without need for the decentralised system of Muslim jurists and hadeeth scholars. As for Muslim scientists going mad, most of them were quite normal. Particularly sciences like mathematics, geography, astronomy, chemistry etc. It's the philosophers who went mad, but overall philosophy and metaphysics aren't much help scientifically, which is why nobody follows Plato, Aristotle, ibn Sina, ibn Rushd etc since they based their world view on false assumptions

[@kukulkhaan]

@@Wakobear. What you're saying is what the victors are feeding you, if what you're saying the truth then why did they burnt the literature of mutazilites? Shouldn't you keep it safe to deem it heretical? + They didn't reject hadith, they just like everyone else questioned the authenticity of hadiths, especially the ones that go against Qur'an... Are children that haven't had puberty yet innocent in the sense that they're muslim by default or not? As per various hadiths, they're not, children of kuffar are them, do you believe that? (That includes infants too.) + Search what's Hasan li ghayrihi and sahih li ghayrihi... I can even cherry pick some Hasan hadiths+ sahih hadiths to prove that Dajjal is God, sounds blasphemous? Imagine what I felt when I realised that? Anyway, hadeeths scholars abdicate responsibility in the name of consensus and what not, who gave them right to make haram halal and halal haram, calling interest permissible in today's day and age, calling chess haram, and so on... My paradigm has broken more times than I can count on a single hand, what I believed to be absolute truth turned out to be fabrications, the ones spouting those fabrications even attest to that, yet when they spout them, they don't say that is is from them and not from the Qur'an or sunnah that they were preaching beforehand.... I love you all regardless of what you believe in, for eternity isn't long, but is eternal, anyway, scholars won't take the blame on the judgement day for what they told you is permissible to be but was impermissible.... Such is explained in Qur'an already... Think about it yourself brother/sister, of the top echelon of scholarship at that time the mutazilites, they had the power to corrupt Hadiths (fabricate at will), they had the resources to turn right into wrong and wrong into right, why would they harm their own interests by discrediting it wholly? It goes against common sense. Either all of them were possessed by devil or they were rightly onto something... I defend them here, because they aren't here to defend themselves, because they were eradicated, and with them the golden age of Islam.

[@manofwar2354]

​@@Wakobear.Mutazillah reject hadith ? Who taught u that mate Mutazillah themself has 5 branches Only one act weird and reject hadith U seem have shallow understanding

[@molybdaen11]

Its always the fault of the dukes when a big empire collapses. Nice animation by the way, reminds me of the old magic circus editing.

[@welcometonebalia]

Thank you.

[@Jjjh1234]

Ahhh that inclusion of Junko Ohashi killed meeee. Nothing like a bit of Japanese city pop to give ambience

[@vazak11]

Cool!

[@MrScientifictutor]

I like the tie.

[@skykid]

Commented this on a facebook CK3 post, but I always love reading about how Golden Age Muslims obsessed over being the most scholarly dude ever

[@schnitz5450]

I was looking forward to answering some questions at the end. Now I feel betrayed and my attained knowledge unnoticed :(

[@iamleoooo]

What ended the Islam golden age? *Decides to show only the rise and the decline of the Abbasids Also Jack, have you read the book from Ahmed Kuru?

[@trolltalwar]

Its a gross misrepresentation that europe was living in darkness and squalor whike everyone else was in a golden age

[@Number1Irishlad]

Hey jack, do you have a source list or something somewhere for your vids?

[@spacebar1008]

“Baghdad palace of wisdom” OML OvSarc reference?????????1?1!!? Ps nice fratricide inc. sponsorship

[@hessanscounty3592]

If you want to hard mode the Iranian Intermezzio, play as the Oghuz Turkic count in the Duchy of Samarra, convert to Nestorianism, and become a real Prester John.

[@gstrikr7]

I keep forgetting that part of the world became the nest of the Nestorians after Rome condemned the belief as a heresy in the Ecumenical Councils lol I cracked up when Ubi included Nestorian monks in AC Mirage lol

[@adrianopandolfo]

If you don't mind me asking, where do you get your 3D character models from?

[@maarekstele2998]

They are from crusaders kings 3 it's a video game

[@richeybaumann1755]

I'm not sure what's cooler: that you got CK3 to sponsor you or that I'm literally playing CK3 Legends of Persia literally right now. My computer is screaming about having Chrome and CK3 running together, but ...¯\_(ツ)_/¯ that's why I bought it.

[@victorhino26]

Goddamit Jack,oh well,here i go stabilizing the Caliphate again...

[@Loganjlr]

If Crusader Kings is the Mariana Trench of strategy games, what would you call the Reno, Nevada of strategy games? Or the Gary, Indiana of strategy games?

[@thenablade858]

Uh… Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas is the best I got for you.

[@Buzterer]

Now that we're already here, we could do with another episode of "The Mystery of the Murdered Monarchies"

[@rvrv7021]

Can you made the Francisco Almeida revange. He is the portuguese conquistador that chalenge all the naval muslin word in indic ocean because they kill is Son. Só he chalenge them in the naval batle of DIU and whin

[@mslayer1229]

I wonder when he'll talk about ogodei khan

[@I-should-have-let-Trotsky-stay]

Luv u Jacky boy 😘

[@MalikF15]

Please tell me Jack Rackam is going do some more videos on Arabian figures. Please do a video on Saladin

[@TheTariqibnziyad]

Saladin is NOT arab

[@MalikF15]

@@TheTariqibnziyad got me there. Should said Islamic golden age figures

[@yourztruly8255]

The interesting thing was the Umayyads themselves are actually related to both Muhammad and Ali tho they’re a cadet branch to their tribe founded by a distant male line cousin in fact the founder of the Umayyads was the first cousin of the 3rd Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate Uthman Both were 3rd cousins once removed of Muhammad and Ali even the Abbasids were related to Muhammad the founder was Muhammad and Ali’s first cousin

[@samrevlej9331]

See, this is why even though video games and other media representing history always deform it a little for the purposes of the medium, it's good to have video games like AC Mirage (strong suspicion that's what brought on this topic). It gets people interested in the real history of the period; like the spike in Google search activity regarding Ptolemaic Egypt with AC Origins, or the French Revolution for Unity.

[@MapleLeaf2501]

Credit where credit is due too, IIRC the AC franchises more recent games also have free-roam "history" modes where you can visit locations and actually read up some of their research that went into the creation of the game settings and the time periods, often with notes on what liberties were taken for gameplay and story stuff.

[@MilnaAlen]

And TV shows. I got into Felix Yusupov thanks to the Russian tv show Karamora (actually photos of it on pinterest and KZbin videos) Now I have learned about Russian revolution, antisemitic pogroms and Pale of Settlement, queer history, his family history including Crimean Tatar Khans and the Slavic slade trade...

[@MilnaAlen]

The show gets Yusupov himself pretty inaccurate (tough crossdressing is accurate lol). But anarchists, police violence and gay bath houses is pretty accurate. It also mentions the 1905 Russo-Japanese war, assassination of tsar Alexander and Tolstoyism. Pretty good for a vampire show lol

[@prettypic444]

history rule #235 if someone has a positive sounding nickname, assume it's ironic

[@gstrikr7]

AC Mirage was fair in depicting the time period, despite the aliens and Hidden One-Order of the Ancients war

[@ohrmazd7885]

Using ck3 models makes it that much better 🤣

[@chheinrich8486]

Maybe a bit more japanese people, like Emporer meiji, or some koreans like admiral yi sun shin 😅

[@fedoramaster6035]

You got me on crusader kings and I don’t regret it at all. But the Xbox version is still buggy as all shit. If you’re on Xbox, don’t buy CK3. I legit crash out every half hour, and I can’t see any buildings except the European ones bc of a bug. Not to mention the legion of other graphic and gameplay bugs, like how you can’t use tooltip in royal court. If you’re on PC, buy this game. If you’re on Xbox, get it for free until the company porting it gets their shit together.

[@thomaslally2242]

Must not re-download CK3...must not get emotionally attached to a fictional bloodline...stick with HOI4, safe and only 2 decades...

[@hummussapien7.6billion68]

That's a ck3 character on the thumbnail. Edit: the entire video has them

[@mojoproductions6799]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@thecactusman17]

"Mamluk Slave Army" "Mamluk Slave Army" "Mamluk Slave Army" Me: Ah f$ck that's gonna be on the quiz

[@Albukhshi]

Oh, you just have to talk about Abu Ja'afar al-Mansour--and in far more detail than here.

[@BigBazz-Clips]

wait you stop yourself playing till 5am?

[@h3egypt]

The gracious 😂 al Mansour the victorious is also known as al safah which actually means serial killer literally 😂

[@manofwar2354]

No safah mean killer Not serial killer that is modern term

[@h3egypt]

@manofwar2354 Safah means known for killing people not just one murder but plenty so it means the same as the modern term for serial killer ... which we use it for

[@h3egypt]

@manofwar2354 killer in arabic is qatel

[@TacitusKilgore165]

Ismail Samani is my new bff and Bukhara is my new home

[@vegabtw]

In Europe, every big event is related in a way to the black death, in Asia instead is related to the mongols. Taking into account that the black that was in a way a produce of the mongols invasions, I am going to take the safe bet and say that a non ending inflationary cicle and a housing market bubble cause the end of that golden age of Islam.

[@user-og1dx4ml6q]

Well every gold age will come to end. 😮😮😮

[@BobbyBoucher228]

To really put the nail in the coffin for Baghdad’s golden age, the city was sieged by the by the Mongol Armies and most of its inhabitants killed effectively ending the Golden Age of the islamic Caliphate.

[@TheInfintyithGoofball]

"his name actually translates to 'the blood shedder'" Me as a woman: 🤨

[@oriffel]

is that the age of empires wonder?

[@SimpleReally]

yes

[@TheInfintyithGoofball]

I live to learn the history that school refused to teach me. (it was like ALRIGHT I GET IT! THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION HAPPENED AND CHINA AND EGYPT EXISTS, TELL ME ALL THE SPECIFICS AND EVERYWHEN/EVERYWHERE ELSE ALREADY!"

[@ihaveagun22]

10:02 you can tell they didn't like him because they brought him all the way to dover before they threw him off a cliff

[@jimslancio]

The Muslim philosopher Al Ghazali wrote an essay "The Incoherence of the Philosophers," which denounced classical science and mathematics. As a result, the Islamic golden age ended, and to this day hasn't recovered.

[@alifkazeryu8228]

yeah... about Crusader King, got a hard time starting it since it messed with the timeline since globalization isn't all that prevalent at that time. with sailing tech still not adequate for long range navigation and all. I personally think that in such era, total war engine is much more suitable since unit at the time is still small enough, which is definitely not the case with EU4 instead with 1 regiment count for 1 thousands, I don't know how many unit per regiment did CK have, but definitely IRL kingdom at that era having trouble maintaining 1k of army, let alone a hundred thousands of them. oh right, I supposed to comment about the vids, and not the sponsors, sorry. I find that Muhammad line with last name PUBH to be funnier than it should. make me giggle for a solid 5 mins. I really don't know why.

[@legateelizabeth]

“Urgh it just wasn’t that global at the time” said the man watching a video where special mention is made of the diplomatic relations between Paris and Baghdad nearly a century before the game’s earliest start date.

[@alifkazeryu8228]

@@legateelizabeth ok, anybody know about Inca at the time? How about Pacific islander and the like? Siberia, anyone? Yeah, thought so. Typical. Far east, Europe and everything in-between is all there is to the world, it seems.

[@legateelizabeth]

@@alifkazeryu8228 ... yes, that's all there was to the world. Like, actively yes. That's why we seperate it into the 'new' and 'old' world. And thus why the Americas aren't in the game????

[@alifkazeryu8228]

@@legateelizabeth which is why it WASN'T THAT GLOBAL AT THE TIME! That's what I try to point out!

[@00700A]

Please.Make a film about J.P. : terrorists, dictator, general, patriot, animal lover , traitor , hero,Man who was close to become King , was so bad a'' to the level that the Hitler and Stalin fear him ,one of most Controversial people in 20 century Europe history. Please

[@Someone-dy5ui]

So the reason islamic golden age ended is... a game of thrones?

[@FancyRPGCanada]

Every time I see the history of Baghdad I’m just so saddened by the state of it now. The US invasion of Iraq was so horrible

[@AlexC-ou4ju]

Baghdad has known much much worse than the US. Think the Mongols or the Timurids

[@laerwen]

@@AlexC-ou4ju Yeah but the people who live there now are innocent and have never deserved war in their homeland.