My awesome map of Postclassical India

China's Impact on Vietnam, Korea, and Japan

Harun al-Rashid

This source is an awful source. The source is somewhat of a quality source because it includes references to other works but includes significant faults. For example, it says that "Hārūn was strongly influenced by the will of Mike Ackerman in the governance of the empire until her death in 789". I don't think my classmate was alive back then. Although it is chock full of information, it is poorly organized. The information is unevenly written by stuffing everything under the heading "Life". I believe that the information can be split into sub headings about his life. Also, the article mentions things that Harun did even after the article mentioned his death. It is clearly an object source. For example, the romantic story of Harun has different versions which are mentioned in the article. The article also mentions the doubtfulness of the story by a historical figure named Ibn Khaldun.

Some questions I have are how was Harun regarded among his people and how was he engaged politically with places other than that of Charlemagne's and the Byzantines. Overall, the wikipedia page answers most of my questions. I would filter my Google search by entering in keywords about what I was looking for in him. If I wanted to know about his personal life, I would search "Harun al-Rashid personal life". Also, I would be specific in my search terms.

This wikipedia article tempers his popularity because the article does not mention why he is so prevalent in pop culture. However, I cannot imagine is so prevalent because I have never heard of him ever. The only thing the wikipedia article says is that the Thousand-and-One-Nights made him a legendary figure. Perhaps the legend hypes him up more than who he really was.

Benjamin of Tudela: Baghdad vs Constantinople

Benjamin of Tudela was a Spanish rabbi who travelled throughout Europe, north Africa, and southwest Asia. He is qualified to discuss these cities due to his extensive travel and exposure to different areas. He is presented as being knowledgable in religion and would most likely have an educational background. In his descriptions of the cities he clearly is unbiased. Because he is from Spain, he would have no natural bias towards Baghdad or Constantinople. Also, he speaks highly of both cities. Both cities are depicted as having magnificent wealth and benevolent leaders. The Hippodrome of the emperor is a place for entertainment in Constantinople and the Dar-al-Maristan in Baghdad houses the insane. Benjamin highlights the care given by the leaders of both cities.

My Awesome Map of Islamic Expansion

The Quran on Allah and His Expectations of Humankind

Compare the Quran's teachings on the relationship between Allah and human beings with the views of Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians discussed in earlier chapters (page 350)

The Quran's teachings on the relationship between Allah and human beings are different in terms of moderation in Zoroastrianism but are similar in the concept of judgement. In terms of moderation, Allah wants humans to be more moderate than Zoroastrianism. For example, the passage mentions how God wants "men and women who guard their private parts" which exemplifies sexual abstinence. In contrast, the teachings of Ahura Mazda allowed human beings to enjoy the world and its fruits-including sexual pleasure. Both religions feature the concept of judgement. In Zoroastrianism, human souls would be judged and would experience reward or punishment based on the holiness of their thoughts, words, and deeds. Similarly  "God has forgiveness and a great reward" for those who observe and practice his teachings.The Quran's teachings on the relationship between Allah and human beings are similar to the views of Jews in their belief in a supreme deity. The passage portrays Allah as the supreme deity by saying "There is no one comparable to him". Similarly, the Jews believe in a supreme deity called Yahweh.  The Quran's teachings on the relationship between Allah and human beings are similar to the belief in charity in Christianity. The passage states that "men and women who give alms" will reach salvation. Similarly, Jesus preached about charity.

The Islamization of the Silk Road

Foltz's article clearly supports Bentley's arguement (well atleast it says so in the 'Thinking Historically' section). Pressure was a pattern of conversion featured in Foltz's passage. For example Muslims were pressuring non-Muslims by "inflicting damage on their former persecutors" through caravan raids (Foltz 227). Another pattern of conversion featured was voluntary association. For example, Foltz states that "many locations townspeople threw open the gates to the Arabs and welcomed them as liberators" due to the oppressive treatment from the Sasanian Persian and Byzantine Greek empires in Mesopotamia, Syria, and Egypt (Foltz 228). Assimiliation was the third pattern of conversion. For example, the children of a Muslim man would be rasied within the father's new community rather than his original one. Also, if a Muslim man marries a non-Muslim woman, the children are required to be raised as Muslims. However, there was a blend between Islam and pre-Islam tradition because "pre-Islamic religion survived through transmission by non-Muslim wives of Muslims" (Foltz 231).

Perspectives on Constantinople

Ibn Battuta

Battuta has an overall neutral image of Constantinople. He claims that "The bazaars in this part of the town are good but filthy, and a small and very dirty river runs through them. Their churches too are filthy and mean." His description of the church being filthy and mean also implies he thinks negatively towards Chrstianity. However, he still respects The City because he still says that they are good.

Benjamin of Tudela

Benjamin has an overall positive image of Constantinople, despite visiting the city during political decline. He remarks about the unique entertainment when he says that "No entertainment like this is to be found in any other land." He does not comment about the filthiness of the city and regards the church with awe when he says "there are pillars of gold and silver, and lamps of silver and gold more than a man can count". He idealizes Constantinople as the best place to live in the world when he says that "Wealth like that of Constantinople is not go be found in the whole world.  Here also are men learned in all the books of the Greeks, and they eat and drink, every man under his vine and his fig-tree."

Liudprand of Cremona

Liudprand has an overall negative image of Constantinople. He is forced to walk on foot after arriving on horse because he is treated as inferior. Nicephorus "did not think [them] worthy to use the horses. Also, the fact that it is raining and that the house is described as "hateful, waterless, draughty stone" shows how he dislikes the city. He even goes to mentioning how the emperor is a "monstrosity" of a person. He also says that only the emperor wore jewels while everyone else worse wore poor tunics with holes in them. 

Credibility

I believe that these descriptions should be taken with a grain of salt because of the wide range of perspective. Often times, people's opinions can influence their analysis on topics. Perhaps Nicephorus was having a bad day when Liudprand arrived.