Реферат: Islamic Conquests Up To 700 Ad

encouraging settlement the central authorities encouraged further control.The centralised administrative

structure enabled the Islamic state to organise and fund the conquests.? Traditionally historians viewed the Islamic

conquests as economically driven migrations, but evidence points to a more

organised and strategic movement.? The

first settlers or soldiers that had conquered territories did not bring women,

children and animals with them.? This

implies a stage-by-stage approach to conquest: overpower the occupiers and then

allow controlled migration.? The

interpretation that the Islamic conquests were a collection of random and

eclectic raids is also questionable.? It

can be persuasively argued that the conquests were centrally controlled.? The best example of central directive

authority is Umar?s decision to switch the great Khalid from the Iraqi frontier

to the Syrian frontier.? Donner furthers

these arguments by suggesting that the state had the power to tax and recruit

from all tribes via state run agents.?

He argues that Umar formed conquest parties by instructing his network

of agents to contribute recruits to the Islamic cause.? No historian seems to suggest that the

Muslims had any technological superiority over the great power, and in most

cases they were numerically outnumbered.?

It has been suggested that there were more Arabs fighting for the

Byzantines than there were for the Muslims at Yarmuk.? Similarly, at the decisive battle of Qadisiyya, the Persians,

under the command of Rustam, were numerically superior to the Arabs.? Evidence is sparse and unreliable, but the

way in which the Muslims consistently defeated both empires suggests that in

military terms they must have had some advantage.? Whether this advantage was due to intelligent strategy, religious

fanaticism, a crop of talented generals or better communications is in some

ways irrelevant.? It would be extremely

hard not to suggest that the Arabs had some kind of military advantage.The Byzantine entry into

Ctesiphon in 628 is a false indicator of Byzantine strength.? The Persians were suffering from a series of

internal crisis?s and the Byzantines ultimate victory was largely a result of