The Islamic Hegemony Essay Example for Free

The Islamic Hegemony Essay The course of world history could have been altered if a single detail in the events in the 1200’s was changed or did not happen, or a decision was roughly executed at the wrong time, place and situation. Other races or nations may have been the world’s superpower today if the right opportunities were present at that time, and it only means that what could be happening today may be reversed in an instant as not a single nation holds the monopoly of societal change. The world we know today could have been much different if Genghis Khan’s attempt to destroy the Persian Empire was defeated. In the next sections we will present a historical alteration of events and hypothesize on the consequences of Genghis Khan’s defeat with its repercussions on the political, cultural and economic environment of the present. Islamic armies have conquered much of the Central Asian region and converted the population to Islam before the Mongolian invasion of Persia in the 1200’s which halted the Muslim expansion. Whenever these Muslim warriors went, torture, massacre and abuse on the different nomadic tribes, Turkish, Mongolian and other non-Muslim people were perpetuated. The affair on the Silk Road was the only event which altered the course of history. If Genghis Khan was not able to defeat the Persians, it would have been possible that the Islamic Empire expanded East ward without facing any formidable resistance. China in 1279 during the Sung Dynasty has suffered from Mongolian attacks hence any organized resistance would be impossible and the disoriented armies formed to oppose the Muslims would be severely annihilated en masse. The possibility was great that the combined forces of Khwarazmian Empire’s of Shah Muhammad II of Eastern Iran and the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad could take hold of the territories that the Mongolian hordes have reached; India, China, Central Asia and farther up in Poland. Without the emergence of Pax Mongolica (Phillips 32), Muslim influence could have reached a vast expanse in Asia, Eurasia and the Caucasus for it was evident that the Muslim armies converted to Islam every nation or kingdom that they had conquered under the scimitar and the green flag. Thus, we would be having two of the world’s most populous nations (China and India) under Muhammad’s doctrines and such could greatly alter the balance of power in the contemporary history. With Islam as the world’s leading religion in terms of the number of believers. The factor that could have attributed to the Islamic success in dispersing its culture and belief is that unlike the Mongolians, who subscribed to the cultures of the conquered lands, they brought along with tem an organized religion and culture paired with iron will to impose their belief and culture by the sword. Later in Kublai Khan’s rule, he had planned to conquer Japan from the Korean Peninsula but was halted when the Mongolian fleet was destroyed by a typhoon. The Mongol leader attacked in 1274 but was unsuccessful due to a hurricane, known to the Japanese as the winds of the Kamikaze. Eight years later, Kublai struck again launching the largest naval brigade prior to the 1700s. However, the Mongol fleet was sunk by another massive hurricane. After these two disastrous failures, Kublai deserted his plans for the conquest of Japan. (Hooker 2) Imagine when the Islamic conquerors have annexed China into the Islamic sphere of influence with the Arabian dynasty on its helm, we would have a Muslim Japan, which is another world superpower today. With the occupation of China and Japan, it would have been easier for the Arab converters to take hold of South East Asian countries like Philippines, Indonesia and the Indochina and monopolize the political and religious power in the region, blocking the European colonial powers from acquiring their colonies (Dutch East Indies, Indochina and Philippines) in the early part of the 14th century. On the other side of the picture, Muslim armies were also waging a war in the Iberian Peninsula, taking Portugal and Spain from their bases in Egypt and North Africa. This could have spelled total disaster for the Christian armies that were also engaged in the Crusades aimed at retaking the Holy Land from the combined armies of different caliphates and kingdoms in the Middle East. This would be greatly altered in the event that the Islamic armies would be concentrated on the expansion in the European kingdoms. Europe at that time was facing constant disputes on its closely knitted states and principalities hence the political atmosphere was not conducive to economic activities. Without trade from the East (mainly referred to the Silk Road) the mercantile economy was paralyzed. The Mongol hordes rampaged Europe with: †¦A massive raid rather than a complete occupation; nevertheless, the picture she paints is chilling. Driving across the North German plain, the same route Cold War planners pictured for a Soviet invasion, the Mongols would have made use of expert reconnaissance to target plunder and grazing land. They would have sacked Belgium and Holland, destroying the embryonic financial centers of Europe. They would have turned south into France, destroying Paris and with it the revival of ancient philosophy that it would have hosted a few decades later. Perhaps they would have crossed the Alps and ravaged Italy, destroying the other birthplaces of the Renaissance†¦The Dark Ages were pure light compared to what could have happened (Dutch) With such factors, the European nations would not be able to reach a stage of economic growth. The Anglo Saxon and European kingdoms were limited to self-preservation and busied with internal conflicts, so if ever the Arabian Empire would pose a threat to the continent, the nations would not be able to respond accordingly. Though these nations were not totally annexed by the Arabian Empire, the age of explorations will not be like what it was in real history. The colonial powers of Europe may have not conquered parts of Africa because of a strong Islamic influence on the continent brought about by the healthy trade relations with the caliphates and emirates in the Islamic world. The Asian continents were already fortified with Islamic sultanates that had ensued from China, which was already an Islamic territory. The discovery of the New World may have not been possible because of the diverted attention of the European nations from exploration to warfare and territorial defense. The effects of these events could have paralyzed the entire European economy as they were scuttling for raw materials for their industries and caused a crisis in the production system making wars of aggression and annexation more often. It should be noted that the Crusades were, hypothetically, defeated by the Muslim armies thus, the Holy Land was in the sole custody of an Islamic state in the Palestine. If that was what had happened, there is a strong probability that the Zionist Israel will not exist therefore a more peaceful Middle East. It was also likely that the strong Islamic states have maintained the sovereignty of their oil resources and subsequently created a more prosperous oil industry free of European influences. Hence, the events that could have transpired in the 1200’s would have created a new world order wherein the Islamic culture is dominant. The majority of the world’s population could have been Muslims and with such superiority in number religious discrimination would be inexistent. It could have been possible that a nation in Middle East is today’s superpower not the United States. Such was the gravity of the alterations in world affairs that even as we speak, we would be subscribing to Arabic-speaking television networks. The dynamism of history is truly fragile. There are many possibilities in the historical development of human societies and each would yield another result. Works Cited Dutch, Steven. The Mongols. (1998). May 23, 2008 http://www. uwgb. edu/dutchs/WestTech/xmongol. htm. Hooker, Richard. The Establishment of the Bakufu. Japan, Korea and the Mongols. May 23, 2008 http://www. wsu. edu/~dee/FEUJAPAN/KAMAKURA. HTM. Phillips, E. D. The Mongols. Vol. 2. New York: Frederick A. Prager, 1969.