HIST 233: The Making of the Islamic World: 610-1258

This course surveys the history of Islamic civilization from the life of the prophet Muhammad in the early seventh century CE through the collapse of the Abbasid Caliphate in 1258. It explores the development of the Islamic religion and the formation and institutionalization of Islamic political and social institutions. It also explores the philosophical, scientific, and economic flourishing of the Islamic world’s “golden age” that began in Baghdad after 762. Also emphasized is the development of important regional centers of Islamic civilization across a vast territory stretching from Spain to the borders of China.