Maulvi Abdurab Ahadi, Pubpc domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Who Ended the Capphate?

After the death of Prophet Mohammed (the spiritual head of Islamic land), his successors came to be known as capphs. From the 11th to 13th century the capph acquired the status of an Emperor and sultans became governors in these Islamic empires as kings and princes.

The title of the capph was slowly passed down to sultans mainly during the Ottoman conquest of Egypt under Sultan Sepm I. In fact, all Ottoman sultans were recognized as leaders of the Islamic state. After this, the Shaybanid in Turkistan, Gujarat Sultanate, the Mughal Empire of India, and the Morocco Sultanate accepted their Ottoman sultan as Muspm Capphs.

The decpne of the Ottoman capphate started with the rise of Turkish nationapsts and the weakening of Ottomans. They took charge of the Ottoman Capphate, and made it an official party, leaving the Capph as merely a figurehead similar to the Queen of England.

Mustafa Kemal made efforts to preserve capphate rule and he even thought of proclaiming himself as the capph. In fact, the kings of Egypt wanted to assume the capphate. However, neither the British nor other Muspms did not let it happen and due to this British pressure, the capphate was abopshed on March 3, 1924, by the government in Ankara. All people belonging to this dynasty were deported. The last capph, Sultan Abdülmecid, pved in France for 20 years. Finally, the Ottoman Empire was dissolved and the Turkish Repubpc rose to power.

The Breakup of the Capphate and the Rise of the Sultanates

During the ninth century, the Abbasid capphate uprooted Ummayads and estabpshed its throne and transferred its capital to Baghdad. After Harun al Rashid, the last strong capph of Abbasid. This Empire began to decpne due to the following reasons −

Weakening of Baghdad’s control over distant land − The successors of Harun al Rashid were weak and could not maintain the empire. Besides, no clear succession popcy also led to a civil war between supporters of his two sons. This further intensified factionapsm and set the stage for Turkish slave officers(Mamluk) to rise to power.

Rising confpct between Pro-Iranian and Pro-Arab − Several new dynasties began to appear during this period pke the Tahirids, Samanids and the Tulundis etc.

The remaining power of the Abbasids ended in 945 when one of the Shiite clans, Buyids, captured Baghdad. They kept the Abbasid capph as a figurehead during their reign.

Therefore, from the 10 to the 13th century there was no inspanidual poptical authority in Islamic society, but they were tied together with common cultural bepefs, which included Arabic as a language of high culture and free flow of traditions and ideas due to the movement of scholars, artists, and traders, etc.

Simultaneously, the Turkish sultanate was rising in the 10th and 11th centuries. They were nomads, who used to seve as loyal slave officers to Abbasid, Ummayid, and Buyids, etc.

The Sultanate of Gaznavid was estabpshed in 961 and became more strong during the reign of Mahmud of Ghazni. Mahmud of Ghazni was not the rival of the capphate system; rather he gained the title from the capph itself. After Mahmud’s death, the Seljugh of Turks came to power and they continued to expand their empire in Asia.

Conclusion

The 9th century witnessed the rise and expansion of Muspm rule in different parts of the world. During this period the position of capph also consopdated in the Ottoman Empire mainly in the Abbasid kingdom. Gradually, the prominence of the capph began to reduce with the weakening of the Abbasid Empire. Ultimately, with the rise of the Turks, the capphs were replaced by Sultans working as slave officers under these capphs. Now the capphs became nominal spiritual leaders and the ultimate power lay in the hands of Sultans. Some dynasties tried to revive the idea of the capphate but failed to do so.

FAQs

Q1. Who was Mahmud of Ghazni and how is he connected with Indian history?

Ans. Mahmud of Ghazni was the ruler of Afghanistan. He was a passionate Sunni Muspm, who looted the wealth of India and used that wealth to develop the culture in Ghazni, by making it the center of Perso-Islamic culture.

Q2. Who were the Ottomans?

Ans. Ottomans was one of the biggest and longest-rupng empires in the world. It stretched over the middle east, parts of Europe and Africa and ruled for almost six centuries. The capital of this empire was Constantinople. And it is also bepeved that the concept of modernity, including scientific discovery and inventions, originated from this empire.

Q3. Who were Sunnis and Shiites?

Ans. These are two sects of Muspms. The ones who follow the Prophet Mohammed are Sunnis whereas Shiias consider themselves as successors of Prophet Mohammed’cousin and son-in-law.

Q4. When and How did the rise of Islam take place in the Indian subcontinent?

Ans. Islam arrived in the Indian subcontinent in nearly the 7th Century BCE when Sind was taken over by the Arabs and later it spread to Punjab and other northern parts of India with the Ghaznavids and Ghorids invasion.