Films: "The Arabs make Their Entrance: Islam and Empire"; "Once Upon a Time: Baghdad during the Abbasid Dynasty."

I. The reconfiguration of politics, economics and culture as a result of the rise of Islam.

II. Brief comments on Muslim beliefs and diversity.

A. Monotheism.
B. Muhammad the last in a line of prophets.
C. Islamic "scriptures."
D. The "five pillars" of Islam: ease of conversion and sense of community.
E. Diversity within Islam: Sunnis, including Sufis; Shiites.
F. Attitude toward followers of other monotheistic "religions of the book."

III. The creation of a great empire.

A. A look at the map.
B. A tale of two cities?

1. The Umayyids and Damascus: architecture, mosaics and coins.
2. The Abbasids and Baghdad: Khalid b. Barmak from Balkh and the round city; the "House of Wisdom"; Kalila wa Dimna (tr. by Ibn al-Muqaffa).

B. Statistical profile of conversion.
C. Political fragmentation within a framework of common belief.
D. The importance of Arabic--Ibn Battuta's 14th century evidence.
E. The economy; the "Pirenne thesis."

IV. The Arabs in Central Asia.

A. Chronology of conquest.
B. The local cultural response.

1. The fate of the Sogdians: Divashtich; the palace at Varakhsha.
2. Regional autonomy and culture in Khurasan: rebellions of Bihafarid, Sunbadh, al-Muqanna (Frye, ch. 7).

C. The Samanids and the real Islamization of Central Asia (Frye, pp. 200-207).
D. The significance of the Turkic "states."

V. Video: "The Muslim Town under the Caliphate."