The Golden Age of Islam was a period from the 8th to 14th centuries where the Abbasid Caliphate became a center of learning, collecting knowledge from India, China, and ancient Greece while making significant contributions to mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, medicine, and geography. Caliphs built Baghdad as the hub of the Abbasid Caliphate, where scholars translated Greek texts and made scientific discoveries. This led to major advances in fields like algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and the establishment of the decimal number system. The Islamic Golden Age flourished until the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258 which marked the end of this period of intellectual growth.

1. The Golden
Age of Islam
By: Syed Zaid Aftab
Grade: VIII-E
Roll Number: 30
Submitted to: Ms. Lubna Fahim (Islamiat Teacher)
Islamiat Project:

2. How does the density of an
object affect its ability to float?

3. What exactly was the Golden
Age of Islam?
The Islamic Golden Age was a period of cultural,
economic, and scientific flourishing in the history of
Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to
the 14th century. This era was important for Muslims
because The Abbasid Caliphate becomes a center of
learning from the 9th to the 13th centuries, collecting the
knowledge of India, China and ancient Greece while
also making significant new contributions to
mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, medicine and
geography.

4. How did the Golden Age of Islam
originated?
Caliphs built and established Baghdad as the hub of the
Abbasid Caliphate. Scholars living in Baghdad
translated Greek texts and made scientific discoveries—
which is why this era, from the seventh to thirteenth
centuries CE, is named the Golden Age of Islam. The
introduction of paper in the 10th century enabled Islamic
scholars to easily write manuscripts; Arab scholars also
saved classic works of antiquity by translating them into
various languages.

5. How Significant was the City of Baghdad during the
Golden Age of Islam?
The city was founded in 762 as the
capital of the Abbasid dynasty of
caliphs, and for the next 500 years it
was the most significant cultural centre
of Arab and Islamic civilization and
one of the greatest cities of the world. It
was conquered by the Mongol leader
Hülegü in 1258, after which its
importance waned.
It was located near both the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers, making it an ideal spot
for food production that could sustain a
large population. The Abbasids built
Baghdad from scratch while maintaining
the network of roads and trade routes the
Persians had established before the
Umayyad Dynasty took over.Over the next
five centuries Islamic culture flourished
and Baghdad became renowned as a
centre of learning and tolerance. This
period is known as the Golden Age of
Islam.

6. Literature and Philosophy
With the introduction of paper, information was democratized and
it became possible to make a living from simply writing and selling
books. The use of paper spread from China into Muslim regions in
the 8th century, and then to Spain (and then the rest of Europe) in
the 10th century. Paper was easier to manufacture than parchment
and less likely to crack than papyrus, and could absorb ink,
making it difficult to erase and ideal for keeping records. Islamic
paper makers devised assembly-line methods of hand-copying
manuscripts to turn out editions far larger than any available in
Europe for centuries. The best known fiction from the Islamic world
is The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, which took form in
the 10th century and reached its final form by the 14th century,
although the number and type of tales vary.

7. Painting of the Ali Baba story in The
Book of One Thousand and One
Nights by Maxfield Parrish. The
introduction of paper in the 10th
century enabled Islamic scholars to
easily write manuscripts, including
The Book of One Thousand and One
Nights. Arab scholars also saved
classic works of antiquity by
translating them into various
languages.

8. Important progress was made, such as full
development of the decimal place-value
system to include decimal fractions, the first
systematized study of algebra, and
advances in geometry and trigonometry.
Arabic works played an important role in
the transmission of mathematics to Europe
during the 10th to 12th centuries.
Algebra was invented byMuhammad ibn
Musa al-Khwarizmi, a Muslim
mathematician wrote a book in 9th
century named "Kitab Al-Jabr" from
which the word "ALGEBRA" derived. So
algebra was invented in the 9th century.
Advancements in Mathematics

9. Advancement in Science and Medicine
Science: The Arabs assimilated the
scientific knowledge of the civilizations
they had conquered, including the
ancient Greek, Roman, Persian,
Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, and
Phoenician civilizations. Scientists
recovered the Alexandrian
mathematical, geometric, and
astronomical knowledge, such as that
of Euclid and Claudius Ptolemy.
Medicine: Medicine was a central part of medieval
Islamic culture. Responding to circumstances of time
and place, Islamic physicians and scholars developed
a large and complex medical literature exploring and
synthesizing the theory and practice of medicine.
Islamic medicine was built on tradition, chiefly the
theoretical and practical knowledge developed in
India, Greece, Persia, and Rome. Islamic scholars
translated their writings from Syriac, Greek, and
Sanskrit into Arabic and then produced new medical
knowledge based on those texts. In order to make the
Greek tradition more accessible, understandable, and
teachable, Islamic scholars organized the Greco-
Roman medical knowledge into encyclopedias.

10. The End of the Golden Era of Islam
The Mongol conquest of the Abbasid Caliphate culminated in the horrific sack of
Baghdad that effectively ended the Islamic Golden Age. The Islamic Golden Age—
from the 8th to the mid-13th century—was one of the greatest periods of human
flourishment in knowledge and progress, with Baghdad as its focal point. In short
this period is traditionally said to have ended with the collapse of the Abbasid caliphate
due to Mongol invasions and the Siege of Baghdad in 1258.