I used to wonder how did the Islamic Golden Age end, how did the Muslim World go from leader in science, technology and commerce to has-been. Now I see leaders in the West destroying in years what took centuries to build. Civilizations like living organisms go through cycles of birth, rise, stagnation and decline, some make a comeback in a different form like Europe after the Renaissance and China after Communism, and some don’t. Good thing we have other nations picking up after the decline of Western Civilization.
The Islamic golden age ended because of centuries of European crusades followed by the mongol invasion. It had little to do with a lack of appreciation for science and scientists.
But there is only so much scholars can do, when under relentless attacks by barbarians.
This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid (786 to 809) with the inauguration of the House of Wisdom, which saw scholars from all over the Muslim world flock to Baghdad, the world’s largest city at the time, to translate the known world’s classical knowledge into Arabic and Persian.[4] The 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.
There are a few alternative timelines. Some scholars extend the end date of the golden age to around 1350, including the Timurid Renaissance within it,[6][7] while others place the end of the Islamic Golden Age as late as the end of 15th to 16th centuries, including the rise of the Islamic gunpowder empires.
The Ottomans managed to siege Vienna centuries after the end of the Golden Age. They were not that behind in technology. Really the big change happened with the industrial revolution, which the islamic world mostly failed to implement. However at least the Ottomans managed to do a good enough job, to stand the ground against the Brits. Of the none Western world only Japan and depending on how you look at it Russia was better at adopting Western science and technology.
I used to wonder how did the Islamic Golden Age end, how did the Muslim World go from leader in science, technology and commerce to has-been. Now I see leaders in the West destroying in years what took centuries to build. Civilizations like living organisms go through cycles of birth, rise, stagnation and decline, some make a comeback in a different form like Europe after the Renaissance and China after Communism, and some don’t. Good thing we have other nations picking up after the decline of Western Civilization.
Well, actually, the US intervened in the islamic world.
Their golden age was long gone.
They might have had another if the US hadn’t pushed them around.
The Islamic golden age ended because of centuries of European crusades followed by the mongol invasion. It had little to do with a lack of appreciation for science and scientists.
But there is only so much scholars can do, when under relentless attacks by barbarians.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_Golden_Age
Probably more important is the next paragraph:
The Ottomans managed to siege Vienna centuries after the end of the Golden Age. They were not that behind in technology. Really the big change happened with the industrial revolution, which the islamic world mostly failed to implement. However at least the Ottomans managed to do a good enough job, to stand the ground against the Brits. Of the none Western world only Japan and depending on how you look at it Russia was better at adopting Western science and technology.
Iran and Moghul India did much worse though.