Introduction:

Importance of Middle East and Gulf region is acclaimed since ancient

times. It has a rich and vibrant history. It is believed that first wheel and first
human civilization were emerged in this region thousands of years ago.
Objective of this report is to read and analyze history of Middle East and Gulf.
Reading about history is important to understand that how our forefathers
struggled and what factors shaped our current civilization. Studying history
gave us an opportunity to see how Arab world transformed from a barren
tribal civilization to a developing region. This also revealed that how great
Arab historians and philosophers contributed on global level and how our
women took active part historically in our society and economy. This report
gives a brief description about different aspects of Middle Eastern history.

First topic I selected for this report was about work of Ibn Khaldun who was a
premier sociologist and philosopher of history. Secondly I selected to read
about role of Women in Arab & Gulf. Finally I decided to do small research on
how decline of Ottoman Empire shaped current Middle Eastern region.

To compile this report I searched internet for many different websites,

summarized and wrote what I learnt in given pattern.

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Ibn-Khaldun & His Work:
Born in 1332 at Tunisia, Ibn Khaldun is rightfully regarded as the most
prominent and great philosopher of the middle ages. He was a great
historian, sociologist and philosopher of his times. His extraordinary
philosophical work, writings, books and ideas are still acclaimed worldwide
for their rationality and usefulness. Influence of his work is seen worldwide
and appreciated for its ingenuity.

Figure 1: Picture of Ibn Khaldun on the 10 Tunisian Dinar bill (Source: WikiPedia)

Ibn Khaldun was an Arabian scholar who devoted his life to the history,
philosophy and sociology. During Ibn Khalduns era, the mighty Abbasid
Caliphate was almost perished after siege of Baghdad in late 13 th century
and Mamluks were also getting weaker. On
the other hand another Muslim Caliphate was
shaping in Turkey as Ottoman Empire. Being a
Muslim philosopher and historian, Ibn Khaldun
was very impressed by the glorious history of
Muslims rule and at the same time he was
also depressed upon decline of Muslims at
global super power. So he decided to write
about the cause and effects of any civilization
or government that how they emerge,
progress and finally decline and become part
of history. He wrote books about history of the
world and specifically focused upon Muslim history.

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His most notable work is Kitab-al-Ibar or Figure 2: Autograph of Ibn
Khaldun on one of his books-Top
Books of Lessons which is a universal history left corner.
(Source:
books. It is a comprehensive books in which Ibn Khaldun compiled history
before him and specifically it gives a clear picture of Arabs and Berber
history. Part of his book Muqaddimah or Prolegomena is sometimes
considered as a completely different book and most important work in
philosophy of history. In this book he thoroughly analyzed rise and fall of
different societies, civilizations, kingdoms. He was also a great sociologist
and elaborately described that how different societies and also discussed
traits which define fate of any society or civilization.

Women in Arab & Gulf History:

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 Arab civilization is basically driven by its tribal culture. In tribal
societies men are mostly responsible for providing food, hunting, earning for
families, wars and conflict resolutions. That is the
reason why Arab men were portrayed more
prominently in the history. On the other hand women
are totally responsible for the up keep of family,
making food, fetching water, collecting woods,
growing children and looking after their families when
men are not at home. This division of work created a
perception that Arab women are not as powerful as
Figure 3: Costumes of
elsewhere despite of their total devotion and work for Arab Women in 6th
Century (Source:
their family. On the contrary if we dig deep down the WikiPedia)

history we can see independent Arab

businesswomen, preachers and supporters
of their men on war fronts. Despite of all
cultural constrains historically Arab women
played pivotal role in society. There are
many examples in history of Arab women

Figure 4:Mausoleum Khadija, when they proved their abilities. A very

Jannatul Mualla cemetery, in
Mecca, before its destruction by prominent is Hazrat Khadeeja bint Khuwaild
Al-Saud (Source:WikiPedia)
who was first wife of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). She was a prominent
business woman in ancient Mecca City. She was a trader and sent her own
trade caravans to distant countries. She sent marriage proposal to the
Prophet herself via her friend. She is a perfect example of an independent
business woman from Arab history.

Transformation of Arab World after Ottoman Empire:

Ottoman Empire which is sometimes also referred as Ottoman
Caliphate was the last multinational super power kingdom of the Muslims.
After the weakening of Umayyad, Abbasid, Mamluks and Fatimid, Muslims

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accepted Ottoman Turks as their Caliph and
consequently whole of Arabian Peninsula
and Middle East was in their control till First
World War. First World War brought decline
of Ottoman Empire and resulted in the
partition of Arab and gulf region in 1922.
Western powers at the time of war believe
that they will eventually over through weak
central Ottoman Government so they
anticipated the need to control this region
Figure 5: The original secret Sykes-
due to its strategic positioning and fear of Picot map of 1916: "A" would go to
France, "B" to Britain.(Source:
Russian involvement in this area. After bbc.com)

defeat of Turkey, Arabian Peninsula was given in control of Al-Saud and

renamed as Saudi Arabia. Imperial
powers Britain and France decided it
before attacking on Turkey that how
they will divide remaining Arab world
in different countries. A secret Sykes-
Picot agreement was made between
French and Britain in 1916 which
divided territories outside the Arabian
Peninsula into regions of British and
Figure 6: Map of Middle East after Ottoman
Empire (Source: bbc.com) French influenced areas. These areas
now include Palestine, Israel, Jordon, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, UAE and other
Arab countries. Consequently decline of Ottoman Empire led the foundation
of current Middle East countries. These French and Britain regions then got
their freedom within coming decades and after Second World War they
further divided into different small countries which exist today.

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Reflections:
Studying about Ibn Khaldun revealed that researching history is an
opportunity to learn from mistakes of old societies and rectify them to make
our present a better society. On the other hand by reading about the history
of Arab women I learned about their self independence. I understood that in
contrary to many western scholars who believe that historically women in
Arab and Gulf were not as active as in other parts of the world, reality is
somewhat different. Infect Arabian Women played vital role throughout the
Arab history. It was only due to different social values and culture norms of
Arabs that important work by women remained unnoticed and unaccounted
for centuries. Finally I learned that how different nations utilize wars to meet
their own agenda and sometimes in far future that agenda can produce
different results. . British and French divided Middle East for their own
purpose but they could not hold it up for long and finally it ended up in
current state of different countries in Arab World.

Studying history gives us an opportunity to look how people before us live

and what deeds made them still memorable. Learning though history
perfectly matches the quote of Sheikh Zayed, Those who do not know their
past dont know their future. This is true no matter where we are. It is the
history that helps us understanding our past and prepares us to take right
decisions for our present and the future.

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Bibliography:

Ibn Khaldun: His Life and Works

http://muslimheritage.com/article/ibn-khaldun-his-life-and-works
Ibn Khaldun
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Khaldun
Ibn Khaldun
http://epicworldhistory.blogspot.com/2013/07/ibn-khaldun.html
Women in Arab Societies
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_Arab_societies
Muslim Women in History
http://www.loonwatch.com/2014/03/15-important-muslim-women-in-
history/
Partitioning of Ottoman Empire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partitioning_of_the_Ottoman_Empire
Sykes Picot Plan
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-25299553

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