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One Battle, Two Chronicles: Tours, 732

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One Battle, Two Chronicles: Tours, 732

Read how Islam rose and spread, then compare a Frankish and an Arab account of the battle near Tours.

Rise, spread and achievements

Read the passage. Then answer the questions.

From Mecca to the Pyrenees

1Islam began in the Arabian city of Mecca in the early 600s. Muslims believe that, starting about 610, God revealed messages to the merchant Muhammad, and that these messages form the Quran. Muslims believe in one God and follow duties known as the Five Pillars: declaring their faith, praying five times a day, giving to people in need, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and making the hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca, once in a lifetime if they are able. By Muhammad's death in 632, most of Arabia had joined the Muslim community.

2The caliphs who led Muslims after him sent Arab armies beyond Arabia. The Byzantine and Persian empires had just fought each other for more than twenty years, and both were worn out. Within about twenty years, Arab armies took Syria, Egypt and most of Persia. In 711 a force under Tariq ibn Ziyad crossed from North Africa into Spain, which Muslims called al-Andalus. Muslim rulers would govern parts of al-Andalus for nearly 800 years. Many Christians and Jews in the conquered lands kept their own faith and paid a special tax, and many people became Muslims only slowly, over generations.

3Muslim cities became centers of learning. Al-Biruni used a mountain and careful angle measurements to estimate the size of the Earth. In Córdoba, the surgeon al-Zahrawi wrote a guide to surgery with drawings of about 200 instruments. In the 1200s, Ibn al-Nafis described how blood travels from the heart through the lungs and back. Large hospitals in cities such as Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo treated patients, often free of charge. Astronomers improved the astrolabe, a tool for measuring the height of stars to find the time and a traveler's position.

4Trade tied this world together. Merchants crossed deserts with camel caravans and sailed the Indian Ocean in ships called dhows. In city markets, an inspector called the muhtasib checked that scales and measures were honest. Goods, books and ideas moved from Spain to India along the same routes.

1.
Based on paragraph 2, what condition helped Arab armies win Syria and Persia so quickly?
Question 1 options
2.
Use paragraphs 3 and 4. Draw a line from each person to the achievement that would help him most.
3.
Which duty in paragraph 1 best explains why Muslims from distant lands met one another in Mecca each year?
Question 3 options
4.
How would the muhtasib's work most likely help long-distance trade?
Question 4 options

Two accounts of one battle

Read the background and the two accounts, adapted from English translations. Use only these and the passage to answer.

Background
In 732 (some historians say 733), Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi, the Muslim governor of al-Andalus, led a raid north across the Pyrenees into the land of the Franks, probably aiming at the rich church of St. Martin at Tours. Between Poitiers and Tours a Frankish army under Charles Martel stopped him. Abd al-Rahman was killed, and his army withdrew south during the night. Raids north of the Pyrenees went on for years afterward, and Muslim forces held the city of Narbonne, in southern France, until 759. Later Arab writers called the battlefield "the Pavement of the Martyrs."
Account 1: a Frankish chronicle
Written in the mid-700s, within about twenty years of the battle, under the direction of Count Childebrand, Charles Martel's half-brother.
"Prince Charles boldly drew up his battle lines against them, and the warrior rushed in against them. With Christ's help he overturned their tents and pressed on into the battle. Their king Abd al-Rahman was killed, and Charles destroyed the enemy army and scattered it."
Account 2: Ibn Abd al-Hakam, an Arab historian in Egypt
He died in 871 and wrote a history of the Muslim conquests of Egypt, North Africa and Spain. He gives the battle only a few lines.
"Abd al-Rahman was made governor of al-Andalus. He was a good man. He raided the Franks, the most distant enemies of al-Andalus, and won much booty. Then, in the year 115, he went out on a raid again, and he and his companions were killed as martyrs."
5.
Use only the two accounts. Sort each idea by the account or accounts that include it.
6.
Account 1 was written under the direction of Charles Martel's half-brother. How does this most likely affect the account?
Question 6 options
7.
Why might Ibn Abd al-Hakam give the battle only a few lines?
Question 7 options
8.
Which detail of the battle can historians be most confident about, and why?
Question 8 options
9.
The background says raids went on for years and Muslim forces held Narbonne until 759. Which claim do these facts challenge?
Question 9 options
10.
Later Arab writers called the battlefield "the Pavement of the Martyrs." What does this name suggest about how they remembered the battle?
Question 10 options
11.
Claim: The battle near Tours stopped Islam from spreading into Europe. Support or challenge this claim. Use evidence from both accounts, the background and the passage, and explain your reasoning.