Political Structure

Umayyad
- Damascus is the capital
- set up a theocracy (ruled by religion)
- governed by arab elite Muslims who
look down upon non Arab converts
(known as Mawali)
- Inspiration for law (known as the
Sharia Law) was the Koran
Caliphs were resented by soldiers
because they lived very lavish, non-
Islamic style lives

Abbasid
- bureaucracy of absolute authority
under the Sharia Law
- governed mostly by Persian
bureaucrats in a Persian
bureaucratic style
- had a Wazir (chief operating officer)