The role of the Turks of Central Asia in the “Islamic Renaissance”

Abstract

The period of the Arab Caliphate between 9th – 12th centuries was a time of unprecedented development of science and culture, commonly referred to as the “Islamic Renaissance”. The Turks played an important role in this movement. It is precisely through the synthesis of Arab, Persian and Turkic cultures that it is possible to explain the cultural explosion of the Early Islamic period. This cultural process coincided with the introduc-tion of the Turks into the administrative system of the Arab Caliphate. The Turks specifically were the initiators and architects of the creative process of this new Islamic culture. The Turks not only spearheaded this process but also they were its most active participants