Abbasid Caliphate: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Third Islamic caliphate (750–1258)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox Former Country
{{Infobox Former Country
| native_name = {{lang|ar|اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلْعَبَّاسِيَّةُ}} <br />{{transliteration|ar|al-Khilāfah al-ʿAbbāsiyyah}}
| native_name           = {{Rtl-lang|ar|اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلْعَبَّاسِيَّةُ}}
| conventional_long_name = Abbasid Caliphate
| conventional_long_name = Abbasid Caliphate
| common_name = Abbasids
| common_name           = Abbasids
| status = [[Empire]]
| status                 =  
| government_type = [[Caliphate]] (<small>[[Hereditary monarchy|Hereditary]]</small>)
*Early Abbasid era <br> (750–861)
| life_span = {{plainlist|
*Middle Abbasid era <br> (861–936)
*Later Abbasid era <br> (936–1258)
| government_type       = [[Caliphate]]
| life_span             = {{plainlist|
*750–1258
*750–1258
*1261–1517}}
*1261–1517}}
| year_start = 750
| year_start             = 750
| event1 = [[Anarchy at Samarra|Decline of Abbasids]]
| year_end               = 1517
| date_event1 = 861
| image_flag             = Abbasid banner.svg
| event3 = Death of [[Al-Radi]] and beginning of Later Abbasid era (940–1258).
| flag_caption           = [[Black Standard]]<ref>The [[Abbasid Revolution]] against the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] adopted black for its ''rāyaʾ'' for which their partisans were called the ''{{transl|ar|musawwid}}''s. {{citation | title=Abbāsid Authority Affirmed | author=Tabari | year=1995 | publisher=SUNY | volume=28 |editor1=Jane McAuliffe |page=124}}
| date_event3 = 940
Their rivals chose other colours in reaction; among these, forces loyal to [[Marwan II]] adopted red. {{cite book | author=Patricia Crone | title=The Nativist Prophets of Early Islam | url=https://archive.org/details/nativistprophets0000cron |year=2012 |page=[https://archive.org/details/nativistprophets0000cron/page/122 122]| isbn=9781107018792 }}. The choice of black as the colour of the Abbasid Revolution was already motivated by the "black standards out of Khorasan" tradition associated with the [[Mahdi]]. The contrast of white vs. black as the Umayyad vs. Abbasid dynastic colour over time developed in white as the colour of Shia Islam and black as the colour of Sunni Islam: "The proselytes of the ʿAbbasid revolution took full advantage of the eschatological expectations raised by black banners in their campaign to undermine the Umayyad dynasty from within. Even after the ʿAbbasids had triumphed over the Umayyads in 750, they continued to deploy black as their dynastic colour; not only the banners but the headdresses and garments of the ʿAbbasid caliphs were black ... The ubiquitous black created a striking contrast with the banners and dynastic color of the Umayyads, which had been white ... The Ismaili Shiʿite counter-caliphate founded by the Fatimids took white as its dynastic color, creating a visual contrast to the ʿAbbasid enemy ... white became the Shiʿite color, in deliberate opposition to the black of the ʿAbbasid 'establishment'." Jane Hathaway, ''A Tale of Two Factions: Myth, Memory, and Identity in Ottoman Egypt and Yemen'', 2012, [https://books.google.com/books?id=L-lPC7DgepEC&pg=PA96 p. 97f.] After the revolution, Islamic apocalyptic circles admitted that the Abbasid banners would be black but asserted that the Mahdi's standard would be black and larger. David Cook (2002). ''Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic'', p. 153.
| event4 = Mongol [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|sack of Baghdad]]
Anti-Abbasid circles cursed "the black banners from the East", "first and last". {{cite book | author=Patricia Crone | title=The Nativist Prophets of Early Islam | url=https://archive.org/details/nativistprophets0000cron |year=2012 |page=[https://archive.org/details/nativistprophets0000cron/page/243 243]| isbn=9781107018792 }}</ref><br />
| date_event4 = 1258
| p1                     = Umayyad Caliphate
| event2 =
| s1                     = Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)
| year_end = 1517
| s2                     = Ottoman Empire
| event_end =
| s3                     = Ghurid Sultanate
| event_start = Establishment
| s4                     = Fatimid Caliphate
| image_flag = Abbasid banner.svg
| s5                     = Seljuk Empire
| flag_caption = [[Black Standard|The Black Standard]]{{refn|group=nb|1=The [[Abbasid Revolution]] against the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] adopted black for its ''rāyaʾ'' for which their partisans were called the ''{{transliteration|ar|musawwid}}''s.<ref>{{citation | title=Abbāsid Authority Affirmed | author=Tabari | year=1995 | publisher=SUNY | volume=28 |editor1=Jane McAuliffe |page=124|mode=cs1}}</ref>
| s6                     = Saffarid dynasty
Their rivals chose other colours in reaction; among these, forces loyal to [[Marwan II]] adopted red.<ref>{{harvnb|Crone|2012|p=122}}</ref> The choice of black as the colour of the Abbasid Revolution was already motivated by the "black standards out of Khorasan" tradition associated with the [[Mahdi]]. The contrast of white vs. black as the Umayyad vs. Abbasid dynastic colour over time developed in white as the colour of Shia Islam and black as the colour of Sunni Islam: "The proselytes of the ʿAbbasid revolution took full advantage of the eschatological expectations raised by black banners in their campaign to undermine the Umayyad dynasty from within. Even after the ʿAbbasids had triumphed over the Umayyads in 750, they continued to deploy black as their dynastic colour; not only the banners but the headdresses and garments of the ʿAbbasid caliphs were black ... The ubiquitous black created a striking contrast with the banners and dynastic color of the Umayyads, which had been white ... The Ismaili Shiʿite counter-caliphate founded by the Fatimids took white as its dynastic color, creating a visual contrast to the ʿAbbasid enemy ... white became the Shiʿite color, in deliberate opposition to the black of the ʿAbbasid 'establishment'."<ref>Jane Hathaway, ''A Tale of Two Factions: Myth, Memory, and Identity in Ottoman Egypt and Yemen'', 2012, [https://books.google.com/books?id=L-lPC7DgepEC&pg=PA96 p. 97f.]</ref> After the revolution, Islamic apocalyptic circles admitted that the Abbasid banners would be black but asserted that the Mahdi's standard would be black and larger.<ref>David Cook (2002). ''Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic'', p. 153.</ref>
| s7                     = Ziyadid dynasty
Anti-Abbasid circles cursed "the black banners from the East", "first and last".<ref>{{harvnb|Crone|2012|p=243}}</ref>}}
| s8                     = Tulunid dynasty
| p1 = Umayyad Caliphate
| flag_s8                =  
| p2 = Dabuyid dynasty
| s9                    = Mongol Empire
| s1 = Mamluk Sultanate
| image_map             = Abbasids850.png
| s2 = Mongol Empire
| image_map_caption     = Abbasid Caliphate at its greatest extent, {{circa|850}}
| s3 = Ottoman Empire
| capital               = {{plainlist|
| s4 = Emirate of Córdoba
*[[Kufa]]<br>{{small|(750–752)}}
| s5 = Idrisid dynasty
*[[Anbar (town)|Anbar]]<br>{{small|(752–762)}}
| s6 = Ziyarid dynasty
*[[Weh Antiok Khosrow|al-Rumiyyah]]
| s7 = Sajid dynasty
*[[Baghdad]]<br>{{small|(762–796, 809–836, 892–1258)}}
| s8 = Saffarid dynasty
*[[Raqqa]]<br>{{small|(796–809)}}
| s9 = Fatimid Caliphate
*[[Abbasid Samarra|Samarra]]<br>{{small|(836–892)}}
| s10 = Buyid dynasty
*[[Cairo]]<br>{{small|(1261–1517)}}}}
| s11 = Ottoman Caliphate
| common_languages       = [[Classical Arabic]] (central administration); various regional languages
| image_map = Abbasid Caliphate 850AD.png
| religion               = [[Sunni Islam]]
| image_map_caption = The Abbasid Caliphate in {{circa|850}}
| currency               = {{plainlist|
| capital = {{plainlist|
*[[Kufa]]<br />(750–752)
*[[Anbar (town)|Anbar]]<br />(752–762)
*[[Weh Antiok Khosrow|al-Rumiyyah]]<br />(some month in 762)
*[[Baghdad]]<br />(762–796, 809–836, 892–1258)
*[[Raqqa]]<br />(796–809)
*[[Merv]]<br />(811–815)
*[[Abbasid Samarra|Samarra]]<br />(836–892)
*[[Cairo]]<br />(1261–1517)}}
| common_languages = [[Classical Arabic]] (central administration); various regional languages
| religion = [[Sunni Islam]]
| currency = {{plainlist|
*[[Gold dinar|Dinar]] (gold coin)
*[[Gold dinar|Dinar]] (gold coin)
*[[Dirham]] (silver coin)
*[[Dirham]] (silver coin)
*[[Fals]] (copper coin)}}
*[[Fals]] (copper coin)}}
| leader1 = [[As-Saffah]] (first)
| leader1               = [[As-Saffah]] {{small|(first)}}
| year_leader1 = 750–754
| year_leader1           = 750–754
| leader2 = [[Al-Musta'sim]] (last Caliph in Baghdad)
| leader2               = [[Al-Musta'sim]] {{small|(last Caliph in Baghdad)}}
| year_leader2 = 1242–1258
| year_leader2           = 1242–1258
| leader3 = [[al-Mutawakkil III]] (last Caliph in Cairo)
| leader3               = [[al-Mutawakkil III]] {{small|(last Caliph in Cairo)}}
| year_leader3 = 1508–1517
| year_leader3           = 1508–1517
| title_leader = [[List of Abbasid caliphs|Caliph]]
| title_leader           = [[List of Abbasid caliphs|Caliph]]
| footnotes =  
| footnotes             = [[Amir al-Mu'minin]] ({{lang|ar|أمير المؤمنين}}), [[Caliph]] ({{lang|ar|خليفة}})
| today =  
| today                 =  
| GDP_PPP =  
| GDP_PPP               =  
| HDI_year =  
| HDI_year               =  
| HDI =  
| HDI                   =  
| GDP_PPP_year =  
| GDP_PPP_year           =  
| area_rank =  
| area_rank             =  
| area_km2 =  
| area_km2               =  
| demonym =  
| demonym               =  
| flag_size = 130px
| flag_size             = 130px
| alt_coat = Inscribed Banner of the Abbasids
| alt_coat               = Inscribed Banner of the Abbasid
}}
}}
{{Caliphate|Main}}
The '''Abbasid Caliphate'''<ref>''Abbasid'' ({{lang-ar|لعبّاسيّون}}, transcription ''al-‘Abbāsīyūn'') is the dynastic name generally given to the [[caliph]] of [[Baghdad]]</ref> was the third of the four greatest Muslim [[caliphate]]s of the Arab Empire. It overthrew the [[Umayyad Empire|Umayyad]] caliphs from all but [[Al-Andalus]]. It was built by the descendant of [[Muhammad]]'s youngest uncle, [[Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib]]. It was created in [[Harran]] in [[750]] of the [[Christian]] era and shifted its capital in AD 762 from [[Harran]] to [[Baghdad]]. It flourished for two centuries, surviving the Zanj Rebellion (869-883). Abbasid rule was ended in 1258, when [[Hulagu Khan]], the [[Mongols|Mongol]] conqueror, [[Battle of Baghdad (1258)|sacked Baghdad]]. But they continued to claim authority in religious matters from their base in [[Egypt]].
{{History of Iraq}}


The '''Abbasid Caliphate''' ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|b|æ|s|ᵻ|d|}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|b|ə|s|ᵻ|d|}} {{lang-ar|اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلْعَبَّاسِيَّةُ}}, ''{{transliteration|ar|al-Khilāfah al-ʿAbbāsiyyah}}'') was the third [[caliphate]] to succeed the [[Islamic prophet]] [[Muhammad]]. It was founded by a [[Abbasid dynasty|dynasty]] descended from the prophet's uncle, [[Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib]] (566–653 [[Common Era|CE]]), from whom the [[dynasty]] takes its name.{{sfn|Hoiberg|2010|p=10}} They ruled as [[List of Abbasid caliphs|caliphs]] for most of the caliphate from their capital in [[Round city of Baghdad|Baghdad]] in modern-day [[Iraq]], after having overthrown the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] in the [[Abbasid Revolution]] of 750 [[Common Era|CE]] (132&nbsp;[[anno Hegirae|AH]]). The Abbasid Caliphate first centered its government in [[Kufa]], modern-day [[Iraq]], but in 762 the caliph [[Al-Mansur]] founded the city of [[Baghdad]], near the ancient [[Babylonian Empire|Babylonian]] capital city of [[Babylon]]. Baghdad became the center of [[Science in the medieval Islamic world|science]], [[Islamic culture|culture]] and [[List of inventions in the medieval Islamic world|invention]] in what became known as the [[Islamic Golden Age|Golden Age of Islam]]. This, in addition to housing several key academic institutions, including the [[House of Wisdom]], as well as a multiethnic and multi-religious environment, garnered it a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning".
During the period of the Abassid dynasty, Abassid claims to the caliphate did not go unchallenged. The {{Unicode| Shiˤa}} [[Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah]] of the Fatimid dynasty, which claimed descendency of Muhammad through his daughter, claimed the title of Caliph in 909 and created a separate line of caliphs in North Africa. Initially it covered only [[Morocco]], [[Algeria]], [[Tunisia]] and [[Libya]], but then the [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid caliphs]] extended their rule for the next 150 years, taking Egypt and [[Palestine]] and even ancient [[Pakistan]], before the Abbassid dynasty was able to turn the tide, limiting Fatimid rule to Egypt. The Fatimid dynasty finally ended in 1171. The Umayyad dynasty, which had survived and come to rule over the Muslim provinces of Spain, reclaimed the title of Caliph in 929, lasting until it was overthrown in 1031.


The Abbasid period was marked by dependence on [[Persia]]n bureaucrats (such as the [[Barmakids|Barmakid]] family) for governing the territories as well as an increasing inclusion of [[mawla|non-Arab Muslims]] in the ''[[ummah]]'' (Muslim community). [[Persianate customs|Persian customs]] were broadly adopted by the ruling elite, and they began patronage of artists and scholars.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Canfield|first1=Robert L.|title=Turko-Persia in Historical Perspective|date=2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521522915|page=5}}</ref> Despite this initial cooperation, the Abbasids of the late 8th century had alienated both non-Arab ''[[mawali]]'' (clients)<ref>{{Cite web|title = ABŪ MOSLEM ḴORĀSĀNĪ – Encyclopaedia Iranica|url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abu-moslem-abd-al-rahman-b|website = www.iranicaonline.org|access-date = 20 November 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151122132055/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abu-moslem-abd-al-rahman-b|archive-date = 22 November 2015|url-status = live|df = dmy-all}}</ref> and Persian bureaucrats.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The History of Government from the Earliest Times: Volume II: The Intermediate Ages p.720|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=AhEab85xHAMC|publisher = OUP Oxford|date = 1 January 1999|isbn = 9780198207900|first = S. E.|last = Finer}}</ref> They were forced to cede authority over [[al-Andalus]] (current [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]]) to the [[Emirate of Córdoba|Umayyads]] in 756, [[Maghreb|Morocco]] to the [[Idrisid dynasty|Idrisid]]s in 788, [[Ifriqiya]] and [[Sicily]] to the [[Aghlabids]] in 800, [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] and [[Transoxiana]] to the [[Samanid Empire|Samanid]]s and [[Persia]] to the [[Saffarid dynasty|Saffarid]]s in the 870s, and [[Egypt in the Middle Ages|Egypt]] to the [[Isma'ili]]-[[Shia]] caliphate of the [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid]]s in 969.
The tenth caliph, namely Al-Mutawakkil, is the person who oversaw the introduction of hadiths.<ref>History of al-Tabari Vol. 34, The: Incipient Decline, page 149</ref>


The political power of the caliphs was limited with the rise of the Iranian [[Buyids]] and the [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuq Turks]], who captured [[Baghdad]] in 945 and 1055, respectively. Although Abbasid leadership over the vast [[Islamic empire]] was gradually reduced to a ceremonial religious function in much of the Caliphate, the dynasty retained control of its [[Mesopotamian]] domain during the rule of Caliph [[Al-Muqtafi]] and extended into [[Iran]] during the reign of Caliph [[Al-Nasir]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Richards|first=D. S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wOzeDwAAQBAJ&q=Al-Nasir+isfahan&pg=PT28|title=The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for the Crusading Period from al-Kamil fi'l-Ta'rikh. Part 3: The Years 589–629/1193–1231: The Ayyubids after Saladin and the Mongol Menace|date=2020-04-22|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-351-89281-0|language=en}}</ref> The Abbasids age of cultural revival and fruition ended in 1258 with the [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|sack of Baghdad]] by the [[Mongol Empire|Mongols]] under [[Hulagu Khan]] and the execution of [[Al-Musta'sim]]. The Abbasid line of rulers, and Muslim culture in general, re-centred themselves in the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk]] capital of [[Cairo]] in 1261. Though lacking in political power (with the brief exception of Caliph [[Al-Musta'in (Cairo)|Al-Musta'in of Cairo]]), the dynasty continued to claim religious authority until a few years after the [[Ottoman dynasty|Ottoman]] [[Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–17)|conquest of Egypt]] in 1517,{{sfn|Holt|1984}} with the last Abbasid caliph being [[Al-Mutawakkil III]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-06-11 |title=الكتاب : التاريخ الإسلامي - الموضوع : المتوكل على الله "الثالث" محمد بن يعقوب المستمسك بالله |url=http://www.islampedia.com/MIE2/tarikh/105mouta.html |access-date=2022-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611061336/http://www.islampedia.com/MIE2/tarikh/105mouta.html |archive-date=11 June 2008 }}</ref>
==Related pages==
* [[Sunni Islam]]
* [[Islamic Golden Age]]


==History==
== Notes ==
{{reflist}}


===Abbasid Revolution (750–751)===
== External links ==
{{main|Abbasid Revolution}}
* [http://www.princeton.edu/~batke/itl/denise/abbasids.htm Abbasids (750-1517)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080224011720/http://www.princeton.edu/~batke/itl/denise/abbasids.htm |date=2008-02-24 }}
The Abbasid caliphs were [[Arab people|Arabs]] descended from [[Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib]], one of the youngest uncles of [[Muhammad]] and of the same [[Banu Hashim]] clan. The Abbasids claimed to be the true successors of Muhammad in replacing the Umayyad descendants of [[Umayya ibn Abd Shams|Banu Umayya]] by virtue of their closer bloodline to Muhammad.
* [http://www.islamicarchitecture.org/dynasties/abbasids.html Abbasids the 2nd dynasty of caliphs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713121924/http://www.islamicarchitecture.org/dynasties/abbasids.html |date=2019-07-13 }}
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_20060202.shtml Abbasid Caliphs (In Our Time, Radio 4)], in Streaming RealAudio
* [http://synkronyzer.wordpress.com/tag/islamic-history/ An On-Going Detailed Account of the History of the Abbasids from an Islamic perspective. Most of the narrations have been sifted through to avoid "biased" theories regardless if the historians as mentioned are Shiite or Sunni.]
* [http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v1f1/v1f1a052.html Abbasid Caliphate] entry in [http://www.iranica.com/newsite/ Encyclopaedia Iranica]


The Abbasids also distinguished themselves from the Umayyads by attacking their moral character and administration in general. According to [[Ira Lapidus]], "The Abbasid revolt was supported largely by Arabs, mainly the aggrieved settlers of [[Merv]] with the addition of the Yemeni faction and their [[Mawali]]".{{sfn|Lapidus|2002|p=54}} The Abbasids also appealed to [[Ajam|non-Arab]] Muslims, known as ''[[Mawla|mawali]]'', who remained outside the kinship-based society of the Arabs and were perceived as a lower class within the Umayyad empire. [[Mohammad ibn Ali Abbasi|Muhammad ibn 'Ali]], a great-grandson of Abbas, began to campaign in [[Greater Persia|Persia]] for the return of power to the family of Muhammad, the [[Hashemites]], during the reign of [[Umar II]].
[[Category:Caliphates]]
 
[[Category:Former countries in the Middle East]]
During the reign of [[Marwan II]], this opposition culminated in the rebellion of {{ill|Ibrahim al-Imam|ca}}, the fourth in descent from Abbas. Supported by the province of [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] (Eastern Persia), even though the governor opposed them, and the Shia Arabs,{{sfn|Hoiberg|2010|p=10}}{{sfn|Dupuy|Dupuy|1986|p=233}} he achieved considerable success, but was captured in the year 747 and died, possibly assassinated, in prison.
[[Category:Former monarchies]]
 
[[Category:Former monarchies of Africa]]
On 9 June 747 (15 Ramadan AH 129), [[Abu Muslim]], rising from Khorasan, successfully initiated an open revolt against Umayyad rule, which was carried out under the sign of the [[Black Standard]]. Close to 10,000 soldiers were under Abu Muslim's command when the hostilities officially began in [[Merv (East Syrian Ecclesiastical Province)|Merv]].{{sfn|Lewis|1995|p=102}} [[Qahtaba ibn Shabib al-Ta'i|General Qahtaba]] followed the fleeing governor [[Nasr ibn Sayyar]] west defeating the Umayyads at the Battle of Gorgan, the [[Battle of Nahavand|Battle of Nahāvand]] and finally in the Battle of Karbala, all in the year 748.{{sfn|Dupuy|Dupuy|1986|p=233}}
[[Category:Former monarchies of Asia]]
 
[[Category:Former monarchies of Europe]]
[[File:Balami - Tarikhnama - Abu'l-'Abbas al-Saffah is proclaimed the first 'Abbasid Caliph (cropped).jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|Folio from the ''[[Tarikhnama]]'' of [[Muhammad Bal'ami|Bal'ami]] depicting [[As-Saffah|al-Saffah]] ([[Reign|r.]] 750–754) as he receives [[Bay'ah|pledges of allegiance]] in [[Kufa]]]]
The quarrel was taken up by Ibrahim's brother Abdallah, known by the name of [[As-Saffah|Abu al-'Abbas as-Saffah]], who defeated the Umayyads in 750 in the [[Battle of the Zab|battle near the Great Zab]] and was subsequently proclaimed [[caliph]].<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Abbasids|volume=1|page=10}}</ref> After this loss, [[Marwan II|Marwan]] fled to [[Egypt]], where he was subsequently killed. The remainder of his family, barring one male, were also eliminated.{{sfn|Dupuy|Dupuy|1986|p=233}}
 
Immediately after their victory, [[Saffah|As-Saffah]] sent his forces to [[Central Asia]], where his forces fought against [[Tang Dynasty|Tang]] expansion during the [[Battle of Talas]]. The noble Iranian family [[Barmakids]], who were instrumental in building [[Round city of Baghdad|Baghdad]], introduced the world's first recorded [[paper mill]] in the city, thus beginning a new era of intellectual rebirth in the Abbasid domain. As-Saffah focused on putting down numerous rebellions in Syria and [[Mesopotamia]]. The [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] conducted raids during these early distractions.{{sfn|Dupuy|Dupuy|1986|p=233}}
 
===Power (752–775)===
[[File:Baghdad 150 to 300 AH.png|thumb|upright=1.2|The city of [[Round city of Baghdad|Baghdad]] between 767 and 912 CE.]]
[[File:Battle of Talas.png|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Battle of Talas]], 751]]
The first change made by the Abbasids under [[Al-Mansur]] was to move the empire's capital from [[Damascus]] to a newly founded city. Established on the [[Tigris River]] in 762, [[Baghdad]] was closer to the Persian ''mawali'' support base of the Abbasids, and this move addressed their demand for less Arab dominance in the empire. A new position, that of the [[Vizier (Abbasid Caliphate)|wazir]], was also established to delegate central authority, and even greater authority was delegated to local emirs.<ref name="AHGC">{{harvnb|University of Calgary|1998}}</ref> Al-Mansur centralised the judicial administration, and later, [[Harun al-Rashid]] established the institution of Chief Qadi to oversee it.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tillier|first=Mathieu|doi=10.4000/books.ifpo.673|title=Les cadis d'Iraq et l'État Abbasside (132/750-334/945)|publisher=Presses de l’Ifpo|year=2009|isbn=978-2-35159-028-7|location=Damascus}}</ref>
 
This resulted in a more ceremonial role for many Abbasid caliphs relative to their time under the Umayyads; the viziers began to exert greater influence, and the role of the old Arab aristocracy was slowly replaced by a Persian bureaucracy.<ref name="AHGC"/> During Al-Mansur's time, control of [[Al-Andalus]] was lost, and the Shia revolted and were defeated a year later at the [[Alid revolt of 762–763|Battle of Bakhamra]].{{sfn|Dupuy|Dupuy|1986|p=233}}
 
The Abbasids had depended heavily on the support of Persians{{sfn|Hoiberg|2010|p=10}} in their overthrow of the Umayyads. Abu al-'Abbas' successor Al-Mansur welcomed non-Arab Muslims to his court. While this helped integrate Arab and Persian cultures, it alienated many of their Arab supporters, particularly the [[Khorasani Arabs|Khorasanian Arabs]] who had supported them in their battles against the Umayyads. This fissure in support led to immediate problems. The Umayyads, while out of power, were not destroyed; the only surviving member of the Umayyad royal family ultimately made his way to Spain where he established himself as an independent [[Emir]] ([[Abd ar-Rahman I]], 756). In 929, [[Abd ar-Rahman III]] assumed the title of Caliph, establishing [[Al Andalus]] from [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]] as a rival to Baghdad as the legitimate capital of the Islamic Empire.
 
The Umayyad empire was mostly Arab; however, the Abbasids progressively became made up of more and more converted Muslims in which the Arabs were only one of many ethnicities.{{sfn|Bobrick|2012|p=40}}
 
There is a late tradition of several [[Abbasid expeditions to East Africa]]. According to the ''[[Book of the Zanj]]'', in the year 755, during the early stages of the Abbasid Caliphate, the people of current day [[Somalia]] around [[Mogadishu]] showed great loyalty to the newly created administration. It is reported that Yahya ibn Umar al Anzi the messenger of the second caliph of the Abbasids [[Abu Ja'far al-Mansur]] that the Sultan of [[Mogadishu]] and his people swore allegiance to the Caliphate and paid taxes regularly. However, in the year 804 (189 AH), the people of [[Mogadishu]] and the [[Swahili coast]] to [[Kilwa Kisiwani|Kilwa]] rebelled against the Abbasid rule and the administration of [[Harun al-Rashid]]. Additionally, they refused to pay tax. [[Harun al-Rashid]] sent a successful punitive mission to the region to reassert Abbasid control and sovereignty. Despite this, the Sultanate of Mogadishu remained in constant rebellion. In 829 [[Al-Ma'mun|Al Ma'mun]] the [[List of Abbasid caliphs|7th Caliph of the Abbasids]] sent an army of 50,000 men to crush the secessionist enclaves and add them back to the Caliphate.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ahmed|first=Ali Jimale|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XpdAzRYruCwC&q=caliphate+mogadishu&pg=PA4|title=The Invention of Somalia|date=1995|publisher=The Red Sea Press|isbn=978-0-932415-99-8|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Mukhtar|first=Mohamed Haji|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DPwOsOcNy5YC&q=700%20mogadishu%20marwan%20umayyad&pg=PR26|title=Historical Dictionary of Somalia|date=2003-02-25|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6604-1|language=en}}</ref>
 
In 756, Al-Mansur sent over 4,000 Arab mercenaries to assist the Chinese [[Tang dynasty]] in the [[An Shi Rebellion]] against [[An Lushan]]. The Abbasids, or "Black Flags" as they were commonly called, were known in Tang dynasty chronicles as the ''hēiyī Dàshí'', "The Black-robed Tazi" ({{lang|zh|黑衣大食}}) ("Tazi" being a borrowing from Persian ''[[wikt:تازی|Tāzī]]'', the word for "Arab").{{refn|group=nb|Wade states "Tazi in Persian sources referred to a people in that land, but was later extended to cover Arab lands. The Persian term was adopted by Tang China (Dàshí :大食) to refer to the Arabs until the 12th century."<ref>{{harvnb|Wade|2012|p=138}}</ref>}}{{refn|group=nb|Marshall Broomhall writes, "With the rise of the Abbasides we enter upon a somewhat different phase of Muslim history, and approach the period when an important body of Muslim troops entered and settled within the Chinese Empire. While the Abbasids inaugurated that era of literature and science associated with the Court at Bagdad, the hitherto predominant Arab element began to give way to the Turks, who soon became the bodyguard of the Caliphs, 'until in the end the Caliphs became the helpless tools of their rude protectors.'
 
Several embassies from the Abbaside Caliphs to the Chinese Court are recorded in the T'ang Annals, the most important of these being those of (A-bo-lo-ba) Abul Abbas, the founder of the new dynasty; that of (A-p'u-cKa-fo) Abu Giafar, the builder of Baghdad; and that of (A-lun) Harun al Raschid, who is known in modern days through the popular work Arabian Nights. The Abbasides or 'Black Flags,' as they were commonly called, are known in Chinese history as the Heh-i Ta-shih, 'The Black-robed Arabs.'
 
Five years after the rise of the Abbasides, at a time when Abu Giafar, the second Caliph, was busy plotting the assassination of his great and able rival Abu Muslim, who is regarded as "the leading figure of the age" and the de facto founder of the house of Abbas so far as military prowess is concerned, a terrible rebellion broke out in China. This was in 755, and the leader was a Turk or Tartar named An Lu-shan. This man, who had gained great favour with the Emperor Hsuan Tsung, and had been placed at the head of a vast army operating against the Turks and Tartars on the north-west frontier, ended in proclaiming his independence and declaring war upon his now aged Imperial patron. The Emperor, driven from his capital, abdicated in favour of his son, Su Tsung (756–763), who at once appealed to the Arabs for help.
 
The Caliph Abu Giafar, whose army, we are told by Sir William Muir, was fitted throughout with improved weapons and armour,' responded to this request, and sent a contingent of some 4000 men, who enabled the Emperor, in 757, to recover his two capitals, Sianfu and Honanfu. These Arab troops, who probably came from some garrison on the frontiers of Turkestan, never returned to their former camp, but remained in China, where they married Chinese wives, and thus became, according to common report, the real nucleus of the naturalised Chinese Mohammedans of to-day.
 
While this story has the support of the official history of the T'ang dynasty, there is, unfortunately, no authorised statement as to how many troops the Caliph really sent. The statement, however, is also supported by the Chinese Mohammedan inscriptions and literature. Though the settlement of this large body of Arabs in China may be accepted as probably the largest and most definite event recorded concerning the advent of Islam, it is necessary at the same time not to overlook the facts already stated in the previous chapter, which prove that large numbers of foreigners had entered China prior to this date."<ref>{{harvnb|Broomhall|1910|pp=25–26}}</ref>}}{{refn|group=nb|Frank Brinkley says, "It would seem, however, that trade occupied the attention of the early Mohammedan settlers rather than religious propagandism; that while they observed the tenets and practised the rites of their faith in China, they did not undertake any strenuous campaign against either Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, or the State creed, and that they constituted a floating rather than a fixed element of the population, coming and going between China and the West by the oversea or the overland routes. According to Giles, the true stock of the present Chinese Mohammedans was a small army of four thousand Arabian soldiers, who, being sent by the Khaleef Abu Giafar in 755 to aid in putting down a rebellion, were subsequently permitted to settle in China, where they married native wives.
 
The numbers of this colony received large accessions in the 12th and 13th centuries during the conquests of Genghis, and ultimately the Mohammedans formed an appreciable element of the population, having their own mosques and schools, and observing the rites of their religion, but winning few converts except among the aboriginal tribes, as the Lolos and the Mantsu. Their failure as propagandists is doubtless due to two causes, first, that, according to the inflexible rule of their creed, the Koran might not be translated into Chinese or any other foreign language; secondly and chiefly, that their denunciations of idolatry were as unpalatable to ancestor-worshipping Chinese as were their interdicts against pork and wine. They were never prevented, however, from practising their faith so long as they obeyed the laws of the land, and the numerous mosques that exist throughout China prove what a large measure of liberty these professors of a strange creed enjoyed. One feature of the mosques is noticeable, however: though distinguished by large arches and by Arabic inscriptions, they are generally constructed and arranged so as to bear some resemblance to Buddhist temples, and they have tablets carrying the customary ascription of reverence to the Emperor of China – facts suggesting that their builders were not entirely free from a sense of the inexpediency of differentiating the evidences of their religion too conspicuously from those of the popular creed. It has been calculated that in the regions north of the Yangtse the followers of Islam aggregate as many as ten millions, and that eighty thousand are to be found in one of the towns of Szchuan. On the other hand, just as it has been shown above that although the Central Government did not in any way interdict or obstruct the tradal operations of foreigners in early times, the local officials sometimes subjected them to extortion and maltreatment of a grievous and even unendurable nature, so it appears that while as a matter of State policy, full tolerance was extended to the Mohammedan creed, its disciples frequently found themselves the victims of such unjust discrimination at the hand of local officialdom that they were driven to seek redress in rebellion. That, however, did not occur until the 19th century. There is no evidence that, prior to the time of the Great Manchu Emperor Chienlung (1736–1796), Mohammedanism presented any deterrent aspect to the Chinese. That renowned ruler, whose conquests carried his banners to the Pamirs and the Himalayas, did indeed conceive a strong dread of the potentialities of Islamic fanaticism reinforced by disaffection on the part of the aboriginal tribes among whom the faith had many adherents. He is said to have entertained at one time the terrible project of eliminating this source of danger in Shensi and Kansuh by killing every Mussulman found there, but whether he really contemplated an act so foreign to the general character of his procedure is doubtful. The broad fact is that the Central Government of China has never persecuted Mohammedans or discriminated against them. They are allowed to present themselves at the examinations for civil or military appointments, and the successful candidates obtain office as readily as their Chinese competitors."<ref>{{harvnb|Brinkley|1902|pp=149–152}}</ref>}}{{refn|group=nb|It states in Moule's book, "though the actual date and circumstances of the introduction of Islam into China cannot be traced with certainty further back than the 13th century, yet the existence of settlements of foreign Moslems with their Mosques at Ganfu (Canton) during the T'ang dynasty (618–907) is certain, and later they spread to Ch'uan-chou and to Kan-p'u, Hangchow, and perhaps to Ningpo and Shanghai. These were not preaching or proselytising inroads, but commercial enterprises, and in the latter half of the 8th century there were Moslem troops in Shensi, 3,000 men, under Abu Giafar, coming to support the dethroned Emperor in 756. In the 13th century the influence of individual Muslims was immense, especially that of the Seyyid Edjell Shams ed-Din Omar, who served the Mongol Khans till his death in Yunnan in 1279. His family still exists in Yunnan, and has taken a prominent part in Moslem affairs in China.
 
The present Muslim element in China is most numerous in Yunnan and Kansu; and the most learned Muslims reside chiefly in Ssuch'uan, the majority of their books being printed in the capital city, Ch'eng-tu. Kansu is perhaps the most dominantly Mohammedan province in China, and here many different sects are found, and mosques with minarets used by the orthodox muezzin calling to prayer, and in one place veiled women are met with. These, however, are not Turks or Saracens, but for the most part pure Chinese. The total Moslem population is probably under 4,000,000, though other statistical estimates, always uncertain in China, vary from thirty to ten millions; but the figures given here are the most reliable at present obtainable, and when it is remembered that Islam in China has not been to any great extent a preaching or propagandist power by force or the sword, it is difficult to understand the survival and existence of such a large number as that, small, indeed, compared with former estimates, but surely a very large and vigorous element."<ref>{{harvnb|Moule|1914|p=317}}</ref>}}{{refn|group=nb|In Giles' book, he writes "Mahomedans: IEJ Iej. First settled in China in the Year of the Mission, A.D. 628, under Wahb-Abi-Kabcha a maternal uncle of Mahomet, who was sent with presents to the Emperor. Wahb-Abi-Kabcha travelled by sea to Canton, and thence overland to Si-ngan Fu, the capital, where he was well received. The first mosque was built at Canton, where, after several restorations, it still exists. Another mosque was erected in 742, but many of these M. came to China simply as traders, and by and by went back to their own country. The true stock of the present Chinese Mahomedans was a small army of 4,000 Arabian soldiers sent by the Khaleef Abu Giafar in 755 to aid in putting down a rebellion. These soldiers had permission to settle in China, where they married native wives; and three centuries later, with the conquests of Genghis Khan, large numbers of Arabs penetrated into the Empire and swelled the Mahomedan community."<ref>{{harvnb|Giles|1886|p=141}}</ref>}} Al-Rashid sent embassies to the Chinese [[Tang dynasty]] and established good relations with them.<ref name="Dennis Bloodworth, Ching Ping Bloodworth 2004 214"/>{{refn|group=nb|Giles also writes, "In 789 the Khalifa Harun al Raschid dispatched a mission to China, and there had been one or two less important missions in the seventh and eighth centuries; but from 879, the date of the Canton massacre, for more than three centuries to follow, we hear nothing of the Mahometans and their religion. They were not mentioned in the edict of 845, which proved such a blow to Buddhism and Nestorian Christianity perhaps because they were less obtrusive in the propagation of their religion, a policy aided by the absence of anything like a commercial spirit in religious matters."<ref>{{harvnb|Giles|1915|p=139}}</ref>}}{{refn|group=nb|Giles also writes, in the same book, "The first mosque was built at Canton, where, after several restorations, it may still be seen. The minaret, known as the Bare Pagoda, to distinguish it from a much more ornamental Buddhist pagoda near by, dates back to 850. There must at that time have been a considerable number of Mahometans in Canton, though not so many as might be supposed if reliance could be placed on the figures given in reference to a massacre which took place in 879. The fact is that most of these Mahometans went to China simply as traders; they did not intend to settle permanently in the country, and when business permitted, they returned to their old haunts. About two thousand Mussulman families are still to be found at Canton, and a similar number at Foochow; descendants, perhaps, of the old sea-borne contingents which began to arrive in the seventh and eighth centuries. These remnants have nothing to do with the stock from which came the comparatively large Mussulman communities now living and practising their religion in the provinces of Ssŭch'uan, Yünnan, and Kansuh. The origin of the latter was as follows. In A.D. 756 the Khalifa Abu Giafar sent a small army of three thousand Arab soldiers to aid in putting down a rebellion."<ref>{{harvnb|Giles|1915|p=223}}</ref>}}<ref>{{harvnb|Jenkins|1999|p=61}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Carné|1872|p=295}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Ghosh|1961|p=60}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hermann|1912|p=77}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Anon|1928|p=1617}}</ref> After the war, these embassies remained in [[China]]<ref>{{harvnb|Chapuis|1995|p=92}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Kitagawa|1989|p=283}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Smith|Weng|1973|p=129}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Baker|1990|p=53}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Fitzgerald|1961|p=332}}</ref> with Caliph [[Harun al-Rashid]] establishing an alliance with China.<ref name="Dennis Bloodworth, Ching Ping Bloodworth 2004 214">{{harvnb|Bloodworth|Bloodworth|2004|p=214}}</ref> Several embassies from the Abbasid Caliphs to the Chinese court have been recorded in the T'ang Annals, the most important of these being those of [[As-Saffah|Abul Abbas al-Saffah]], the first Abbasid caliph; his successor Abu Jafar; and [[Harun al-Rashid]].
 
===Abbasid Golden Age (775–861)===
The Abbasid leadership had to work hard in the last half of the 8th century (750–800) under several competent caliphs and their viziers to usher in the administrative changes needed to keep order of the political challenges created by the far-flung nature of the empire, and the limited communication across it.<ref name="Brauer">{{harvnb|Brauer|1995}}</ref> It was also during this early period of the dynasty, in particular during the governance of Al-Mansur, Harun al-Rashid, and [[al-Ma'mun]], that its reputation and power were created.{{sfn|Hoiberg|2010|p=10}}
 
Al-Mahdi [[Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (782)|restarted the fighting]] with the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]], and his sons continued the conflict until [[Irene of Athens|Empress Irene]] pushed for peace.{{sfn|Dupuy|Dupuy|1986|p=233}} After several years of peace, [[Nikephoros I]] broke the treaty, then fended off multiple incursions during the first decade of the 9th century. These attacks pushed into the [[Taurus Mountains]], culminating with a victory at the [[Battle of Krasos]] and the [[Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (806)|massive invasion of 806]], led by Rashid himself.<ref name="DD1">{{harvnb|Dupuy|Dupuy|1986|p=265}}</ref>
 
Rashid's navy also proved successful, taking [[Cyprus]]. Rashid decided to focus on the rebellion of [[Rafi ibn al-Layth]] in [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] and died while there.<ref name="DD1" /> Military operations by the caliphate were minimal while the [[Byzantine Empire]] was fighting Abbasid rule in [[Syria]] and [[Anatolia]], with focus shifting primarily to internal matters; Abbasid governors exerted greater autonomy and, using this increasing power, began to make their positions hereditary.<ref name="AHGC" />
 
At the same time, the Abbasids faced challenges closer to home. Harun al-Rashid turned on and killed most of the [[Barmakids]], a Persian family that had grown significantly in administrative power.<ref>{{harvnb|Meisami|1999}}</ref> During the same period, several factions began either to leave the empire for other lands or to take control of distant parts of the empire. Still, the reigns of al-Rashid and his sons were considered to be the apex of the Abbasids.<ref name="mag">{{harvnb|Magnusson|Goring|1990|p=2}}</ref>
 
After Rashid's death, the empire was split by a [[Fourth Fitna|civil war]] between the caliph [[al-Amin]] and his brother [[al-Ma'mun]], who had the support of Khorasan. This war ended with a [[Siege of Baghdad (812–813)|two-year siege]] of Baghdad and the eventual death of [[Al-Amin]] in 813.<ref name="DD1" /> [[Al-Ma'mun]] ruled for 20 years of relative calm interspersed with a rebellion in [[Iranian Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]] by the [[Khurramites]], which was supported by the Byzantines. Al-Ma'mun was also responsible for the creation of an autonomous Khorasan, and the continued repulsing of Byzantine forays.<ref name="DD1" />
 
[[Al-Mu'tasim]] gained power in 833 and his rule marked the end of the strong caliphs. He strengthened his personal army with Turkish mercenaries and promptly restarted the war with the Byzantines. Though his attempt to seize [[Constantinople]] failed when his fleet was destroyed by a storm,<ref>{{harvnb|Dupuy|Dupuy|1986|pp=265–266}}</ref> his military excursions were generally successful, culminating with a resounding victory in the [[Sack of Amorium]]. The Byzantines responded by [[Sack of Damietta (853)|sacking Damietta]] in [[Egypt]], and [[Al-Mutawakkil]] responded by sending his troops into [[Anatolia]] again, sacking and marauding until they were [[Battle of Lalakaon|eventually annihilated]] in 863.<ref name="DD3">{{harvnb|Dupuy|Dupuy|1986|p=266}}</ref>
 
===Fracture to autonomous dynasties (861–945)===
{{see|Anarchy at Samarra}}
Even by 820, the [[Samanid]]s had begun the process of exercising independent authority in [[Transoxiana]] and [[Greater Khorasan]], and the succeeding {{Multiple image
| image1            = صوره في اجواء مطريه للمأذنه الملويه في سامراء العراق.jpg
| caption1          = The spiral minaret of the [[Great Mosque of Samarra]], built in 237 AH on the western side of the city of [[Samarra]]
| image2            = مأذنة سامراء.jpg
| caption2          = The city of Samarra is the only remaining Islamic capital that retains its original plan, architecture and artistic relics
| total_width      = 300
}}
[[Tahirid]] and [[Saffarid]] dynasties of Iran. The [[Saffarids]], from Khorasan, nearly seized Baghdad in 876, and the [[Tulunid]]s took control of most of Syria. The trend of weakening of the central power and strengthening of the minor caliphates on the periphery continued.<ref name="mag" />
 
An exception was the 10-year period of [[Al-Mu'tadid]]'s rule (892–902). He brought parts of Egypt, Syria, and Khorasan back into Abbasid control. Especially after the "[[Anarchy at Samarra]]" (861–870), the Abbasid central government was weakened and centrifugal tendencies became more prominent in the Caliphate's provinces. By the early 10th century, the Abbasids almost lost control of [[Iraq]] to various [[amir]]s, and the caliph [[al-Radi]] was forced to acknowledge their power by creating the position of "Prince of Princes" (''[[amir al-umara]]'').<ref name="mag" />
 
[[Al-Mustakfi]] had a short reign from 944 to 946, and it was during this period that the Persian faction known as the [[Buyids]] from [[Daylam]] swept into power and assumed control over the bureaucracy in Baghdad. According to the history of [[Miskawayh]], they began distributing [[iqta]]s ([[fief]]s in the form of tax farms) to their supporters. This period of localized secular control was to last nearly 100 years.{{sfn|Hoiberg|2010|p=10}} The loss of Abbasid power to the [[Buyids]] would shift as the [[Seljuks]] would take over from the Persians.<ref name="mag" />
 
At the end of the eighth century, the Abbasids found they could no longer keep together a polity, which had grown larger than that of [[Rome]], from Baghdad. In 793 the [[Zaydi]]-Shia dynasty of [[Idrisids]] set up a state from Fez in Morocco, while a family of governors under the Abbasids became increasingly independent until they founded the [[Aghlabid Emirate]] from the 830s. [[Al-Mu'tasim]] started the downward slide by utilizing non-Muslim mercenaries in his personal army. Also during this period, officers started assassinating superiors with whom they disagreed, in particular the caliphs.{{sfn|Hoiberg|2010|p=10}}
[[File:Abbasid Provinces ca 788 improved.png|thumb|Map of Abbasid Caliphate and its provinces c 788 (2nd century Hijri)]]
{{History of the Arab States}}[[File:Harun-Charlemagne.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Harun al-Rashid]] ([[reign|r.]] 786–809) receiving a delegation sent by [[Charlemagne]] at his court in Baghdad. Painting by German painter {{interlanguage link|Julius Köckert|fr}} (1827–1918), dated 1864. Oil on canvas.]][[File:Abbasid Dinar - Al Amin - 195 AH (811 AD).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Gold dinar]] minted during the reign of [[al-Amin]] (809–813)]][[File:Old World 820.png|thumb|right|250px|Map of Abbasid empire and other world empires in 9th century]]
 
By the 870s, Egypt became autonomous under [[Ahmad ibn Tulun]]. In the East, governors decreased their ties to the center as well. The [[Saffarids]] of Herat and the [[Samanids]] of [[Bukhara]] began breaking away around this time, cultivating a much more [[Persianate culture]] and statecraft. Only the central lands of Mesopotamia were under direct Abbasid control, with [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] and the Hijaz often managed by the Tulunids. Byzantium, for its part, had begun to push [[Arab Muslims]] farther east in [[Anatolia]].
 
By the 920s, [[North Africa]] was lost to the [[Fatimid dynasty]], a Shia sect tracing its roots to Muhammad's daughter [[Fatimah]]. The Fatimid dynasty took control of Idrisid and Aghlabid domains,<ref name=mag /> advanced to Egypt in 969, and established their capital near [[Fustat]] in [[Cairo]], which they built as a bastion of Shia learning and politics. By 1000 they had become the chief political and ideological challenge to [[Sunni Islam]] and the Abbasids, who by this time had fragmented into several governorships that, while recognizing caliphal authority from Baghdad, remained mostly autonomous. The Caliph himself was under 'protection' of the Buyid Emirs who possessed all of [[Iraq]] and [[Western Iran]], and were quietly Shia in their sympathies.
 
[[File:Abbasid Caliphate 891-892.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Map of the fragmented Abbasid empire, with areas still under direct control of the Abbasid central government (dark green) and under autonomous rulers (light green) adhering to nominal Abbasid suzerainty, {{circa|892}}]]
 
Outside Iraq, all the autonomous provinces slowly took on the characteristic of de facto states with hereditary rulers, armies, and revenues and operated under only nominal caliph suzerainty, which may not necessarily be reflected by any contribution to the treasury, such as the [[Soomro]] [[Emir]]s that had gained control of [[Sindh]] and ruled the entire province from their capital of [[Mansura, Sindh|Mansura]].<ref name="Brauer" /> [[Mahmud of Ghazni]] took the title of sultan, as opposed to the [[Emir|"amir"]] that had been in more common usage, signifying the [[Ghaznavids|Ghaznavid Empire]]'s independence from caliphal authority, despite Mahmud's ostentatious displays of Sunni orthodoxy and ritual submission to the caliph. In the 11th century, the loss of respect for the caliphs continued, as some Islamic rulers no longer mentioned the caliph's name in the Friday [[khutba]], or struck it off their coinage.<ref name="Brauer" />
 
The [[Isma'ili]] [[Fatimid]] dynasty of Cairo contested the Abbasids for the titular authority of the Islamic [[ummah]]. They commanded some support in the Shia sections of Baghdad (such as [[Karkh]]), although Baghdad was the city most closely connected to the caliphate, even in the Buyid and Seljuq eras. The challenge of the Fatimids only ended with their downfall in the 12th century.
 
===Buyid and Seljuq control (945–1118)===
[[File:Buyids within the Middle East, ca. 970.png|400px|thumb|Southwest Asia – c. 970 A.D]]
Despite the power of the [[Buyids|Buyid]] amirs, the Abbasids retained a highly ritualized court in Baghdad, as described by the Buyid bureaucrat [[Hilal al-Sabi']], and they retained a certain influence over Baghdad as well as religious life. As Buyid power waned with the rule of [[Baha' al-Daula]], the caliphate was able to regain some measure of strength. The caliph [[al-Qadir]], for example, led the ideological struggle against the Shia with writings such as the ''[[Baghdad Manifesto]]''. The caliphs kept order in Baghdad itself, attempting to prevent the outbreak of [[fitna (word)|fitnas]] in the capital, often contending with the ''[[ayyarun]]''.
 
With the Buyid dynasty on the wane, a vacuum was created that was eventually filled by the dynasty of [[Oghuz Turks]] known as the [[Seljuqs]]. By 1055, the Seljuqs had wrested control from the Buyids and Abbasids, and took any remaining temporal power.{{sfn|Hoiberg|2010|p=10}} When the amir and former slave [[Basasiri]] took up the Shia [[Fatimid]] banner in Baghdad in 1056–57, the caliph [[Al-Qa'im (Abbasid caliph at Baghdad)|al-Qa'im]] was unable to defeat him without outside help. [[Toghril Beg]], the Seljuq sultan, restored Baghdad to Sunni rule and took Iraq for his dynasty.
 
Once again, the Abbasids were forced to deal with a military power that they could not match, though the Abbasid caliph remained the titular head of the Islamic community. The succeeding sultans [[Alp Arslan]] and [[Malikshah]], as well as their vizier [[Nizam al-Mulk]], took up residence in Persia, but held power over the Abbasids in Baghdad. When the dynasty began to weaken in the 12th century, the Abbasids gained greater independence once again.
 
===Revival of military strength (1118–1258)===
[[File:Abbasids Baghdad Iraq 1244.JPG|thumb|upright|Coin of the Abbasids, Baghdad, 1244]]
 
While the Caliph [[al-Mustarshid]] was the first caliph to build an army capable of meeting a Seljuk army in battle, he was nonetheless defeated in 1135 and assassinated. The Caliph [[Al-Muqtafi (Abbasid Caliph)|al-Muqtafi]] was the first Abbasid Caliph to regain the full military independence of the Caliphate, with the help of his vizier [[Awn ad-Din ibn Hubayra|Ibn Hubayra]]. After nearly 250 years of subjection to foreign dynasties, he successfully defended Baghdad against the Seljuqs in the [[siege of Baghdad (1157)]], thus securing Iraq for the Abbasids. The reign of [[al-Nasir]] (d. 1225) brought the caliphate back into power throughout Iraq, based in large part on the [[Sufi]] [[futuwwa]] organizations that the caliph headed.<ref name=mag/> [[Al-Mustansir (Baghdad)|Al-Mustansir]] built the [[Mustansiriya School]], in an attempt to eclipse the Seljuq-era [[Al-Nizamiyya of Baghdad|Nizamiyya]] built by [[Nizam al Mulk]].
 
===Mongol invasion (1206–1258)===
{{See|Siege of Baghdad (1258)|Mongol invasions of the Levant}}
[[File:DiezAlbumsFallOfBaghdad a.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|Siege of Baghdad]] by the Mongols led by [[Hulagu Khan]] in 1258]]
 
In 1206, [[Genghis Khan]] established a powerful dynasty among the [[Mongol]]s of [[central Asia]]. During the 13th century, this [[Mongol Empire]] conquered most of the Eurasian land mass, including both China in the east and much of the old Islamic caliphate (as well as [[Kievan Rus']]) in the west. [[Hulagu Khan]]'s [[Battle of Baghdad (1258)|destruction of Baghdad]] in 1258 is traditionally seen as the approximate end of the Golden Age.<ref>{{harvnb|Cooper|Yue|2008|p=215}}</ref> Mongols feared that a supernatural disaster would strike if the blood of [[Al-Musta'sim]], a direct descendant of Muhammad's uncle [[Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib]],<ref name=encyclopedia>{{harvnb|Glassé|Smith|2002}}</ref> and the last reigning Abbasid caliph in Baghdad, was spilled. The Shia of [[Persia]] stated that no such calamity had happened after the death of [[Husayn ibn Ali]] in the [[Battle of Kerbala]]; nevertheless, as a precaution and in accordance with a Mongol taboo which forbade spilling royal blood, Hulagu had Al-Musta'sim wrapped in a carpet and trampled to death by horses on 20 February 1258. The Caliph's immediate family was also executed, with the lone exceptions of his youngest son who was sent to Mongolia, and a daughter who became a slave in the [[harem]] of Hulagu.<ref>{{harvnb|Frazier|2005}}</ref>
 
===Abbasid Caliphate of Cairo (1261–1517)===
{{Main |Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)}}
In the 9th century, the Abbasids created an army loyal only to their caliphate, composed of non-Arab origin people, known as [[Mamluks]].<ref name="István Vásáry 2005">{{harvnb|Vásáry|2005}}</ref><ref name="Isichei 1997 192">{{harvnb|Isichei|1997|p=192}}</ref><ref name="T. Pavlidis 2011">{{harvnb|Pavlidis|2010}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Mikaberidze|2004}}</ref><ref name="bbs">{{harvnb|Visser|2005|p=19}}</ref> This force, created in the reign of [[al-Ma'mun]] (813–833) and his brother and successor [[al-Mu'tasim]] (833–842), prevented the further disintegration of the empire. The Mamluk army, though often viewed negatively, both helped and hurt the caliphate. Early on, it provided the government with a stable force to address domestic and foreign problems. However, creation of this foreign army and al-Mu'tasim's transfer of the capital from Baghdad to [[Abbasid Samarra|Samarra]] created a division between the caliphate and the peoples they claimed to rule. In addition, the power of the Mamluks steadily grew until [[al-Radi]] (934–941) was constrained to hand over most of the royal functions to [[Muhammad ibn Ra'iq]].<ref name="EB1911"/>
 
Similarly to how a Mamluk Army was created by the Abbasids, a Mamluk Army was created by the Egypt-based [[Ayyubid Dynasty]]. These Mamluks decided to directly overthrow their masters and came to power in 1250 in what is known as the [[Mamluk Sultanate]]. In 1261, following the devastation of Baghdad by the Mongols, the Mamluk rulers of Egypt re-established the Abbasid caliphate in [[Cairo]]. The first Abbasid caliph of Cairo was [[Al-Mustansir II of Cairo|Al-Mustansir]]. The Abbasid caliphs in Egypt continued to maintain the presence of authority, but it was confined to religious matters.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}} The Abbasid caliphate of Cairo lasted until the time of [[Al-Mutawakkil III]], who was taken away as a prisoner by [[Selim I]] to Constantinople where he had a ceremonial role. He died in 1543, following his return to Cairo.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}
 
==Culture==
 
===Islamic Golden Age===
{{Main|Islamic Golden Age}}
{{Further |Early Islamic philosophy|Inventions in the Muslim world}}
[[File:ManuscriptAbbasid.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|Manuscript from the Abbasid era]]
 
The Abbasid historical period lasting to the [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|Mongol conquest of Baghdad]] in 1258 CE is considered the Islamic Golden Age.<ref name="Tahir Abbas">{{harvnb|Abbas|2011|p=9}}</ref> The Islamic Golden Age was inaugurated by the middle of the 8th century by the ascension of the Abbasid [[Caliphate]] and the transfer of the capital from [[Damascus]] to Baghdad.<ref name="Vartan">{{harvnb|Gregorian|2003}}</ref> The Abbasids were influenced by the [[Qur'an]]ic injunctions and [[hadith]], such as "the ink of a scholar is more holy than the blood of a martyr", stressing the value of knowledge. During this period the Muslim world became an intellectual center for science, philosophy, medicine and education as<ref name="Vartan" /> the Abbasids championed the cause of knowledge and established the [[House of Wisdom]] in Baghdad, where both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars sought to translate and gather all the world's knowledge into [[Arabic language|Arabic]].<ref name="Vartan" /> Many classic works of antiquity that would otherwise have been lost were translated into Arabic and Persian and later in turn translated into Turkish, Hebrew and Latin.<ref name="Vartan" /> During this period the Muslim world was a cauldron of cultures which collected, synthesized and significantly advanced the knowledge gained from the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]], Chinese, [[History of India|Indian]], [[Sasanian Empire|Persian]], [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]], North African, [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] and [[Byzantine|Medieval Greek]] civilizations.<ref name="Vartan" /> According to Huff, "[i]n virtually every field of endeavor—in astronomy, alchemy, mathematics, medicine, optics and so forth—the Caliphate's scientists were in the forefront of scientific advance."<ref>{{harvnb|Huff|2003|p=48}}</ref>
 
===Science===
{{Main |Science in the medieval Islamic world}}
{{Further |Alchemy (Islam)|Islamic astronomy|Islamic mathematics|Islamic medicine|Timeline of science and technology in the Islamic world}}
[[File:Al-Mustansriah School - Main door.jpg|thumb|The [[Madrasa]] of [[Al-Mustansiriya University]] in [[Baghdad]], established in 1227, one of the only Abbasid-era madrasas remaining today]]
 
The reigns of [[Harun al-Rashid]] (786–809) and his successors fostered an age of great intellectual achievement. In large part, this was the result of the schismatic forces that had undermined the Umayyad regime, which relied on the assertion of the superiority of [[Arab culture]] as part of its claim to legitimacy, and the Abbasids' welcoming of support from non-Arab Muslims. It is well established that the Abbasid caliphs modeled their administration on that of the [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanids]].<ref>{{harvnb|Gibb|1982|p=66}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=September 2021}} Harun al-Rashid's son, [[Al-Ma'mun]] (whose mother was [[Persian people|Persian]]), is even quoted as saying:
{{blockquote |The Persians ruled for a thousand years and did not need us Arabs even for a day. We have been ruling them for one or two centuries and cannot do without them for an hour.<ref>{{harvnb|Spuler|1960|p=29}}</ref>}}
 
[[File:Jabir ibn Hayyan.jpg|thumb|[[Jabir ibn Hayyan]], a pioneer in [[organic chemistry]].<ref>Stapleton, Henry E. and Azo, R. F. and Hidayat Husain, M. 1927. "Chemistry in Iraq and Persia in the Tenth Century A.D" in: ''Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal'', vol. VIII, no. 6, pp. 317-418, pp. 338–340; Kraus, Paul 1942-1943. ''Jâbir ibn Hayyân: Contribution à l'histoire des idées scientifiques dans l'Islam. I. Le corpus des écrits jâbiriens''. II. Jâbir et la science grecque. Cairo: Institut français d'archéologie orientale, vol. II, pp. 41–42.</ref>]]
A number of medieval thinkers and scientists living under Islamic rule played a role in transmitting [[Islamic science]] to the Christian West. In addition, the period saw the recovery of much of the [[Alexandria]]n mathematical, geometric and astronomical knowledge, such as that of [[Euclid]] and Claudius [[Ptolemy]]. These recovered mathematical methods were later enhanced and developed by other Islamic scholars, notably by [[Persian people|Persian]] scientists [[Al-Biruni]] and [[Abu Nasr Mansur]].
 
[[Christians]] (particularly [[Nestorianism|Nestorian]] Christians) contributed to the Arab Islamic Civilization during the [[Ummayads]] and the Abbasids by translating works of [[Greek philosophers]] to [[Syriac Language|Syriac]] and afterwards to [[Arabic Language|Arabic]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hill|1993|p=4}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Brague|2009|p=164}}</ref> Nestorians played a prominent role in the formation of Arab culture,<ref>{{harvnb|Hoiberg|2010a|p=612}}</ref> with the [[Academy of Gondishapur]] being prominent in the late [[Sassanid]], [[Umayyad]] and early Abbasid periods.<ref>{{harvnb|Söylemez|2005|p=3}}</ref> Notably, eight generations of the Nestorian [[Bukhtishu]] family served as private doctors to caliphs and sultans between the eighth and eleventh centuries.<ref>{{harvnb|Bonner|Ener|Singer|2003|p=97}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Ruano|Burgos|1992|p=527}}</ref>
 
[[Algebra]] was significantly developed by Persian scientist [[Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī]] during this time in his landmark text, ''[[The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing|Kitab al-Jabr wa-l-Muqabala]]'', from which the term ''algebra'' is derived. He is thus considered to be the father of algebra by some,<ref>{{harvnb|Eglash|1999|p=61}}</ref> although the Greek mathematician [[Diophantus]] has also been given this title. The terms [[algorism]] and [[algorithm]] are derived from the name of al-Khwarizmi, who was also responsible for introducing the [[Arabic numerals]] and [[Hindu–Arabic numeral system]] beyond the [[Indian subcontinent]].
[[File:Hazan.png|thumb|[[Alhazen|Ibn al-Haytham]], "the father of [[Optics]].<ref>{{harvnb|Verma|1969}}{{full citation needed|date=May 2015}}</ref>]]
 
[[Arab]] scientist [[Ibn al-Haytham]] (Alhazen) developed an early [[scientific method]] in his ''[[Book of Optics]]'' (1021). The most important development of the scientific method was the use of experiments to distinguish between competing scientific theories set within a generally [[empiricism|empirical]] orientation, which began among Muslim scientists. Ibn al-Haytham's [[empirical]] proof of the intromission theory of light (that is, that light rays entered the eyes rather than being [[emission theory (vision)|emitted by them]]) was particularly important. Alhazen was significant in the [[history of scientific method]], particularly in his approach to experimentation,<ref>{{harvnb|Toomer|1964}}</ref> and has been referred to as the "world's first true scientist".<ref>{{harvnb|Al-Khalili|2009}}</ref>
 
[[Medicine in medieval Islam]] was an area of science that advanced particularly during the Abbasids' reign. During the 9th century, Baghdad contained over 800 doctors, and great discoveries in the understanding of anatomy and diseases were made. The clinical distinction between [[measles]] and [[smallpox]] was described during this time. Famous Persian scientist [[Ibn Sina]] (known to the West as [[Avicenna]]) produced treatises and works that summarized the vast amount of knowledge that scientists had accumulated, and was very influential through his encyclopedias, ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]'' and ''[[The Book of Healing]]''. The work of him and many others directly influenced the research of European scientists during the [[Renaissance]].
 
[[Astronomy in medieval Islam]] was advanced by [[Al-Battani]], who improved the precision of the measurement of the [[precession]] of the Earth's axis. The corrections made to the [[geocentric model]] by al-Battani,{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} [[Averroes]],{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} [[Nasir al-Din al-Tusi]], [[Mo'ayyeduddin Urdi]] and [[Ibn al-Shatir]] were later incorporated into the [[Copernican heliocentrism|Copernican heliocentric]] model.<ref>{{harvnb|Rabin|2015}}</ref> The [[astrolabe]], though originally developed by the Greeks, was developed further by Islamic astronomers and engineers, and subsequently brought to medieval Europe.
 
[[Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam|Muslim alchemists]] influenced medieval European alchemists, particularly the writings attributed to [[Jābir ibn Hayyān]] (Geber).
 
===Literature===
{{Main |Islamic literature|Arabic literature|Arabic epic literature|Persian literature}}
{{Further |Islamic poetry|Arabic poetry|Turkish poetry|Persian poetry}}
[[File:قصر البركة في سامراء.jpg|thumb|300x300px|Remains of a large circular pool surrounded by reception halls in the Dar Al-Baraka Palace, built by [[Al-Mutawakkil]] ([[Reign|r.]] 847–861).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-04-20 |title=قصر البركة الاثري في سامراء |url=https://uosamarra.edu.iq/871-2/ |access-date=2022-06-21 |website=جامعة سامراء |language=ar}}</ref>]]
[[File:More tales from the Arabian nights-14566176968.jpg|right|thumb|Illustration from ''More tales from the Arabian nights'' (1915)]]
 
The best known fiction from the Islamic world is ''[[The Book of One Thousand and One Nights]]'', a collection of fantastical folk tales, legends and parables compiled primarily during the Abbasid era. The collection is recorded as having originated from an Arabic translation of a Sassanian era Persian prototype, with likely origins in Indian literary traditions. Stories from [[Arabic literature|Arabic]], [[Persian literature|Persian]], Mesopotamian, and [[Egyptian literature|Egyptian]] folklore and literature were later incorporated. The epic is believed to have taken shape in the 10th century and reached its final form by the 14th century; the number and type of tales have varied from one manuscript to another.<ref name="arabianNights">{{Harvnb | Grant | Clute | 1999 | p = 51}}.</ref> All Arabian [[fantasy]] tales were often called "Arabian Nights" when translated into English, regardless of whether they appeared in ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights''.<ref name="arabianNights" /> This epic has been influential in the West since it was translated in the 18th century, first by [[Antoine Galland]].<ref>{{harvnb|de Camp|1976|p=10}}</ref> Many imitations were written, especially in France.<ref name="arabianNights2">{{harvnb|Grant|Clute|1999|p=52}}</ref> Various characters from this epic have themselves become cultural icons in Western culture, such as [[Aladdin]], [[Sinbad]] and [[Ali Baba]].
 
A famous example of Islamic poetry on [[romance (love)|romance]] was ''[[Layla and Majnun]]'', an originally [[Arabic]] story which was further developed by [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]], [[Azerbaijani people|Azerbaijani]] and other poets in the [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]], and [[Turkish language|Turkish]] languages.<ref>{{harvnb|Clinton|2000|pp=15–16}}</ref> It is a [[Tragedy|tragic]] story of undying love much like the later ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]''.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}
 
Arabic poetry reached its greatest height in the Abbasid era, especially before the loss of central authority and the rise of the Persianate dynasties. Writers like [[Abu Tammam]] and [[Abu Nuwas]] were closely connected to the caliphal court in Baghdad during the early 9th century, while others such as [[al-Mutanabbi]] received their patronage from regional courts.
 
Under Harun al-Rashid, Baghdad was renowned for its bookstores, which proliferated after the making of paper was introduced. Chinese papermakers had been among those taken prisoner by the Arabs at the [[Battle of Talas]] in 751. As prisoners of war, they were dispatched to [[Samarkand]], where they helped set up the first Arab paper mill. In time, paper substituted parchment as the medium for writing, and the production of books greatly increased. These events had an academic and societal impact that could be broadly compared to the introduction of the [[printing press]] in the West. Paper aided in communication and record-keeping, it also brought a new sophistication and complexity to businesses, banking, and the civil service. In 794, Jafa al-Barmak built the first paper mill in Baghdad, and from there the technology circulated. Harun required that paper be employed in government dealings, since something recorded on paper could not easily be changed or removed, and eventually, an entire street in Baghdad's business district was dedicated to selling paper and books.{{sfn|Bobrick|2012|p=78}}
 
===Philosophy===
{{Main |Islamic philosophy|Early Islamic philosophy}}
{{Further |Logic in Islamic philosophy|Kalam|Avicennism|Averroism|Illuminationist philosophy|Transcendent Theosophy}}
One of the common definitions for "Islamic philosophy" is "the style of philosophy produced within the framework of Islamic culture."<ref name="RoutledgeEoP">{{harvnb|Leaman|1998}}</ref> Islamic philosophy, in this definition is neither necessarily concerned with religious issues, nor is exclusively produced by Muslims.<ref name="RoutledgeEoP" /> Their works on [[Aristotle]] were a key step in the transmission of learning from ancient Greeks to the Islamic world and the West. They often corrected the philosopher, encouraging a lively debate in the spirit of [[ijtihad]]. They also wrote influential original philosophical works, and their thinking was incorporated into [[Christian philosophy]] during the Middle Ages, notably by [[Thomas Aquinas]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2011/novemberdecember/feature/the-islamic-scholar-who-gave-us-modern-philosophy|title=The Islamic Scholar Who Gave Us Modern Philosophy|website=National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)|language=en|access-date=2020-02-03}}</ref>
 
Three speculative thinkers, [[al-Kindi]], [[al-Farabi]], and [[Avicenna]], combined [[Aristotelianism]] and [[Neoplatonism]] with other ideas introduced through Islam, and [[Avicennism]] was later established as a result. Other influential Abbasid philosophers include [[al-Jahiz]], and [[Ibn al-Haytham]] (Alhacen).
 
===Architecture===
{{Main|Abbasid architecture}}
[[File:Baghdad-Zumurrud-Khaton.jpg|thumb|[[Zumurrud Khatun Mosque|Zumurrud Khatun Tomb]] (1200 CE), in cemetery at [[Baghdad]]]]
As power shifted from the Umayyads to the Abbasids, the architectural styles changed also, from Greco-Roman tradition (which feautures elements of Hellenistic and Roman representative style) to Eastern tradition which retained their independent architectural traditions from [[Architecture of Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]] and Persia.<ref name="Hoag_p7_9">{{cite book |last1=Hoag |first1=John D. |title=Islamic architecture |date=2004 |publisher=Electaarchitecture |isbn=978-1-904313-29-8 |location=Milan |pages=7–9}}</ref> The [[Abbasid architecture]] was particularly influenced by [[Sasanian architecture]], which in turn featured elements present since ancient Mesopotamia.{{sfn|Petersen|1996|p=1}}<ref name=":2442">{{harvnb|Bloom|Blair|2009|loc=''Architecture (IV. c. 750–c. 900)''}}</ref> The Christian styles evolved into a style based more on the [[Sasanian Empire]], utilizing mud bricks and baked bricks with carved stucco.<ref name=wil>{{harvnb|Wilber|1969|p=5}}</ref> Another major development was the creation or vast enlargement of cities as they were turned into the capital of the empire, beginning with the creation of Baghdad in 762, which was planned as a walled city with four gates, and a mosque and palace in the center. Al-Mansur, who was responsible for the creation of Baghdad, also planned the city of [[Raqqa]], along the [[Euphrates]]. Finally, in 836, al-Mu'tasim moved the capital to a new site that he created along the Tigris, called Samarra. This city saw 60 years of work, with race-courses and game preserves to add to the atmosphere.<ref name=wil/> Due to the dry remote nature of the environment, some of the palaces built in this era were isolated havens. [[Al-Ukhaidir Fortress]] is a fine example of this type of building, which has stables, living quarters, and a mosque, all surrounding inner courtyards.<ref name=wil/> Other mosques of this era, such as the [[Great Mosque of Kairouan]] in [[Tunisia]], while ultimately built during the Umayyad dynasty, were substantially renovated in the 9th century. These renovations, so extensive as to ostensibly be rebuilds, were in the furthest reaches of the Muslim world, in an area that the Aghlabids controlled; however, the styles utilized were mainly Abbasid.<ref>{{harvnb|Wilber|1969|pp=5–6}}</ref> In Egypt, Ahmad Ibn Tulun commissioned the [[Mosque of Ibn Tulun|Ibn Tulun Mosque]], completed in 879, that is based on the style of Samarra and is now one of the best-preserved Abbasid-style mosques from this period.<ref name=":0522">{{Cite book |last=Tabbaa |first=Yasser |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three |publisher=Brill |year=2007 |isbn=9789004161658 |editor-last=Fleet |editor-first=Kate |location= |pages= |chapter=Architecture |editor-last2=Krämer |editor-first2=Gudrun |editor-last3=Matringe |editor-first3=Denis |editor-last4=Nawas |editor-first4=John |editor-last5=Rowson |editor-first5=Everett}}</ref> Mesopotamia only has one surviving [[mausoleum]] from this era, in Samarra. This octagonal dome is the final resting place of [[al-Muntasir]].<ref name=wil2>{{harvnb|Wilber|1969|p=6}}</ref> Other architectural innovations and styles were few, such as the [[four-centred arch|four-centered arch]], and a dome erected on [[squinch]]es. Unfortunately, much was lost due to the ephemeral nature of the stucco and luster tiles.<ref name=wil2/>
 
==== Foundation of Baghdad ====
The Caliph [[al-Mansur]] founded the epicenter of the empire, [[Baghdad]], in 762 CE, as a means of disassociating his dynasty from that of the preceding [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyads]] (centered at Damascus) and the rebellious cities of Kufa and Basrah. Mesopotamia was an ideal locale for a capital city due to its high agricultural output, access to the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers (allowing for trade and communication across the region), central locale between the corners of the vast empire (stretching from Egypt to [[Afghanistan]]) and access to the Silk Road and Indian Ocean trade routes, all key reasons as to why the region has hosted important capital cities such as [[Ur]], [[Babylon]], [[Nineveh]] and [[Ctesiphon]] and was later desired by the British Empire as an outpost by which to maintain access to India.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/iraq.htm|title=Iraq Mandate|website=www.britishempire.co.uk|access-date=2020-03-27}}</ref> The city was organized in a circular fashion next to the Tigris River, with massive brick walls being constructed in successive rings around the core by a workforce of 100,000 with four huge gates (named Kufa, Basrah, Khorasan and Syria). The central enclosure of the city contained Mansur's palace of {{convert|360000|sqft|m2}} in area and the great mosque of Baghdad, encompassing {{convert|90000|sqft|m2}}. Travel across the Tigris and the network of waterways allowing the drainage of the Euphrates into the Tigris was facilitated by bridges and canals servicing the population.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Marozzi|first=Justin|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/16/story-cities-day-3-baghdad-iraq-world-civilisation|title=Story of cities #3: the birth of Baghdad was a landmark for world civilisation|date=2016-03-16|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-03-27|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
 
===Glass and crystal===
The Near East has, since Roman times, been recognized as a center of quality glassware and crystal. 9th-century finds from Samarra show styles similar to Sassanian forms. The types of objects made were bottles, flasks, vases, and cups intended for domestic use, with decorations including molded flutes, honeycomb patterns, and inscriptions.<ref name=dim>{{harvnb|Dimand|1969|p=199}}</ref> Other styles seen that may not have come from the Sassanians were stamped items. These were typically round stamps, such as medallions or disks with animals, birds, or [[Kufic]] inscriptions. Colored lead glass, typically blue or green, has been found in [[Nishapur]], along with prismatic perfume bottles. Finally, cut glass may have been the high point of Abbasid glass-working, decorated with floral and animal designs.<ref>{{harvnb|Dimand|1969|pp=199–200}}</ref>
 
===Painting===
[[File:British Museum Harem wall painting fragments 2.jpg|thumb|9th-century [[harem]] wall painting fragments found in [[Samarra]]]]
Early Abbasid painting has not survived in great quantities, and is sometimes harder to differentiate; however, Samarra provides good examples, as it was built by the Abbasids and abandoned 56 years later. The walls of the principal rooms of the palace that have been excavated show wall paintings and lively carved stucco [[Dado (architecture)|dadoes]]. The style is obviously adopted with little variation from Sassanian art, bearing not only similar styles, with harems, animals, and dancing people, all enclosed in scrollwork, but the garments are also Persian.<ref name=dim2>{{harvnb|Dimand|1969a|p=206}}</ref> [[Nishapur]] had its own school of painting. Excavations at Nishapur show both monochromatic and polychromatic artwork from the 8th and 9th centuries. One famous piece of art consists of hunting nobles with falcons and on horseback, in full regalia; the clothing identifies them as [[Tahirid]], which was, again, a sub-dynasty of the Abbasids. Other styles are of vegetation, and fruit in nice colors on a four-foot high dedo.<ref name=dim2/>
 
===Pottery===
[[File:Bowl with Kufic Inscription.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|Bowl with [[Kufic]] Inscription, 9th century, [[Brooklyn Museum]]]]
[[File:قصر العاشق مدينه سامراء.jpg|thumb|[[Qasr al-'Ashiq]] palace in [[Samarra]], constructed during 877–882. [[Emir]] 'Amad al-Dawla wrote a poem about this palace.<ref name="Ha">[http://daharchives.alhayat.com/issue_archive/Hayat%20INT/2004/5/27/%D9%82%D8%B5%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%B4%D9%82-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%94%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D9%88%D9%82%D8%B5%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D8%B4%D9%82-%D9%84%D8%A7-%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%AA%D9%87%D9%8A.html "قصر العاشق" في سامراء : تاريخ وأطلال وقصة عشق لا تنتهي]. ''Al-Hayat''. Retrieved January 9, 2018.</ref> During the medieval period, it was referred to as "al-Ma'shuq ({{lang-ar|المعشوق}})" which means "beloved".<ref name="Cu">[https://www.cemml.colostate.edu/cultural/09476/iraq05-061.html Samarra - Qasr al-Ashiq]. ''Cultural Property Training Resource''. Retrieved January 9, 2018.</ref><ref>[https://archnet.org/sites/4240/media_contents/5390 Qasr al-'Ashiq]. ''Archnet''. Retrieved January 9, 2018.</ref>]]
Whereas painting and architecture were not areas of strength for the Abbasid dynasty, pottery was a different story. Islamic culture as a whole, and the Abbasids in particular, were at the forefront of new ideas and techniques. Some examples of their work were pieces engraved with decorations and then colored with yellow-brown, green, and purple glazes. Designs were diverse with geometric patterns, Kufic lettering, and [[Arabesque (Islamic art)|arabesque]] scrollwork, along with rosettes, animals, birds, and humans.<ref>{{harvnb|Dimand|1969b|p=211}}</ref> Abbasid pottery from the 8th and 9th centuries has been found throughout the region, as far as Cairo. These were generally made with a yellow clay and fired multiple times with separate glazes to produce metallic luster in shades of gold, brown, or red. By the 9th century, the potters had mastered their techniques and their decorative designs could be divided into two styles. The Persian style would show animals, birds, and humans, along with Kufic lettering in gold. Pieces excavated from [[Samarra]] exceed in vibrancy and beauty any from later periods. These predominantly being made for the Caliphs use. Tiles were also made using this same technique to create both monochromatic and polychromatic [[lusterware]] tiles.<ref>{{harvnb|Dimand|1969b|p=212}}</ref>
 
===Textiles===
Egypt being a center of the textile industry was part of Abbasid cultural advancement. [[Copt]]s were employed in the textile industry and produced linens and silks. [[Tinnis]] was famous for its factories and had over 5,000 looms. Examples of textiles were ''kasab'', a fine linen for turbans, and ''badana'' for upper-class garments. The [[kiswah]] for the [[kaaba]] in [[Mecca]] was made in a town named [[Tuna (Egypt)|Tuna]] near Tinnis. Fine silk was also made in [[Dabik]] and [[Damietta]].<ref>{{harvnb|Dimand|1969c|p=216}}</ref> Of particular interest are stamped and inscribed fabrics, which used not only inks but also liquid gold. Some of the finer pieces were colored in such a manner as to require six separate stamps to achieve the proper design and color. This technology spread to Europe eventually.<ref>{{harvnb|Dimand|1969c|pp=216–217}}</ref>
 
===Technology===
{{Main |Inventions in medieval Islam|Arab Agricultural Revolution|Timeline of Islamic science and technology}}
[[File:Wasseruhr Harun al Raschid.jpg|thumb|Illustration showing a [[water clock]] given to [[Charlemagne]] by [[Harun al-Rashid]]]]
In technology, the Abbasids adopted [[papermaking]] from China.<ref name= Lucas/> The use of paper spread from China into the caliphate in the 8th century CE, arriving in [[al-Andalus]] (Islamic Spain) and then the rest of Europe in the 10th century. It was easier to manufacture than [[parchment]], less likely to crack than [[papyrus]], and could absorb ink, making it ideal for making records and copies of the Qur'an. "Islamic paper makers devised assembly-line methods of hand-copying manuscripts to turn out editions far larger than any available in Europe for centuries."<ref>{{harvnb|Cotter|2001}}</ref> It was from the Abbasids that the rest of the world learned to make paper from linen.<ref>{{harvnb|Dunn|2003|p=166}}</ref> The knowledge of [[gunpowder]] was also transmitted from China via the caliphate, where the formulas for pure [[potassium nitrate]] and an [[explosive]] gunpowder effect were first developed.<ref>{{harvnb|al-Hassan|2002}}</ref>
 
Advances were made in [[irrigation]] and farming, using new technology such as the [[windmill]]. Crops such as [[almond]]s and [[citrus]] fruit were brought to Europe through [[al-Andalus]], and sugar cultivation was gradually adopted by the Europeans. Apart from the [[Nile]], [[Tigris]] and [[Euphrates]], navigable rivers were uncommon, so transport by sea was very important. Navigational sciences were highly developed, making use of a rudimentary [[sextant]] (known as a kamal). When combined with detailed maps of the period, sailors were able to sail across oceans rather than skirt along the coast. Abbasid sailors were also responsible for reintroducing large three masted merchant vessels to the [[Mediterranean]]. The name [[caravel]] may derive from an earlier Arab ship known as the ''qārib''.<ref>{{harvnb|Schwarz|2013}}</ref> Arab merchants dominated trade in the Indian Ocean until the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th century. [[Ormus|Hormuz]] was an important center for this trade. There was also a dense network of trade routes in the [[Mediterranean]], along which Muslim countries traded with each other and with European powers such as [[Venice]] or [[Genoa]]. The [[Silk Road]] crossing Central Asia passed through the Abbasid caliphate between China and Europe.
 
[[File:Bruges Belgium Windmill-Bonne-Chiere-01.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Windmills]] were among Abbasid inventions in technology.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UFhGW3MxgPMC&q=abbasid+windmill&pg=PA35|title=Syria|last1=Phillips|first1=Douglas A.|last2=Gritzner|first2=Charles F.|date=2010|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=9781438132389|language=en}}</ref>|left]]
 
Engineers in the Abbasid caliphate made a number of innovative industrial uses of [[hydropower]], and early industrial uses of [[tidal power]], [[wind power]], and petroleum (notably by distillation into [[kerosene]]). The industrial uses of [[watermill]]s in the Islamic world date back to the 7th century, while horizontal-[[Water wheel|wheeled]] and vertical-wheeled water mills were both in widespread use since at least the 9th century. By the time of the Crusades, every province throughout the Islamic world had mills in operation, from [[al-Andalus]] and North Africa to the Middle East and Central Asia. These mills performed a variety of agricultural and industrial tasks.<ref name=Lucas>{{harvnb|Lucas|2005|p=10}}</ref> Abbasid engineers also developed machines (such as pumps) incorporating [[crankshaft]]s, employed [[gear]]s in mills and water-raising machines, and used dams to provide additional power to watermills and water-raising machines.<ref name=Hassan>{{harvnb|al-Hassan|2002a}}</ref> Such advances made it possible for many industrial tasks that were previously driven by [[manual labour]] in [[ancient times]] to be [[Mechanization|mechanized]] and driven by machinery instead in the medieval Islamic world. It has been argued that the industrial use of waterpower had spread from Islamic to Christian Spain, where fulling mills, paper mills, and forge mills were recorded for the first time in [[Catalonia]].<ref>{{harvnb|Lucas|2005}}{{page needed|date=May 2015}}</ref>
 
A number of industries were generated during the [[Arab Agricultural Revolution]], including early industries for textiles, sugar, rope-making, matting, silk, and paper. [[Latin translations of the 12th century]] passed on knowledge of chemistry and instrument making in particular.<ref>{{harvnb|al-Hassan|2002b}}</ref> The agricultural and [[handicraft]] industries also experienced high levels of growth during this period.<ref name = Labib>{{harvnb|Labib|1969}}</ref>
 
===Status of women===
In contrast to the earlier era, women in Abbasid society were absent from all arenas of the community's central affairs.{{sfn|Ahmed|1992|pp=112–115}} While their Muslim forbears led men into battle, started rebellions, and played an active role in community life, as demonstrated in the [[Hadith]] literature, Abbasid women were ideally kept in seclusion.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}} Conquests had brought enormous wealth and large numbers of slaves to the Muslim elite. The majority of the slaves were women and children,<ref name="ReferenceA">Morony, Michael G. Iraq after the Muslim conquest. Gorgias Press LLC, 2005</ref> many of whom had been dependents or harem-members of the defeated [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanian]] upper classes.<ref name="Abbott, Nabia 1946">Abbott, Nabia. Two queens of Baghdad: mother and wife of Hārūn al Rashīd. University of Chicago Press, 1946.</ref> In the wake of the conquests an elite man could potentially own a thousand slaves, and ordinary soldiers could have ten people serving them.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
 
[[Nabia Abbott]], preeminent historian of elite women of the Abbasid Caliphate, describes the lives of harem women as follows.
<blockquote>The choicest women were imprisoned behind heavy curtains and locked doors, the strings and keys of which were entrusted into the hands of that pitiable creature – the [[eunuch]]. As the size of the harem grew, men indulged to satiety. Satiety within the individual harem meant boredom for the one man and neglect for the many women. Under these conditions ... satisfaction by perverse and unnatural means crept into society, particularly in its upper classes.<ref name="Abbott, Nabia 1946"/></blockquote>
 
The marketing of human beings, particularly women, as objects for sexual use meant that elite men owned the vast majority of women they interacted with, and related to them as would masters to slaves.{{sfn|Ahmed|1992|p=85}} Being a slave meant relative lack of autonomy, and belonging to a harem caused a wife and her children to have little insurance of stability and continued support due to the volatile politics of harem life.
 
It was narrated from Ibn Abbas that Muhammad said:
"There is no man whose two daughters reach the age of puberty and he treats them kindly for the time they are together, but they will gain him admittance to Paradise."
 
"Whoever has three daughters and is patient towards them, and feeds them, gives them to drink, and clothes them from his wealth; they will be a shield for him from the Fire on the Day of Resurrection.'"
 
 
Even so, slave courtesans ([[qiyan]]s and [[jawaris]]) and princesses produced prestigious and important poetry. Enough survives to give us access to women's historical experiences, and reveals some vivacious and powerful figures, such as the Sufi mystic [[Rabia Basri|Raabi'a al-Adwiyya]] (714–801 CE), the princess and poet [['Ulayya bint al-Mahdi]] (777–825 CE), and the [[qiyan|singing-girls]] [[Shāriyah]] ({{circa|815}}–870 CE), [[Fadl Ashsha'ira]] (d. 871 CE) and [[Arib al-Ma'muniyya]] (797–890 CE).<ref>{{cite book|last=Qutbuddin |first=Tahera |editor=Josef W. Meri |editor-link=Josef W. Meri |title=Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia |chapter-url=http://nelc.uchicago.edu/sites/nelc.uchicago.edu/files/2006%20Women%20Poets%20(Med.%20Islamic.%20Civ.%20Enc.).pdf |volume=II |publisher=Routledge |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-415-96690-0 |chapter=Women Poets |pages=865–867 |access-date=29 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140207005116/http://nelc.uchicago.edu/sites/nelc.uchicago.edu/files/2006%20Women%20Poets%20%28Med.%20Islamic.%20Civ.%20Enc.%29.pdf |archive-date=7 February 2014  |date = 31 October 2005}};<br />{{cite encyclopedia|author=Samer M. Ali|title=Medieval Court Poetry|encyclopedia= The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Women|edition= by Natana J. Delong-Bas, 2 vols (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), I 651-54 (at p. 652)|url= https://www.academia.edu/5023780}}</ref>
 
Each wife in the [[Abbasid harem]] had an additional home or flat, with her own enslaved personals staff of eunuchs and maidservants. When a concubine gave birth to a son, she was elevated in rank to [[umm walad]] and also received apartments and (slave) servants as a gift.{{sfn|Bobrick|2012|p=22}}
 
=== Treatment of Jews and Christians ===
[[File:Hunayn ibn-Ishaq al-'Ibadi Isagoge.jpg|left|thumb|[[Hunayn ibn Ishaq]] was an influential translator, scholar, physician, and scientist.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last=Osman |first=Ghada |date=2012-12-31 |title="The sheikh of the translators": The translation methodology of Hunayn ibn Ishaq |url=http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/tis.7.2.04osm |journal=Translation and Interpreting Studies |language=en |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=161–175 |doi=10.1075/tis.7.2.04osm |issn=1932-2798}}</ref>]]
The status and treatment of Jews, Christians, and non-Muslims in the Abbasid Caliphate was a complex and continually changing issue. Non-Muslims were called [[dhimmi]]s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=A History of Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the Middle East|last=Sharkey|first=Heather|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2017|isbn=9780521186872|location=Cambridge|pages=27–30}}</ref> Dhimmis did not have all of the privileges that Muslims had and commonly had to pay [[jizya]], a tax for not being a Muslim. One of the common aspects of the treatment of the dhimmis is that their treatment depended on who the Caliph was at the time. Some Abbasid rulers, like [[Al-Mutawakkil]] (822–861 CE) imposed strict restrictions on what dhimmis could wear in public, often yellow garments that distinguished them from Muslims.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Non-Muslims in the Early Islamic Empire|last=Levy-Rubin|first=Milka|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108449618|location=Cambridge|pages=102–103|doi = 10.1017/cbo9780511977435}}</ref> Other restrictions al-Mutawakkil imposed included limiting the role of the dhimmis in government, seizing dhimmi housing and making it harder for dhimmis to become educated.<ref name=":1" /> Most other Abbasid caliphs were not as strict as al-Mutawakkil, though. During the reign of [[Al-Mansur]] (714–775 CE), it was common for Jews and Christians to influence the overall culture in the [[Caliphate]], specifically in [[Baghdad]]. Jews and Christians did this by participating in scholarly work and Christians even influenced Islamic funeral service traditions.<ref name=":0" />
 
It was common that laws that were imposed against dhimmis during one caliph's rule were either discarded or not practiced during future caliphs' reigns. Al-Mansur and al-Mutawakkil both instituted laws that forbade non-Muslims from participating in public office.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Non-Muslims in the Early Islamic Empire|last=Levy-Rubin|first=Milka|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781108449618|location=Cambridge|pages=108–110|doi = 10.1017/cbo9780511977435}}</ref> Al-Mansur did not follow his own law very closely, bringing dhimmis back to the Caliphate's treasury due to the needed expertise of dhimmis in the area of finance.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Sirry|first=Mun'im|date=2011|title=The public role of Dhimmīs during ʿAbbāsid times|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London|volume=74|issue=2|pages=187–204|jstor=41287947|doi=10.1017/S0041977X11000024|doi-access=free}}</ref> Al-Mutawakkil followed the law banning dhimmis from public office more seriously, although, soon after his reign, many of the laws concerning dhimmis participating in government were completely unobserved or at least less strictly observed.<ref name=":1" /> Even [[Al-Muqtadir]] ({{r.|908|932|era=CE}}), who held a similar stance as al-Mutawakkil on barring non-Muslims from public office, himself had multiple Christian secretaries, indicating that non-Muslims still had access to many of the most important figures within the Caliphate.<ref name=":2" /> Past having a casual association or just being a secretary to high-ranking Islamic officials, some of them achieved the second highest office after the caliph: the vizier.<ref name=":2" />
 
Jews and Christians may have had a lower overall status compared to Muslims in the Abbasid Caliphate, but dhimmis were often allowed to hold respectable and even prestigious occupations in some cases, such as doctors and public officeholders. Jews and Christians were also allowed to be rich even if they were taxed for being a dhimmi.<ref name=":0" /> Dhimmis were capable of moving up and down the social ladder, though this largely depended on the particular caliph. An indication as to the social standing of Jews and Christians at the time was their ability to live next to Muslim people. While al-Mansur was ruling the Caliphate, for instance, it was not uncommon for dhimmis to live in the same neighborhoods as Muslims.<ref name=":0" /> One of the biggest reasons why dhimmis were allowed to hold prestigious jobs and positions in government is that they were generally important to the well-being of the state and were proficient to excellent with the work at hand.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the Middle East|last=Sharkey|first=Heather|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2017|isbn=9780521186872|location=Cambridge|pages=52–54}}</ref> Some Muslims in the Caliphate took offense to the idea that there were dhimmis in public offices who were in a way ruling over them although it was an Islamic state, while other Muslims were at time jealous of some dhimmis for having a level of wealth or prestige greater than other Muslims, even if Muslims were still the majority of the ruling class.<ref name=":2" /> In general, Muslims, Jews, and Christians had close relations that could be considered positive at times, especially for Jews, in contrast to how Jews were being treated in Europe.<ref name=":0" />
 
Many of the laws and restrictions that were imposed on dhimmis often resembled other laws that previous states had used to discriminate against a minority religion, specifically Jewish people. Romans in the fourth century banned Jewish people from holding public offices, banned Roman citizens from converting to Judaism, and often demoted Jews who were serving in the Roman military.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Christian Antisemitism: A History of Hate|last=Nicholls|first=William|publisher=Haddon Craftsmen|year=1993|isbn=9780876683989|location=Scranton|pages=196–197}}</ref> In direct contrast, there was an event in which two [[vizier]]s, Ibn al-Furat and [[Ali ibn Isa ibn al-Jarrah]], argued about Ibn al-Furat's decision to make a Christian the head of the military. A previous vizier, Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Bazuri, had done so. These laws predated al-Mansur's laws against dhimmis and often had similar restrictions, although Roman emperors were often much more strict on enforcing these laws than many Abbasid caliphs.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Anti-Semitism Before the Holocaust|last=Lindemann|first=Albert|publisher=Pearson Educated Limited|year=2000|isbn=9780582369641|location=Harlow|pages=38}}</ref>
 
Most of [[History of the Jews in Baghdad|Baghdad's Jews]] were incorporated into the Arab community and regarded [[Arabic]] their native language.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} Some Jews studied Hebrew in their schools and Jewish religious education flourished. The united Muslim empire allowed Jews to reconstruct links between their dispersed communities throughout the Middle East. The city's Talmudic institute helped spread the rabbinical tradition to Europe, and the Jewish community in Baghdad went on to establish ten rabbinical schools and twenty-three synagogues. Baghdad not only contained the tombs of Muslim saints and martyrs, but also the tomb of the Hebrew prophet [[Joshua]], whose corpse had been brought to Iraq during the first migration of the Jews out of the [[Levant]].{{sfn|Bobrick|2012|p=68}}
 
===Arabization===
While the Abbasids originally gained power by exploiting the social inequalities against non-Arabs in the Umayyad Empire, during Abbasid rule the empire rapidly Arabized, particularly in the [[Fertile Crescent]] region (namely [[Mesopotamia]] and [[the Levant]]) as had begun under Umayyad rule. As knowledge was shared in the Arabic language throughout the empire, many people from different nationalities and religions began to speak Arabic in their everyday lives. Resources from other languages began to be translated into Arabic, and a unique Islamic identity began to form that fused previous cultures with Arab culture, creating a level of civilization and knowledge that was considered a marvel in Europe at the time.<ref>{{harvnb|Ochsenwald|Fisher|2004|p=69}}</ref>
 
===Holidays===
There were large feasts on certain days, as the Muslims of the empire celebrated Christian holidays as well as their own. There were two main Islamic feasts: [[Eid al-Fitr|one marked by the end of Ramadan]]; the other, [[Eid al-Adha|"the Feast of Sacrifice"]]. The former was especially joyful because children would purchase decorations and sweetmeats; people prepared the best food and bought new clothes. At midmorning, the caliph, wearing Muhammad's thobe, would guide officials, accompanied by armed soldiers to the [[Great Mosque of al-Mansur|Great Mosque]], where he led prayers. After the prayer, all those in attendance would exchange the best wishes and hug their kin and companions. The festivities lasted for three days. During those limited number of nights, the palaces were lit up and boats on the [[Tigris]] hung lights. It was said that Baghdad “glittered ‘like a bride." During [[Eid al-Adha|“the Feast of Sacrifice.”]], sheep were butchered in public arenas and the caliph participated in a large-scale sacrifice in the palace courtyard. Afterward, the meat would be divided and given to the poor.<ref>{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=70}}</ref>
 
In addition to these two holidays, [[Shia]]s celebrated the birthdays of [[Fatimah]] and [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]]. Matrimonies and births in the royal family were observed by all in the empire. The announcement that one of the caliph's sons could [[Qira'at|recite the Koran]] smoothly was greeted by communal jubilation. When Harun developed this holy talent, the people lit torches and decorated the streets with wreaths of flowers, and his father, [[Al-Mahdi]], freed 500 slaves.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 71">{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=71}}</ref>
 
Of all the holidays imported from other cultures and religions, the one most celebrated in Baghdad (a city with many Persians) was [[Nowruz]], which celebrated the arrival of spring. In a ceremonial ablution introduced by Persian troops, residents sprinkled themselves with water and ate almond cakes. The palaces of the imperial family were lit up for six days and nights. The Abbasids also celebrated the Persian holiday of Mihraj, which marked the onset of winter (signified with pounding drums), and Sadar, when homes burned incense and the masses would congregate along the Tigris to witness princes and viziers pass by.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 71"/>
 
==Military==
{{Expand section|date=January 2018}}
{{quotation|The king of India has many troops, but they are not paid as regular soldiers; instead, he summons them to fight for king and country, and they go to war at their own expense and at no cost at all to the king. In contrast, the Chinese give their troops regular pay, as the Arabs do.{{sfn|Mackintosh-Smith|2014|p=63}}|Abu Zayd al-Hasan al-Sirafi}}
 
In Baghdad there were many Abbasid military leaders who were or said they were of [[Arabs|Arab]] descent. However, it is clear that most of the ranks were of [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] origin, the vast majority being from [[Khorasan Province|Khorasan]] and [[Transoxiana]], not from western Iran or Azerbaijan.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/baghdad-iranian-connection-1-pr-Mongol |title=BAGHDAD i. The Iranian Connection: Before the Mongol Invasion |first=H. |last=Kennedy |date=15 December 1988 |access-date=22 August 2011 |volume=III |issue=4 |pages=412–415 |encyclopedia=[[Iranica Online]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117004858/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/baghdad-iranian-connection-1-pr-Mongol |archive-date=17 November 2011 |url-status=live  }}</ref> Most of the Khorasani soldiers who brought the Abbasids to power were Arabs.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iraq-i-late-sasanid-early-islamic |title=IRAQ i. IN THE LATE SASANID AND EARLY ISLAMIC ERAS |first=Michael |last=Morony |author-link=Michael Morony |date=15 December 2006 |access-date=30 March 2012 |volume=XIII |issue=5 |pages=543–550 |encyclopedia=[[Iranica Online]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229181405/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iraq-i-late-sasanid-early-islamic |archive-date=29 February 2012 |url-status=live  }}</ref>
[[File:Al-Akhdar Castle.jpg|thumb|[[Al-Ukhaidir Fortress|Ukhaidir Fortress]], located south of [[Karbala]], is a large, rectangular fortress erected in 775 AD with a unique defensive style. ]]
The standing army of the Muslims in Khorosan was overwhelmingly Arab. The unit organization of the Abbasids was designed with the goal of ethnic and racial equality among supporters. When Abu Muslim recruited officers along the Silk Road, he registered them based not on their tribal or ethno-national affiliations but on their current places of residence.<ref name=ira62>[[The Cambridge History of Iran]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=hvx9jq_2L3EC&pg=PA62&dq=umayyad+abbasid+non+muslim+support&hl=en&sa=X&ei=AaqOU-33NoKyyASR1oGoDw&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAzgo#v=onepage&q=umayyad%20abbasid%20non%20muslim%20support&f=false p. 62]. Ed. Richard N. Frye. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975. {{ISBN|9780521200936}}</ref> Under the Abbasids, Iranian peoples became better represented in the army and bureaucracy as compared to before.<ref>{{cite book |last1=HUGH KENNEDY |title=THE PROPHET AND THE AGE OF THE CALIPHATES |date=2004 |publisher=Pearson Education Limited |isbn=0-582-40525-4 |page=134}}</ref> The Abbasid army was centred on the Khurasan [[Abna al-dawla]] infantry and the Khurasaniyya heavy cavalry, led by their own semi-autonomous commanders (qa'id) who recruited and deployed their own men with Abbasid resource grants.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jo Van Steenbergen |title=A History of the Islamic World, 600-1800: Empire, Dynastic Formations, and Heterogeneities in Pre-Modern Islamic West-Asia |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1000093070 |chapter=2.1|date=11 August 2020 }}</ref> al-Mu‘tasim began the practice of recruiting Turkic slave soldiers from the [[Samanids]] into a private army, which allowed him to take over the reins of the Caliphate. He abolished the old ''jund'' system created by Umar and diverted the salaries of the original Arab military descendants to the Turkic slave soldiers. The Turkic soldiers transformed the style of warfare, as they were known as capable horse archers, trained from childhood to ride. This military was now drafted from the ethnic groups of the faraway borderlands, and were completely separate from the rest of society. Some could not speak Arabic properly. This led to the decline of the Caliphate starting with the Anarchy at Samarra.<ref>{{cite book |last1=HUGH KENNEDY |title=THE PROPHET AND THE AGE OF THE CALIPHATES |date=2004 |publisher=Pearson Education Limited |isbn=0-582-40525-4 |pages=156–169}}</ref>
 
Although the Abbasids never retained a substantial regular army, the caliph could recruit a considerable number of soldiers in a short time when needed from levies. There were also cohorts of regular troops who received steady pay and a special forces unit. At any moment, 125,000 Muslim soldiers could be assembled along the Byzantine frontier, [[Baghdad]], [[Medina]], [[Damascus]], [[Rayy]], and other geostrategic locations in order to quell any unrest.{{sfn|Bobrick|2012|p=44}}
 
The cavalry was entirely covered in iron, with helmets. Similar to medieval knights, their only exposed spots were the end of their noses and small openings in front of their eyes. Their foot soldiers were issued spears, swords, and pikes, and (in line with Persian fashion) trained to stand so solidly that, one contemporary wrote "you would have thought them held fast by clamps of bronze."{{sfn|Bobrick|2012|p=44}}
 
The Abbasid army amassed an array of siege equipment, such as [[catapult]]s, [[mangonel]]s, [[battering ram]]s, ladders, grappling irons, and hooks. All such weaponry was operated by military engineers. However, the primary siege weapon was the manjaniq, a type of siege weapon that was comparable to the [[trebuchet]] employed in Western medieval times. From the seventh century onward, it had largely replaced [[Torsion siege engine|torsion artillery]]. By Harun al-Rashid's time, the Abbasid army employed fire [[grenade]]s. The Abbasids also utilized [[field hospital]]s and ambulances drawn by camels.<ref>{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=44}}</ref>
 
==Civil administration==
[[File:Abbasid Caliphate 850AD.png|thumb|The provinces of Abbasid Caliphate in c. 850 under [[al-Mutawakkil]]]]
As a result of such a vast Empire, the caliphate was decentralized and divided into 24 provinces.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 45">{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=45}}</ref>
 
In keeping with Persian tradition, Harun's vizier enjoyed close to unchecked powers. Under Harun, a special "bureau of confiscation" was created. This governmental wing made it possible for the vizier to seize the property and riches of any corrupt governor or civil servant. In addition, it allowed governors to confiscate the estates of lower-ranking officials. Finally, the caliph could impose the same penalty on a vizier who fell from grace. As one later caliph put it: "The vizier is our representative throughout the land and amongst our subjects. Therefore, he who obeys him obeys us; and he who obeys us obeys God, and God shall cause him who obeys Him to enter paradise."<ref name="Bobrick 2012 45"/>
 
Every regional metropolis had a post office and hundreds of roads were paved in order to link the imperial capital with other cities and towns. The empire employed a system of relays to deliver mail. The central post office in Baghdad even had a map with directions that noted the distances between each town. The roads were provided with roadside inns, hospices, and wells and could reach eastward through Persia and [[Central Asia]], to as far as China.<ref>{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=46}}</ref> The post office not only enhanced civil services but also served as intelligence for the caliph. Mailmen were employed as spies who kept an eye on local affairs.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 47">{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=47}}</ref>
 
Early in the days of the caliphate, the Barmakids took the responsibility of shaping the [[civil service]]. The family had roots in a [[Buddhist]] monastery in northern [[Afghanistan]]. In the early 8th century, the family converted to Islam and began to take on a sizable part of the civil administration for the Abbasids.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 47"/>
 
Capital poured into the caliphate's treasury from a variety of taxes, including a real estate tax; a levy on cattle, gold and silver, and commercial wares; a special tax on non-Muslims; and customs dues.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 45"/>
 
==Trade==
Under [[Harun al-Rashid|Harun]], maritime trade through the [[Persian Gulf]] thrived, with Arab vessels trading as far south as [[Madagascar]] and as far east as China, Korea, and Japan. The growing economy of Baghdad and other cities inevitably led to the demand for luxury items and formed a class of entrepreneurs who organized long-range caravans for the trade and then the distribution of their goods. A whole section in the East Baghdad suq was dedicated to Chinese goods. Arabs traded with the [[Baltic region]] and made it as far north as the [[British Isles]]. Tens of thousands of Arab coins have been discovered in parts of Russia and Sweden, which bear witness to the comprehensive trade networks set up by the Abbasids. [[Offa of Mercia|King Offa of Mercia (in England)]] minted gold coins similar to those of the Abbasids in the eighth century.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 74">{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=74}}</ref>
 
Muslim merchants employed ports in [[Bandar Siraf]], [[Basra]], and [[Aden]] and some [[Red Sea]] ports to travel and trade with India and [[South East Asia]]. Land routes were also utilized through [[Central Asia]]. Arab businessmen were present in China as early as the eighth century. Arab merchants sailed the Caspian Sea to reach and trade with [[Bukhara]] and [[Samarkand]].<ref name="Bobrick 2012 74"/>
 
Many caravans and goods never made it to their intended destinations. Some Chinese exports perished in fires, while other ships sank. It was said that anybody who made it to China and back unharmed was blessed by God. Common sea routes were also plagued by pirates who built and crewed vessels that were faster than most merchant ships. It is said that many of the adventures at sea in the [[Sinbad the Sailor|Sinbad tales]] were based on historical fiction of mariners of the day.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 75">{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=75}}</ref>
 
The Arabs also established overland trade with Africa, largely for gold and [[Trans-Saharan slave trade|slaves]]. When trade with Europe ceased due to [[Arab–Byzantine wars|hostilities]], Jews served as a link between the two hostile worlds.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 75"/>
 
==Decline of the empire==
{{More citations needed section|date=February 2011}}
{{See|Anarchy at Samarra|Kharijite Rebellion (866–896)|Zanj Rebellion}}
Abbasids found themselves at odds with the [[Shia]] Muslims, most of whom had supported their war against the Umayyads, since the Abbasids and the Shias claimed legitimacy by their familial connection to Muhammad; once in power, the Abbasids disavowed any support for Shia beliefs in favor of [[Sunni]] Islam. Shortly thereafter, Berber [[Kharijite]]s set up an independent state in North Africa in 801. Within 50 years the [[Idrisid]]s in the [[Maghreb]] and [[Aghlabid]]s of [[Ifriqiya]] and a little later the [[Tulunid]]s and [[Ikshidid]]s of [[History of Muslim Egypt|Misr]] were effectively independent in Africa. The Abbasid authority began to deteriorate during the reign of [[al-Radi]] when their Turkic Army generals, who already had de facto independence, stopped paying the Caliphate. Even provinces close to Baghdad began to seek local dynastic rule. Also, the Abbasids found themselves to often be at conflict with the Umayyads in Spain. The Abbasid financial position weakened as well, with tax revenues from the [[Sawād]] decreasing in the 9th and 10th centuries.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/12137429|title=State, Land Tax and Agriculture in Iraq from the Arab Conquest to the Crisis of the Abbasid Caliphate (Seventh-Tenth Centuries)|first=Campopiano|last=Michele|journal=Studia Islamica|volume=107|issue=1|pages=1–37|access-date=19 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913114643/http://www.academia.edu/12137429/_State_Land_Tax_and_Agriculture_in_Iraq_from_the_Arab_Conquest_to_the_Crisis_of_the_Abbasid_Caliphate_Seventh-Tenth_Centuries_in_Studia_Islamica_3_2012_35-80|archive-date=13 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
==Separatist dynasties and their successors==
The following list represents the succession of Islamic dynasties that emerged from the fractured Abbasid empire by their general geographic location. Dynasties often overlap, where a vassal emir revolted from and later conquered his lord. Gaps appear during periods of contest where the dominating power was unclear. Except for the [[Fatimid Caliphate]] in Egypt, recognizing a Shia succession through [[Ali]], and the Andalusian Caliphates of the [[Caliphate of Córdoba|Umayyads]] and [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohads]], every Muslim dynasty at least acknowledged the nominal suzerainty of the Abbasids as Caliph and Commander of the Faithful.
 
* (Maghrib al Aqsa or Extreme Maghreb) Morocco: [[Idrisid dynasty|Idrisids]] (788–974) → [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravids]] (1040–1147) → [[Almohad]]s (1120–1269) → [[Marinid dynasty|Marinids]] (1472–1554) → [[Wattasid dynasty|Wattasids]] (1472–1554) → [[Saadi Sultanate|Saadis]] (1510-1659) → [['Alawi dynasty]]
* [[Ifriqiya]] (modern Tunisia, eastern Algeria and western Libya): [[Aghlabids]] (800–909 CE) → [[Fatimid]]s (temporaly in Kairouan) (909–973 CE) → [[Zirids]] (at their collapse) (973–1148) → [[Almohads]] (1148–1229) → [[Hafsids]] (1229–1574) → [[Husainid dynasty]] (1705–1957) → [[Kingdom of Tunisia]]
* Egypt and Palestine: [[Tulunids]] (868–905 CE) → [[Ikhshidid dynasty|Ikhshidids]] (935–969) → [[Fatimid Caliphate]] (909–1171) → [[Ayyubid dynasty]] (1171–1250) → [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]] (1250–1517)
* [[Al-Jazira (caliphal province)|Al-Jazira]] (modern East Syria and Western Iraq): [[Hamdanid dynasty|Hamdanids]] (890–1004 CE) → [[Marwanids]] (990–1085) and [[Uqaylids]] (990–1096) → [[Seljuks]] (1034–1194) → [[Mongol Empire]] and the [[Ilkhanate]] (1231–1335)
* Southwest Iran: [[Buyid dynasty|Buyids]] (934–1055) → [[Seljuks]] (1034–1194) → [[Mongol Empire]] → [[Injuids]] (1335–1357) → [[Muzaffarids (Iran)|Muzaffarids]] (1314–1393)
* [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] (modern Iran, Afghanistan and [[Turkmenistan]]): [[Tahirid dynasty|Tahirids]] (821–873) → [[Saffarid dynasty|Saffarids]] (873–903) → [[Samanids]] (903–995) → [[Ghaznavids]] (995–1038) → [[Seljuks]] (1038–1194) → [[Ghurid dynasty|Ghurids]] (1011–1215) → [[Khwarazmian dynasty|Khwarazmians]] (1077–1231) → [[Mongol Empire]] and the [[Ilkhanate]] (1231–1335)
* [[Transoxiana]] (modern [[Central Asia]]): [[Samanids]] (819–999) → [[Karakhanids]] (840–1212) → [[Khwarazmian dynasty|Khwarazmians]] (1077–1231) → [[Mongol Empire]] and the [[Chagatai Khanate]] (1225–1687)
*(Maghrib al Awsat or Central Maghreb) [[Algeria]]: [[Emirate of Tlemcen]] → [[Sulaymanid dynasty|Sulaymanids Dynasty]] → [[Rustamid dynasty|Rustamids]] → [[Zirid dynasty]] (apogee) → [[Ifranid dynasty]] →  [[Abd al-Mu'min]] (Almohad founder from [[Nedroma]]) → [[Zayyanid dynasty]] and [[Marinid dynasty]] (from [[Biskra Province|Zibans]] in [[Algeria]]) → [[Sultanate of Tuggurt]] → [[Kingdom of Beni Abbas]] → [[Kingdom of Kuku]] → [[Emirate of Abdelkader]]
*Indus Valley: [[Habbari dynasty]] (841–1025) and [[Emirate of Multan]] (855–1010) → [[Ghaznavid Empire]] (995–1038)
 
==Dynasties claiming Abbasid descent==
Centuries after the ''Abbasids'' fall, several dynasties have claimed descent from them, as "claiming kinship relation with the Prophet Muhammad, that is, claiming an affiliation to the 'People of the House' or the status of a sayyid or sharif, has arguably been the most widespread way in Muslim societies of supporting one's moral or material objectives with genealogical credentials."<ref name="ecommons.aku.edu">https://ecommons.aku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=uk_ismc_series_emc {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> Such claims of continuity with Muhammad or his Hashemite kin such as the Abbasids foster a sense of "political viability" for a candidate dynasty, with the intention of "serving an internal audience" (or in other words, gaining legitimacy in the view of the masses).<ref name="ecommons.aku.edu"/> The [[Wadai Empire]] which ruled parts of modern-day Sudan also claimed Abbasid descent, alongside the [[Khairpur (princely state)|Khairpur]] and [[Bahawalpur (princely state)|Bahawalpur]] states in Pakistan and the Khanate of [[Bastak]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5AglDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA22 |title=Blood and Water: The Indus River Basin in Modern History|last=Gilmartin|first=David|date=5 June 2015|publisher=Univ of California Press|isbn=9780520285293|language=en}}</ref><ref>Nachtigal, G. (1971). Sahara and Sudan: Kawar, Bornu, Kanem, Borku, Enned. Sahara and Sudan. University of California Press. p. 206. {{ISBN|978-0-520-01789-4}}. Retrieved 10 October 2018.</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Baniabbassian|1960|pp=8–9}}</ref>
 
A common trope among Abbasid claimant dynasties is that they are descended from Abbasid princes of Baghdad, "dispersed" by the Mongol invasion in 1258 CE.<ref name="books.google.com">{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=moMjWocXWYYC&pg=PA156 |title = Islam Related Naipaul|isbn = 9788176256933|last1 = Sarkar|first1 = R. N.|year = 2006}}</ref> These surviving princes would leave Baghdad for a safe haven not controlled by the Mongols, assimilate to their new societies, and their descendants would grow to establish their own dynasties with their Abbasid 'credentials' centuries later.<ref>{{harvnb|Baniabbassian|1960|p=14}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bosworth|Van Donzel|Lewis|Pellat|1983|p=671}}</ref> This is highlighted by the origin myth of the Bastak khanate which relates that in 656 AH/1258 CE, the year of the fall of Baghdad, and following the sack of the city, a few surviving members of the Abbasid dynastic family led by the eldest amongst them, Ismail II son of Hamza son of Ahmed son of Mohamed migrated to Southern Iran, in the village of Khonj and later to [[Bastak]] where their khanate was established in the 17th century CE.{{refn|group=nb|For his full genealogy all the way back to Al-Abbas bin Abdulmuttalib, the paternal uncle of Mohamed, please see: Al-Abbasi's book ''Nader al-Bayan fi Dhikr Ansab Baniabbassian''<ref name=Alabb>{{harvnb|Al-Abbasi|1986}}{{Page needed | date = January 2014}}</ref>}}<ref>محمد أعظم؛ (العباسي)بني عباسيان بستكي (1993م). أحداث و وقائع و مشايخ بستك و خنج و لنجة و لار.</ref>
 
Meanwhile, the [[Wadai Empire]] related a similar origin story, claiming descent from a man by the name of Salih ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas, whose father Abdullah was an Abbasid prince who fled Baghdad for [[Hijaz]] upon the Mongol invasion. He had a son named Salih who would grow to become an "able jurist" and a "very devout man". The Muslim [[ulama]] on pilgrimage in Mecca met him and, impressed by his knowledge, invited him to return with him to [[Sennar]]. Seeing the population's deviation from Islam, he "pushed further" until he found the Abu Sinun mountain in [[Ouaddaï highlands|Wadai]] where he converted the local people to Islam and taught them its rules, after which they made him [[sultan]], thus laying the foundations of the Wadai Empire.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n2pKwQX16BAC&pg=PA206 |title = Sahara and Sudan|isbn = 9780900966538|last1 = Nachtigal|first1 = Gustav|year = 1971}}</ref>
 
With regards to the Bastak khanate, Shaikh Mohamed Khan Bastaki was the first Abbasid ruler of Bastak to hold the title of "Khan" after the local people accepted him as a ruler ([[Persian language|Persian]]: خان, [[Arabic]]: الحاكم), meaning "ruler" or "king", a title which was reportedly bestowed upon him by [[Karim Khan Zand]].<ref>Bosworth, C.; Van Donzel, E.; Lewis, B.; Pellat, Ch. (1983). EncyclopeÌ die de l'Islam [The Encyclopedia of Islam] (in French). V (New ed.). Leiden, Netherlands: E.J. Brill.</ref> The title then became that of all the subsequent Abbasid rulers of Bastak and Jahangiriyeh, and also collectively refers in plural form – i.e., "Khans" ([[Persian language|Persian]]: خوانين) – to the descendants of Shaikh Mohamed Khan Bastaki. The last Abbasid ruler of Bastak and Jahangiriyeh was Mohamed A’zam Khan Baniabbassian son of Mohamed Reza Khan "Satvat al-Mamalek" Baniabbasi. He authored the book ''Tarikh-e Jahangiriyeh va Baniabbassian-e Bastak'' (1960),<ref>{{harvnb|Baniabbassian|1960}}{{page needed|date=May 2015}}</ref> in which is recounted the history of the region and the Abbasid family that ruled it. Mohamed A’zam Khan Baniabbassian died in 1967, regarded as the end of the Abbasid reign in Bastak.
 
==See also==
{{columns-list|
* [[List of Abbasid caliphs]]
* [[Political history of the world]]
* [[Iranian Intermezzo]]
* [[List of largest empires]]
* [[List of Sunni Muslim dynasties]]
* [[:Category:Governors of the Abbasid Caliphate]]
}}
 
==References==
===Notes===
{{reflist|group=nb}}
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}
===Sources===
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{{refend}}
 
==External links==
{{Commons category|Abbasid Caliphate}}
{{Collier's Poster|Abbassides}}
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Abbassides, The|year=1905 |short=x}}
* {{Citation | contribution-url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/inourtime/inourtime_20060202.shtml | contribution = Abbasid Caliphs | title = In Our Time | publisher = BBC Radio 4 | chapter-format = streaming RealAudio | place = [[United Kingdom|UK]] | date = 2 February 2006}}.
* {{Citation | contribution-url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/abbasid-caliphate | contribution = Abbasid Caliphate | type = entry | url = http://www.iranica.com/ | title = Encyclopaedia Iranica}}.
 
{{S-start}}
{{s-imperialhouse|[[Abbasid dynasty]]|[[Banu Hashim]]|}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad dynasty]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Caliphate]] dynasty|years=750–1258 and 1261–1517<br />''also claimed by [[Fatimid dynasty]] in 909, [[Umayyad dynasty]] in 929, and [[Ottoman dynasty]]''}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ottoman dynasty]]}}
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{{S-end}}
 
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Latest revision as of 18:45, 13 October 2022

Abbasid Caliphate

  • 750–1258
  • 1261–1517
Flag of Abbasids
Abbasid Caliphate at its greatest extent, c. 850
Abbasid Caliphate at its greatest extent, c. 850
Status
  • Early Abbasid era
    (750–861)
  • Middle Abbasid era
    (861–936)
  • Later Abbasid era
    (936–1258)
Capital
Common languagesClassical Arabic (central administration); various regional languages
Religion
Sunni Islam
GovernmentCaliphate
Caliph 
• 750–754
As-Saffah (first)
• 1242–1258
Al-Musta'sim (last Caliph in Baghdad)
• 1508–1517
al-Mutawakkil III (last Caliph in Cairo)
History 
• Established
750
• Disestablished
1517
Currency
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Umayyad Caliphate
Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)
Ottoman Empire
Ghurid Sultanate
Fatimid Caliphate
Seljuk Empire
Saffarid dynasty
Ziyadid dynasty
Tulunid dynasty
Mongol Empire
Amir al-Mu'minin (أمير المؤمنين), Caliph (خليفة)

The Abbasid Caliphate[2] was the third of the four greatest Muslim caliphates of the Arab Empire. It overthrew the Umayyad caliphs from all but Al-Andalus. It was built by the descendant of Muhammad's youngest uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. It was created in Harran in 750 of the Christian era and shifted its capital in AD 762 from Harran to Baghdad. It flourished for two centuries, surviving the Zanj Rebellion (869-883). Abbasid rule was ended in 1258, when Hulagu Khan, the Mongol conqueror, sacked Baghdad. But they continued to claim authority in religious matters from their base in Egypt.

During the period of the Abassid dynasty, Abassid claims to the caliphate did not go unchallenged. The Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi Billah of the Fatimid dynasty, which claimed descendency of Muhammad through his daughter, claimed the title of Caliph in 909 and created a separate line of caliphs in North Africa. Initially it covered only Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, but then the Fatimid caliphs extended their rule for the next 150 years, taking Egypt and Palestine and even ancient Pakistan, before the Abbassid dynasty was able to turn the tide, limiting Fatimid rule to Egypt. The Fatimid dynasty finally ended in 1171. The Umayyad dynasty, which had survived and come to rule over the Muslim provinces of Spain, reclaimed the title of Caliph in 929, lasting until it was overthrown in 1031.

The tenth caliph, namely Al-Mutawakkil, is the person who oversaw the introduction of hadiths.[3]

Related pages[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ↑ The Abbasid Revolution against the Umayyad Caliphate adopted black for its rāyaʾ for which their partisans were called the musawwids. Tabari (1995), Jane McAuliffe (ed.), Abbāsid Authority Affirmed, vol. 28, SUNY, p. 124 Their rivals chose other colours in reaction; among these, forces loyal to Marwan II adopted red. Patricia Crone (2012). The Nativist Prophets of Early Islam. p. 122. ISBN 9781107018792.. The choice of black as the colour of the Abbasid Revolution was already motivated by the "black standards out of Khorasan" tradition associated with the Mahdi. The contrast of white vs. black as the Umayyad vs. Abbasid dynastic colour over time developed in white as the colour of Shia Islam and black as the colour of Sunni Islam: "The proselytes of the ʿAbbasid revolution took full advantage of the eschatological expectations raised by black banners in their campaign to undermine the Umayyad dynasty from within. Even after the ʿAbbasids had triumphed over the Umayyads in 750, they continued to deploy black as their dynastic colour; not only the banners but the headdresses and garments of the ʿAbbasid caliphs were black ... The ubiquitous black created a striking contrast with the banners and dynastic color of the Umayyads, which had been white ... The Ismaili Shiʿite counter-caliphate founded by the Fatimids took white as its dynastic color, creating a visual contrast to the ʿAbbasid enemy ... white became the Shiʿite color, in deliberate opposition to the black of the ʿAbbasid 'establishment'." Jane Hathaway, A Tale of Two Factions: Myth, Memory, and Identity in Ottoman Egypt and Yemen, 2012, p. 97f. After the revolution, Islamic apocalyptic circles admitted that the Abbasid banners would be black but asserted that the Mahdi's standard would be black and larger. David Cook (2002). Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic, p. 153. Anti-Abbasid circles cursed "the black banners from the East", "first and last". Patricia Crone (2012). The Nativist Prophets of Early Islam. p. 243. ISBN 9781107018792.
  2. ↑ Abbasid (Arabic: لعبّاسيّون‎, transcription al-‘Abbāsīyūn) is the dynastic name generally given to the caliph of Baghdad
  3. ↑ History of al-Tabari Vol. 34, The: Incipient Decline, page 149

External links[edit]

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