Abbasid Caliphate

The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire was the third <a href="/facts/Caliphate/qQ6hCspe">caliphate</a> to succeed the <a href="/facts/Prophets_and_messengers_in_Islam/WPWy6Gdp">Islamic prophet</a> <a href="/facts/Muhammad/5VcA7XrT">Muhammad</a>. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, <a href="/facts/Abbas_ibn_Abd_al-Muttalib/8G59cWAh">Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib</a> (566–653 <a href="/facts/Common_Era/e5DpqUoe">CE</a>), from whom the <a href="/facts/Abbasid_dynasty/s5h7ToG1">dynasty</a> takes its name. After overthrowing the <a href="/facts/Umayyad_Caliphate/gdW8JwoK">Umayyad Caliphate</a> in the <a href="/facts/Abbasid_Revolution/h3EMV4Qn">Abbasid Revolution</a> of 750 CE (132 <a href="/facts/Anno_Hegirae/YLhMRWU1">AH</a>), they ruled as <a href="/facts/Caliphs/qQ6hCspe">caliphs</a> based in modern-day Iraq (<a href="/facts/Mesopotamia/f0mmbhTK">Mesopotamia</a>), with <a href="/facts/Baghdad/RbtLzzHe">Baghdad</a> being their capital for most of their history. 
The Abbasid Revolution had its origins and first successes in the easterly region of <a href="/facts/Greater_Khorasan/YjgsyBbe">Khurasan</a>, far from the <a href="/facts/Levant/uuJLt3Af">Levantine</a> center of Umayyad influence. The Abbasid Caliphate first centered its government in <a href="/facts/Kufa/Mce6seyF">Kufa</a>, modern-day Iraq, but in 762 the caliph <a href="/facts/Al-Mansur/8TRDzwqm">al-Mansur</a> founded the city of Baghdad as the new capital. Baghdad became the center of <a href="/facts/Science_in_the_medieval_Islamic_world/ajn0zRSc">science</a>, <a href="/facts/Islamic_culture/R0lHtcL9">culture</a>, <a href="/facts/Abbasid_art/f6s7b5I9">arts</a>, and <a href="/facts/List_of_inventions_in_the_medieval_Islamic_world/0RkuQHVL">invention</a> in what became known as the <a href="/facts/Islamic_Golden_Age/yAeG2rBA">Golden Age of Islam</a>. By housing several key academic institutions, including the <a href="/facts/House_of_Wisdom/Iyo9lg8a">House of Wisdom</a>, as well as a multiethnic and multi-religious environment, the city garnered an international reputation as a centre of learning. The Abbasid period was marked by the use of <a href="/facts/Bureaucrats/yG7upCoD">bureaucrats</a> in governance, including the <a href="/facts/Vizier_(Abbasid_Caliphate)/u5Uqv6pS">vizier</a>, as well as an increasing inclusion of <a href="/facts/Mawla/6QBbzSbu">non-Arab Muslims</a> in the <a href="/facts/Ummah/WCfqSyKF">ummah</a> (Muslim community) and among the political elites.
The apogee of the caliphate's power and prestige is traditionally associated with <a href="/facts/Harun_al-Rashid/TfyYwnwV">Harun al-Rashid</a> (r. 786–809). After his death, <a href="/facts/Fourth_Fitna/79XUXN7p">civil war</a> brought new divisions and was followed by significant changes to the character of the state, including the creation of a new professional army recruited mainly from <a href="/facts/Turkic_peoples/ocd7rpI3">Turkic</a> slaves and the construction of a new capital, <a href="/facts/Abbasid_Samarra/EmSfXw7v">Samarra</a>, in 836. The 9th century also saw a growing trend of provincial autonomy spawning local dynasties who controlled different regions of the empire, such as the <a href="/facts/Aghlabids/hEwR767H">Aghlabids</a>, <a href="/facts/Tahirids/K5dAYlYB">Tahirids</a>, <a href="/facts/Samanids/ItCV6Q18">Samanids</a>, <a href="/facts/Saffarids/8K7lbWqB">Saffarids</a>, and <a href="/facts/Tulunids/UTHVfSC8">Tulunids</a>. Following a <a href="/facts/Anarchy_at_Samarra/mBGNHP5e">period of turmoil</a> in the 860s, the caliphate regained some stability and its seat returned to Baghdad in 892.
During the 10th century, the authority of the caliphs was progressively reduced to a ceremonial function in the <a href="/facts/Islamic_world/n9vVGogr">Islamic world</a>. Political and military power was transferred instead to the Iranian <a href="/facts/Buyids/70QR31qF">Buyids</a> and the <a href="/facts/Seljuk_Empire/PIdMSP62">Seljuq Turks</a>, who took control of Baghdad in 945 and 1055, respectively. The Abbasids eventually regained control of Mesopotamia during the rule of Caliph <a href="/facts/Al-Muqtafi/FSj36bQj">al-Muqtafi</a> (r. 1136–1160) and extended it into Iran during the reign of Caliph <a href="/facts/Al-Nasir/qyRxYxwq">al-Nasir</a> (r. 1180–1225). This revival ended in 1258 with the <a href="/facts/Sack_of_Baghdad/R5zeeung">sack of Baghdad</a> by the <a href="/facts/Mongol_Empire/cfddtfIK">Mongols</a> under <a href="/facts/Hulagu_Khan/AFGAPPnc">Hulagu Khan</a> and the execution of Caliph <a href="/facts/Al-Musta%2527sim/S5sIC4Hz">al-Musta'sim</a>. A surviving line of Abbasids was re-installed in the <a href="/facts/Mamluk_Sultanate/laIxgFRS">Mamluk</a> capital of <a href="/facts/Cairo/dXjj60ar">Cairo</a> in 1261. Though lacking in political power, with the brief exception of Caliph <a href="/facts/Al-Musta%2527in_(Cairo)/oPQIHFBV">al-Musta'in</a>, the dynasty continued to claim symbolic authority until a few years after the <a href="/facts/Ottoman_dynasty/YXgSxwGj">Ottoman</a> <a href="/facts/Ottoman%25E2%2580%2593Mamluk_War_(1516%25E2%2580%25931517)/bH9H2jzJ">conquest of Egypt</a> in 1517, with the last Abbasid caliph being <a href="/facts/Al-Mutawakkil_III/zflwX5Yt">al-Mutawakkil III</a>.

Abbasid Caliphate open-in-new

Abbasid Caliphate