Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258) succeeded the Umayyads in 750. During the Abbasid Caliphate, the center of Islamic political and cultural life moved from Syria to Iraq, where Baghdad became the new capital in 762. Later, the Abbasids founded another city to the north of Baghdad. This city, Samarra, took the place of the capital for a short period (836–92). The first three centuries of the Abbasid Caliphate saw a golden age where Baghdad and Samarra served as the economic and cultural centers of the Islamic world.

During this Abbasid Empire, a distinct style was put together and new techniques were invented which were spread across the Muslim world and significantly impacted Islamic art and architecture. However, the following blog will cover the details about the Abbasid Caliphate including its history, rise to power, Abbasid Golden Age, and the decline of the Abbasid Caliphate. 

Also Read: Spanish Empire

History of the Abbasid Caliphate

The name of the Abbasid Caliphate originates from the uncle of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), al-Abbas, who was an ancestor of the Hashemite family of the Quraysh tribe in Mecca. The members of his family attempted to take over the empire from the Umayyads in about 718. Through skillful propaganda, they gained significant backing, particularly from Persians and Shiʿi Arabs residing in Khorasan. 

However, Abu Muslim executed an open revolt against the Umayyad Empire on June 9, 747,  carried out under the flag of the Black Standard. When the battle in Merv started, Abu Muslim was in command of about 10,000 soldiers. Following the fleeing governor Nasr ibn Sayyar west, General Qahtaba defeated the forces of the Umayyads at the Battles of Gorgan, Nahavand, and Karbala in 748. Marwān II, the last Umayyad caliph, was defeated in the 747 revolt under the leadership of Abu Muslim at the Battle of the Great Zab River (750) in Mesopotamia. Therefore, Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Saffāḥ was proclaimed as the first Caliph of the Abbasid Empire. 

The Abbasid Caliphate initially based its government in Kufa, currently in Iraq. However, in 762, Caliph Al-Mansur founded Baghdad, which happened to be close to Babylon, the ancient capital of Babylon. Baghdad emerged as the epicenter of innovation, science, art, and culture and regarded this period as the Golden Age of Islam. Thus, Baghdad became known as the “Center of Learning” around the world as it had a multiethnic and multireligious atmosphere and housed several important academic institutions, such as the House of Wisdom.

Also Read: Islamic Empires In History

Rise to Power 

The Caliphate underwent a new phase under the Abbasids. Instead of focusing on the West like the Ummayads, the Abbasid Caliphate turned towards the East. Baghdad became the new capital, and at the same instant, the happenings in Persia and Transoxania were closely monitored. For the first time, the Islamic caliphate was not associated with Islam. Local dynasties implied caliphal status in Egypt,  Spain, North Africa, and other places. With the rise of the Abbasids, the influence of the empire expanded around the world, prioritizing engagement with the community of believers beyond Arab ethnicity as Persian converts provided significant backing for the Abbasids. It was rational for the Abbasids to embrace much of the Persian (Sasanian) system of government. 

Further, the Abbasids also explicitly acknowledged early Islamic law with the support of devout Muslims and stated that Islam was the basis of their government. However, the Abbasid’s power and prestige rose between 750 and 833, promoted industry, commerce, science, and arts during the rule of al-Manṣūr, Hārūn al-Rashīd, and al-Maʾmūn. However, after al-Muʿtaṣim incorporated non-Muslim Slav, Berber, and specifically Turkish mercenary men into his army, their temporal power started to decline. Though many of these soldiers had been converted to Islam, the fundamentals of imperial unity through religion were smashed.

Also Read: 10 Largest Empires in History

Power In Baghdad

The Abbasids changed the capital of the empire from Damascus, Syria to Baghdad, Iraq in 762 CE. The Abbasids’ success over the Umayyads was heavily dependent on Persian support, and the shift in geographical power contented the Persian mawali base. Al-Mansur,  successor of Abu al-Abbas, invited non-Arab Muslims into his court. This served to integrate Persian and Arab civilizations but the Arabs who had backed the Abbasids in their conflicts with the Umayyads became offended, The Abbasids gave local monarchs (emirs) even more authority by creating an additional position of vizier to distribute authority. Many Abbasid rulers were assigned to a more symbolic role as the viziers acquired power and the old Arab aristocracy began to be replaced by Persian bureaucracy.

The Abbasid ruler, who governed Baghdad, had a continuous succession of caliphs for three centuries, confirming Islamic rule and leading to significant cultural and intellectual successes in the Middle East during the Golden Age of Islam. However, as non-Arabs acquired power and the many subservient emirs and sultans became more independent by 940 CE, the Abbasid caliphate’s supremacy started to collapse.

Abbasid Golden Age

The Islamic Golden Age is considered to have begun with the period of Abbasid rule and ended with the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258 CE. The rise to power of the Abbasid Caliphate and the shifting of the capital from Damascus to Baghdad in the mid-eighth century marked the start of the  Golden Age of Islam. The Abbasids emphasized the power and value of education and knowledge as they were inspired by the Qur’anic hadith and injunctions, such as, “the ink of a scholar is more holy than the blood of a martyr”.  They imported paper from China and later, the Abbasids built the first paper mill in Samarkand.

At the same time, the Islamic world became a hub of knowledge and intellect in the fields of science, medicine, philosophy, and education. The Abbasids encouraged knowledge and intellectual expertise and built the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. The House of Wisdom was a library where scholars from both Muslim and non-Muslim backgrounds were working to translate and compile all of human knowledge into Arabic. Numerous ancient classic masterpieces that would have otherwise perished were translated and preserved into Arabic and Persian, which was followed by translation into Latin, Hebrew, Turkish, and more. 

Furthermore, during this time, the Muslim world was an intersection of cultures that integrated, synthesized, and considerably expanded the information gained from the Chinese, Roman, Persian, Indian, North African, Egyptian, Ancient Greek, and Middle Greek civilizations.

Also Read: Roman Empire

Competing Claims

In 945, the rule of the Abbasid Empire ended when Baghdad was taken under control by Būyids, a harsh tribe from northwest Iran. They kept the Abbasid caliphs as symbolic representatives. The Abbasid caliphs were acknowledged as spiritual leaders of Sunni Islam by the Samanid empire of Khorāsān and Transoxania and the Ghaznavids of Central Asia and the Ganges River basin. Meanwhile, the Fāṭimids established a new caliphate in 920 in their capital of Al-Mahdiyyah in Tunisia and accused the Abbasids of being invaders. In 928, the Umayyad ruler in Spain, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III, claimed the title of caliph in opposition to both the Fāṭimids and the Abbasids.

Later, Saladin restored nominal Abbasid rule to Egypt in 1171. However, the Abbasid dynasty had begun to decline as the Seljuq dynasty of sultans in Baghdad, which replaced the Būyids in 1055, started to fall apart. Al-Nāṣir (1180-1225) handled gentle eastern threats, but al-Mustaʿṣim (1242-58) was killed during the Mongol sack of Baghdad, which terminated the Abbasid rule in that city. A descendant of the dynasty was asked a few years later to construct a puppet empire in Cairo that existed until 1517, although it held no power. Several rulers from outside Cairo claimed to be the universal leaders of the Muslim community starting in the 13th century, though their claims appear to have been more figurative than the real thing.

Also Read: Aztec Empire

Decline of Abbasid Empire

The decline of the Abbasid Empire started in the latter half of the 8th century when the political problems and challenges of the large empire were not properly resolved by the Abbasid emperors due to limited communication. When the Byzantine Empire opposed Abbasid power in Syria and Anatolia, the caliphate’s military activities and operations were centered on internal turmoil. Regional governors had begun to exercise more autonomy, using their growing power to make their leadership hereditary. At the same time, former Abbasid partners formed their empire around Khorasan in northern Persia.

Certain factions split away from the empire to set up their own independent governments. The Shi’a (Shi’ite) dynasty of the Idrisids took possession of Fez, Morocco, in 793 CE. Further, in 801 CE, the Berber Kharijites formed a sovereign state in North Africa. During the rule of the Abbasids, a family of governors grew more independent until they established the Aghlabid Emirate in the 830s. The Aghlabids of Ifriqiya, the Ikshidids, the Tulunids of Misr, and the Idrisids of the Maghreb all gained autonomy in Africa within fifty years.

By the 860s, Egyptian rulers had built their own Tulunid Emirate, named after its founder, Ahmad ibn Tulun, solidifying dynastic control independent of the caliph. Local rulers in the eastern regions lost their links to central Abbasid power. In the 870s, the Samanids of Bukhara and the Saffarids of Herat separated to establish a more Persian culture and governance. The Tulunid dynasty controlled Hijaz, Palestine, and some regions of Egypt. By 900 CE, the Abbasids only controlled central Mesopotamia and this time the Byzantine Empire had started to regain western Anatolia.

The Seljuks overpowered the Abbasids in 1055, they took the temporary status that may have been entrusted to the caliph but gave him the status of nominal leader. They overpowered the authority of the empire during the times of al-Mustarshid, al-Nāṣir, and al-Muqtafī. Finally,  in 1258, the Mongol invasion of Baghdad brought an end to the Abbasid Empire.

Also Read: British Empire

Conclusion

The Abbasid Empire is the most important in the history of Islamic empires. It produced major advancements in culture, arts, and science. The Abbasid Empire experienced the Golden Era of Islam in which it focused on the pursuit of knowledge and intellectual expertise. It is regarded as an era of enlightenment where trade relations were started through the routes connecting distant lands, scholarships flourished, and Baghdad became the intellectual hub. 

The Abbasid Caliphate left behind a lasting legacy despite the internal struggle and external forces that ultimately led to its demise. It influenced disciplines from medicine and mathematics to philosophy providing the groundwork for modern concepts. The Abbasid era provides a reminder of the significance of knowledge, cross-cultural interaction, and innovation in advancing cultures. 

FAQs