The Abbasid Caliphate: Islam's Golden Age

Rise of the Abbasids

• Early Islamic Empire
  • Muhammad's death in 632 AD
  • Followers united Arabian Peninsula under Abu Bakr
  • Conquered Eastern Roman and Sassanid Empires
  • Civil war after assassination of third caliph, Uthman
• Umayyad Dynasty
  • Established by Muawiya after defeating Ali
  • Expansion despite internal dissent
  • Hussein, Ali’s son, opposed Umayyads; defeated at Battle of Karbala
  • Shiites commemorate Hussein’s death on Ashura
• Abbasid Revolt
  • Decades of resentment against Umayyad's rule
  • Abbasids, descendants of Muhammad's uncle, claimed legitimacy
  • Abu Muslim led a revolt in Khorasan with black banners in 747
  • Abbasid victory at the Battle of the Zab River in 750
  • Abd al-Rahman fled to Spain, establishing another Umayyad dynasty

Establishment of Abbasid Rule

• First Abbasid Caliph
  • Abul Abbas al-Saffah became the first caliph
  • Moved capital from Harran to Kufa
  • Victory at Battle of Talas in 751
• Consolidation of power
  • Al-Saffah succeeded by brother Al-Mansur in 754
  • Execution of General Abu Muslim
  • Al-Mansur faced and crushed Alid revolts
  • New capital: Baghdad (City of Peace)

The Golden Age

• Harun al-Rashid’s Reign
  • Flourished culturally and intellectually
  • Patron of the arts, devout and wise ruler, celebrated in 101 Nights' literature
  • Interactions with Charlemagne, sending gifts like chessboards and an elephant
  • Cosmopolitan cultural life with Persian New Year celebrations
  • House of Wisdom: A center of learning and translation (Greek, Middle Persian, Sanskrit into Arabic)
  • Scholars preserved and expanded upon Greek, Persian, and Indian knowledge

Military and Administration

• Turkish Slave Soldiers
  • Mamluks: Turkish slave soldiers trained in military and Islamic education
  • Formed elite core of Abbasid army
  • Reliance on Mamluks caused tension with old nobility
• Decline of Central Authority
  • Civil War after Harun al-Rashid’s death
  • Al-Ma'mun aligned with Alids, fostering civil unrest
  • Inquisition (Mihna): Persecution of those who resisted new religious doctrine
• Independent Dynasties and Uprisings
  • Tulunids in Egypt
  • Zanj Rebellion in Southern Iraq
  • Saffarid Dynasty in Afghanistan
  • Abbasid resurgence under Caliphs like Al-Mu'tadid and Al-Muqtadir

Decline and Fall

• Loss of Territories
  • Shiite Dynasty: Fatimids in Cairo
  • Persian dynasties like the Samanids declared independence
• Mongol Invasion
  • 1258: Baghdad sacked by Hulagu Khan
  • Destruction of libraries and mass killings
  • Last Abbasid caliph, Al-Musta'sim, executed
• Legacy
  • Abbasid line continued under Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt
  • Symbolic leaders without real power
  • Influence on later Islamic leaders asserting legitimacy through Abbasid descent
  • Remembered for cultural, scholarly, and technological achievements during Islam’s Golden Age