The Abbasid Caliphate, which ruled the Islamic world, oversaw the golden age of
Islamic culture. The dynasty ruled the Islamic Caliphate from 750 to 1258 AD, making it
one of the longest and most influential Islamic dynasties. For most of its early history, it
was the largest empire in the world, and this meant that it had contact with distant
neighbors such as the Chinese and Indians in the East, and the Byzantines in the West,
allowing it to adopt and synthesize ideas from these cultures.
Explanation:
The Abbasid Dynasty overthrew the preceding Umayyad Dynasty, which was
based in Damascus, Syria. The Umayyads had become increasingly unpopular,
especially in the eastern territories of the caliphate. The Umayyads favored Syrian
Arabs over other Muslims and treated mawali, newly converted Muslims, as second- class citizens. The most numerous group of mawali were the Persians, who lived side- by-side with Arabs in the east who were angry at the favor shown to Syrian Arabs.
Together, they were ripe for rebellion. Other Muslims were angry with the Umayyads
for turning the caliphate into a hereditary dynasty. Some believed that a single family
should not hold power, while Shiites believed that true authority belonged to the family
of the Prophet Muhammad through his son-in-law Ali, and the Umayyads were not part
of Muhammad’s family.
All these various groups who were angry with the Umayyads united under the
Abbasids, who began a rebellion against the Umayyads in Persia. The Abbasids built a
coalition of Persian mawali, Eastern Arabs, and Shiites. The Abbasids were able to
gain Shiite support because they claimed descent from Muhammad through
Muhammad’s uncle Abbas. Their descent from Muhammad was not through Ali, as
Shiites would have preferred, but Shiites still considered the Abbasids better than the
Umayyads. A Persian general, Abu Muslim, who supported Abbasid claims to power, led the
Abbasid armies. His victories allowed the Abbasid leader Abul `Abbas al-Saffah to
enter the Shiite-dominated city of Kufa in 748 and declare himself caliph. In 750, the
army of Abu Muslim and al-Saffah faced the Umayyad Caliph Marwan II at the Battle of
the Zab near the Tigris River. Marwan II was defeated, fled, and was killed. As-Saffah
captured Damascus and slaughtered the remaining members of the Umayyad family
(except for one, Abd al-Rahman, who escaped to Spain and continued the Umayyad
Dynasty there). The Abbasids were the new rulers of the caliphate.
The Early Abbasids
The Abbasids had led a revolution against the unpopular policies of the
Umayyads, but those who expected major change were disappointed. Under the
second Abbasid Caliph, al-Mansur (r. 754–775), it became clear that much of the
Umayyad past would be continued. The Abbasids maintained the hereditary control of
the caliphate, forming a new dynasty.
