Khilafat E Abbasiya (Abbasid Caliphate)

Khilafat E Abbasiya (Abbasid Caliphate) :

                                            The Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid Dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing theUmayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region.



The Abbasid caliphate was founded by the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad's youngest uncle, ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, in Kufa in 750 CE and shifted its capital in 762 to Baghdad. It flourished for two centuries, but slowly went into decline with the rise to power of the Turkish army it had created, the Mamluks. Within 150 years of gaining control of Persia, the caliphs were forced to cede power to local dynastic emirs who only nominally acknowledged their authority. The caliphate also lost the Western provinces of al-Andalus, Maghreb and Ifriqiya to an Umayyad prince, the Aghlabids and the Fatimid, respectively.

The first change the Abbasids made was to move the empire's capital from Damascus, in Syria, to Baghdad in Iraq.

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.The Abbassids were influenced by the Qur'anicinjunctions and hadith . During this period the Muslim world became an intellectual center for science, philosophy, medicine and education as 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. 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. During this period the Muslim world was a cauldron of cultures which collected, synthesized and significantly advanced the knowledge gained from the ancient Roman, Chinese, Indian, Persian, Egyptian, North African, Greek andByzantine civilizations.



The Abbasid caliphs were Arabs descended from Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib , one of the youngest uncles of Muhammad, because of which they considered themselves the true successor of Muhammad as opposed to the Umayyads. The Umayyads were descended from Umayya,

The Abbasids also distinguished themselves from the Umayyads "The Abbasid revolt was supported largely by Arabs, mainly the aggrieved settlers of Marw with the addition of the Yemeni faction and their Mawali". The Abbasids also appealed to non-Arab Muslims, known as mawali, who remained outside the kinship-based society of the Arabs and were perceived as a lower class within the Umayyad empire. Muhammad ibn 'Ali, a great-grandson of Abbas, began to campaign for the return of power to the family of Muhammad, the Hashimites,inPersia during the reign of Umar II. During the reign of Marwan II, this opposition culminated in the rebellion of Ibrahim the Imam, the fourth in descent from Abbas. Supported by the province of Khorasan, Iran, he achieved considerable success, but was captured in the year 747 and died in prison; some hold that he was assassinated. The quarrel was taken up by his brother Abdallah, known by the name of Abu al-'Abbas as-Saffah, who defeated the Umayyads in 750 in the Battle of the Zab near the Great Zab and was subsequently proclaimed caliph. Immediately after their victory, Abu al-'Abbas as-Saffah sent his forces to North Africa and Central Asia, where his forces fought against Tang expansion during the Battle of Talas (the Abbasids were known to their opponents as the: "Black robed Tazi" ("Tazi", Chinese: is borrowed from Persian.). Barmakids, who were instrumental in building Baghdad; introduced the world's first recorded paper mill in Baghdad, thus beginning a new era of intellectual rebirth in the Abbasid domain. Within 10 years, the Abbasids built another renowned paper mill in the Umayyadcapital of Córdoba in Spain.



The first change the Abbasids made was to move the empire's capital from Damascus, in Syria, to Baghdad in Iraq. This was to both appease as well to be closer to the Persian mawali support base that existed in this region more influenced by Persian history and culture, and part of the Persian mawali demand for less Arab dominance in the empire. Baghdad was established on the Tigris River in 762. A new position, that of the vizier, was also established to delegate central authority, and even greater authority was delegated to local emirs. Eventually, this meant that many Abbasid caliphs were relegated to a more ceremonial role than under the Umayyads, as the viziers began to exert greater influence, and the role of the old Arab aristocracy was slowly replaced by a Persian bureaucracy.

The Abbasids had depended heavily on the support of Persians in their overthrow of the Umayyads. Abu al-'Abbas' successor, Al-Mansur, and welcomed non-Arab Muslims to his court. While this helped integrate Arab and Persian cultures, it alienated many of their Arab supporters, particularly the Khorasanian Arabs who had supported them in their battles against the Umayyads.

These fissures in their support led to immediate problems. The Umayyads, while out of power, were not destroyed. The only surviving member of the Umayyad royal family, which had been all but annihilated, 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 as a rival to Baghdad as the legitimate capital of the Islamic Empire.

In 756, The Abbasid Caliph Al-Mansur sent over 4,000 Arab Soldiers to assist the Chinese Tang dynasty in the An Shi Rebellion against An Lushan. After the war, they remained in China. Arab Caliph Harun al-Rashid established an alliance with China. 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-ch'a-fo) Abu Jafar, the builder of Bagdad, of whom more must be said immediately; and that of (A-lun) Harun al-Rashid, best known, perhaps, 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. Al-Rashid sent embassies to the Chinese Tang dynasty and established good relations with them.
Mongol invasion:

Hulagu Khan sacked Baghdad on 10 February 1258, causing great loss of life. Muslims feared that a supernatural disaster would strike if the blood of Al-Musta'sim, a direct descendant of Muhammad's Uncle and the last reigning Abbasid caliph in Baghdad, was spilled. The Shiites of Persia stated that no such calamity had happened after the deaths of the Imam (leader) Hussein; 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. According to Mongolian historians, the surviving son married and fathered children.

In the 9th century, the Abbasids created an army loyal only to their caliphate, drawn mostly from Arab and Turkish slaves, known asMamluks, with some Slavs and Berbers participating as well. 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 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 Mahommed bin Raik.

The Abbasids continued to maintain the presence of authority, yet it was confined to religious matters in Egypt, under the Mamluks.

The dynasty finally ended with Al-Mutawakkil III, who was taken away as a prisoner, by Selim I, to Constantinople where he had a ceremonial role until his death in 1543.

List of Abbasid Caliphs

Genealogic tree of the Abbasid family. In green, the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad. In yellow, the Abbasid caliphs of Cairo. Muhammad the Prophet is included (in caps) to show the kinship of the Abbasids with him.

Ruler	Reign
Caliphs of Baghdad
Abu'l Abbas As-Saffah	750–754
Al-Mansur	754–775
Al-Mahdi	775–785
Al-Hadi	785–786
Harun al-Rashid	786–809
Al-Amin	809–813
Al-Ma'mun	813–833
Al-Mu'tasim	833–842
Al-Wathiq	842–847
Al-Mutawakkil	847–861
Al-Muntasir	861–862
Al-Musta'in	862–866
Al-Mu'tazz	866–869
Al-Muhtadi	869–870
Al-Mu'tamid	870–892
Al-Mu'tadid	892–902
Al-Muktafi	902–908
Al-Muqtadir	908–932
Al-Qahir	932–934
Ar-Radi	934–940
Al-Muttaqi	940–944
Al-Mustakfi	944–946
Al-Muti	946–974
At-Ta'i	974–991
Al-Qadir	991–1031
Al-Qa'im	1031–1075
Al-Muqtadi	1075–1094
Al-Mustazhir	1094–1118
Al-Mustarshid	1118–1135
Ar-Rashid	1135–1136
Al-Muqtafi	1136–1160
Al-Mustanjid	1160–1170
Al-Mustadi	1170–1180
An-Nasir	1180–1225
Az-Zahir	1225–1226
Al-Mustansir	1226–1242
Al-Musta'sim	1242–1258
Caliphs of Cairo
Al-Mustansir	1261–1262
Al-Hakim I (Cairo)	1262–1302
Al-Mustakfi I of Cairo	1303–1340
Al-Wathiq I	1340–1341
Al-Hakim II	1341–1352
Al-Mu'tadid I	1352–1362
Al-Mutawakkil I	1362–1383
Al-Wathiq II	1383–1386
Al-Mu'tasim	1386–1389
Al-Mutawakkil I (restored)	1389–1406
Al-Musta'in	1406–1414
Al-Mu'tadid II	1414–1441
Al-Mustakfi II	1441–1451
Al-Qa'im	1451–1455
Al-Mustanjid	1455–1479
Al-Mutawakkil II	1479–1497
Al-Mustamsik	1497–1508
Al-Mutawakkil III	1508–1517