Abbasid Caliphate

Abbasid Caliphate
اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلْعَبَّاسِيَّةُ‎
Abbasid Caliphate اَلْخِلَافَةُ ٱلْعَبَّاسِيَّةُ‎
750–1258; 1261–1517;
	Abbasid Caliphate at its greatest extent, c. 850
Status	Early Abbasid era ; (750–861); Middle Abbasid era ; (861–936); Later Abbasid era ; (936–1258);
Capital	Kufa; (750–752); Anbar; (752–762); al-Rumiyyah; Baghdad; (762–796, 809–836, 892–1258); Raqqa; (796–809); Samarra; (836–892); Cairo; (1261–1517);
Common languages	Classical Arabic (central administration); various regional languages
Religion	Sunni Islam
Government	Caliphate
Caliph
• 750–754	As-Saffah (first)
• 1242–1258	Al-Musta'sim (last Caliph in Baghdad)
• 1508–1517	al-Mutawakkil III (last Caliph in Cairo)
History
•	750
•	1517
Currency	Dinar (gold coin); Dirham (silver coin); Fals (copper coin);
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Umayyad Caliphate
Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)
Ottoman Empire
Ghurid Sultanate
Fatimid Caliphate
Seljuk Empire
Saffarid dynasty
Ziyadid dynasty
Tulunid dynasty
Mongol Empire
	Amir al-Mu'minin (أمير المؤمنين), Caliph (خليفة)

The Abbasid Caliphate^[2] was the third Islamic caliphate. It was established by the descendants of Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib. It was founded in 750, and shifted its capital in 762 to Baghdad. It flourished for two centuries,^[3] although Abbasid rule was ended in 1258, when the Mongols sacked Baghdad. But they continued to claim authority in religious matters from their new base in Egypt.

During the period of the Abbasid dynasty, Abbasid claims to the caliphate did not go unchallenged. The Shiˤa Fatimid dynasty, which claimed descent from Muhammad through his daughter, claimed the Caliphate in 909 and created a separate line of caliphs in North Africa until 1171. The Umayyad dynasty, which had survived to rule over Spain, reclaimed the Caliphate in 929, lasting until it was overthrown in 1031.

Abbasid Caliphate Media

Portrait of al-Mansur (r. 754–775) from an Ottoman-era work, the "Cream of Histories" (Zübdet-üt Tevarih) in 1598
Plan of Baghdad between 767 and 912 CE, according to William Muir
Decorated niche from the Abbasid mosque of Afrasiab, Samarkand in Sogdia, 750–825 CE
Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809) receiving a delegation sent by Charlemagne at his court in Baghdad. Painting by Julius Köckert (1827–1918), dated 1864. Oil on canvas.
Gold dinar minted during the reign of al-Amin (809–813)
Partly-reconstructed remains of a courtyard with circular pool in the Dār al-Khilāfa, the caliph's palace, in Samarra, begun in 836
The walls and spiral minaret of the Great Mosque of Samarra, built from 848 to 852 CE in the Abbasid capital of Samarra
Map of the fragmented Abbasid empire c. 892, with areas still under direct control of the Abbasid central government (dark green) and under autonomous rulers adhering to nominal Abbasid suzerainty (light green)
The Middle East c. 970, after the Abbasids came under the control of the Buyid dynasty

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Notes

↑ The Abbasid Revolution against the Umayyad Caliphate adopted black for its rāyaʾ for which their partisans were called the musawwids. Tabari. Abbāsid Authority Affirmed 28 (1995)SUNY. p. 124. Their rivals chose other colours in reaction; among these, forces loyal to Marwan II adopted red. Patricia Crone. The Nativist Prophets of Early Islam (2012). p. 122. ISBN 9781107018792.. The choice of black as the colour of the Abbasid Revolution was already motivated by the "black standards out of Khorasan" tradition associated with the Mahdi. The contrast of white vs. black as the Umayyad vs. Abbasid dynastic colour over time developed in white as the colour of Shia Islam and black as the colour of Sunni Islam: "The proselytes of the ʿAbbasid revolution took full advantage of the eschatological expectations raised by black banners in their campaign to undermine the Umayyad dynasty from within. Even after the ʿAbbasids had triumphed over the Umayyads in 750, they continued to deploy black as their dynastic colour; not only the banners but the headdresses and garments of the ʿAbbasid caliphs were black ... The ubiquitous black created a striking contrast with the banners and dynastic color of the Umayyads, which had been white ... The Ismaili Shiʿite counter-caliphate founded by the Fatimids took white as its dynastic color, creating a visual contrast to the ʿAbbasid enemy ... white became the Shiʿite color, in deliberate opposition to the black of the ʿAbbasid 'establishment'." Jane Hathaway, A Tale of Two Factions: Myth, Memory, and Identity in Ottoman Egypt and Yemen, 2012, p. 97f. After the revolution, Islamic apocalyptic circles admitted that the Abbasid banners would be black but asserted that the Mahdi's standard would be black and larger. David Cook (2002). Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic, p. 153. Anti-Abbasid circles cursed "the black banners from the East", "first and last". Patricia Crone. The Nativist Prophets of Early Islam (2012). p. 243. ISBN 9781107018792.
↑ Abbasid (Arabic: لعبّاسيّونcode: ar is deprecated , transcription al-‘Abbāsīyūn) is the dynastic name generally given to the caliph of Baghdad
↑ History of al-Tabari Vol. 34, The: Incipient Decline, page 149

Other websites

Abbasids (750-1517) Archived 2008-02-24 at the Wayback Machine
Abbasids the 2nd dynasty of caliphs Archived 2019-07-13 at the Wayback Machine
Abbasid Caliphs (In Our Time, Radio 4), in Streaming RealAudio
An On-Going Detailed Account of the History of the Abbasids from an Islamic perspective. Most of the narrations have been sifted through to avoid "biased" theories regardless if the historians as mentioned are Shiite or Sunni.
Abbasid Caliphate Archived 2008-04-03 at the Wayback Machine entry in Encyclopaedia Iranica Archived 2008-07-12 at the Wayback Machine

[1] The Abbasid Revolution against the Umayyad Caliphate adopted black for its rāyaʾ for which their partisans were called the musawwids. Tabari. Abbāsid Authority Affirmed 28 (1995)SUNY. p. 124. Their rivals chose other colours in reaction; among these, forces loyal to Marwan II adopted red. Patricia Crone. The Nativist Prophets of Early Islam (2012). p. 122. ISBN 9781107018792.. The choice of black as the colour of the Abbasid Revolution was already motivated by the "black standards out of Khorasan" tradition associated with the Mahdi. The contrast of white vs. black as the Umayyad vs. Abbasid dynastic colour over time developed in white as the colour of Shia Islam and black as the colour of Sunni Islam: "The proselytes of the ʿAbbasid revolution took full advantage of the eschatological expectations raised by black banners in their campaign to undermine the Umayyad dynasty from within. Even after the ʿAbbasids had triumphed over the Umayyads in 750, they continued to deploy black as their dynastic colour; not only the banners but the headdresses and garments of the ʿAbbasid caliphs were black ... The ubiquitous black created a striking contrast with the banners and dynastic color of the Umayyads, which had been white ... The Ismaili Shiʿite counter-caliphate founded by the Fatimids took white as its dynastic color, creating a visual contrast to the ʿAbbasid enemy ... white became the Shiʿite color, in deliberate opposition to the black of the ʿAbbasid 'establishment'." Jane Hathaway, A Tale of Two Factions: Myth, Memory, and Identity in Ottoman Egypt and Yemen, 2012, p. 97f. After the revolution, Islamic apocalyptic circles admitted that the Abbasid banners would be black but asserted that the Mahdi's standard would be black and larger. David Cook (2002). Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic, p. 153. Anti-Abbasid circles cursed "the black banners from the East", "first and last". Patricia Crone. The Nativist Prophets of Early Islam (2012). p. 243. ISBN 9781107018792.

[2] Abbasid (Arabic: لعبّاسيّونcode: ar is deprecated , transcription al-‘Abbāsīyūn) is the dynastic name generally given to the caliph of Baghdad

[3] History of al-Tabari Vol. 34, The: Incipient Decline, page 149

[2]

[3]

Abbasid Caliphate

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Abbasid Caliphate Media

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