'Abbāsids

An Arab dynasty that reigned in Iraq (749-1258) and Egypt (1261-1517). By the mid-eighth century the previous caliphal dynasty, the Umayyads (661-749), had made many enemies, including both Shi‘ites and other members of the Muslim community who felt that they were too concerned with worldly issues and not sufficiently focused on Islam itself. They were also weakened by rivalries among the tribes supporting them in their chosen power-base, Syria. Eventually a rebellion broke out in Khurasan (eastern Persia, Afghanistan, and other lands east of the Oxus River). This spread to Iraq, where a descendant of Muhammad’s uncle al-‘Abbās was proclaimed caliph with the regnal title of al-Saffāh. The last Umayyad army was defeated in 750 in Egypt, with the Umayyad caliph,Marwān II, being killed in the fighting.

Al-Saffāh’s dynasty became known as the ‘Abbāsids after their ancestor. In succeeding to the caliphate, the ‘Abbāsids became, like their predecessors, both the religious and secular leaders of the Muslim world. Initially they based their particular claims to the caliphate on both their kinship with the Prophet Muhammad and the fact that, unlike others, they had taken action against a regime that was perceived as being unjust. Later they also presented themselves as patrons of orthodoxy, stressing their position as guardians of Islam. They made their capital at Baghdad in Iraq, from which most of the caliphs reigned until 1258.

The reign of Hārūn al-Rashid (786-809) is generally regarded as the high point of the ‘Abbāsid caliphate, particularly when contrasted with later events. His death was followed by a civil war between his sons. This was soon followed by a gradual decline in caliphal power, exacerbated by financial problems, increasing domination of the caliphs by their subordinates, and rebellions by Shi‘ites and other disaffected elements. During this period much of the Muslim world fragmented so that the provinces came to acknowledge only nominal allegiance to the caliphs. Finally in 945, Baghdad was taken by the Būyids(Buwayhids), a Shi‘ite dynasty from the mountains of Daylam in Persia. They maintained the existence of the Sunni caliphate, ruling as the caliphs’ nominal subordinates until 1055. Meanwhile Egypt was taken by the Fātimids (969), who also temporarily extended their influence into parts of Palestine, Syria, and Arabia, although by the period of the crusades much of these gains had again been lost.

In 1055, Sunni rule was restored in Baghdad when the Saljûqs took control of the city. This did little to change the situation in the city itself, for while the Saljūqs became embroiled in the struggle for the Levant with the Fātimids and crusaders, the caliphs remained largely impotent. However, the collapse of Saljûq authority enabled some of the more vigorous caliphs to exercise their own authority somewhat. In particular, al-Muqtafi (1136-1160) asserted caliphal independence from the Saljūqs in Iraq. His great- grandson al-Nāsir (1180-1225) not only overthrew the Saljûqsbut also, through a mixture of diplomacy, military action, and a little luck, extended caliphal territories and warded off potential attacks from other enemies, including the Mongols. He also made several other social, political, and religious reforms, emphasizing in particular the primacy of the caliph and even coming to a certain degree of understanding with the Shi‘ites. The resurgence of caliphal authority was brief, however. The end came in 1258, when the Mongols took Baghdad and put the reigning caliph, al- Musta‘sim, to death.

Not all of the caliph’s family died in the Mongol onslaught, and in 1261 the Mamlûk sultan Baybars restored the caliphate in Cairo. From here the ‘Abbāsid caliphs reigned, albeit in name only, until the Ottoman conquest. The last caliph died as a prisoner of war in Istanbul in 1517.

The 'Abbāsid Caliphs

Adapted from Clifford Edmund Bosworth, The New Islamic Dynasties (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996).