Abbasids
'al-^cabbâsidîn
Caliphate dynasty ruling from 750 until 1258. The Abbasids were all of one big family that claimed to descend from Abbas, an uncle of Muhammad.
The Abbasids governed from Baghdad, a city the second Abbasid Caliph founded in 762, and Samara for some periods in the 9th century. The Abbasids took the power from the Ummawiyys in 750, and stayed in power until the Mongols conquered Baghdad in 1258, and had the Caliph killed.
For their first 100 years, the Abbasids were leaders, both of Islam and of the Muslim community. Despite this, Shi'is of that time did reject the leadership of the Abbasids. This changed towards the end of the 9th century, when the Sunni scholars had taken control over the religious leadership. This change had been clear after the Mihna of mid-9th century. In political terms the Abbasid Caliphs had become puppets in the hands of the Turkish military troops, and in 935 the title Emiru l-Umara was used the chief of the Turkish soldiers. The Persian Shi'i Buwayhids became the real rulers from 945 until the 10th century and on. The Buwayhids were so strong that they had the power to remove Caliphs at their own will.
At the same time as the Caliphs lost the grip of power, the unity of the Caliphate also fell apart, and independent states were formed. These new states recognised the position of the Caliph, but by now only the symbolic value survived.
In 1055 the Turkish Seljuks conquered Baghdad, but this had little influence to the position of the Caliphs, who continued to play little role beyond the symbolical. With the fall of the traditional Caliphate in 1258, when the Mongols took over Baghdad, a new line of Abbasid Caliphs continued in Cairo, where they played the same kind of role as in Baghdad, but now only with limited geographical importance. This last branch of Abbasids continued until 1517.
Harunu r-Rashid is the most famous of the Abbasid Caliphs. The Abbasid period, is the one in Muslim history bringing the most elevated scientific works, as the Muslim world continued the achievements of classical Europe (especially the 9th and 10th centuries), India and former science of the Middle East, in a time when Europe was unable contribute much to the cultural and scientific fields. The Abbasid era is often regarded as the golden age of Muslim civilisation.