ABSTRACT
Abbasids Dynasty which ruled most of the Islamic world between 750 and 945.
In 750 CE there was a revolution against Umayyad rule which began in eastern Iran and rapidly spread over the whole empire. The Umayyads were totally destroyed except for one prince who fled to Spain and established the Umayyad dynasty there. The newly established Abbasids decided to move the capital from Damascus to a city further east, first Raqqa was chosen and then in 762 Baghdad was founded by the Abbasid caliph ai-Mansur. Baghdad grew to be one of the biggest and most populous cities in the world based around Mansur's famous round city. In 836 the caliph al-Mu'tassim was unhappy about clashes between the local population and his troops so he established a new capital further north on the Tigris at Samarra. During this period the power of the caliphate began to decline and control over distant provinces was loosened. Several local dynasties grew up including the T ulunids in Egypt, the Aghlabids in Ifriqiyya and the Samanids in Khurassan (eastern Iran). Internal troubles in Samarra caused the caliph al Mu'tamid to move back to Baghdad in 889; at this time Abbasid power outside Iraq was purely nominal. In 945 the Abbasids were replaced by the Shi'a Buwaihid amirs as rulers of Iraq and Iran. For the next two hundred years the Abbasids remained nominal caliphs with no real authority. In the midtwelfth century the Abbasids were able to reassert some authority when the Seljuk ruler Sultan Muhamad abandoned his siege of Baghdad. During the reign of Caliph ai-Nasir (117g-1225) the Abbasids were able to gain control over much of presentday Iraq. The Mongol invasions and sack of Baghdad in 1258 dealt a final blow to the political aspirations of the Abbasids.
