Who were the Buyids?

As the power of the Abbasid Caliphs wavered, ambitious generals and officials rose to power in their localities and set out to create their own dominions and empires. One such clan – the Buyids - embodied the divide during the period and the illustrated the political impotency of the Abbasid Caliphs.

What was the House of Wisdom?

In an age of explosive productivity in the sciences and literature, one institution stood in the forefront of this era –the Bayt al-Hikma or the House of Wisdom.

Scholars at an Abbasid Library in Baghdad
by Yahya al-Wasiti

Founders: Who were Caliphs as-Saffah and al-Mansur?

In 749, in the city of Kufa, the Islamic world founded another Caliphate – the Abbasids. And the foundation and security of this new Caliphate rested in its first 2 Caliphs, both considered founders of the new dynasty – Caliph As-Saffah and Caliph al-Mansur.

Proclamation of as-Saffah as Caliph in Kufa

Who were the Mamluks?

In 1798, the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte clashed with the remnants of the once powerful and glorious Mamluks of Egypt. The Mamluks rose from slavery to strong rulers and maintained power for centuries. But who are the Mamluks?

Who was Harun al-Rashid?

Ruled as the 5th Abbasid Caliph (r. 785 – 809), Harun al-Rashid ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi (763/766 – 809) presided over an explosive era of great achievements for the Islamic civilization, but his reign also began the decline of the Abbasid Caliphate.

A Brief History of the Abbasid Caliphate

The Abbasid Caliphate (750 - 1258) stood was a great Islamic Empire that dominated two continents. Founded through revolution, it presided over a golden age until it declined due to intrigue, war, and weakness that led to its centuries of powerless existence until its downfall in the hands of the Mongols.

The Abbasid Revolution

In 746, in the marginalized regions of modern day Iran, the region called Khorasan erupted in revolt against the weakened Umayyad Caliphate. A revolt that grew to a revolutions and installed a new dynasty that presided over the most glistening age for Islam – the Abbasid Caliphate.