Group
Abbasid Caliphate (Samarra)
The Abbasid Caliphate is the third of the Islamic caliphates to succeed the Prophet Muhammad.
The Abbasid dynasty descends from the Prophet's youngest uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE).
They rule as caliphs from their capital in Baghdad, in modern Iraq, after taking over authority of the Muslim empire from the Umayyads in 750 CE (132 AH).
The Abbasid caliphate first centers its government in Kufa, but in 762 the caliph Al-Mansur founds the city of Baghdad, north of the Persian city of Ctesiphon.
The choice of a capital so close to Persia proper reflects a growing reliance on Persian bureaucrats, most notably of the Barmakid family, to govern the territories conquered by Arab Muslims, as well as an increasing inclusion of non-Arab Muslims in the ummah.
Despite this cooperation, the Abbasids of the 9th century are forced to cede authority over the Persian provinces to local dynastic emirs who only nominally acknowledge their suzerainty.
This marks the beginning of a wider breakdown of Abbasid authority, with the loss of Al-Andalus and Maghreb to the Umayyads, Ifriqiya to the Aghlabids, and Egypt to the Shi'ite Caliphate of the Fatimids.
The political power of the caliphs largely ends with the rise of the Buyids and the Seljuq Turks.Although Abbasid leadership over the vast Islamic empire is gradually reduced to a ceremonial religious function, the dynasty retains control over its Mesopotamian demesne.
The capital city of Baghdad becomes a center of science, culture, philosophy and invention during the Golden Age of Islam.
This period of cultural fruition ends in 1258 with the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols under Hulagu Khan.
The Abbasid caliphate, and Muslim culture in general, recenters itself in the Mamluk capital of Cairo in 1261.
The dynasty continues to claim authority in religious matters until after the Ottoman conquest of Egypt, when the position of caliph is formally surrendered to the Ottoman Sultan Selim I.
Member Cities
- Samarra' Salah ad Din Iraq Capital
- 'Chaghcharan Ghowr Afghanistan Location
- Acre > 'Akko Israel Israel Location
- Ahvaz Khuzestan Iran Location
- Al-Hasa Ha'il Saudi Arabia Location
- Almus Tokat Turkey Location
- Amida > Diyarbakir Diyarbakir Turkey Location
- Amisus > Samsun Samsun Turkey Location
- Amol Mazandaran Iran Location
- Amorium > Hisarköy Kutahya Turkey Location
- Ancyra > Ankara Ankara Turkey Location
- Antalya > Attalia Antalya Turkey Location
- Baghdad Baghdad Iraq Location
- Balkh Balkh Afghanistan Location
- Bamian Bamian Afghanistan Location
- Basra > Al-Basrah Al-Basrah Iraq Location
- Birecik Sanliurfa Turkey Location
- Bukhara Bukhara Uzbekistan Location
- Caesarea > Kayseri Kayseri Turkey Location
- Cairo > Al-Qahirah Al-Qahirah Egypt Location
- Chalcis > Khalkís Evvoia Greece Location
- Chalus Mazandaran Iran Location
- Constantinople > Istanbul Istanbul Turkey Location
- Constantinople Istanbul Turkey Location
- Damghan Semnan Iran Location
- Damietta > Dumyat Dumyat Egypt Location
- Dazmana > Akçatarla Turkey Location
- Derinkuyu Nevsehir Turkey Location
- Divrigi Sivas Turkey Location
- Dvin Ararat Armenia Location
- Erdemli Icel Turkey Location
- Famagusta > Ammókhostos Famagusta Cyprus Location
- Ghazni Ghazni Afghanistan Location
- Herakleion > Iráklion Iraklion Greece Location
- Herat Herat Afghanistan Location
- Isfahan > Esfahan Esfahan Iran Location
- Jerusalem > Yerushalayim Israel Israel Location
- Kabul Kabol Afghanistan Location
- Kaleybar Azarbayjan-e Sharqi Iran Location
- Karbala' Karbala' Iraq Location
- Khandagayty Tuva Russia Location
- Manbij Halab Syria Location
- Melitene > Malatya Malatya Turkey Location
- Milan > Milano > Mediolanum Lombardia Italy Location
- Multan Punjab Pakistan Location
- Musá Qal'eh Helmand Afghanistan Location
- Neyshabur > Nichapur > Nishapur Khorasan Iran Location
- Novgorod Novgorodskaya Oblast Russia Location
- Palembang Sumatera Selatan Indonesia Location
- Qal'eh-ye Now > Qala i Naw Badghis Afghanistan Location
- Qazvin Qazvin Iran Location
- Raqqada Al-Qayrawan Tunisia Location
- Rayy > Ray Tehran Iran Location
- Reggio di Calabria > Rhegium Calabria Italy Location
- Samarkand Samarkand Uzbekistan Location
- Samosata > Samsat Adiyaman Turkey Location
- Samosdelka > Atil Astrakhanskaya Oblast Russia Location
- Sanaa' > Sana'a Sanaa' Yemen Location
- Sari Mazandaran Iran Location
- Sebasteia > Sivas > Cabira Sivas Turkey Location
- Sukkur Sindh Pakistan Location
- Sura Babil Iraq Location
- Susa Iran Location
- Syracuse > Siracusa Sicilia Italy Location
- Tabriz Azarbayjan-e Sharqi Iran Location
- Taranto > Tarentum Puglia Italy Location
- Tarsus Icel Turkey Location
- Tyana Nigde Turkey Location
- Wasit Wasit Iraq Location
- Zagreb Grad Zagreb Croatia Location
- Zaranj Nimruz Afghanistan Location