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Was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566-653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes its name. They ruled as caliphs after having overthrown the Umayyad Caliphate in the Abbasid Revolution of 750.
Summary
ABBASID DYNASTY (750–1258 C.E.)
Chief ruling dynasty of the Islamic caliphate, which
wrested control from the Umayyad dynasty and provided
thirty-seven ruling caliphs between 750 and
1258. The Abbasids claimed legitimacy through descent
from al-Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet
Muhammad.
The Abbasids launched their bid for power in
718, when they began waging a vigorous propaganda
campaign against the ruling Umayyads, particularly
among the followers of the Shi’a branch of Islam and
the Persians in Khorasan. The Abbasid campaign
against the Umayyads culminated in open revolt in
747 under the direction of Abu Muslim, a Persian
partisan of the Abbasids.
In 749, the head of the family, Abu al-Abbas (r.
750–754), named himself caliph after observing the
gathering support from the Hashimite and Persian
factions. Marwan II (r. 744–750), the reigning
Umayyad caliph, met this revolt unsuccessfully in a
battle near the River Zab.The next year, the Abbasids
captured the Umayyad capital of Damascus. Marwan
was put to death, and the Abbasids made a rigorous
attempt to kill all remaining members of the
Umayyad family, thereby justifying the name taken
by Abu al-Abbas, al-Saffah (the bloodthirsty).
The Abbasids set about consolidating their power
over the Islamic state. Popular leaders who might
prove a threat, like Abu Muslim, were put to death.
The Abbasids abandoned the old bureaucracy composed
of provincial governors and replaced them
with administrative civil servants, drawn largely
from the Persians, who saw to the day-to-day administrative
responsibilities of the Abbasid caliphate. Directing
this bureaucracy was an appointed official
who held the newly created title of vizier.
Much of the credit for designing this new approach
to government must go to al-Saffah’s successor,
al-Mansur (r. 754–775). During his twenty-twoyear
reign, this careful ruler established the administrative
structure of the new government, reorganized
the army, rooted out corrupt officials, and
oversaw expenditures so carefully that, upon his
death, subsequent Abbasid rulers could afford their
reputations for generosity. Al-Mansur also chose the
site of the new capital, Baghdad, situated for easy
trade along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.The city
prospered in this advantageous location, and subsequent
Abbasid caliphs held court there in grand
style.
During the reigns of al-Mansur and his successors
Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809) and al-Mamun (r.
813–833), the Islamic caliphate reached its zenith of
wealth and power, as these caliphs promoted education,
the arts, industry, trade, and commerce.
In time, however, Abbasid power began to decline.
One cause of this decline lay in the Abbasid
military, which, early in the ninth century, began admitting
Turks, Berbers, and Slavs as mercenaries to
supplement Arab forces. By the reign of al-Muntasir
(r. 861–862), Turkish captains were the main decision
makers in the army. These foreign mercenaries
had little in common with the people of Baghdad,
and they occasionally assassinated caliphs who did
not conform to their views.
Meanwhile, territorial disputes rose as the homogeneity
of the empire crumbled into squabbling
among Arabs, Persians, Berbers, and Jews.When the
Abbasid government ceased maintenance of the system
of canals that provided irrigation, starvation ensued
and taxes to support court luxuries came to be
more fiercely resented.
In 945, the Buyids, a family of military adventurers,
secured permission from the Abbasid caliph, al-
Mustakfi (r. 944–946), to set up a client dynasty to
rule in western Iran and Iraq. This policy gave rise
over the next hundred years to several other local
dynasties, all of which weakened the unity of the
caliphate, making it an easier target for the Seljuk
Turks in 1055.
In the mid-eleventh century, the Seljuks came to
dominate the government at Baghdad.They took the
title of sultans and stripped the Abbasids of temporal
power, but they left the Abbasids their role as religious
leaders and the title of caliph. Members of the
Abbasid family held this more limited power as sultans
until 1258, when the Mongols seized and sacked
Baghdad and overthrew the caliphate. One member
of the Abbasid family escaped to Egypt, where members
of the dynasty served as puppet caliphs under
the Mamluks until the 1500s.
Establishment
February 748: Abu Muslim successfully initiated an open revolt against Umayyad rule. On February 14, 748 he established control of Merv.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
Was the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate (661-750 CE), the second of the four major Caliphates in Islamic history, by the third, the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1517 CE).
September 749: Yazid had been forced to abandon Kufa due to a rebellion by Abbasid sympathizers, and fled to Wasit.
October 749: Wasit is besieged by the Abbasid Caliphate.
January 750: The rebels where in control of Khorasan by march 749.
January 750: On January 16, 750 the two forces met on the left bank of a tributary of the Tigris in the Battle of the Zab, and nine days later Marwan II was defeated and his army was completely destroyed.
May 750: Damascus fell to the Abbasids in April.
August 750: Al-Fazari, the Umayyad commander at Wasit, held out even after the defeat of Marwan II in January. The Abbasids promised him amnesty in July, but immediately after he exited the fortress they executed him instead.
Were the military campaigns of the Umayyad Caliphate in modern-day Spain, Portugal and France.
2.1.Frankish-Umayyad Wars
Were a series of wars between the Umayyad Caliphate, which had conquered the Iberian Peninsula, and the Frankish Kingdom.
January 753: Siege of Narbonne (759).
Were a series military campaigns from the 8th century until 1492 by the Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula to reconquer the region from the Islamic rulers that had conquered it during the Umayyad conquest of Hispania.
January 755: Leon conquered by Kingdom of Asturias.
Were a series of wars between a number of Muslim Arab dynasties and the Byzantine Empire from the 7th to the 11th century. Conflict started during the initial Muslim conquests, under the expansionist Rashidun and Umayyad caliphs, in the 7th century and continued by their successors until the mid-11th century.
January 832: Theophilos was the Byzantine Emperor from 829 to 842. Tarsus was an important city in Cilicia, located in modern-day Turkey. The capture of Tarsus from the Muslims was a significant military victory for the Byzantine Empire in their ongoing conflicts with the Muslim forces in the region.
January 838: In 837, the Byzantine Empire, under the rule of Emperor Theophilos, destroyed the cities of Melitene, Samosata, and Zapetra as a vengeful act against the Arab forces that had previously attacked Byzantine territories. Theophilos sought to assert Byzantine dominance in the region through these brutal actions.
February 838: In 838, the territories of Melitene, Samosata, and Zapetra were taken over by the Abbasid Caliphate after being destroyed by vengeful Byzantine troops in 837. The Byzantine troops were led by Emperor Theophilos in retaliation for previous Arab raids in the region.
January 839: Raid of the Abbasids led by caliph Al-Mu'tasim at Dazimon, Ancyra and finally at Amorium.
February 839: After a raid, the Abbasids leave Dazimon, Ancyra and Amorium.
January 889: Arab raid in Calabria.
February 889: End of an Arab raid in Calabria.
January 891: The Hamdanid Dynasty was established in 890.
January 903: In 903, the Arab Campaign in southern Italy reached Cosenza, which was under Byzantine control at the time.
February 903: The Arabs leave Cosenza.
4.1.Byzantine conquest of Teodosiopolis and Melitene
Byzantine conquest of Teodosiopolis and Meilitene.
January 753: Byzantine conquest of Teodosiopolis and Meilitene.
4.2.Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (782)
Was a military campaign by the Abbasid Caliphate in Byzantine Asia Minor.
February 782: On 9 February 782, Harun, the fifth Abbasid Caliph, departed Baghdad. The Arabs crossed the Taurus Mountains by the Cilician Gates, and swiftly took the border fortress of Magida.
January 783: The Abbasids advanced along the military roads across the plateau into Phrygia.
February 783: The Abbasid Caliphate, led by Harun al-Rashid, advanced along the military roads across the plateau into Phrygia in 783, ultimately leading to the territory falling under the control of the Byzantine Empire.
4.3.Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (806)
Was a military campaign by the Abbasid Caliphate in Byzantine Asia Minor.
October 806: In 806, the Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid led his forces to capture the city of Herakleia after a month-long siege. Herakleia was a strategically important city in the Byzantine Empire, located in modern-day Turkey. The successful capture of Herakleia was a significant military achievement for the Abbasid Caliphate.
January 807: Yazid ibn Makhlad captured the "Fort of the Willow" (al-Safsaf) and Malakopea.
January 807: Andrasos conquered by Abbasid Caliphate.
4.4.Battle of Anzen
The Battle of Anzen or Dazimon was fought on 22 July 838 at Anzen or Dazimon (now Dazmana (Akçatarla), Turkey) between the Byzantine Empire and the forces of the Abbasid Caliphate.
September 838: In 838, the Abbasid Caliphate, led by Caliph al-Mu'tasim, captured the Byzantine city of Amorion after a two-week siege. This victory was part of the ongoing Arab-Byzantine wars, with the Abbasids aiming to expand their territory and weaken the Byzantine Empire.
October 838: In 838, the Abbasid Caliphate, led by Caliph al-Mu'tasim, launched a successful campaign against the Byzantine Empire. The city of Amorion was besieged and captured after two weeks, resulting in a significant victory for the Abbasid forces.
4.5.Arab conquest of Pamphilia
Arab conquest of Byzantine Pamphilia.
January 853: Arab conquest of Pamphilia.
In 831 a punitive campaign of the Abbasid Caliph al-Mutasim defeated the Beja east of Nubia.
January 832: In 831 a punitive campaign of the Abbasid Caliph al-Mutasim defeated the Beja people east of Nubia.
February 832: In 831 a punitive campaign of the Abbasid Caliph al-Mutasim defeated the Beja people east of Nubia. The Caliph left the region after the raid.
Was an era of disunity in Tibetan history lasting from the death of the Tibetan Empire's last emperor, Langdarma, in 842 until Drogön Chögyal Phagpa became the Imperial Preceptor of the three provinces of Tibet in 1253, under the Yuan dynasty.
January 852: Khotan becomes independent.
Expansion during the rule of Abu Ibrahim Isma'il ibn Ahmad in the Samanid Empire.
January 901: Four brothers Nuh, Ahmad, Yahya, and Ilyas founded the Samanid state. Each of them ruled territory under Abbasid suzerainty. In 892, Ismail Samani united the Samanid state under one ruler, thus effectively putting an end to the feudal system used by the Samanids. It was also under him that the Samanids became independent of Abbasid authority. Ismail was thereafter recognized as the ruler of all of Khorasan and Transoxiana by the caliph.Furthermore, he also received the investiture over Tabaristan, Ray and Isfahan.
Were a series of military invasions of Egypt by the Fatimid Caliphate. The Fatimids were finally able to conquer Egypt in their third invasion, in 969 AD.
8.1.Fatimid invasion of Egypt (914-915)
Was the first unsuccesfull Fatimid attempt to conquer Eygpt, at the time part of the Abbasid Caliphate.
August 914: The Kutama raided south along the River Nile and devastated the country, reaching as far as Giza.
August 914: The ambitious Habasa, also known as Ahmad ibn Tulun, was the founder of the Tulunid dynasty in Egypt. He defeated an Abbasid force led by Muhammad ibn Tughj al-Ikhshid at al-Hanniya before capturing Alexandria on 27 August 914.
January 915: Unable to cross the river to Fustat, al-Qa'im moved, with a large part of his army, around Takin's defences and into the fertile Fayyum Oasis.
January 915: On 8 January 915, in a large-scale battle at Giza, the Fatimids were decisively defeated. With his army collapsing, al-Qa'im retreated to Alexandria, which he entered on 23 January.
June 915: Al-Qa'im evacuated Alexandria hastily and without battle, leaving much of his armament and equipment behind.
8.1.1.Conquest of the Cyrenaica
Was a Fatimid military campaign in Cyrenaica, at the time part of the Abbasid Caliphate.
February 914: The expedition against Egypt in 914 was led by the Fatimid Caliphate, who successfully took control of Sirte and Ajdabiya after the Abbasid garrisons abandoned the towns without a fight. This marked a significant victory for the Fatimid Caliphate in their campaign against the Abbasid dynasty.
February 914: Habasa entered Barqa.
8.2.Fatimid invasion of Egypt (919-921)
Was the second unsuccesfull Fatimid attempt to conquer Eygpt, at the time part of the Abbasid Caliphate.
July 919: The vanguard arrived before Alexandria on 9 July 919. The arrival of the Fatimid expeditionary force in July 919 caught the city's governor, Dhuka's son Muzaffar, by surprise. Along with his aides and many of the populace, he fled without giving battle.
August 919: Fatimid caliph al-Qa'im left Alexandria and, bypassing Giza, took over the fertile Fayyum Oasis.
July 921: The city was captured with relative ease from its Kutama garrison (May/June 921).
July 921: On 28 June, Mu'nis and Takin, along with Thamal's fleet, set out to with all their forces to attack Fayyum. Once the Abbasid forces began to advance into the oasis, on 8 July al-Qa'im ordered the retreat.
Were a series of military campaigny by the Mongols that created the largest contiguous Empire in history, the Mongol Empire, which controlled most of Eurasia.
February 1258: The Abbasids' period of cultural fruition and its (reduced) territorial control ended in 1258 with the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols under Hulagu Khan and the execution of Al-Musta'sim.
January 1259: Hulegu Khan, third son of Tolui, grandson of Genghis Khan, and brother of both Möngke Khan and Kublai Khan, was the first khan of the Ilkhanate. He destroyed the Abbasid Caliphate in 1258.
January 1259: Baghdad was besieged and captured by the Mongols in 1258 and subjected to a merciless sack, an event considered as one of the most catastrophic events in the history of Islam, and sometimes compared to the rupture of the Kaaba.
9.1.Conquest of Baghdad
The siege, laid by Ilkhanate Mongol forces and allied troops, involved the investment, capture, and sack of Baghdad, which was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate at that time.
January 1258: The Siege of Baghdad was led by Hulagu Khan, a Mongol ruler and grandson of Genghis Khan. The city was defended by the Abbasid Caliphate, led by Caliph Al-Musta'sim. The siege resulted in the destruction of Baghdad and the end of the Abbasid Caliphate.
February 1258: The siege, laid by Ilkhanate Mongol forces and allied troops, involved the investment, capture, and sack of Baghdad.
January 751: In the 7th and 8th century it was the residence of the Malik of Guzganan, last Kushanian remnants, which was then under the control of the Farighunid, a native dynasty.
January 751: Oghuz Turks formed a tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia.
January 751: By the mid-800s, the Banu Munabbih (also known as the Banu Sama), who claimed descent from the Prophet Muhammad's Quraysh tribe, came to rule Multan, and established the Amirate of Banu Munabbih, which ruled for the next century.
October 751: By the 740s, the Arabs under the Abbasid Caliphate in Khorasan had reestablished a presence in the Ferghana basin and in Sogdiana. At the Battle of Talas in 751, Karluk mercenaries under the Chinese defected, helping the Arab armies of the Caliphate to defeat the Tang force under commander Gao Xianzhi.
January 752: Abbasid conquest of the Principality of Khuttal.
January 752: The Imamate of Oman is estimated to have been established in 750 CE, shortly after the fall of the Umayyads.
January 756: Disestablished 755 CE.
May 756: The territories of the Emirate of Córdoba, located in what the Arabs called Al-Andalus, had formed part of the Umayyad Caliphate since the early eighth century. After the caliphate was overthrown by the Abbasids in 750, the Umayyad prince Abd ar-Rahman I fled the former capital of Damascus and established an independent emirate in Iberia in 756.
January 759: The Emirate of Sijilmassa was founded around 758 by Aïssa ben Yazid.
January 761: The Abbasid Caliphate, led by Caliph Al-Mansur, conquered the Masmughans of Damavand in 760.
January 761: Some territories still controlled by the Umayyads were inglobated into the Abbasid Caliphate.
January 761: Dabuyid rule over Tabaristan and Khorasan lasted from ca. AD 642 to the Abbasid conquest in 760.
January 761: Siladitya V probably had tried to recover Malwa as one of his grant (760 CE) is made from military camp at Godraka (Godhra). He must have failed to recover Malwa but nonetheless recovered the Khetaka (Kheda) region.
January 768: Abu Qurra launched an expedition to the east, surrounded the Abbasid governor in the fortress of Tobna in the Aures and reached as far as Kairouan.
January 771: The Sadakiyans were a Kurdish Muslim dynasty ruling in central and northeastern Iran, centered at Urmia.
January 777: Saurashtra was again invaded by the Tajjikas (Arabs) in 776 CE (AH 159). They captured the township of Barada but the epidemic broke out.
February 777: The Arabs had to return and the Caliph had decided to stop further attempt to enter India.
January 779: The Abkhazian Kingdom Declared independence from the Byzantine Empire.
January 779: After another uprising by the Kharijites under Ibn Rustam, Abu Quna and the Malzūza-Berber Abū Ḥātim al-Malzūzī before Kairouan failed in 772, Ibn Rustam withdrew to central Algeria and founded the Rustamid emirate in Tahert.
February 789: In Volubilis Idris I is proclaimed Imam of Morocco.
January 801: Ahmad b. Farighun was the first known ruler of the Farighunid dynasty in Jowzjan in 800. The Farighunids were a local dynasty that ruled over the region during the medieval period.
January 801: The Aghlabids were an Arab dynasty of emirs from the Najdi tribe of Banu Tamim, who ruled Ifriqiya and parts of Southern Italy, nominally on behalf of the Abbasid Caliph.
January 802: From the late 8th century, Shirvan was under the rule of the members of the Arab family of Yazid ibn Mazyad al-Shaybani, who was named governor of the region by the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid. His descendants, the Yazidids, would rule Shirvan as independent princes until the 14th century.
January 810: During the reign of Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid, the Sadakiyans, a local Iranian dynasty, expanded their control. The governor of Tabriz, a major city in Iran, acknowledged the authority of the Sadakiyans during this time in 809.
January 822: The Tahirids were a dynasty of Persian dehqan origin that effectively ruled the Khorasan from 821.
January 829: Zuraiq was defeated. He was executed in 212 after Hijra (ca. 827-28 AD).
January 841: Mihira Bhoja (c. 836-886) expanded the Pratihara dominions west to the border of Sind, east to Bengal, and south to the Narmada.
January 841: In 839/40, the Abbasid Caliphate's governor Nuh captured Isfijab from the pagan Turks in the steppe. Nuh was a prominent military leader during the Abbasid era, known for his successful campaigns against various nomadic tribes in the region.
January 841: The Yenisei Kyrgyz Khaganate was Turkic empire that existed for about a century between the early 9th and 10th centuries, around the start of the Mongol Empire. It ruled over the Yenisei Kyrgyz people.
January 848: A Himyarite clan called the Yufirids established their rule over the highlands from Saada to Taiz.
January 848: The Yufirids established an independent state in San'a in 847.
January 851: In the mid-9th century the Arab adventurer al-Umari hired a private army and settled at a mine near Abu Hamad in eastern Makuria. After a confrontation between both parties, al-Umari occupied Makurian territories along the Nile.
January 851: Expansion of the Khazar Khaganate by 850.
January 861: The Kaysite dynasty was a Muslim Arab dynasty that ruled an emirate centered in Manzikert from c. 860.
January 862: The Habbari Dynasty became semi-independent from the Abbasid Caliphate in 861. They controlled central and southern Sindh south of Aror.
January 862: The Dulafids served as governors of Jibal for the Abbasid caliphs in the 9th century. During the weakening of the authority of the caliphs after 861, their rule in Jibal became increasingly independent.
January 867: The Ziyadid were a Muslim dynasty that ruled western Yemen from 819, after the violent end of Abbasid caliph al-Musta'in in 866.
January 869: In 868, in Abu Hamad, the Makurian king sent his son Zacharias to work with al-Umari to kill Nyuti. However, Zacharias later defeated al-Umari and forced him into the desert. This event marked a significant power struggle within the Kingdom of Makuria.
January 869: In 868, in Abu Hamad, the Makurian king sent his son Zacharias to work with al-Umari to kill Nyuti. However, Zacharias later turned on al-Umari, defeating him and forcing him into the desert. This event marked a significant power struggle in the region.
January 869: The Tulunids were the first independent dynasty to rule Egypt, as well as much of Syria, since the Ptolemaic dynasty. They remained independent from 868, when they broke away from the central authority of the Abbasid dynasty.
January 874: Part of the Tahirid Dynasty was absorbed by tha Abbasid Caliphate.
January 877: In 876, the Saffarid dynasty, led by Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar, captured Khuzestan in southwestern Iran and southern parts of Iraq. The Saffarids were a Persian dynasty that ruled from 861 to 1003, known for their military conquests and patronage of Persian culture.
January 877: In 876, the Saffarids, a Persian dynasty, conquered Khuzestan in southwestern Iran and parts of southern Iraq. The Saffarids were known for their military conquests and establishment of a powerful empire in the region during the 9th and 10th centuries.
January 886: Ashot restored the Armenian monarchy and became Armenia's first king.
January 891: The Sajid dynasty, an Iranian Muslim dynasty, ruled from 889-890 in Azerbaijan and Armenia.
January 893: In 892, the territory of Thessalonica was lost to the Byzantine Empire. This marked a significant territorial loss for the Bulgarian Empire under the rule of Tsar Simeon I, who had been engaged in conflicts with the Byzantines for control over the region.
January 893: In 892, the territory of the Carolingian Empire experienced significant territorial losses. This was a result of the Treaty of Ribemont, signed between King Charles the Simple of West Francia and the Viking leader Rollo. The treaty granted the Vikings control over the region of Normandy, marking the beginning of the establishment of the Duchy of Normandy.
January 898: An imam of the Shi'ite Zaydiyyah sect, al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya, established a power base in the northern highlands in 897. It was the beginning of the Yemeni imamate.
January 899: The Abbasids proceeded to reincorporate Jibal into their empire.
January 900: The Qarmatians established a religious-utopian republic in 899 CE.
January 906: The Abbasids restored the Tulunid domains to their control.
January 920: In 919, after the death of Conrad I of Germany, the Magyars raided Saxony, Lotharingia and West France.
January 927: The Wajihids were an Arab dynasty that ruled in coastal Oman in the early and mid-10th century AD.
January 931: Under al-Jannabi (923-944), the Qarmaṭians came close to raiding Baghdad in 927, and sacked Mecca and Medina in 930.
January 931: Ibn Ziyar (r. c. 931-935), a noble military leader from Gilan, took advantage of the collapse of the Abbasid Caliphate and the rebellion of a Samanid general to establish an independent rule on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea.
January 931: Central iran with Hamadan, Kashan e Isfahan conquered by Ziyarid Dynasty.
February 931: Under al-Jannabi (923-944), the Qarmaṭians came close to raiding Baghdad in 927, and sacked Mecca and Medina in 930.
January 936: The Ikhshidid Dynasty were a mamluk dynasty who ruled Egypt from 935. The term "Mamluk" refers to non-Arab enslaved mercenaries, slave-soldiers, and freed slaves who were assigned high-ranking military and administrative duties, serving the ruling Arab and Ottoman dynasties in the Muslim world.
January 945: In 944, the governorships of Egypt, Syria and Hijaz were awarded for 30 years to ibn Tughj's family, and these posts would pass to his son, Abu'l-Qasim.
January 946: In 945, Ahmad entered Iraq and made the Abbasid Caliph his vassal.
January 946: In 945, the Buyids from Iran took over secular power in Baghdad and limited the position and function of the Abbasid caliph to the office of a spiritual leader of Islam.
January 956: The Rawadid dynasty was a Muslim ruling family centered in historic Azerbaijan.
January 980: Jazira conquered by Buyid Dynasty.
January 984: With the weakening of the buyid power after the death of Adud ad-Daula after 983, the Kurdish Marwan tribe under Badh, a former shepherd, gained control of Mayyafariqin and the areas of Amida and Nusaybin.
January 1001: From the 10th century to the early 20th century, Mecca and Medina were under the control of a local Arab ruler known as the Sharif of Mecca, but at most times the Sharif owed allegiance to the ruler of one of the major Islamic empires based in Baghdad, Cairo or Istanbul. Most of the remainder of what became Saudi Arabia reverted to traditional tribal rule.
January 1137: With the decline of the Seljuks from around the middle of the 12th century, the caliphs al-Muqtafi (1136-1160) and an-Nasir (1180-1225) were able to shed foreign patronage and restore their secular power and authority in what is now Iraq.
January 1205: Isfahan conquered by Salghurids.
Disestablishment
January 1259: Baghdad was besieged and captured by the Mongols in 1258 and subjected to a merciless sack, an event considered as one of the most catastrophic events in the history of Islam, and sometimes compared to the rupture of the Kaaba.
January 1259: Hulegu Khan, third son of Tolui, grandson of Genghis Khan, and brother of both Möngke Khan and Kublai Khan, was the first khan of the Ilkhanate. He destroyed the Abbasid Caliphate in 1258.
Selected Sources
Atwood, C. P. (2004): Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire, New York (USA), p. 225
Chasaren. Wikipedia. Retrieved on 7 April 2024 on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chasaren.jpg
Abbasid Caliphate
