The Abbasid Caliphate, also known as the Arabian Empire,[1] was the third caliphate, an Islamic state regarded as succeeding the prophet Muhammad.[2] It was established in 750 in the wake of a revolution against the Umayyad Caliphate. Because their banners were black, they were known to the Tang as the "Black Arabs" (黑衣大食).[3]
The long period of Abbasid rule is often remembered as the Islamic Golden Age for being a zenith of scientific and artistic flowering across the Islamic world.[4]
History[]
Origin and early years[]
The Abbasids were descended from Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, who was an uncle of Muhammad. This lineage gained them a number of influence and, with their powerful military,[5] the Abbasids overthrow the Umayyad Caliphate during the Abbasid Revolution from 747 to 750, installing Abul Abbas As-Saffah as the first caliph of the new empire.[2]
Almost immediately upon being installed on the throne, As-Saffah turned against his supporters in brutal purges,[6] and he was subsequently branded with the pejorative epithet of "Bloodshedder" from his enemies such as the Hidden Ones.[7]
In 751, they clashed with the Tang at the Battle of Talas, where the sudden betrayal of the Karluk mercenaries fighting under Tang forces resulted in a decisive victory for the Abbasids.[3] The band of Hidden Ones led by Éléna arrived too late to affect the outcome, but they did manage to save the life of a Tang crossbowman named Li E, upon which they recruited him into their order.[7] By 754, As-Saffah had eradicated the Hidden Ones in the region after assaulting their headquarters, and Li E escaped as the sole survivor.[8]
Islamic Golden Age[]
During the Islamic Golden Age, a number of notable Abbasid polymaths made important contributions to the fields of astronomy, mathematics and engineering, such as al-Khwarizmi, Al-Mahani, Hunayn ibn Ishaq, and the Banū Mūsā brothers: Abu Jafar, Ahmad and Al-Hasan. It was also a thriving period for literature, with authors such as Arib Al-Ma'muniyya and Al-Jahiz making a name for themselves in the capital city of Baghdad.[9] The House of Wisdom served as a major intellectual center, drawing scholars from all across the Islamic world.[10]
Baghdad during the Golden Age
By the time of al-Mutawakkil's reign as caliph in the mid-9th century, the Order of the Ancients, enemies of the Hidden Ones, held power and sway over the caliphate, with some of its member holding key positions within the Abbasid court, such as the warlord Wasif al-Turki commanding the Turkic Army,[11] and Qabiha, al-Mutawakkil's favorite concubine, leading the Order as its Ra's Al-Af'a.[12]
Anarchy at Samarra[]
In 861, al-Mutawakkil was killed by a young thief, Basim Ibn Ishaq, in Anbar, while the latter was attempting to steal an artifact that the caliph safeguarded on the Order's behalf.[13] This robbed the Order of their puppet, forcing them to reset their plans to control Baghdad,[14] and started a period of extreme instability for the caliphate known as the Anarchy at Samarra.[15]
After the death of al-Mutawakkil's son and successor al-Muntasir in early 862, al-Musta'in took control of the caliphate with the support of the Turkic Army. His cousin, al-Mutawakkil's other son Abu 'Abdallah, opposed al-Musta'in's ascension to the throne, leading to the caliph placing him under house arrest. However, Abu ' Abdallah was soon able to gather civilian support, instigating a civil war similar to the Fourth Fitna from a generation earlier, fought between al-Amin and al-Ma'mun.[16]
Ali ibn Muhammad leading the Zanj rebels
At the same, the Zanj Rebellion started under the leadership of Ali ibn Muhammad, a former Abbasid dignitary who sought to liberate the caliphate's enslaved population.[17] The Zanj rebels were secretly aided by the Hidden Ones of Alamut, who wished to undermine the Order of the Ancients' control over Baghdad.[18] Over the course of several months, the Order's leaders in the capital were assassinated by the Hidden One Basim Ibn Ishaq,[19] prompting Qabiha to strike a deal with Baghdad's governor Muhammad ibn Tahir.[20]
Muhammad's Tahirid relatives governed the region of Khorasan, which included the Hidden Ones' stronghold of Alamut, and so Qabiha convinced Muhammad to reach out to his cousin Abdallah ibn Tahir and have him remove his protection of Alamut, leaving the Hidden Ones' stronghold vulnerable. In exchange, Qabiha would force her son Abu 'Abdallah to sign away his birthright to the caliphate's throne and swear allegiance to al-Musta'in as a way to end the civil war and restore peace to Baghdad.[20] However, Qabiha was assassinated shortly after by the Hidden Ones, and so the civil war continued.[12]
In 866, Abu 'Abdallah ascended the throne after al-Musta'in abdicated in his favor, ruling under the name al-Mu'tazz. However, his reign was ultimately short-lived, as in 869 he was overthrown by the Turkic Army and died during his imprisonment.[21] By 870, with the ascension of caliph al-Mu'tamid, the Anarchy at Samarra came to an end.[15] A decade later, the Zanj Rebellion was also quenched, restoring order to the caliphate.[22]
Collapse[]
Eventually, Abbasid power declined, and their control was reduced to only the territory around their capital of Baghdad by the time of the Crusades, although their caliphs continued to wield spiritual prestige. In 1258,[2] Hülegü Khan of the Mongol Empire sacked Baghdad,[23] spelling an apocalyptic end to not just Abbasid cultural power but to the intellectual advances of Islamic society, as the city's philosophers and scientists were exterminated and its libraries and academies razed to the ground.[2]
The Abbasid Caliphate survived for a time in Egypt under the protection of the Mamluk Sultanate, although with little-to-none of their former spiritual authority and largely relegated to crowning the new Sultan, until finally the Mamluk Sultanate fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1517 and the Ottoman Sultans claimed the caliphate for themselves.[2]
Appearances[]
- Assassin's Creed: Dynasty (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (mentioned only)
- Wrath of the Druids (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Geirmund's Saga (mentioned only, as "Serkland")
- The World of Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Journey to the North – Logs and Files of a Hidden One (mentioned only)
- Echoes of History (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Mirage
- Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Daughter of No One
- Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game (mentioned only)
References[]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||