A kingdom of great power and beauty once stood admist the unadorned sand dunes expanding across the vast plains of the middle east. Powerful Caliphates governed the populations from behind tightly closed doors, scarcely aware of what was going on in the outside world. Highly controversial religious arguments and constant invasions plagued the kingdoms. This was the life of the Abbasids.
The Caliphs, powerful and learned spiritual men, were the rulers of the Abbasids. Supposedly, all had derived from the bloodline of Abbas, the uncle of Muhhammad. Abu al-Abba took Iraq and gave power to al-Mansur in 754 A.D. Under him, the seat of power was transferred from Syria to Baghdad, Iraq. Persian court etiquette was introduced in his new kingdom, and soon became incorporated into the Abbasid style of leadership, hence the beginning of the Abbasid kingdom. The greatest period in all of their history came under the leadership of Harun al-Rashid, who came to power in 786 A.D. During this time, dubbed “the golden age”, the Abbasids continued achievements of classic European works, and elevated scientific works, but despite the prosperity there was a dark future ahead. Revolts in Persia became more prominent, their hold on eastern Morocco and Tunisia were lost, and to the north, the state was on the defensive against Byzantines in Syria and Anatolia. Harun died in 809 A.D. and left his kingdom in Iraq to his son al-Amin, and granted his other son, al Ma`mun, rule over Pursia. A great civil war broke out between the two brothers and was not resolved until al-Amin died in 813 A.D. This conflict left power to Caliph Ma`mun.
Ma`mun’s arrogance and extravagant expenditures soon became the downfall of any political influence governed by the Caliphates. His first mistake was publically denouncing the Quran, the Abbasids sacred book. By saying the book was a created thing and not divinely inspired, it granted the wisdom of the Caliphates power to interpret it as they wanted, thus giving them supreme control. This attempt at totalitarianism backfired on Ma`mun, and the leadership of the local Muslim communities united against him. Ma`mun’s second mistake was somewhat derived from his first. His inability to keep his empire united finally led to the end of his reign and the end of the caliph’s political power. Three factors contributed to this: first, money had to keep coming in because of the extravagant lifestyle and décor of the royalty; second, he was having difficulty keeping the troops under control. This was due to the fact that most of the troops were usually slaves or trouble makers who were forced to enlist. Finally, the authority of the caliphs began to diminish with all the problems, and in 1055 A.D. the Turks conquered Baghdad. In the end, all power was lost, and the dynasty was reduced to nothing more than a weak puppet government. This was the end of a civilization plagued with devastating corruption. From the feeble and noble status, intended for the caliphs, came a blackened ending to their reign.
References:
“Abbasids” http://www.princeton.edu/~batke/itl/denise/abbasids.htm 12 Nov. 2000
“Abbasids” http://ismaili.net/~heritage/mirrors/144_shii/abbasids.htm 12 Nov. 2000
“The Failures of the Abbasids”
http://www.unipissing.ca/department/history/2805/ABBASID2.HTM 12 Nov. 2000
Wrtten by Steve Kangas