Abbasid Caliphate

The standard of the Abbasids

The Abbasids .

The Abbasids take their name from Al-Abbas , the uncle of Muhammad , they are the descendants, whereas the Umayyads had a more distant family connection with the prophet of Islam. They want a Muslim state more deeply, where Iranians converted to Islam will have an equal share to that of the Arabs. In ^the eighth century , after a bloody revolution to displace the Umayyads Abbasids, the first Muslim dynasty. During the revolution against the Umayyads, their leader Abu Muslim gathered around him, in addition to Arabs hostile to the ruling dynasty of native Iranian , small people, slaves fled. He wins by 750 to battle the Great Zab , after more than three years of war.

They take the head during five centuries of a vast empire ranging from the Atlantic shores of Iberia on the banks of the Indus and bear the Muslim civilization at its apogee. The Abbasid dynasty gave birth to illustrious caliphs as al-Mansur , Al-Ma'mun , or the legendary Harun ar-Rashid that extend the Muslim religion, Arabic language and a universal conscience of Islam that characterizes the medieval Muslim world. Paradoxically, it was also under their direction that begins the slow decline of Muslim civilization, the gigantic empire under the first caliphs conquered and then under the Umayyads adopted its expansion, Spain and Egypt tear their local rulers independence and claimed the title and dignity Caliphate, the Turkish tribes newly converted to Islam are becoming increasingly important within the empire. Despite these difficulties the Abbasid dynasty survived until the ^thirteenth century when the Mongols bombard the final blow by destroying the great capital Baghdad and that the indifference of the Muslim world.

Causes of the revolt

In ^the eighth century , while in the West Carolingians ousted the first dynasty of Frankish king the Merovingians , the Caliphs in the East Umayyads who ruled a territory stretching from Spain to Transoxiana had threatened the very foundation of their state by a series of events. The Arabs, accustomed to such rural states and military, with the Umayyad dynasty had a huge cosmopolitan state, driven by an intense commercial and industrial life and radiant on many peoples and religions. Have strong tribal sense, but also wary of people newly converted to Islam, the Umayyads will favor large Arab families in their administration and important positions. The revolution that follows and sees the Abbasids come to power is not only a conflict between two dynasties, but rather a religious issue. The Umayyad family considered decadent and "impious" notably its treatment toward non-Arabs, ie the Persians , the peoples of North Africa and black, who converted to Islam and demanded the rights that the Koran and guaranteed them the strict equality between Arabs and non-Arabs in accordance with the Prophet: "The Arab n is not better than the non-Arab or non Arab than the Arab, white over black or black over white except by piety. (Ahmad) "The first signs of revolt broke out in 747 , Abu Muslim is deploying for the first time the black banners, emblem of the Abbasid house. In 749 the Abbasid army crossed the Euphrates and seized the city of Kufa , the region will experience the bloody until in January 750 at the battle of the great Zab is definitely the Umayyad caliphate abolished.

Basis

Map of the Abbasid empire around AD 820.

The Abbasid caliphs base their claim to the caliphate in their capacity as descendants of Al-Abbas Ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566-662), one of the uncles of Mohammed. By virtue of this descent they consider themselves the rightful heirs of Muhammad, as opposed to the Umayyads. These are the descendants of Umayya , from a clan of Muhammad in separate tribe Quraysh.

The Abbasids also distinguished the Umayyads by attacking the moral character and administration in general. The Abbasid revolt is largely supported by the Arabs, especially Arab settlers Merv abused by policy of the Umayyads and the Yemeni clan, with their Mawali . The Abbasids also appealed to non-Arab Muslims, known as the Mawali , remained on the margins of society based on kinship and Arab culture and perceived as a lower class within the Umayyad empire. The Hashemite Muhammad ibn 'Ali, great-grand-son of Abbas, began to campaign for the return of power to the family of Muhammad. During the reign of Caliph Umar II, Muhammad ibn Ali led the fight in Persia.

During the reign of Marwan II this opposition led to the rebellion of Ibrahim the Imam, the fourth descendant of Al-Abbas. Supported by the Province of Iran 's Khorasan , he won considerable success, but is caught in the year 747 and died in prison, perhaps murdered. The battle is taken by his brother Abdallah, known as Abu al-'Abbas did Saffah , who after winning the Greater Zab ( 750 ) defeated the Umayyads and was proclaimed caliph.

History

The Golden Age of the Caliphate

The Abbasid palace in Samarra , built in 836

Sight of the mihrab (prayer niche) of the Great Mosque of Kairouan , the mihrab, which the current date from ^the ninth century, is the work of Aghlabids (dynasty ruling on behalf of the Abbasid Caliph), Tunisia.

The first Abbasid Caliph is Abu al-Abbas , said Saffah did ( 750 - 754 ). Immediately after their victory, the Abbasid move the center of gravity of the empire that was in Syria to modern Iraq, a region that was already known under the Umayyads great economic and cultural development. The first Abbasid capital founded by Al-Saffah himself was placed in the city of Hshimiyya near Kufa on the east bank of the Euphrates. Transferred to Al-Anbar will fix it eventually on a new site chosen by Abu Jafar al-Mansur in 762. The criteria for selecting the place where the capital would be built were very accurate, the new capital located on the west bank of the Tigris, not far from the ancient Ctesiphon were surrounded by fertile plains, a temperate climate and at the crossroads many caravan routes. This was to symbolize the city Dawla (State Dynasty). Initially called Madinat al-Salam (City of Peace) it was also called the "Round City" because of its circular plan but one that is most common comes from an ancient village where the new town took place: Baghdad , known in the West as the Baldach.

Under their reign, we see the development of the cities. We can talk about their city of an empire, while the state dominated the Umayyad Arab military caste and rural property.

They must struggle against many oppositions within the vast empire they inherited the Umayyads. They quickly lose the West: From 756 of Spain gives himself a prince Umayyad. In North Africa , state kharidjites (and others) are. In 800 , the caliphate should pass an agreement with the Aghlabids , which prevailed in Algeria , in Tunisia and Tripoli : they recognize the authority of Baghdad in exchange for their autonomy.

To ensure the alliances that allow them to gain power, the Abbasids require a return to original Islam. They say they want to apply an ideal Islam, advocating a classless society, under the authority of a political and religious leader from the family of the Prophet. Judges and Kadis appointed by the Caliph , they were to apply the Sharia , the only accepted norm. In a less religious, a vizier is responsible for reorganizing the administration. There were indeed many staff, divided roughly into two groups of secretaries (kuttab):

1. Christians Nestorians , related to Sunni and defenders of the authority of the caliph;
2. Muslim Shiites , wishing instead to weaken the sovereign.

Under this dynasty, the economy is prosperous cities grow, industry, arts and letters reach their peak. The Arabs control the international traffic by sea and caravans from the west to India and China, via Egypt, Africa and the Slavic countries. Jewish merchants and money changers take advantage of this momentum, and settled in Iraq to Armenia, the Caucasus, Iran and Transoxiana, Egypt and Syria to Saudi, Yemen, Ethiopia and North Africa. Then finally on the Black Sea, Russia, Italy, Spain and the Frankish kingdoms. The development of literature, science and art draws its inspiration from the Persian civilization ( The Thousand and One Nights ), but also in the works of classical antiquity in Arabic, Syrian models and innovations introduced by traders and geographers.

But the riots and disturbances do not just stop. The first caliphs, Abu al-Abbas ( 750 - 754 ), Abu Jafar al-Mansur (754 - 775 ), Al-Mahdi (775 - 785 ) and Harun ar-Rashid ( 786 - 809 ), must struggle against the extremist uprisings. They can not prevent the posting of Spain ( 756 ) nor the continued unrest in Iran. In 803 Harun ar-Rashid eliminates the viziers of the family Barmecides who had cleverly solved the problems raised by the Shiite unrest. It is growing under the reign of Al-Mamun ( 813 - 833 ) which, after defeating his brother Al-Amin ( 809 -814), promotes Iranian influences, adopted motazilisme and selects a temporary Alide as heir to join the moderate Shia. But this covenant shall not prevent the revolt of the Turkish mercenaries or the effects of a deep financial crisis, which lead the Abbasids to leave Baghdad and move to the new city of Samarra (833 - 892 ).

Jafar al-Mutawakkil ( 847 - 861 ) renounces the motazilisme and reacts against the Shiites, Christians and Jews. The unity of the empire is not preserved so far: the Tahirids ( 820 - 872 ), the Saffarids ( 867 - 903 ), then Samanids ( 874 - 999 ) in Iran, the Tulunids ( 879 - 905 ) , then Ikhchidides ( 935 - 969 ) in Egypt and Syria , became de facto independent.

Institutions

The Abbasids take over the administrative traditions of Sasanian. The central administration consists of offices or offices ( diwan ) held by a corps of secretaries (Kuttab): the property tax office (diwan al kharadj ), the office areas (diwan al diya), the Bureau of Treasury (bayt al-Mal), the office of Chancery (diwan al Rasaili), the army office (diwan al Jaysh). Post (barid) to a very important role of communication and intelligence.

The provinces are headed by governors ( Khatib , then emir and wali ). At the beginning of the Empire, their government is often short-lived because they are tempted to get rich very quickly and are denounced by men of the post. The finances of the provinces are assigned to a tax director (amil), justice depends on the cadi. The regional administration also includes the chiefs of the army, the chief of police, stewards and the areas caliph postmaster. The Sahib al nazar Mazalim thread is responsible for investigating complaints issued against the officials. A magistrate ( muhtasib ) is responsible for policing the markets.

After the founding of Baghdad, the new capital, by al-Mansur in 762 , the Syrian officials who spoke Greek were replaced by Arabic-speaking Iranians and the organization of the empire is modeled on Sasanian. The empire became increasingly administrative. Real Iranian dynasties provide great servants of the state, as Barmecides. While approaching the eastern provinces, the power of the caliph is based on the populations of the former Sasanian empire but waives the Mediterranean and to exercise control over the provinces of the West.

An agrarian economy

The land regime in the Abbasid empire is determined by conquest, which made the Muslim community the landowner. The caliph , who represents it, may use its discretion. There are actually several types of ownership: private land of non-Muslim populations at the time of conquest, which can be preserved against the payment of kharadj and be sold and passed on, the private lands of Muslims, free land (mulk), acquired by purchase from indigenous owners, are subject to tithe , and the public domains, derived from the forfeitures that followed the conquest, are either operated directly by the stewards of the caliph, or granted to individuals or groups (Qatai: striking) ; Waqf property is transferred by the faithful to pious foundations (mosques, schools, hospitals ...) and are inalienable.

The farmers are mostly sharecroppers. Irrigation, inherited from the ancient world (flooding of the Nile in Egypt , canals in Mesopotamia , pendulum wells (shadoof), wheel-driven animals (nori), dams Transoxiana , in Khuzestan and Yemen , at the foot of underground galleries Mountains in Iran ( qanat ) or the Maghreb (rhettaras), based on a strong community organization and state intervention. We always plow with plow and earth receives little fertilizer because of the weakness of breeding.

Agricultural production is stimulated by demand from major towns and aristocratic circles. Plant products dominate: cereals (wheat, rice), fruits (apricots, citrus), vegetables, olive oil ( Syria and Palestine , for the rich), sesame (Iraq), turnip, rapeseed, flax Castor (Egypt), viticulture (Syria, Palestine, Egypt ), dates, bananas (Egypt), sugar cane. Farming remains important for food, for the supply of raw materials (wool, leather) and for transport (camels, camels, horses or Turko-Mongol purebred Arabian). The sheep is present everywhere, but the buffalo husbandry develops (marshes of Iraq or bottom of the Orontes ). Small flocks of poultry, pigeons and bees represent a significant demand among the wealthy classes. The food of the people, very frugal, is mainly vegetarian (rice cake, boiled wheat, vegetables and fruits).

The problem of the army

After the civil war between Al-Amin and his brother Al-Ma'mun (809-813), the troops came from Khorasan replace Syrian troops for the defense of the Caliphate. The Caliph Al-Mu `tasim (833-842) decides to surround himself with a guard chosen from Ghulam , military slaves mostly of Turkish origin. This system ends in the 860s after the murders of four successive caliphs, and replaced by a guard Mamluk slaves constituted raided Turkish youth in Central Asia and the steppes bred carefully in a single orthodoxy, to ensure their loyalty to their masters. Meanwhile, after 840 , is developing the system of iqta : Caliph officers assigned to the kharadj (property tax) of a district to charge for them to pay the salaries of their troops. The military can easily increase their property to the detriment of small farmers free. With the use of troops recruited servile out of Islam , easy to buy and to shape the political ideal of an Islamic umma itself ensuring the defense and expansion of the dar al-Islam fails. The use of slave recruitment means eventually rupture between civil society, the military and political power. This evolution explains the collapse of the Caliphate and to the role taken from the years 936 - 945 , by the commander in chief of the army. From the reign Mu'tadid al- depleted the treasury of the caliph increases. Revolts Qarmats worse. The soldiers are becoming increasingly important. The impact on trade and rural life of revolts Zenj Qarmats and weaken the regime. The hinterland of Baghdad sees its agriculture decline owing to the difficulties of canal maintenance, during the troubles preceding the takeover by Buyids (945).

The Decline and Fall

The division of the Arab empire in the ^tenth century

In Iraq itself, the revolt of black slaves plantation is repressed by al-Muwaffaq , brother of Caliph Al-Mutamid ( 870 -892).

The caliphs al-Mu'tadid (892 - 902 ) and Al-Muqtafi (902 - 908 ) are needed in Iraq. But the revolt Ismaili gave authority of the Abbasids in question. In 909 , the eleventh Imam Ismaili Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi of the dynasty founded Fatimid and took the title of caliph Ifriqiya.

The Buyids , Shiite Iran, founded a dynasty in Iran ( 932 - 1055 ). Prince Buyid Muizz ad-Dawla Ahmad takes Baghdad ( 945 ) and, without removing, the caliph, he received full powers with the title "Prince of Princes" (Amir al-Umar) in 936. Also, while maintaining a theoretical power over Sunni Islam, the Caliphs are they deprived of any real power. The Buyids are separated by the Turkish Seljuks ( 1055 ). The latter fought vigorously in favor of Sunni Islam. The Turkish immigration to the Middle East grows.

The state can also count on another pillar: the army, composed of Khorassanian faithful to the sovereign, but also of Arabs often less accurate, particularly in areas near borders.

Over the centuries, the power of the caliphs gradually weakened, especially victims of constant clashes between Sunnis and Shiites, but also many revolts. Except Al-Mustazhir (1094-1118) and An-Nasir ( 1180 - in 1225 ), the last Abbasid caliphs, the lower of that sovereign overlords. However, the nomination of the Caliph of Baghdad remains an important source of legitimacy for the Sunni dynasties: the Seljuks , Almoravids and Ayyubid. His prestige is even stronger with the demise of rival caliphate, the Umayyads of Cordoba and Fatimid Cairo.

The last caliph, Al-Musta'simi , thinks he can intimidate the conquering Mongol presenting himself as the master of "all the people who pray to God." Serious estimation error. By seizing Baghdad on 10 February 1258 , the Mongols led by Hulagu Khan put an end to the Abbasid caliphate in Baghdad and the run .

The Abbasids in Egypt

The survivors of the massacre are greeted in Egypt by the sultans Mamluks , where they symbolically perpetuate the Abbasid dynasty. Their presence allows the Mamluk sultans, guardians of the holy places of Islam , to claim an honorary primacy in the Muslim world. In 1517 , the Ottoman conquest transfers power Caliphate to the Ottoman Empire. The last Abbasid bequeathed his credentials to Sultan Selim ^I.

Abbasid Caliphs in Iraq

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