ABBASIDS, the name generally given to the caliphs
? of
Baghdad,
the second of the two great dynasties of the Muslim
empire. The Abbasid caliphs officially based their claim
to the throne on their descent from Abbas
? (A.D. 566-652),
the eldest uncle of
Muhammad, in virtue of which descent they
regarded themselves as the rightful heirs of the Prophet as
opposed to the
Umayyads, the descendants of Umar
?. Throughout
the second period of the Uayyads, representatives of this
family were among their most dangerous opponents, partly by
the skill with which they undermined the reputation of the
reigning princes by accusations against their orthodoxy,
their moral character and their administration in general,
and partly by their cunning manipulation of internecine
jealousies among the Arabic and non-Arabic subjects of the
empire. In the reign of Merwan II. this opposition culminated
in the rebellion of Ibrahim the Imam, the fourth in descent
from Abbas, who, supported hy the province of Khorasan
?, achieved
considerable successes, but was captured (A.D. 747) and died
in prison (as some hold, assassinated). The quarrel was taken
up by his brother Abdallah, known by the name of Abu'l-Abbas
as-Saffah, who after a decisive victory on the Greater Zab
(750) finally crushed the Umayyads and was proclaimed caliph.
The history of the new dynasty is marked by perpetual
strife and the development of luxury and the liberal arts,
in place of the old-fashioned austerity of thought and
manners. Mansur?, the second of the house, who transferred
the seat of government to Baghdad, fought successfully against
the peoples of Asia Minor, and the reigns of [Harun al-Rashid]?
(786--809) and Mamun (813-833) were periods of extraordinary
splendour. But the empire as a whole stagnated and then decayed
rapidly. Independent monarchs established themselves in
Africa and Khorasan (Spain had remained Umayyad throughout),
and in the north-west the Greeks successfully encroached.
The ruin of the dynasty came, however, from those Turkish
slaves who were constituted as a royal bodyguard by Moqtasim
(833-842). Their power steadily grew until Radi (934-941) was
constrained to hand over most of the royal functions to Mahommed
b. Raik. Province after province renounced the authority
of the caliphs, who were merely lay figures, and finally
Hulagu, the Mongol chief, burned Baghdad (Feb. 28th, 1258).
The Abbasids still maintained a feeble show of authority,
confined to religious matters, in Egypt under the Mamelukes?,
but the dynasty finally disappeared with Motawakkil III., who
was carried away as a prisoner to Constantinople by Selim I.
Initial text from 1911 encyclopedia -- Please update as needed