Abbasid Caliphate

Around 750 AD, an Iranian military genius called “Abu-Moslem” leaded the armies of “Saffah” against the last Omavid caliph, Marvan II. Saffah was a great-grandson of Abbas, prophet Mohammad’s uncle, thus he called the new dynasty “Abbasid”.

Abbasid dynasty is the most famous dynasty of Islamic world. They were the patrons of Islamic arts and civilization. Many of the Caliphs were cruel and un-just, but they all were supporters of cultural developments throughout their country.

Mansour, Saffah’s brother and successor, killed Abu-Moslem and tried to decrease the Iranian influence in the Caliphate, but he was not very successful in his act. Iranian culture and governmental system continued to play an important role in the Islamic world. Some of most famous Abbsid rulers are: Haroon al-rashid (the caliph that opened the relations with Charlemagne), Ma’moon(the first half Iranian Caliph), and Motevakkel(the cruelest Caliph). After Ma’moon’s death (around 830 AD), one of Iranian nationalists separated a part of Eastern Iran from the Caliphate and called himself king, his name was “Taaher” and his dynasty, which is the first Islamic -Iranian dynasty, is called Taaherian.