Describe and Explain the Decline of the Abbasid Caliphate...

The decline of the Abbasids was not a steady of rapid series of events. There were numerous revivals of the Caliphate in which certain strong Caliphs gained more control and influence over the Islamic world than their predecessors had had. However at no point after the death of Harun al-Rahid (reigned 786-809) was the Caliphate ever as powerful. This period is regarded as the Golden Age of the Abbasid Caliphate and was followed immediately by civil war between his sons. Harun’s two sons were called Al-Amin and Al-Mamun. Al-Amin was the elder and was nominated as the heir to the Caliphate. However Al-Mamun, who was the effective governor of the eastern provinces was ambitious. He was spurred towards seizing the Caliphate for†¦show more content†¦Such a compromise was a symptom of a relatively weak Caliph. Further revolts led to the temporary loss of the Caliph’s power in Egypt, Syria and Palestine for substantial periods. However with Tahir and his famil y at his side, al-Mamun was able to regain these lands, leaving the Caliphate in 833 much less weak than it had been although not as strong as al-Rashid had in 809. Al-Mamun’s successor and son was a man called Al Mu’tasim. His reign was particularly important in the gradual decline of the Abbasids. Although he was not the first to use the infamous ‘slave soldiers’, they had been used from 814 onwards, he expanded their usage massively. The slave soldiers were mostly Turks from areas like modern Turkmenistan. These were hard nomadic peoples from the grass planes of the Steppe who were brutal worriers and provided the Caliph with military security for a price. These Turk soldiers were to play a crucial part in the decline of the Caliphate as their influence and power grew over their masters. The Turks soon formed the palace guard of the Caliph, taking on a similar to the Praetorian Guard of the Roman Empire. As their presence increased they became increasin gly unpopular in Baghdad. This unpopularity and the Caliphs increasing dependence on his mercenaries lead to Mu’tasim relocating the capital from Baghdad to Samarra in 835. This only diminished the power of the Caliphate inShow MoreRelatedThe Umayyad Dynasty And Abbasid Dynasty1370 Words   |  6 Pagesthe 14th century named Ibn Khaldun who developed one of the most outstanding model to describe nomadic societies and their lifestyles. Ibn Khaldun analyze the different forms of governments, explaining their strengths and weaknesses by presenting the 4 steps of his model to reveal the cyclical rises and declines of dynasties. I m using Ibn Khaldun s model to explain the history of the Umayyad dynasty and Abbasid dynasty. 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