The Abbasid Revolution This paper will discuss t

Between 661 and 750, the caliphate was controlled by the Umayyad family. The Umayyad dynasty began with the victory of Mu'awiya, the governor of Syria, over 'Ali, the caliph. 'Ali's authority had largely rested upon the fact that he was married to the daughter of Muhammad, the Prophet. The Ummayads had backed a rival of 'Ali's as successor to Muhammad and had revolted when 'Ali assassinated this individual. After achieving victory, Mu'awiya established the practice of hereditary succession, ensuring that his family would control the caliphate for the nearly one hundred years (Peretz 25).

Under the Umayyads, the Arab empire became secularized as the family stressed the importance of the political and economic organization of an expanding empire. The empire took on more of the appearance of a Persian and Byzantine successor state than an Arab state, with administrative posts held largely by Syrian Christian and Persian Zoroastrians. The highest social caste, however, was occupied by Arabs and w

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all members of the family and killed those who were found. On June 25, 750, the general, Abdullah ibn-ali, who had led the Abbasids to victory at Zab, invited eighty members of the Umayyad family to a banquet, during the course of which he had them killed. The remains of those Umayyad caliphs already dead were exhumed and desecrated. One of the few Umayyads to escape was Abd al-Rahman, who fled to Spain and started a new dynasty which eventually established its own powerful caliphate (Hitti 285-86; Hodgson 275; Von Grunebaum 78-79). One of the most immediate consequences of the Abbasid takeover was the diminution of the political power of the ethnic Arabs in the Empire. This was not unexpected, as Mawali, or non-Arab Muslims, formed an important part of the coalition which overthrew the Umayyads. The pensions given to Arabs who held positions within the government gradually diminished until only Hashimites and 'Alids (the Islamic "aristocracy" of Muhammad's descendants) received them in the middle of the Ninth Century. A large number of Persians and Khurasanis had been taken into the Abbasid family as "sons" and they formed the core of the Empire's military organization. The Caliph no longer represented the Arab ruler of
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Von Grunebaum, Century Baghdad, Abbasid Revolution, Iraqi Arab, Shi'ite Muslims, Islamic History, Islam Hitti, Islamic Empire, Empire Abbasid, Umayyads Abbasids, abbasid caliphate, np np nd, von grunebaum, np np, np nd, arab empire, abu muslim, abbasid revolution, central government, umayyad dynasty, arab settlers, shaban islamic history, arab families abbasid, islamic history vol, prophet age caliphs,
Approximate Word count = 2820
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)