Abbasids

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Kingdom of Nubia

**Abbasids** - a dynasty of Arab origin, ruling the Caliphate (with long and numerous interruptions) from 750 to the present day.

## History

### Overthrow of the Ummayads.

The Abbasids trace their lineage to Prophet Muhammad's uncle, Abbas (from whom the dynasty takes its name). For centuries they were in opposition to the Ummayad, who came from a different tribal clan as the Prophet. Using arguments of state mismanagement and flaws in morality, Abbas' great-grandson Muhammad ibn Ali launched a campaign to discredit the caliphs. These activities reached a climax when an uprising by another descendant of Abbas, Imam Ibrahim, broke out under Marwan II. At first the Abbasids suffered defeats, and Ibrahim himself was sent to a dungeon where he died, but As-Saffah took command of them, and under his command the rebels won a great victory over the caliph's troops. This enabled him to proclaim himself caliph. Many of the Ummayads were killed by him, but some, taking advantage of the conflict between Arab and non-Arab (e.g. Persian) supporters of the Abbasids formed their own caliphate in Spain, with its capital in Córdoba. After As-Saffah's death, his brother, Al-Mansur, took power.

### Weakening

During the reign of successive caliphs, from Al-Mahdi to Al'Mu'tazz the Wrong, the rule of the caliphs continued to weaken. This was due to several factors - conflict between Sunnis and Shiites, culminating in the latter's uprising in Mecca in 756 and the establishment of the Idrisidic state, conflict with powerful Persian families, and battles with Byzantium over lands in Anatolia and Syria. The most important of these, however, was the creation of a ghilman army consisting of Turkish and Persian slaves loyal only to the caliph. The commanders of this army formed during the reigns of Al-Ma'mun and Al-Mu'tasim assumed actual power over the state.

During these years the Abbasid family did not grow much. Although Caliph Al-Mahdi had two sons, only the younger of the two, Harun al-Rashid lived to have children - three sons, of whom only the youngest, Al-Mu'tasim, lived to have descendants - another three sons, Al-Wathiq (817), Al-Mu'tawakkil (821) and Muhammad (823).

### Descendants of the three brothers

#### Al-Wathiq

The eldest of the brothers, Al-Wathiq became caliph after his father's death in 842. By then he had lived to see one son, Al-Muhtadi. He had two wives, both from the lowlands of society - Saaman and Mastana. After Al-Wathiq's death, his brother Al-Mu'tawakkil became caliph, but Al-Muhtadi, as his close family, continued to hold important positions. Due to internal conflicts, called Anarchy in Samarra, caliphs were changed like gloves by Turkish commanders. The process of recovery began with the actions of Al-Mu'tazza the Unrighteous, but there were still several years of revolts and upheavals. Thanks to one of these in 872 Al-Muhtadi became caliph. During his reign, which lasted until his death in 880, he and Saaman had two children: son Murad (877) and daughter Semeah (878). The child Murad succeeded his father, but this attempt to introduce succession to the throne was not well received and in 883 the caliph was deposed by Al-Mu'tadid. He later married twice but did not live to see a child. His sister, married to Kurd Kurboga, was also not so lucky. Thus this branch of the Abbasids died out in 898 on Murad precisely.

#### Muhammad

The youngest of the brothers, by virtue of being the youngest, was the least likely to take power. In 840 he had a son, Al-Musta'ina. Only two years later, because of the Anarchy in Samarra, his son was elevated to the throne of caliph. However, he did not hold his office for long - for he was assassinated in 866 by the henchmen of Al-Mu'tazza the Wrong.

#### Al-Mu'tawakkil

The middle brother, Al-Mu'tawakkil and his descendants were the most successful. After the death of his brother, Al-Wathiq, he assumed the title of caliph. And although he was assassinated in 861, which directly started the Anarchy in Samarra, he lived to have four children during his forty-year life: twin brothers Al-Muntasir and Al-Muwaffak (840), Al-Mu'tamida (844) and Al-Mu'tazza (847), to whom the nickname "Unrighteous" would attach in the future.

After the death of their father, the brothers joined the struggle for the throne, but more as figureheads, led by ghilman commanders. Thus, in 861, Al-Muntasir became caliph, but was deposed and assassinated after six months, having not lived to see a descendant. In 866 Al-Mu'tazz came to power by force. He began implementing reforms to stabilize the country, but was assassinated in 872, also childless. Al-Mu'mid took over after him, but only for a month and a half, as he was overthrown and then assassinated in 873. Al-Muhtadi. This brother did not live to see a descendant either. In this situation, Al-Mu'tawakkil's only surviving son remained Al-Muwaffak. And from him are descended all the present and past branches of the dynasty.

### Descendants of Al-Muwaffak

Appointed sultan of Baghdad, Al-Muwaffak had, according to Koranic law, the Sharia, three wives - Rashida, Munawwar of the powerful Tawfiqid family, and Kamala. With the former he had two sons: Ubayd Abbasid|Ubayda]] (880) and Burhanaddin (887), and with this third one son, namely Al-Mu'tadid (857).

After the overthrow of Murad in 883, Al-Mu'tadid became the caliph of Arabia. He introduced many reforms and continued those initiated by Al-Mu'tazz. As a result, the Caliphate began to recover from the devastation of many years of civil wars. He himself married four times during his lifetime and lived to have three legitimate children: a son Abdul-Qadir (883) and two daughters, Rafiqi (884) and Saaman (885). The former would later marry the founder of the Erdemid dynasty, Erdem, and the latter would marry a member of an Arab dynasty from Spain, Ubayd Alkadyd, Emir of Plasencia.

In 892, however, Al-Muwaffak died, and a year later also Al-Mu'tadid. As a result, the title of the most important secular and clerical leader of the Muslims was given to his son, Abdul-Qadir.

### Reign of Abdul-Qadir

Lasting as long as fifty-seven years, Abdul-Qadir's reign is considered the silver age of the Caliphate. He renewed Arab conquests, targeting independent emirates and sultanates as well as the Byzantine Empire. In addition to a glorious period of prosperity and growth, the Abbasid dynasty lived alongside the state. Although in 901 his uncle Ubayd, and in 907 another, Burhanaddin orphaned one son, Al-Muwaffak, Abdul himself, having married as many as six times during his life, lived to have a multitude of children: from Negar Tawfiqid two daughters, Taliba (910) and Hanifa (912), whom he later married to Arab magnates; from Nilufer Soleyman two daughters, Shola (905) and Reshawna (912), whom he married to a Levantine magnate, and a son Zeyd (907); from Nilufer Alidides a daughter, Sheeva (905), the future wife of the Persian sultan Bukhara; and from Gulçiçek Soleyman two daughters, Shahzadah (906) and Saaman (909), who also married Arabian magnates, and a son, Khalil (907). With his other two wives, Maryam Isaid and Touran Safarid, he did not live to see a child, but nevertheless Abdul-Qadir begat as many as nine descendants. The Caliph took care of his children by marrying his daughters off to wealthy magnates, thus taking care of the internal and external situation of the Caliphate, while he provided for his sons so that they could learn the art of government.

Abdul Qadir died in 950. He was survived by his daughter, Shahzadah (who died in 931). His elder son, Zeyd, succeeded him in power.

### Reign of Zeyd the Great

Zeyd's reign was as successful as his father's. During his reign the Arabs were finally able to defeat their arch-enemy, Byzantium. Huge swaths of Asia and Europe were conquered. The greatness of the Abbasids also continued. Caliph Zeyd, like Abdul-Qadir, married six times and had many children - with Akgul Musidides he produced three sons: Abdul-Qadir (940), Khaireddina (942) and Azam (948); of Nahal Ghazidid - three sons: Burhanaddin (946), Jibril (948) and Talib (948) and a daughter Saaman (935); of Khaterah Sirhanid - a son Mubarak (965) and a daughter Rasa (955); while from Tanaz, a son Ali; and from Neelab Sirhanid, a daughter Sheeftah. With his sixth wife, Soraya, he did not live to see a child. Zeyd thus fathered as many as eleven children - eight sons and three daughters. The daughters remarried into Arabian nobility, such as the Erdemids, while the sons received their own sultanates, which they ruled. These were mostly recent Byzantine territories.

Zeyd died in 986. He orphaned eight children - for three of them (Abdul-Qadir, Khaireddin and Burhanaddin) managed to survive (they died in 949, 950 and 980 respectively). He was also survived by his relative, Al-Muwaffak (972). He was succeeded by his eldest son, Talib, nicknamed Fatty because of his stature.

### Reign of Talib the Fatty and division of the dynasty

During the reign of Talib Thicke, the Arab Empire conquered the Tulunid Egypt and repulsed the First Crusade, but the caliph himself was overthrown by Aarif I, resulting in the first break in Abbasid rule over the Caliphate. Also during Talib's reign, due to the fall of his rule, the Abbasids split into numerous branches. Thus, the sons of Zeyd the Great: Azam, Burhanaddin, Jibril, and Mubarak became the founders of the Ascalonian, Edessene, Kharsanian, and Trakezian branches, respectively.

Caliph Talib, meanwhile, married eight times and had as many as twelve children - with Tanaz Musaid, three daughters: Rashida (973) and twins Shola and Rasa (978); with Salma Musidyd, two daughters: Hafima and Saaman twins (974), and three sons, Abdul (983), Talib (978), and Hafiz (975); with Özel Erdemid a daughter Shameem (969); with Sajida Isaid two sons, Abdul-Gafur (998) and Aghlab (1004); zas with Sholah Isaid a daughter Yagana (993). With his other wives, namely Hafsa Musidid, Ayasun, and Asa, he had no descendants. Most of the daughters were married to Arab nobles, while the sons, after Talib's overthrow and his departure to Bulgaria, divided and founded new branches of the Abbasid dynasty - Talib - Anatolian, Hafiz - Egyptian, Abdul-Gafur - Nubian,

## Dynasty Branches

Over the centuries, the Abbasids have split into many branches: