Abbasids Crush Umayyads: Islamic Golden Age Begins
The Abbasid revolution ended with a massacre. After defeating the Umayyad army at the Battle of the Great Zab River on January 25, 750, Abbasid forces hunted down and killed nearly every member of the Umayyad royal family. One prince, Abd al-Rahman, escaped across North Africa and eventually established an independent emirate in Spain that lasted almost three centuries. The Abbasids moved the capital from Damascus to Baghdad, shifting the Islamic world's center of gravity eastward. Under Caliph Harun al-Rashid and his successors, Baghdad became the largest city in the world, home to the House of Wisdom where scholars translated Greek philosophy, advanced algebra, and pioneered optics and medicine. The Islamic Golden Age that followed produced al-Khwarizmi's algorithms, Ibn Sina's medical encyclopedia, and advances in astronomy that European scientists would not match for centuries.
January 25, 750
1276 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Abbasid
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Umayyad Caliphate
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Battle of the Zab
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Battle of the Zab
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Abbasid Caliphate
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Umayyad Caliphate
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Abbassides
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Omeyyades
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Al-Saffah
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Marwan II
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Großer Zab
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Dynastie
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List of caliphs
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List of Abbasid caliphs
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