Description

The Abbasid Caliphate (Arabic: الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from the prophet's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes its name. They ruled as caliphs for most of the caliphate from their capital in Baghdad in modern-day Iraq, after having overthrown the Umayyad Caliphate in the Abbasid Revolution of 750 CE (132 AH). The Abbasid Caliphate first centered its government in Kufa, modern-day Iraq, but in 762 the caliph Al-Mansur founded the city of Baghdad, near the ancient Babylonian capital city of Babylon. Baghdad became the center of science, culture and invention in what became known as the Golden Age of Islam. This, in addition to housing several key academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom, as well as a multiethnic and multi-religious environment, garnered it a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning".

Abu’l-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Ahmad al-Muʿtaḍid (895–932 AD), better known by his regnal name Al-Muqtadir bi-llāh ("Mighty in God"), was the eighteenth Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 908 to 932 AD (295–320 AH), with the exception of a brief deposition in favour of al-Qahir in 928. He came to the throne at the age of 13, the youngest Caliph in Abbasid history, as a result of palace intrigues.