The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire was the third Islamic caliphate, ruled by the Abbasid dynasty. The dynasty was descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, after whom it is name
Early 14th century copy of the Samanid-period Tarikhnama of Bal'ami (10th century) depicting al-Saffah (r. 750–754) as he receives pledges of allegiance in Kufa
Portrait of al-Mansur (r. 754–775) from an Ottoman-era work, the "Cream of Histories" (Zübdet-üt Tevarih) in 1598
Decorated niche from the Abbasid mosque of Afrasiab, Samarkand in Sogdia, 750–825 CE
Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809) receiving a delegation sent by Charlemagne at his court in Baghdad. Painting by Julius Köckert (1827–1918), dated 1864. Oil on canvas.
The Umayyad Caliphate or the Umayyad Empire was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty from 661 to 750. It succeeded the
Abbasid Caliphate
…Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (d. 653), after whom it is named. The Abbasids rose to power in 750, when the Abbasid Revolution overthrew the preceding Umayyad Caliphate, and they ruled as caliphs from their base in Iraq until 1258, with Baghdad as their capital for most of their history. The Abbasid Revolution had its…
Arab-Sasanian-style Umayyad coin minted under Mu'awiya I rule in Basra in 675/76 in the name of the Umayyad governor Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad. The latter's governorship later spanned all of the eastern caliphate. His father Ziyad ibn Abihi was adopted as a half-brother by Mu'awiya I, who made him his practical viceroy over the eastern caliphate.
Abd al-Malik introduced an independent Islamic currency, the gold dinar, in 693, which originally depicted a human figure, likely the caliph, as shown in this coin minted in 695. In 697, the figural depictions were replaced solely by Qur'anic and other Islamic inscriptions
The Dome of the Rock, located within the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, is considered the oldest surviving major Islamic building.
The expansion of the Muslim Caliphate until 750, from William R. Shepherd's Historical Atlas. Muslim state at the death of Muhammad Expansion under the Rashidun Caliphate Expansion under the Umayyad Caliphate Byzantine Empire