The Baghdad Caliphs were generally given this dynastic name of Abbasid, of the empire of Muslims they stand at second number between the two Sunni dynasties which overthrew the Caliphs and Umayyid and started. The Abbasid Dynasty was formed in 758 and remained flourishing for 2 centuries. But after the Abbasids created the Turkish army, the Mamluks, and they got the power, Abbasids slowly went to conceal. In 1258, their dynasty came to an end with the Baghdad takeover by the Mongol general, Halagu Khan. However, the Abbasids persisted to claim their authority in the matters of religion from Egypt as their base, but in fact they dynasty had ended.
Umayyads used to claim their authority over the basis of being the descents of the Umayya, a clan which was apart from the Quraish tribe of the last prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). Whereas, the Abbasids emphasized that they had more right to rule the Muslim empire because they were the descents of Abbas Ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566-652) who was the Prophet Muhammad’s Youngest Uncles among others. By virtue of being descents of Muhammad’s uncle, the Abbasids considered themselves to be the prophet’s rightful heirs.
Apart from the first claim, the Abbasids regarded themselves more eligible to rule due to the fact that they questioned the Ummayads’ secularism, in general their administration and moral character. Non-Arab Muslim such as Mawali were also appealed by the Abbasids because they were regarded as the second citizens during the Umayyad dynasty. During the Umar II reign in Persia, A Abbas’ great-grandson, Muhammad Ibn Ali, started a campaign aiming to bring back the Hashimities rule, the Prophet’s family.
This opposition came to an end in the Iman’s rebellion namely Ibrahim during the Marwan II reign. Ibrahim came in fourth in descent from Abbas, he acquired considered successes with the support of Khorasan province, but in 747 he was captured and in prison he died (or assassinated as held by some). Afterward, Abdullah his brother namely Abu al-Abbas as-Saffah, took the quarrel and got a decisive victory in 750 on the river of Greater Zab. Eventually the Umayyads were crushed by him and he was declared Caliph.
In the following years, the Abbasids had to face various problems regarding the survival of their dynasty. To counter these challenges, the Abbasids went to formulate an army which was only meant to be faithful to the Caliphate. The army mostly consisted of Turkish slaves, namely Mamluks. Besides some Berbers and Slavs were also the participants. With the passage of time, this led towards the eventual eclipse of the rule of the Abbasids. The foreign army creation and the capital’s transformation to Samarra from Baghdad by al-Mu’tasim’s brought about the splitting up between the peoples and the Caliphate. In addition, Mamluks’ power grew steadily till al-Radi (934-941). Likewise, afterwards the Shi’ites started seizing power over some parts of Iraq. Meanwhile, the Caliphs of Abbasids became nothing than figureheads.
In 1258, Baghdad was sacked by Halagu Khan and the last Abbasid Caliphate, Al-Musta’sim, got executed.
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