Abbassid : Arabic family descended from Abbas, uncle of Prophet Mahomad. In 669 the Omayyad clan unseated the 5th caliph Hasan, elder son of the 4th caliph Ali ibn Abi Tālib (the Prophet’s cousin & son-in-law) who was murdered in 661; in 680 Hasan’s brother Husein & his band were killed; their supporters, later known as the Shias or Shiites (protesters) rose up in revolt; in 747 the gifted Abbasside leader Abu Muslim (c.728-755) united most of the empire in revolt; & in late 749 became the caliph as Abu-el-Abbas-as-Saffah, founding the Third Caliphate. The second Abbasside caliph, Mansur (d.775), removed the capital from Damascus to Baghdad in 750, & the Persian influence along with Sufism grew strong in the Moslem empire. The early years of Abbasside rule were brilliant, rising to true splendour under Harun Al-Rashid, the 5th caliph (786-809), & to intellectual brilliance under his son Mamun, the 7th caliph. Less than a hundred years later, the conquests of Jhengiz Khan shook the empire; in1258 his grandson Hulagu Khan overthrew the Abbasside Caliphate.
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