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Nov 9, 750
Abbasid Dynasty become the new rulers of the Islamic Caliphate
In 750, the army of Abu Muslim and al-Saffah faced the Umayyad Caliph Marwan II at the Battle of the Zab near the Tigris River. Marwan II was defeated, fled, and was killed. As-Saffah captured Damascus and slaughtered the remaining members of the Umayyad family (except for one, Abd al-Rahman, who escaped to Spain and continued the Umayyad Dynasty there). The Abbasids were the new rulers of the caliphate. -
Period: Nov 9, 750 to Nov 9, 1258
Abbasid Caliphate in power
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Jul 30, 762
Capital of the Islamic Empire moved to Baghdad
One of the earliest, and most important, changes the Abbasids made was to move the capital of the Islamic empire from the old Umayyad power base of Damascus to a new city—Baghdad. Baghdad was founded in 762 by al-Mansur on the banks of the Tigris River. The city was round in shape, and designed from the beginning to be a great capital and the center of the Islamic world. It was built not far from the old Persian capital of Ctesiphon, and its location reveals the desire of the dynasty to connect -
Nov 9, 1000
Laws are passed to keep hospitals open 24 hours a day
In the medieval Islamic world, hospitals were built in most major cities. Medical facilities traditionally closed each night, but by the 10th century laws were passed to keep hospitals open 24 hours a day, and hospitals were forbidden to turn away patients who were unable to pay. Eventually, charitable foundations called waqfs were formed to support hospitals, as well as schools. This money supported free medical care for all citizens. -
Nov 9, 1021
Ibn al-Haytham uses the Scientific Method to write the Book of Optics
Arab physicist Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) used experimentation to obtain the results in his Book of Optics (1021). He combined observations, experiments and rational arguments to support his intromission theory of vision. He was one of the earliest pioneers of the Scientific Method. -
Nov 9, 1078
Ibn Muʿādh al-Jayyānī writes The Book of Unknown Arcs of a Sphere
In trigonometry, Ibn Muʿādh al-Jayyānī introduced the general Law of sines in his The book of unknown arcs of a sphere. This formula relates the lengths of the sides of any triangle to the sines of its angles. -
Period: Nov 9, 1180 to Nov 9, 1225
Reign of caliph al-Nasir
Caliph al-Nasir (r. 1180–1225) -
Period: Nov 9, 1242 to Nov 9, 1258
Caliph al-Mu'tasim
Caliph al-Mu`tasim (r. 1242–1258), -
Nov 9, 1258
Mongols capture Baghdad, end the Islamic Golden Age
Mongol hordes invaded Baghdad. They captured the city in 1258 and sacked it. They trampled the caliph to death, and completely destroyed the city. They killed somewhere between 100,000 and a million people, destroyed all the books of the House of Wisdom and other libraries, burned down all the great monuments of the city, and left -
Abbasid leader Abul `Abbas al-Saffah enters Kufa and declares himself caliph
A Persian general, Abu Muslim, who supported Abbasid claims to power, led the Abbasid armies. His victories allowed the Abbasid leader Abul `Abbas al-Saffah to enter the Shiite-dominated city of Kufa in 748 and declare himself caliph. -
Bayt al-Hikma (The House of Wisdom) is founded in Baghdad
The House of Wisdom was a library, an institute for translators, and in many ways an early form of university. The House of Wisdom hosted Muslim and non-Muslim scholars who sought to translate and gather the cumulative knowledge of human history in one place, and in one language—Arabic. It also hosted scholars that revolutionized math, geometry, astronomy, optics, and agriculture. -
Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi discovers the Andromeda Galaxy
In about 964, Persian astronomer Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi writing in his Book of Fixed Stars, described a "nebulous spot" in the Andromeda constellation, the first definitive reference to what we now know is the Andromeda Galaxy, the nearest spiral galaxy to our galaxy. -
al-Jahiz writes The Book Of Animals
The al-Hayawan is an encyclopedia of seven volume of anecdotes, poetic descriptions and proverbs describing over 350 varieties of animals. Al-Jāḥiẓ made observations in his book that described evolution. -
University of Al Karaouine is founded
University of Al Karaouine, founded in 859, is the world's oldest degree-granting university. -
The Great Mosque of Smarra is completed
The Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq was completed in 847. It combined the hypostyle architecture of rows of columns supporting a flat base, above which a huge spiralling minaret was constructed. -
Baghdad Becomes the biggest city in the world
Baghdad grew quickly with encouragement from the Abbasid state, and it was soon the largest city in the world. At Baghdad, the Persian culture that the Umayyads had attempted to suppress was now allowed to thrive. Art, poetry, and science flourished. The Abbasids learned from the Chinese (allegedly from Chinese soldiers captured in battle) the art of making paper. Cheap and durable, paper became an important material for spreading literature and knowledge. -
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The 5th caliph of the Abbasid dynasty, Harun al-Rashid comes to power
Harun al-Rashid is remembered as one of history’s greatest patrons of the arts and sciences. Under his rule, Baghdad became the world’s most important center for science, philosophy, medicine, and education. The massive size of the caliphate meant that it had contact and shared borders with many distant empires, so scholars at Baghdad could collect, translate, and expand upon the knowledge of other civilizations, such as the Egyptians, Persians, Indians, Chinese, Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines. -
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al-Ma'mun comes to power
The successors of Harun al-Rashid, especially his son al-Ma’mun (r. 813–833), continued his policies of supporting artists, scientists, and scholars. -
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Reign of Caliph al-Mu'tasim
The caliph al-Mu`tasim (r. 833–842). -
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Reign of al-Radi
al-Radi (r. 934–940) is often considered the last caliph to exercise any real authority. From this point on, the Abbasid caliphs became little more than religious figureheads.