Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate, also known as the Arabian Empire,[1] was the third caliphate, an Islamic state regarded as succeeding the prophet Muhammad.[2] It was established in 750 in the wake of a revolution against the Umayyad Caliphate. Because their banners were black, they were known to the Tang as the "Black Arabs" (黑衣大食).[3]
History
Almost immediately upon being installed on the throne, the first caliph Abul Abbas As-Saffah turned against his supporters in brutal purges,[4] and he was subsequently branded with the pejorative epithet of "Bloodshedder" from his enemies such as the Hidden Ones.[5]
In 751, they clashed with the Tang at the Battle of Talas, where the sudden betrayal of the Karluk mercenaries fighting under Tang forces resulted in a decisive victory for the Abbasids.[3] The band of Hidden Ones led by Éléna arrived too late to affect the outcome, but they did manage to save the life of a Tang crossbowman named Li E, upon which they recruited him into their order.[5] By 754, As-Saffah had eradicated the Hidden Ones in the region after assaulting their headquarters, and Li E escaped as the sole survivor.[6]
The long period of Abbasid rule is often remembered as the Islamic Golden Age for being a zenith of scientific and artistic flowering across the Islamic world.[7] Eventually, Abbasid power declined, and their control was reduced to only the territory around their capital of Baghdad by the time of the Crusades although their caliphs continued to wield spiritual prestige. In 1258,[2] Hülegü Khan of the Mongol Empire sacked the city of Baghdad,[8] spelling an apocalyptic end to not just Abbasid cultural power but to the intellectual advances of Islamic society, as the city's philosophers and scientists were exterminated and its libraries and academies razed to the ground. The Abbasid Caliphate survived for a time in Egypt under the protection of the Mamluk Sultanate, although with little-to-none of their former spiritual authority and largely relegated to crowning the new Sultan, until finally the Mamluk Sultanate fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1517 and the Ottoman Sultans claimed the caliphate for themselves.[2]
Appearances
- Assassin's Creed: Dynasty (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (mentioned only)
- Wrath of the Druids (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Geirmund's Saga (mentioned only, as "Serkland")
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Assassin's Creed: Dynasty – The Flower Banquet (Part 1)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2
Abbasid Caliphate on Wikipedia
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Assassin's Creed: Dynasty – Beacon Fire (Part 1)
- ↑ Foltz, Richard. (2016). "The Iranization of Islam". Iran in World History. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 45-59.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Assassin's Creed: Dynasty – Beacon Fire (Part 2)
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Dynasty – The Hidden Ones (Part 1)
- ↑ Spielvogel, Jackson J. (2005). Discovering Our Past - California Edition: Medieval And Early Modern Times. New York: Glencoe Publishing.
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Revelations (novel) – Chapter 76