The previous articles centered on the origins of Shiite Islam and its political history to examine the Shiite basis for ...

Supporters of the Islamic State march in Mosul, Iraq, in 2014, the year the militant group declared a new caliphate in Iraq and Syria. (Associated Press) Shadi Hamid is a senior fellow in the ...

Vox is a general interest news site for the 21st century. Its mission: to help everyone understand our complicated world, so that we can all help shape it. In text, video and audio, our reporters ...

Around 1,200 years ago, someone left a freshly crafted clay jug to dry in the sun before firing it in the kiln. Little did ...

The succeeding Arab caliphates ruling the Muslim world for over six hundred years from Damascus and Baghdad, the Umayyad caliphate (661-750 C.E.) and the Abbasid caliphate (750-1258 C.E.), met the ...

Meanwhile, the Abbasid Caliphate faced an unexpected and serious problem: a massive insurrection that broke out in Mesopotamia near Basra, led by a self-proclaimed descendant of Muhammad who was ...

The Mongols invade the Middle East. In 1258, General Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, kills Al-Musta’sim Billah, the last Abbasid Caliph.

Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258) Cue political strife and uprising and subsequently the Umayyads caliphate was taken over by the Abbasid dynasty, who made their capital Baghdad.

The Abbasid Caliphate: A History Illuminating account of the most influential force in the Muslim world from the eighth to the 13th centuries GLOBAL FIRST: The Great Mosque of Samarra, completed in ...