Abbasid Caliphate

In this episode, we explore the rise, achievements, and decline of the Abbasid Caliphate, from its revolutionary overthrow of the Umayyads in 750 CE to the Mongol capture of Baghdad in 1258. We examine Baghdad’s emergence as a major center of learning, culture, administration, and global trade, alongside the development of the vizierate and the growing military influence of Turkish slave soldiers. The episode also considers the caliphate’s economic foundations, social hierarchies, treatment of women and enslaved people, and legal protections for non-Muslim communities. Finally, we trace the empire’s fragmentation into regional powers and the Abbasid dynasty’s later symbolic continuation in Cairo under Mamluk authority.