Abbasid Caliphate
After the death of Muhammad, Arab leaders were called caliphs.
Caliphs built and established Baghdad as the hub of the Abbasid Caliphate. Chief Muslim leaders after Muhammad’s death were referred to as Caliphs. The era of the Abbasid Caliphs’ construction and rule of Baghdad is known as the Golden Age of Islam. It was an era when scholarship thrived.
After the death of Muhammad and a relatively brief period of rule by the Rashidun Caliphs, the Umayyad Dynasty gained the reins of power. Based in Damascus, Syria, the Umayyad Caliphate faced internal pressures and resistance, partly because they displayed an obvious preference for Arab Muslims, excluding non-Arab Muslims like Persians. Taking advantage of this weakness, Sunni Arab Abu al-Abbas mounted a revolution in 750 CE. With support from his followers, he destroyed the Umayyad troops in a massive battle and formed the Abbasid Dynasty in its place.