The Abbasid Revolution

For their success in centralising the Muslim polity, the Umayyads paid a heavy price. A well-organised movement, called dawa , brought down the Umayyads and replaced them with another family of Meccan origin, the Abbasids, in . The Abbasids portrayed the Umayyad regime as evil and promised a restoration of the original Islam of the Prophet. The revolution led not only to a change of dynasty but changes in the political structure and culture of Islam. The Abbasid uprising broke out in the distant region of Khurasan (eastern Iran), a -day journey from Damascus on a fast horse. Khurasan had a mixed Arab-Iranian population which could be mobilised for various reasons. The Arab soldiers here were mostly from Iraq and resented the dominance of the Syrians. The civilian Arabs of Khurasan disliked the Umayyad regime for having made promises of tax concessions and privileges which were never fulfilled. As for the Iranian Muslims ( mawali ), they were exposed to the scorn of the race-conscious Arabs and were eager to join any campaign to oust the Umayyads. The Abbasids, descendants of Abbas, the Prophet’s uncle, mustered the support of the various dissident groups and legitimised their bid for power by promising that a messiah ( mahdi ) from the family of the Prophet ( ahl al-bayt ) would liberate them from the oppressive Umayyad regime. Their army was led by an Iranian slave, Abu Muslim, who defeated the last Umayyad caliph, Marwan, in a battle at the river Zab. Under Abbasid rule, Arab influence declined, while the importance of Iranian culture increased. The Abbasids established their capital at Baghdad, near the ruins of the ancient Iranian metropolis, Ctesiphon. The army and bureaucracy were reorganised on a non-tribal basis to ensure greater participation by Iraq and Khurasan. The Abbasid rulers strengthened the religious status and functions of the caliphate and patronised Islamic institutions and scholars. But they were forced by the needs of government and empire to retain the centralised nature of the state. They maintained the magnificent imperial architecture and elaborate court ceremonials of the Umayyads. The regime which took pride in having brought down the monarchy found itself compelled to establish it again.