Editing Abbasid Caliphate (section)

===Establishment and consolidation (750–775)===
[[File:Balami - Tarikhnama - Abu'l-'Abbas al-Saffah is proclaimed the first 'Abbasid Caliph (cropped).jpg|thumb|Early 14th century copy of the [[Samanids|Samanid]]-period ''[[Tarikhnama]]'' of [[Muhammad Bal'ami|Bal'ami]] (10th century) depicting [[al-Saffah]] ({{Reign|750|754}}) as he receives [[Bay'ah|pledges of allegiance]] in [[Kufa]]|left]]
Immediately after their victory, al-Saffah ({{Reign|750|754}}) sent his forces to [[Central Asia]], where his forces fought against [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] expansion during the [[Battle of Talas]]. Al-Saffah focused on putting down numerous rebellions in Syria and [[Mesopotamia]]. The [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] conducted raids during these early distractions.{{sfn|Dupuy|Dupuy|1986|p=233}}

One of the first major changes effected by Abbasid rule was the move of the caliphate's center of power from Syria to Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). This was closer to the Persian ''mawali'' support base of the Abbasids and the move addressed their demand for reduced Arab dominance in the empire.<ref name="AHGC">{{harvnb|University of Calgary|1998}}</ref> However, no definitive capital was yet selected. In these early Abbasid years, [[Kufa]] generally served as the administrative capital, but the caliphs were wary of the [[Alid]] sympathies in the city and did not always reside here.<ref name="Kufa">{{Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|volume=5|article=al-Kūfa|first=Hichem|last=Djaït|page=347}}</ref> In 752, al-Saffah built a new city called al-Hashimiyya, at an uncertain location, most likely near Kufa.<ref name="Hashimiyya">{{Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|volume=3|pages=265-266|first=J.|last=Lassner|article=al-Hās̲h̲imiyya}}</ref> Later that same year, he moved to [[Anbar (town)|Anbar]], where he built a new settlement for his Khurasani soldiers and a palace for himself.<ref>{{EI2|volume=1|article=al-Anbār|first1=M.|last1=Streck|first2=A.A.|last2=Duri|page=485}}</ref>

[[File:Abbāsid Caliph al-Manṣūr from the genealogy (silsilanāma), Cream of Histories (Zübdet-üt Tevarih, 1598).jpg|thumb|Portrait of [[al-Mansur]] ([[Reign|r.]] 754–775) from an [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]]-era work, the "Cream of Histories" (''Zübdet-üt Tevarih'') in 1598<ref>{{Cite web |title=Portraits of the Imāms Ḥasan (d. 670), Ḥusayn (d. 680), Shāfi'ī (d. 820) and Abū Ḥanīfa (d. 767), with 'Abbāsid revolutionary Abū Muslim (d. 755) (recto), and 'Abbāsid Caliphs al-Manṣūr, Hārūn al-Rashīd and al-Ma'mūn, with rulers Būya and Aḥmad Sāmānī (verso), from the genealogy (silsilanāma), Cream of Histories (Zübdet-üt Tevarih) |url=https://viewer.cbl.ie/viewer/image/T_423_22/2/ |access-date=6 March 2025 |website=Chester Beatty Library}}</ref>]]
It was al-Saffah's successor, [[Abu Ja'far al-Mansur]] ({{Reign|754|775}}) who firmly consolidated Abbasid rule and faced down internal challenges.{{sfn|El-Hibri|2021|pp=43-55}} His uncle, [[Abd Allah ibn Ali|Abdallah ibn Ali]], the victor over the Umayyads at the Battle of the Zab, was the most serious potential rival for leadership and al-Mansur sent Abu Muslim, the Khurasani revolutionary commander, against him in 754. After Abu Muslim successfully defeated him, al-Mansur then turned to eliminate Abu Muslim himself. He arranged to have him arrested and executed in 755.{{sfn|El-Hibri|2021|pp=43-45}}

On the western frontier, the Abbasids were unable to re-assert caliphal control over the western and central [[Maghreb]], which the Umayyads had lost in the 740s.{{sfn|Abun-Nasr|1987|p=41}} One member of the Umayyad dynasty, Abd ar-Rahman, also managed to escape the purge of his family and established independent rule in [[al-Andalus]] (present-day Spain and Portugal) in 756, founding the Umayyad [[Emirate of Córdoba]].{{sfn|El-Hibri|2021|pp=41, 86}}

In 756, al-Mansur had also sent over 4,000 Arab mercenaries to assist the Chinese [[Tang dynasty]] in the [[An Lushan Rebellion]] against [[An Lushan]]. The Abbasids, or "Black Flags" as they were commonly called, were known in Tang dynasty chronicles as the ''hēiyī Dàshí'', "The Black-robed Tazi" ({{lang|zh|黑衣大食}}) ("Tazi" being a borrowing from Persian ''[[wikt:تازی|Tāzī]]'', the word for "Arab").{{refn|group=nb|Wade states "Tazi in Persian sources referred to a people in that land, but was later extended to cover Arab lands. The Persian term was adopted by Tang China (Dàshí :大食) to refer to the Arabs until the 12th century."<ref>{{harvnb|Wade|2012|p=138}}</ref>}} Later, Caliph [[Harun al-Rashid]] sent embassies to the Chinese [[Tang dynasty]] and established good relations with them.<ref name="Dennis Bloodworth, Ching Ping Bloodworth 2004 214" /><ref>{{harvnb|Jenkins|1999|p=61}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Ghosh|1961|p=60}}</ref> After the war, these embassies remained in China<ref>{{harvnb|Chapuis|1995|p=92}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Kitagawa|1989|p=283}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Smith|Weng|1973|p=129}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Baker|1990|p=53}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Fitzgerald|1961|p=332}}</ref> with al-Rashid establishing an alliance with China.<ref name="Dennis Bloodworth, Ching Ping Bloodworth 2004 214">{{harvnb|Bloodworth|Bloodworth|2004|p=214}}</ref> Several embassies from the Abbasid Caliphs to the Chinese court have been recorded in the ''[[Old Book of Tang]]'', the most important being those of al-Saffah, al-Mansur, and Harun al-Rashid.

[[File:Baghdad 150 to 300 AH.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Plan of [[Round city of Baghdad|Baghdad]] between 767 and 912 CE, according to [[William Muir]]]]
In 762, al-Mansur suppressed [[Alid revolt of 762–763|a rebellion]] in the [[Hejaz]] led by [[Al-Nafs al-Zakiyyah|al-Nafs al-Zakiyya]], a descendant from [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]], whose challenge to the Abbasid claim to leadership was based on his Alid lineage and thus presented a serious political threat. He was defeated by an Abbasid army led by [[Isa ibn Musa]].{{sfn|El-Hibri|2021|pp=51-55}} It was after this victory, in 762, that al-Mansur finally established a proper Abbasid capital, [[Round city of Baghdad|Baghdad]] – officially called ''Madinat al-Salam'' ('City of Peace') – located on the [[Tigris River]], near the former ancient capital city of [[Ctesiphon]].{{sfn|El-Hibri|2021|pp=55-57}} Prior to this, he had continued to consider multiple sites for a capital, including al-Hashimiyya, which he used as a capital for a while,{{sfn|El-Hibri|2021|pp=48-49}} and [[Weh Antiok Khosrow|al-Rumiyya]] (near the ruins of Ctesiphon), which he used for a few months.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Le Strange |first=Guy |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.15611/page/39/mode/2up |title=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland for 1895 |publisher=The Society |year=1895 |location=London |pages=40 |language=en |chapter=Description of Mesopotamia and Baghdad, written about the year 900 A.D. by Ibn Serapion}}</ref> Various other sites in the region also appear to have served as "capitals" under either al-Saffah or al-Mansur prior to the founding of Baghdad.<ref name="Hashimiyya" />

Al-Mansur centralised the judicial administration and, later, Harun al-Rashid established the institution of Chief Qadi to oversee it.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tillier|first=Mathieu|title=Les cadis d'Iraq et l'État Abbasside (132/750–334/945) |doi=10.4000/books.ifpo.673|publisher=Presses de l’Ifpo|year=2009|isbn=978-2-35159-028-7|location=Damascus}}</ref> The Umayyad empire was mostly Arab; however, the Abbasids progressively became made up of more and more converted Muslims in which the Arabs were only one of many ethnicities.{{sfn|Bobrick|2012|p=40}} The Abbasids had depended heavily on the support of Persians<ref name=":11" /> in their overthrow of the Umayyads. Al-Mansur welcomed non-Arab Muslims to his court. While this helped integrate Arab and Persian cultures, it alienated many of their Arab supporters, particularly the [[Khorasani Arabs|Khurasani Arabs]] who had supported them in their battles against the Umayyads.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}