The Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258 CE) overthrew the Umayyads and established a new dynasty.

The Abbasids shifted the empire's center of power from Syria to Iraq.

In 762 CE, the Caliph al-Mansur founded a new capital city, Baghdad, on the banks of the Tigris River.

Baghdad was designed as a 'round city' and quickly grew into the largest city in the world at the time.

The Abbasid period is considered the Islamic Golden Age, a time of immense scientific, cultural, and intellectual flourishing.

Baghdad became a global center of learning, home to the famous 'House of Wisdom.'

The reign of Harun al-Rashid is often cited as the peak of Abbasid power and is romanticized in 'One Thousand and One Nights.'

Over time, the political power of the Abbasid caliphs waned as provincial governors and military commanders became effectively independent.

Despite their loss of political power, the Abbasid caliphs retained religious authority as the symbolic heads of Sunni Islam.

The caliphate officially ended in 1258 when the Mongol army, led by Hulagu Khan, sacked Baghdad and killed the last Abbasid caliph.