The Abbasid Caliphate was founded by descendants of Muhammad’s uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, from whom the dynasty takes its name. After overthrowing the Umayyad Caliphate in the Abbasid Revolution of 750 CE, the Abbasids ruled as caliphs, based in modern-day Iraq. In 762 the caliph al-Mansur founded a new imperial city on the banks of the Tigris: Madinat al-Salam (“City of Peace”), known today as Baghdad. The city plan was circular, with four main gates, one at each compass point. It became the center of science, art and culture in the Islamic world. In the ninth century the Abbasids moved to a new capital at Samarra. At the death of caliph al-Mu’tamid in 892, the court moved back to Baghdad.

An exceptional type of Abbasid pottery, Samarkand ware (also known as Samanid Epigraphic Ware), is characterized by its use of elegant calligraphic inscriptions over white slip. Abbasid potters also were the first to invent iridescent luster glazes. Artisans working in various materials developed a new style of abstract patterns, known as the beveled style. It first appeared in stucco wall decoration in the palaces of Samarra, and later was used in decorative stonework and wood carving. Another major art form was calligraphy. A new script became popular under the Abbasids: kufic (named after the city of Kufa in Iraq).

From about 945 the Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad held little real power; they became figureheads, who “confirmed” local rulers and controlled the pilgrimage to Mecca. The Caliph al-Musta’sim was executed by the Mongols during the sack of Baghdad in 1258. A surviving line of Abbasids was re-installed in Cairo, and the Caliphate continued to exist as a strictly ceremonial institution within the Mamluk Sultanate until a few years after the Ottoman conquest of Egypt. The last Abbasid caliph was al-Mutawakkil III (r. 1508–1516, 1517). Web resources here and here and here.

Al-Malwiyah (the “snail shell”). Minaret of the Great Mosque of al-Mutawakkil, Samarra, Iraq. Brick. Abbasid. Ca. 847–861.