Editing Caliphate (section)

=== Abbasid caliphs at Baghdad ===
[[File:Mustansiriya University CPT.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Mustansiriya Madrasah]] in [[Baghdad]]]]
In 750, the Umayyad dynasty was overthrown by another family of [[Mecca]]n origin, the Abbasids. Their time represented a scientific, cultural and religious flowering.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HIST 210 – Lecture 16 – The Splendor of the Abbasid Period |url=https://oyc.yale.edu/history/hist-210/lecture-16 |access-date=2023-10-11 |publisher=Open Yale Courses |archive-date=28 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231028163238/https://oyc.yale.edu/history/hist-210/lecture-16 |url-status=live}}</ref> Islamic art and music also flourished significantly during their reign.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Yalman |first1=Suzan |last2=Komaroff |first2=Linda |title=The Art of the Abbasid Period (750–1258) |date=October 2001 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/abba/hd_abba.htm |access-date=2023-10-11 |department=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |archive-date=5 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705200631/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/abba/hd_abba.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> Their major city and capital [[Baghdad]] began to flourish as a center of knowledge, culture and trade. This period of cultural fruition ended in 1258 with the [[sack of Baghdad]] by the Mongols under [[Hulagu Khan]]. The Abbasid Caliphate had, however, lost its effective power outside Iraq already by c. 920.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/295642/Islamic-arts/61832/Early-period-the-Umayyad-and-Abbasid-dynasties |title=Islamic arts |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=2 June 2022 |archive-date=27 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527004608/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/295642/Islamic-arts/61832/Early-period-the-Umayyad-and-Abbasid-dynasties |url-status=live}}</ref> By 945, the loss of power became official when the [[Buyids]] conquered Baghdad and all of Iraq. The empire fell apart and its parts were ruled for the next century by local dynasties.<ref name="BritannicaAbbasids" />

In the ninth century, the [[Abbasids]] created an army loyal only to their caliphate, composed predominantly of Turkic Cuman, Circassian and Georgian slave origin known as Mamluks.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Georgian Mameluks in Egypt |url=https://www.napoleon-series.org/military-info/organization/c_mameluks1.html |access-date=7 May 2021 |website=www.napoleon-series.org |archive-date=26 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026164635/http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/organization/c_mameluks1.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=The Mamlukes |url=https://egyptian-history.com/blogs/history-of-egypt/mamluks |access-date=7 May 2021 |website=Egyptian History |archive-date=21 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621181523/https://egyptian-history.com/blogs/history-of-egypt/mamluks |url-status=live}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=November 2024}} By 1250 the Mamluks came to power in Egypt. The Mamluk army, though often viewed negatively, both helped and hurt the caliphate. Early on, it provided the government with a stable force to address domestic and foreign problems. However, creation of this foreign army and al-Mu'tasim's transfer of the capital from Baghdad to Samarra created a division between the caliphate and the peoples they claimed to rule. In addition, the power of the Mamluks steadily grew until [[Ar-Radi]] (934–941) was constrained to hand over most of the royal functions to [[Muhammad ibn Ra'iq]].