The Abbasid Caliphate is the third of the Islamic caliphates to succeed the Prophet Muhammad.

The Abbasid dynasty descends from the Prophet's youngest uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE).

They rule as caliphs from their capital in Baghdad, in modern Iraq, after taking over authority of the Muslim empire from the Umayyads in 750 CE (132 AH).The Abbasid caliphate first centers its government in Kufa, but in 762 the caliph Al-Mansur founds the city of Baghdad, north of the Persian city of Ctesiphon.

The choice of a capital so close to Persia proper reflects a growing reliance on Persian bureaucrats, most notably of the Barmakid family, to govern the territories conquered by Arab Muslims, as well as an increasing inclusion of non-Arab Muslims in the ummah.

Despite this cooperation, the Abbasids of the 9th century are forced to cede authority over the Persian provinces to local dynastic emirs who only nominally acknowledge their suzerainty.

This marks the beginning of a wider breakdown of Abbasid authority, with the loss of Al-Andalus and Maghreb to the Umayyads, Ifriqiya to the Aghlabids, and Egypt to the Shi'ite Caliphate of the Fatimids.

The political power of the caliphs largely ends with the rise of the Buyids and the Seljuq Turks.Although Abbasid leadership over the vast Islamic empire is gradually reduced to a ceremonial religious function, the dynasty retains control over its Mesopotamian demesne.

The capital city of Baghdad becomes a center of science, culture, philosophy and invention during the Golden Age of Islam.

This period of cultural fruition ends in 1258 with the sack of Baghdad by the Mongols under Hulagu Khan.

The Abbasid caliphate, and Muslim culture in general, recenters itself in the Mamluk capital of Cairo in 1261.

The dynasty continues to claim authority in religious matters until after the Ottoman conquest of Egypt, when the position of caliph is formally surrendered to the Ottoman Sultan Selim I.