Today is the anniversary of the Battle of the Zab, which took place in 750 and was the climactic battle in the Abbasid Revolution that ousted the Umayyad dynasty from the caliphate. Obviously it would be difficult to describe the battle without going over the causes of the revolution, but equally obviously we could be here for … Continue reading Today in Middle Eastern history: the Battle of the Zab (750)
Tag: abbasid revolution
Islamic History, Part 20: the Islamic Opposition and the Abbasid Revolution (705-750), Part II
Islamic History Series before you read this, first read part I As I said earlier, the Umayyads were able to operate on a religious level in their claim on authority primarily because they were the symbolic embodiment of the communal unity that Muhammad had established decades earlier. What it meant to be a "Muslim" still … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 20: the Islamic Opposition and the Abbasid Revolution (705-750), Part II
Islamic History, Part 19: the Islamic Opposition and the Abbasid Revolution (705-750), Part I
Islamic History Series (this got really out of control long, so I split it into two pieces; part II is here) The Arabic word dawlah means "state" in modern parlance, and prior to the rise of the modern nation-state it was often used to describe dynasties. Its root (dawala) is a verb that means "to … Continue reading Islamic History, Part 19: the Islamic Opposition and the Abbasid Revolution (705-750), Part I
The Foreign Exchanges Companion 