Abbasid Caliphate, 786–833

Autocracy · Empire · Middle East · Early Middle Ages era

Centred on Baghdad under Harun al-Rashid and al-Ma’mun, the caliphate reached a cosmopolitan cultural and scientific peak before a war of succession strained it.

Centred on the new capital of Baghdad, the Abbasid caliphate under Harun al-Rashid and al-Ma’mun combined a salaried bureaucracy with the religious authority of the caliph. The House of Wisdom sponsored translation and inquiry in what is often called the Islamic Golden Age. Frontier warfare with Byzantium continued alongside far-reaching commerce across the caliphate. A civil war of succession between al-Amin and al-Ma’mun (811–813) and doctrinal disputes tested the state’s cohesion.

Open Abbasid Caliphate 786–833 in the interactive 3D atlas →

Dominant patterns

  • Militarization
  • Great-Power Rivalry
  • External Expansion
  • Regime Stabilization
  • Succession Crisis

Political-science factor profile

Each factor 0–100; higher = stronger authoritarian / crisis pole (except institutional stability, where higher = stronger institutions).

Centralization of Power75
Media Control40
Repression48
Nationalism38
Militarization65
Economic Stress30
External Conflict60
Cult of Personality58
Elite Fragmentation52
Institutions66
Social Polarization42
Corruption & Patrimonialism48
Ideological Mobilization58
External Sovereignty95

Economy & society

GDP per capita$800 (intl-$)
Population35.0M people
Share of world population16%
Territory~7.5M km²
Capital population~700k

Closest historical twins

The country-eras whose structural profile most resembles Abbasid Caliphate 786–833, by similarity score (0–100).

  1. Tang Dynasty, 618–755 – similarity 93/100 · shared: Militarization, Great-Power Rivalry, External Expansion, Regime Stabilization
  2. Mughal Empire, 1556–1605 – similarity 93/100 · shared: Militarization, Great-Power Rivalry, External Expansion, Regime Stabilization
  3. Qing Dynasty, 1662–1722 – similarity 88/100 · shared: Militarization, Great-Power Rivalry, External Expansion, Regime Stabilization
  4. Ming Dynasty, 1402–1435 – similarity 88/100 · shared: Militarization, Great-Power Rivalry, External Expansion, Regime Stabilization
  5. Ottoman Empire, 1520–1566 – similarity 88/100 · shared: Militarization, Great-Power Rivalry, External Expansion, Regime Stabilization
  6. Maurya Empire, 322–185 BCE – similarity 87/100 · shared: Militarization, Great-Power Rivalry, External Expansion, Regime Stabilization
  7. Roman Empire, 27 BCE–14 CE – similarity 87/100 · shared: Militarization, Great-Power Rivalry, External Expansion, Regime Stabilization
  8. Spain, 1759–1788 CE – similarity 87/100 · shared: Militarization, Great-Power Rivalry, External Expansion, Regime Stabilization

What followed

  • The Islamic Golden Age and the House of Wisdom.
  • A cosmopolitan empire centred on Baghdad.