The Abbasids continued to reign over the Moslems in Asia
for more than three hundred years. The most celebrated of Abbasid caliphs was
Harun-al- Rashid (Aaron the Just), a contemporary of Charlemagne, to whom the
Arab ruler sent several presents, including an elephant and a water-clock which
struck the hours. The tales of Harun-al-Rashid's magnificence, his gold and
silver, his silks and gems, his rugs and tapestries, reflect the luxurious life
of the Abbasid rulers. Gradually, however, their power declined, and in 1058
A.D. the Seljuk Turks, recent converts to Islam, deprived them of their
power. A Turkish chieftain, with the title of "King of the East and
West," then took the place of the Arabian caliph, though the latter
remained the religious head of Islam. He lost even this spiritual authority,
just two centuries later, when the Mongols from central Asia overran the
Turkish dominions.
BAGDAD
The Abbasids removed their capital from Damascus to Bagdad
on the banks of the middle Euphrates. The new city, under the fostering care of
the caliphs, grew with great rapidity. Its population in the ninth century is
said to have reached two millions. For a time it was the largest and richest
city in the Moslem world. How its splendor impressed the imagination may be
seen from the stories of the Thousand and One Nights. [22] After the
extinction of the Abbasid caliphate, its importance as the religious and
political center of Islam declined. But memories of the former grandeur of
Bagdad still cling to it, and even to-day it is referred to in Turkish official
documents as the "glorious city."
[22] Popularly called the Arabian Nights.
EXTINCTION OF THE ARABIAN EMPIRE A MISFORTUNE
It was a very great misfortune for the eastern world when
the Arabian Empire passed under the control of rude Asiatic peoples. The Turks
accepted Islam, but they did little to preserve and extend Arabian
civilization. The stagnant, non-progressive condition of the East at the
present time is largely due to the misgovernment of its Turkish conquerors.