The Abbasid family were descendants of Abbas ibn Abd alMuttalib, who was the uncle of the Prophet Muhammad. This lineage gave the Abbasids legitimacy in the eyes of many who believed that the caliphate should belong to the descendants of Ali, Muhammad's cousin and soninlaw. Meanwhile, the ruling Umayyad Caliphate was facing increasing discontent among various factions within the Muslim community, including nonArab Muslims who felt marginalized by Umayyad rule. The Abbasids capitalized on this discontent to secure support from groups including Persian converts to Islam and members of the Shi'a sect.

The Abbasid Revolution gained momentum thanks to the leadership of Abu Muslim alKhurasani, a Persian revolutionary who rallied support for the Abbasid cause in the eastern provinces of the Caliphate. On 9 June, 747, Abu Muslim’s army, known as the Khurasaniyya, launched the first of a series of successful military campaigns against Umayyad forces which gradually expanded Abbasid influence across Persia and beyond.

A critical point in the revolution came with the Battle of the Zab River in 750, where the Abbasid forces decisively defeated the Umayyad army. Following this victory, the last Umayyad Caliph, Marwan II, fled to Egypt, effectively ending Umayyad rule in the Islamic world.

In 751, the Abbasids established their capital at Baghdad, which became the centre of a vast and prosperous Islamic empire that oversaw the Islamic Golden Age of rapid cultural, scientific, and economic developments.