Caliph in Constantinople: Hellenized Islamic World ATL

In order to prevent a repeat of the Byzantine Persian scenario, the Umayyads have been defeated after a brief stand at Constantinople. The remaining members have fled to Spain.
 
Part 7: Reign of al Saffah

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In the aftermath of Marwan’s death, the Abbasids declared their leader Abul Abbas al Saffah as the new Caliph. Al Saffah established his capital in the small Iraqi town of Hashimiya. He allowed for the addition of many Persians into both the government and military of the Abbasid state. This gave the empire a demeanor very similar to that of the old Achaemenid kings.

Al Saffah spent the next few years dealing with a plethora of issues. The remaining members of Ummayad family had to be hunted down and eliminated, in order to ensure his succession. Shiites in Iraq and Persia and the Greeks had to be fully subjugated.

The most pressing danger came from the Chinese Tang Dynasty. The Tang were seeking to expand westward and bring Central Asia under their control. Al Saffah focusing on the West could do little to halt the Chinese and ceded the area to them. The Chinese were allowed to spread their religion and culture at will among the Turkic peoples of the area. Though the Tang, faced with internal problems, would soon after withdraw they left behind a series of Chinese vassal states.

In 754 al Saffah suddenly died of smallpoxes, leaving control of the Caliphate to his brother Abu Jafar al Mansur.
 
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I'm interested in results of the Abbasids looking westward and allowing the Chinese greater influence in Central Asia.
 
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Part 8: The Golden Age

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The Abbasid rulers that followed Al Saffah all contributed to the growing strength of the Caliphate. Caliph al Mansur built the city of Madinat as-Salam "City of Peace", commonly known as Baghdad, as the new capital of the Abbasids. Under his successors, al Mahdi and al Hadi, Baghdad grew to be the largest and most advanced city in the world. While Western Europe was immersed in the barbarism of the Dark Ages the Islamic world flourished.

Caliph Al Hadi's successor, Harun ar Rushid ascended to the throne in 786. Ar Rushid ruled the Abbasid state at its height of power and influence. The Caliph established a massive trading empire, goods flowed, and strong merchant class developed. This trade also brought the influx of many new ideas from the West.

Ar Rushid sponsored efforts to have ancient Greek texts translated into Arabic in order to facilitated the advancement knowledge. In Baghdad, ar Rashid established the House of Wisdom for the study of the humanities. In Athens, the Caliph took the most dramatic step by allowing for the reopening of the Platonic Academy.

Under Ar Rushid Athens, Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria and Baghdad became the greatest centers of learning in the East. This period was truly the "Golden Age" of Islam and paved the way for a greater expansion of Hellenistic ideas in the 9th century.
 
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