Geographic HistoryMap of the Abbasid Caliphate
On the Geographic History map, the Abbasid Caliphate appears from AD 751 to 1258. It reaches its largest mapped extent in AD 758: about 7.6 million km² across 181 provinces.
The Abbasid Caliphate took power from the Umayyads in 750 and moved the capital to Baghdad, founded in 762. In the time of Harun al-Rashid and al-Mamun, Baghdad became a centre of learning where Greek, Persian and Indian works were translated into Arabic. Real power slipped away from the caliphs from the 10th century, and in 1258 the Mongols sacked Baghdad and killed the last caliph there.
Mapped area over time
The Abbasid Caliphate on the world maps
Largest other states in AD 758
| State | Mapped area |
|---|---|
| Tang dynasty | 4.5 million km² |
| Uighur | 4.3 million km² |
| Tibetan Empire | 2.1 million km² |
| Oghuz | 1.1 million km² |
| Byzantine Empire | 900 thousand km² |
| Ghana Empire | 850 thousand km² |
| Khazars | 830 thousand km² |
| Balhae | 710 thousand km² |
About this map
Territory comes from the Chronas historical dataset used by the Geographic History app. Areas are approximate, computed from about 2,400 province shapes, and describe this map rather than official historical figures - border data for the ancient and medieval world is necessarily a reconstruction.
Every year has a map
Drag a timeline across 2,500 years in the free Geographic History app - every province, ruler and battle, also offline.
