A dynasty of Caliphs that rose to power in 750, with Shi`ite support based on their claim to descent from the Prophet's uncle `Abbas, but then failed to implement the Shi`ite vision, and killed Shi`ite leaders. The early period of the Abbasid Caliphate was a "golden age" for Islamic thought, as well as for science, philosophy, and medecine, which built on the discoveries of the Greeks that the Abbasids had translated into Arabic. After about two centuries the Abbasid caliphs become puppets of various Sultans who vied for power; even their symbolic role of Caliphs was effectively ended by the Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258.
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