Description
The Abbasid Caliphate was the most politically stable and economically prosperous of the early Islamic states. It lasted long enough to set in place a culture that transcended the boundaries of the state and endured after its diminishment and eventual collapse.
The Question: What did the Abbasids do right, politically speaking? How did they manage to set up a successful state where the Rightly-Guided and Umayyad Caliphs did not?
Hint: You can make comparisons to the Umayyads and earlier Caliphs, but be sure to base yourself on the sources you read for the last two weeks.
Hint: Be relatively specific.
Hint: Be sure to make a distinction between primary sources (Masudi and Tabari) and secondary sources (Hawting, Grabar, Shaaban, and Lassner).