Abbasid revolution

The Abbasid revolution (Arabic: اَلثَّوْرَة اَلْعَبَّاسِيَّةِ, romanized: aṯ-Ṯawra al-ʿAbbāsiyyah), was the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), the second of the four major caliphates in Islamic history, by the third, the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1517).

The Abbasid revolt originated in the eastern province of Khorasan in the mid-8th century, fueled by widespread discontent with Umayyad rule. The revolution was led by the Arab Hashimite dynasty, descendants of al-ʿAbbas ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, an uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Although Abu Muslim—who directed the uprising in Khurāsān—played a decisive organizational and military role, his precise ethnic origins remain debated in the sources. Modern scholarship emphasizes that the early revolutionary forces (ahl Khurāsān) were heavily composed of long-settled Arab tribal groups in Khurāsān (Khorasani Arabs), many of whom were affiliated with South Arabian (Yamani) confederations that had been established there since the early Islamic conquests. Non-Arab converts (mawālī), including Iranian Muslims, and local supporters participated significantly in the movement; however, they formed part of a broader anti-Umayyad coalition rather than constituting an exclusively or overwhelmingly Persian ethnic uprising.