Some Literary Achievements of Abbasid Period



After the downfall of Umayyad dynasty, came the rule of Abbas. A huge dynasty with the new spirit & iron will to rule that caused for seven strives and settled down to manage the Islamic states as well as changed it. The center of the Islamic state had shifted from Damascus to Baghdad in an environment different from that of the Umayyad dynasty. No doubt, it is not a period of genial for the Arabs which had ended with the extension of Umayyad rule.
Now it was the time for culture expansion. It is therefore that the Abbasid period is called “The Golden Period”. It was indeed of a culture revolution. The ground was being prepared for the expansion of learning as part as the geographical parts of the era. The Abbasid period was fortunate that conditions for the purpose were very favorable.

Among the many factors that were working in the promotion of learning, it was the intellectual train of the society with the new thinking & awakening from within. A new urge for acquiring knowledge with Baghdad as the cultural code of Islamic world. There emerged & developed many sciences which come in prose literatures.

Abbasid Revolution


Before the Abbasids came to the power, the translation activity had already being initiated. But it was all at initial stage without any environment from rulers. Thy worked without the socio-political and scientific contexts. The advent of Abbasid rule and the transfer of Islamic capital from Damascus to Baghdad changed the structure of Islamic society. It is therefore that this change of region is called “Abbasid Revolution”. They developed a new society yin Baghdad which had many cultures.

The Translation Work of Abbasid Period

The Abbasids had to employ for the revolution Christ, Arabs, local Persians and Armenians. With coming together of different culture during the Abbasid rule, there arose the necessity to know each other’s language, literature and sciences which resulted that the translation activity sent into mother tongue as regard alien sciences. They found their way into Arabic through Persian during Abbasid Period, translation from Greek into Pahlavi and then from Pahlavi into Arabic.

It may be remembered that the Abbasid Dynasty came to power after bitter civil war. Al-Mansoor (2nd Caliph of Abbasid Dynasty) who is the real founder of the Dynasty is realized that his primary duty was to reconcile different groups who worked for the Abbasid and also to satisfy their formal rivals.


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