The Caliphates

Muhammad was succeeded as leader of the Muslim community by a sequence of rulers known as khalifas (kha-LEE-faz), or caliphs, "successors to the Prophet" who were both the religious and secular leaders of the Muslim state, though none claimed to be prophets themselves. The first four caliphs were chosen by general consensus of the community, but the last of these, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (r. 656-661), spent his entire reign fighting against enemies within the Muslim community, eventually losing his life to a political opponent with a poisoned blade. He was succeeded as caliph by the leader of his enemies, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (r. 661-680), who set up a dynastic caliphate, known as the Umayyad (um-MYyad) caliphate, with its capital at Damascus.

The Umayyads ruled from Damascus for nearly a century, and during this period the Muslim world expanded through a mixture of force and diplomacy to its greatest extent, stretching from North Africa and Spain in the west to the borderlands of Central Asia and India in the east. The Umayyads also set up many of the administrative, cultural, and social structures of the Muslim world. Arabic became the language of the administration, a uniform coinage was established, and scholars began to debate issues of law and theology.

However, the Umayyads were not unopposed. The supporters of 'Ali continued to assert the claims of his descendants to the caliphate, through 'Ali's bloodline as cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad. They gradually divided into a number of groups collectively known as the Shi'a ((SHEE-'ah), sing/adj. Shi'i), a process that would continue in the centuries that followed (for more on Shi'ism, see Realms of Power: The Divine, pages 112-113). A number of these Shi'i groups were sources of rebellions against the Umayyads, and the latter also faced opposition from others who felt that they were impious and illegitimate rulers. The culmination of this opposition came in 750, when the Umayyads were displaced by a family descended from an uncle of the Prophet, known as the 'Abbasids (('ab-BEH-sidz), r. 750-the present).

The 'Abbasids built a new capital in Iraq, called Baghdad, which became a prosperous center of a flourishing Muslim world. This was the golden age of the Islamic world, when great advances began to be made in science, literature, and theology, while the caliphs sent embassies to the corners of the world. It was the time of caliphs such as the legendary Harun al-Rashid (r. 786-809), who periodically ventured out by night into the streets of Baghdad in disguise to mingle with his subjects, rewarding the good and punishing the bad, and is also known for having exchanged embassies with Charlemagne himself. In the meantime, increasing numbers of the caliph's subjects were converting to Islam, though it would take another three or four hundred years before Muslims would form the overall majority in their lands.

The golden age could not last, and from the mid-ninth century 'Abbasid power began to decline. The caliphs faced increasing rebellions by Shi'a and others,

The large-scale death and destruction in Transoxiana may cause mystical ripples throughout Mythic Europe that reach various magi of the Order of Hermes. Like the rumored Order of Odin in the north, information on the nomads is conflicting and incomplete. The Primus of Ex Miscellanea is troubled by strange dreams. Dire prophecies are uttered by the seers, astrologers and other diviners across various Houses. The Tremere learn secondhand through their network of this potential threat to the Order and mobilize their intelligence network and resources. The Tenens of the East is greatly troubled by the chaos emerging from beyond the Levant. Even the normally aloof Merinita report an increased turbulence in Arcadia and the discovery of new lands and stories emerging within the Faerie realm. A strange apparition appears during the Great Tribunal at Durenmar despite the usual mystical defenses prepared for such a momentous meeting.

Details on the Mongol devastation of the eastern Islamic lands and rules for Mongol shamans are given in the sidebars of Chapter 9: On the Silk Road.

When the 'Abbasids overthrew the Umayyads, they attempted to wipe out as many members of the family as possible. They missed at least one who went on to found a new ruling dynasty in Spain. It may be that they missed others, and their descendants may approach the characters seeking aid in gaining the caliphal throne. Likewise, the characters could be approached by Shi'i claimants to the caliphate for the same reason. Some of these claimants may have inherited holy relics or other powerful supernatural items from their forbearers, which may tempt the characters to help them, or they may have supernatural powers that make their "requests" difficult to refuse.

financial problems, and greater difficulty in controlling their subordinates. Over the next hundred years, the Muslim world fragmented, with the various provinces becoming largely autonomous states that coexisted or warred with one another as suited their ambitions. In 945 the caliphs came firmly under the control of their immediate deputies, a situation that remained broadly the same until the midtwelfth century. The Seljuk Turks, lead by Togrul Beg, invaded from the Great Steppe in 1037, and had gained control of the Mythic Middle East by the mid-11th century, relegating the caliph to a figurehead while the Seljuk Turks commanded the 'Abbasid armies and provinces. By 1157 the caliph had regained enough power to drive the Seljuk sultan out of Baghdad, and an uneasy truce between the religious and secular rulers was instituted that remains to this day.

The decline in fortunes of the Seljuks was accelerated by the rebellion of the Shansabani in 1149, and the uprising of the Ghuzz in 1151 in Persia's eastern provinces. Ala ad-Din Tekish, the leader of Khwarazm province, capitalized on the collapse of the Seljuk Empire after the death of Sultan Ahmed Sanjar, and eventually defeated his successor Togrul III in 1194. His son Ala ad-Din Mohammed defeated the Shansabani in 1206, and is now the ruler of a vast empire that stretches from the River Jaxartes to the Persian Gulf. While he has declared himself shah (Parsi "king"), the caliph in Baghdad has yet to recognize this claim.

The current caliph, al-Nasir (r. 1180- 1225), is a vigorous ruler, but his realm is much reduced, encompassing in reality little more than Iraq, though his rule is nominally recognized by most of the Sunni (SUN-nee) Muslim provincial rulers.