History Atlas

How The Past Is Known
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Era

The Islamic Golden Age

The Post-Classical and Medieval World

The Islamic Golden Age was a period of cultural, scientific and economic flourishing across the Islamic world, conventionally dated from the reign of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid to the Mongol destruction of Baghdad, during which centers of learning in Baghdad and elsewhere translated and advanced Greek, Persian and Indian scholarship in mathematics, astronomy, medicine and philosophy.

Facts
Start Year
786 1
Conventionally dated to Harun al-Rashid's accession; the flourishing built on Abbasid patronage from the caliphate's own mid eighth century founding.
End Year
1258 1
Geographic Scope
Baghdad and other urban centers across the medieval Islamic world, including Cairo, Umayyad Cordoba as capital of Al-Andalus, Damascus, Nishapur, Samarkand, Ghazni, Kairouan and Fez 1
The Islamic Golden Age
Filter Results1 entry
Connections

In Era

Includes

Al-Ghazali, Historical Figures

General historical classification: al-Ghazali's scholarly career in eleventh and twelfth century Baghdad and Khorasan falls within the Islamic Golden Age.

Source Wikipedia: Harun al-Rashid

Related To

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Islamic Golden Age
Wikipedia
  • Lead section
    The period is said to have ended with the collapse of the Abbasid caliphate following the Mongol invasions and the Siege of Baghdad in 1258.
  • Lead section, second paragraph
    In addition to Baghdad, the intellectual and cultural activity also flourished in other urban centers of the medieval Islamic world, including Cairo, and Umayyad Cordoba (capital of Al-Andalus), as well as Damascus, Nishapur, Samarkand, Ghazni, Kairouan, and Fez
View the Source

Take a Related Quiz

Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.