The Abbasid Caliphate and the Buyid Dynasty both ruled during 800 A.D. and 1200 A.D. yet they were two distinct dynasties in regards to their political, economic, and social systems. The Abbasid Caliphate consisted of the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad’s uncle al-Abbas, they overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate, and they ruled from their capital in Baghdad from 750 to 1258. The Abbasids were Sunnis, which meant that the Sunni Muslims believed that the community should select their own leadership. Their political system was bureaucratic and held under Sharia law. The Abbasids encouraged conversion to Islam and eventually had to realize that all the new peoples had many differing interests. The Abbasid’s territory once covered land from Afghanistan to Egypt and also in Spain. Trade continued to increase…show more content… Originally the Persian Bureaucrats were a part of Abbasid’s governing bureaucracy but after 934, the Persian Bureaucrats declared their independence from the Abbasid Caliphate and named themselves as the Buyid Dynasty. The Buyids were different from the Abbasids because they were Shi’ites instead of Sunnis. The Shi’ites believed that the caliphs should be related to Muhammad and the royalty should be passed along a bloodline, instead of letting the people pick the caliph. The territory of the Buyid Dynasty was kept in between Afghanistan and Egypt and did not spread as much as the Abbasid Caliphate. Urbanization and trade continued to be just as important as how it was for the Abbasids. The Buyid Dynasty at its height focused on public works and bettering the community such as by building hospitals. They also placed an emphasis on nature and the senses just like the Abbasids and this was seen in their art consisting of wild animals and musicians. The Buyid Dynasty began to collapse with a weakening economy, which was true for the Abbasids as well, and the dynasty’s army dissolved with