What Kind of Role Did Iran Play in the Islamic Empire?
Muslim conquests brought Muslims into contact with other cultures, introducing them to different ideas and beliefs. Iran known then as Persia had a deep intellectual influence on the Islamic Empire, resulting in what some consider a “special kind of victory.” Persian scholars made significant advances in different fields, including the study of Prophetic tradition, medicine, and astronomy. Names like Al-Bukhari, Al-Farabi, and Avicenna were the result of the interaction of Arab culture and Persian culture with its richness and thousands of years of civilization. The Abbasid Caliphate, according to Goldschmidt, was characterized by the rise of Persian influence. The army that expelled the Umayyads and consolidated the power of the Abbasids was led by Abu Muslim Al-Khorasani, a Persian. Also, the viziers of Abbasid caliphs were frequently Persians, and various Persian bureaucratic families, such as the Barmakids, rose to power. Through rising to high positions within the army and civil a
