Socio-Economic Life During The Abbasid Golden Age: A Historical-Analytical Study

Abstract

This study examines the socio-economic dimensions of life Received: 10-05-2026 during the Abbasid Golden Age (750–1258 CE), with particular focus on Accepted: 28-05-2026 the period of peak prosperity from the mid-eighth to the late tenth century. Published:09-06-2026 The Abbasid Caliphate presided over one of the most remarkable episodes of economic expansion, urbanization, and social transformation in pre-modern world history, yet the structural foundations of this prosperity have received comparatively less scholarly attention than the dynasty’s intellectual and cultural achievements. Employing a historical-analytical methodology based Copyright: © 2026 by the authors. on the systematic examination of primary Arabic sources, numismatic evidence, Submitted for open access publication and archaeological data, this study investigates five interconnected domains under the terms and conditions of the of Abbasid socio-economic life: the agrarian system and land tenure, long- Creative Commons Attribution (CC distance trade networks and commercial institutions, urban development and the BY) license structure of metropolitan life, the fiscal system and monetary economy, and social (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ stratification and occupational diversity. The analysis demonstrates that Abbasid by/4.0/) prosperity was sustained by a sophisticated economic infrastructure characterized by advanced agricultural techniques, an extensive transcontinental trade network linking China to the Mediterranean, innovative financial instruments including the suftaja (bill of exchange) and the sakk (cheque), and a remarkably diverse urban economy. The findings contribute to a more integrated understanding of the material foundations underlying the celebrated cultural achievements of the Islamic Golden Age.