Through a process of conquest, conversion, and coexistence, the early Abbasids created a cosmopolitan medieval empire centered at their new capital of Baghdad. By assimilating the late antique traditions of the Byzantines and Persians before supplanting them, integrating Arab culture northward throughout the region, and overseeing the preservation and dissemination of knowledge from the ancient world, the Muslims of the Middle East created a thriving cultural hub with considerable impact on world history in this period and beyond. While religious conversion to Islam remained slow, a process of cultural conversion and an increased openness to non-Arab converts to the faith saw the escalation of Islamization throughout the Abbasid empire from Spain and Portugal in the west to India in the east. All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-1/pages/11-3-islamization-and-religious-rule-under-islam Welcome to A Journey into Human History. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-1/pages/1-introduction Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.