Baghdad

The present-day capital of Iraq, a site 330 miles northwest of the Persian Gulf at the intersection of historic trade routes (Khorasn Road, part of the Silk Route) which was the foremost city of ancient Mesopotamia. Archaeological evidence shows that the site of Baghdad was occupied by various peoples long before the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia in 637 AD, and several ancient empires had capitals there. The true founding of the city dates from 762 when the Abbasids moved the Islamic capital there. It was the Islamic capital from the 8th-13th centuries. Abbassid Baghdad is buried beneath the modern city. There was a palace, a congregational mosque, ministries and barracks, surrounded by walls and a moat. In the late 8th and early 9th centuries, Baghdad was large and at its height economically; it was considered the richest city in the world. The caliph abandoned Baghdad in favor of Samarra from 836-892. The city was burnt by the Mongols in 1258, rebuilt and sacked by Timur in 1400. The glory of Baghdad is written about in "The Thousand and One Nights".

The present-day capital of Iraq and the Islamic capital from the 8th century to the 13th century. When the Abbasids overthrew the last Umayyad caliph in 750, they decided to move the Islamic capital from Damascus, which was full of Umayyad sympathizers and too close to the Byzantine frontier. Two replacements were chosen and rejected before al-Mansur selected Baghdad in 762. The site is on the River Tigris, at a point scarcely 40 km from the Euphrates, and where the two rivers were connected by canals. Moreover, Baghdad lay on the ‘Khorasan road’, part of the Silk Route leading eastwards to Buk hara, Samarkand and China. The site was therefore well-watered, defensible and well-placed for communications by road and river. Abbassid Baghdad is buried beneath the modem city, and almost all we know of it comes from contemporary writers, such as Ya’qubi and al-Khatib. The focal point was the ‘round city’, a royal precinct containing the palace, a congregational mosque, ministries and barracks, surrounded by walls and a moat. According to al-Khatib, the architect Rabah recorded the diameter of the city as 2640 metres. To the south lay al-Karkh, a township which already existed in 762, while to the north was al-Harbiyah, a quarter dominated by army officers. Across the Tigris lay the quarters of Rasafah (begun in 769), ash-Shammasyah and al-Mukharrim. In the late 8th and early 9th centuries Baghdad was large and wealthy, and under rulers such as Harun al-Rashid (d 809) the court had a reputation for gross extravagance. The caliph abandoned Baghdad in favour of Samarra in 836, but returned in 882. The city was burnt by the Mongols in 1258, rebuilt and sacked by Timur in 1400.