- History of Baghdad
This article documents the history of Baghdad.
Baghdad ( _ar. بغداد "ArabDIN|Baġdād") is thecapital ofIraq and ofBaghdad Governorate . With ametropolitan area estimated at a population of 7,000,000, it is the largest city in Iraq. It is the second-largest city in theArab world (afterCairo ) and the second-largestcity insouthwest Asia (afterTehran ). Today it is best known for it being in ruins after the2003 Invasion of Iraq .Foundation
The city of Baghdad is often said to have been founded on the west bank of the Tigris on
30 July 762 by the Abbasid dynasty, on the request of thecaliph al-Mansur . The goal was to replaceHarran as the seat of the caliphal government; however, a city of Baghdad is mentioned in pre-Islamic texts, including theTalmud , [Ket. 7b, Zeb. 9a] and the Abbasid city was likely built on the site of this earlier settlement.Baghdad eclipsedCtesiphon , the capital of thePersian Empire , which was located some 30 km (20 miles) to the southeast, which had been under Muslim control since 637, and which became quickly deserted after the foundation of Baghdad. The site ofBabylon , which had been deserted since the 2nd century BC, lies some 90 km (55 miles) to the south.The city was designed as a circle about 2 km in diameter, leading it to be known as the "Round City". The original design shows a ring of residential and commercial structures along the inside of the city walls, but the final construction added another ring, inside the first. [http://islamicceramics.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/Abbasid/baghdad.htm] In the center of the city lay the mosque, as well as headquarters for guards. The purpose or use of the remaining space in the center is unknown. The circular design of the city was a direct reflection of the traditional Persian Sasanian urban design. The ancient Sasanian city of Gur/
Firouzabad is nearly identical in its general circular design, radiating avenues, and the government buildings and temples at the center of the city.The roundness points to the fact that it was based on Persian precedents such as
Firouzabad in Persia. [See:
*cite book| title=Islam Art and Architecture| first=Markus| last=Hattstein| coauthors=Peter Delius| year=2000| pages=96| id=ISBN 3-8290-2558-0
*Encyclopedia Iranica ,Columbia University , p.413.] The two designers who were hired byal-Mansur to plan the city's design wereNaubakht , a former Persian Zoroastrian who also determined that the date of the foundation of the city would be astrologically auspicious, andMashallah , a Jew fromKhorasan ,Iran .cite book| title=Islamic Science and Engineering| first=Donald R.| last=Hill| year=1994| pages=10| id=ISBN 0-7486-0457-X]A center of learning (8th to 9th c.)
Within a generation of its founding, Baghdad became a hub of
learning andcommerce . TheHouse of Wisdom was an establishment dedicated to the translation of Greek,Middle Persian andSyriac works. TheBarmakids were influential in bringing scholars from the nearbyAcademy of Gundishapur , facilitating the introduction of Greek and Indian science into the Arabic world. Baghdad was likely the largest city in the world from shortly after its foundation until the 930s, when it was tied by Córdoba. [ [http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm Largest Cities Through History ] ] Several estimates suggest that the city contained over a million inhabitants at its peak. [Matt T. Rosenberg, [http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm "Largest Cities Through History".] ] A portion of the population of Baghdad originated inIran , especially fromKhorasan . Many ofScheherazade 's tales in "One Thousand and One Nights " are set in Baghdad during this period.tagnation and invasions (10th to 16th c.)
By the 10th century, the city's population was between 300,000 and 500,000. Baghdad's early meteoric growth slowed due to troubles within the
Caliph ate, including relocations of the capital toSamarra (during 808–819 and 836–892), the loss of the western and easternmost provinces, and periods of political domination by theIran ianBuwayhid s (945–1055) andSeljuk Turks (1055–1135). Nevertheless, the city remained one of the cultural and commercial hubs of the Islamic world untilFebruary 10 1258 , when it was sacked by theMongols underHulagu Khan during the sack of Baghdad. The Mongols massacred most of the city's inhabitants, including the Abbasid CaliphAl-Musta'sim , and destroyed large sections of the city. Thecanal s and dykes forming the city'sirrigation system were also destroyed. The sack of Baghdad put an end to the Abbasid Caliphate, a blow from which theIslamic civilization never fully recovered.At this point Baghdad was ruled by the
Il-Khanids , theMongol emperors ofIran . In 1401, Baghdad was again sacked, byTimur ("Tamerlane"). It became a provincial capital controlled by theJalayirid (1400–1411), Qara Quyunlu (1411–1469), Aq Quyunlu (1469–1508), andSafavid (1508–1534) dynasties.Ottoman Baghdad (16th to 19th c.)
In 1534, Baghdad was conquered by the Ottoman Turks. Under the Ottomans, Baghdad fell into a period of decline, partially as a result of the enmity between its rulers and Persia. For a time, Baghdad had been the largest city in the
Middle East before being overtaken byConstantinople in the 16th century. The city saw relative revival in the latter part of the 18th century under the Mamluk rule. TheNuttall Encyclopedia reports the 1907 population of Baghdad as 185,000.20th century
Baghdad remained under Ottoman rule until the establishment of the kingdom of
Iraq under British control in 1921. British control was established by a systematic suppression of IraqiArab and Kurdish national aspirations. Iraq was given formal independence in 1932, and increased autonomy in 1946. In 1958 the Iraqi Army deposed the grandson of the British-installed monarch,Faisal II . The city's population grew from an estimated 145,000 in 1900 to 580,000 in 1950 of which 140,000 wereJewish . , and sanitary infrastructure.2003 Invasion of Iraq
Baghdad was bombed very heavily in March and April 2003 in the
2003 invasion of Iraq , and fell under US control byApril 7 -April 9 . Additional damage was caused by the severelooting during the days following the end of the war. With the deposition ofSaddam Hussein 's regime, the city was occupied by U.S. troops. TheCoalition Provisional Authority established a three-square-mile (8 km²) "Green Zone " within the heart of the city from which it governed Iraq during the period before the new Iraqi government was established. TheCoalition Provisional Authority ceded power to the interim government at the end of June 2004 and dissolved itself.Fact|date=September 2007On
September 23 2003 , aGallup poll indicated that about two-thirds of Baghdad residents said that the removal of the Iraqi leader was worth the hardships they encountered, and that they expected a better life in five years' time. As time passed, however, support for the occupation declined dramatically. In April 2004, "USA Today " reported that a follow-upGallup poll in Baghdad indicated that "only 13 percent of the people now say the invasion of Iraq was morally justifiable. In the 2003 poll, more than twice that number saw it as the right thing to do." [ [http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-04-28-poll-cover_x.htm USATODAY.com - Poll: Iraqis out of patience ] ]Most residents of Baghdad became impatient with the occupation because essential services such as
electricity were still unreliable more than a year after the invasion. In the hot summer of 2004, electricity was only available intermittently in most areas of the city. An additional pressing concern was the lack of security. Thecurfew imposed immediately after the invasion had been lifted in the winter of 2003, but the city that had once had a vibrant night life was still considered too dangerous after dark for many citizens. Those dangers includedkidnapping and the risk of being caught in fighting between security forces andinsurgent s.Fact|date=September 2007On 10th April 2007, the
United States military began construction of a three mile (5 km) long 3.5 metre tall wall around theSunni district of Baghdad [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2062426,00.html (Guardian)] . On 23rd April , theIraq i Prime Minister,Nouri Maliki , called for construction to be halted on the wall [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2063700,00.html (Guardian)] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6582225.stm (BBC)] .The on-going sectarian violence had, by the beginning of summer 2007, cantoned the city of Baghdad into distinct and hostile zones: a larger
Shia city (nearly all of the city east of theTigris , with the exception ofAdhamiya and the Rashid districts), and a smallerSunni city, west of the Tigris (with the exception ofKadhimiya and southwestern districts). [ [http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/maps.shtml The Gulf/2000 Project - SIPA - COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ] ]ee also
*
History of Iraq
* [http://www.gryphonastrology.com/electionalastrologybaghdad.html Electional Horoscope of Baghdad]References
[http://www.gryphonastrology.com/electionalastrologybaghdad.html Electional Horoscope of the Founding of Baghdad]
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