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42-818: The original palaces of the Abbasid caliphs had been in or near the Round City founded by Caliph al-Mansur ( r.  754–775 ): the Palace of the Golden Gate at the centre of the Round City, and the somewhat later Khuld Palace , constructed outside the Round City on the western bank of the Tigris River . During the first century of the Abbasid Caliphate, East Baghdad, that is, the portion of

84-573: A city of Baghdad is mentioned in pre-Islamic texts, including the Talmud , and the Abbasid city was likely built on the site of this earlier settlement. Baghdad eclipsed Ctesiphon , the capital of the Sasanian Empire , which was located some 30 km (19 mi) to the southeast, which had been under Muslim control since 637, and which became quickly deserted after the foundation of Baghdad. The site of Babylon , which had been deserted since

126-452: A course of study under the grammarian Al-‘Ukbarî . Five years later he was on another mission to Kish for ‘Askar. On his return to Baghdad he set up as a bookseller and began his writing career. Yāqūt spent ten years travelling in Persia , Syria , and Egypt and his significance as a scholar lies in his testimony of the great, and largely lost, literary heritage found in libraries east of

168-567: A new palace in the nearby Mukharrim quarter. In 836, however, he founded a new city, Samarra , in the north and moved the caliphal court and capital of the Abbasid empire there. Although Caliph al-Mu'tamid ( r.  870–892 ) spent the last months of his life in Baghdad, it was not until 892 that the Caliph al-Mu'tadid ( r.  892–902 ) returned the capital permanently to Baghdad. Yaqut al-Hamawi reports that when al-Mu'tamid came to

210-406: A recompense for the vizier's lavish expenditure during the festivities for the marriage between al-Ma'mun and al-Hasan's daughter Buran , the Caliph gifted the palace to him. Al-Hasan rebuilt and enlarged the palace further, but after a few years he gave it to his daughter Buran, who outlived her husband al-Ma'mun and lived there until her death in 884. Hasan's rebuilding and Buran's usage established

252-410: A sophisticated and unusual design." Second, he argues against the view that Baghdad's building was a sign of the Abbasid assumption of Iranian rulership, being more a visible manifestation of the Abbasid inheritance of Persian Sassanian urban design royal tradition. Third, he rejects the claims that the palace-city had symbolic cosmological significance "simply because there are no explicit statements in

294-584: A suburb of the Furus (" Persians ", or possibly people from Fars ), a suburb for the Khwarezmians , and a mosque dedicated to the people of Bukhara . As the future caliph Al-Mahdi moved from al-Rayy to Baghdad in 768, a second wave of Persian military people settled there. There were also noble Iranian families Barmakids (from Balkh ) and the Sulids (from Gurgan ). The descendants of these Iranians took

336-536: A trader of Baghdad , Iraq , the seat of the Abbasid Caliphate , from whom he received the laqab "al-Hamawī". As ‘Askar's apprentice, he learned about accounting and commerce, becoming his envoy on trade missions and travelling twice or three times to Kish in the Persian Gulf . In 1194, ‘Askar stopped his salary over some dispute and Yāqūt found work as copyist to support himself. He embarked on

378-702: A wall. In addition, al-Mu'tadid and al-Muktafi ( r.  902–908 ) built the Firdus Palace upstream, the Thurayya Palace to the east, and the Taj Palace downstream of the Hasani, creating thus a sprawling palace complex, the "Abode of the Caliphate" ( Dār al-Khilāfat ), comprising several major and minor residences and gardens. This remained the main caliphal residence for the remainder of

420-682: Is known for his Mu'jam ul-Buldān , an influential work on geography containing valuable information pertaining to biography , history and literature as well as geography. Yāqūt ( ruby or hyacinth ) was the kunya of Ibn Abdullāh ("son of Abdullāh "). He was born in Constantinople , the capital of the Byzantine Empire , called in Arabic al-Rūm , whence his nisba "al-Rūmi". Captured in war and enslaved, Yāqūt became " mawali " to ‘Askar ibn Abī Naṣr al-Ḥamawī,

462-588: Is nearly identical in its general circular design, radiating avenues, and the government buildings and temples at the center of the city. This points to the fact that it was based on Persian precedents. The two designers who were hired by al-Mansur to plan the city's design were Naubakht , a former Zoroastrian , and Mashallah ibn Athari , a Persian Jewish astrologer/astronomer. The city had four gates : Bab al-Kufa ("gate of Kufa "), Bab al-Sham ("gate of al-Sham or Damascus "), Bab al-Khorasan ("gate of Khorasan "), and Bab al-Basra ("gate of Basra "). This too

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504-547: Is similar to the round cities of Darabgard and Gor, which had four gates. The Khuld Palace , the main palace of Baghdad built by al-Mansur , was located near the Bab al-Khorasan. The Khorasan Gate marked the beginning of the Great Khorasan Road . None of the structures of the city has survived, and information are based on literary sources. The caliphal Palace of the Golden Gate and the main mosque were located at

546-533: Is the original core of Baghdad , built by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur in 762–766 CE as the official residence of the Abbasid court. Its official name in Abbasid times was City of Peace ( Arabic : مدينة السلام , romanized :  Madīnat as-Salām ). The famous library known as the House of Wisdom was located within its grounds. According to Ya'qubi , the plans for the city were drawn up, but it

588-457: The 20th century. Some of the most important surviving literary sources from the late 10th and 11th centuries in Baghdad are "Description of Mesopotamia and Baghdad," written by Ibn Serapion; "Tarikh Baghdad (A History of Baghdad)", by the scholar and historian Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi , and the "Geographical Dictionary" by the geographer and historian Ya'qubi . These three books have constituted the foundation and required reading for modern research on

630-453: The 2nd century, lies some 90 km (56 mi) to the south. The old Baghdad was a small village, and despite its name, which is of Iranian origin ( bag "god" + dād "gifted"), the original inhabitants were probably Aramaic -speaking Nabateans . The new city, however, was mainly Arabic -speaking, with considerable Persian elements in the population and urban environment, although there may not have been any major Persian settlement in

672-561: The Abbasid Caliphate. In 901, al-Muktafi destroyed the palace prisons built by his father, and erected in their place a Friday mosque , the Jāmiʿ al-Qaṣr ("Palace Mosque"), a site now occupied by a later structure, the Jāmiʿ al-Khulafa . Upon the grounds of the palace, the Mustansiriya Madrasah was erected in the 1230s. Round city of Baghdad The Round City of Baghdad

714-612: The Early Middle Ages" (1970) and "The Shaping of Abbasid Rule" (1980) presented a new concept of the city plan and a contrasting view of its architectural function and historical development in the earliest period, improving understanding of the city's design. In Lassner's studies, at least four previously held ideas about the al-Mansur's city were revised. First, Lassner rejected the idea that al-Mansûr himself, "who had no known experience in architectural design (or with round structures) could have personally created ex nihilo such

756-450: The caliph, and a large number ordinary people who later settled in the city for economic opportunities. The second group were mostly Arabs and local Nabateans . The first group were mostly Persians from Khorasan and Transoxania , who were settled in the northwestern district known as Harbiyya ( حربية ). The Harbiyya included Marwrūdiyya division ( مرورودية , for those from Marw al-Rudh i.e. modern-day Murghab , Afghanistan ),

798-535: The centre of the circle. Influenced by the apadana design of ancient Iranian architecture , the mosque was built with a hypostyle prayer-hall with wooden columns supporting its flat roof. The caliphal palace featured an iwan and a dome-chamber immediately behind it, resembling Sasanian palace design (such as that of Gor and Sarvestan ). Building materials was mostly brick (sometimes strengthened by reeds), reflecting Mesopotamian architecture . The residents were of two types: military people who were settled by

840-547: The city east of the Tigris, was of less importance, although al-Mansur built there a palace for his son and heir, al-Mahdi ( r.  775–785 ). The Hasani Palace begun as a pleasure house of the Barmakid Ja'far ibn Yahya , minister, favourite companion, and brother-in-law of Caliph Harun al-Rashid ( r.  786–809 ). Ja'far was well known for his revels, which included wine-drinking, and caused much opprobrium in

882-534: The city, and the rest of the Round City was completed by 766. Mansur believed that Baghdad was the perfect city to be the capital of the Islamic empire under the Abbasids . Mansur loved the site so much he is quoted saying, "This is indeed the city that I am to found, where I am to live, and where my descendants will reign afterward". The goal was to replace Harran as the seat of the caliphal government; however,

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924-472: The city, he asked from Buran to take possession of the Hasani Palace as his residence. She asked for a brief delay in order to set her affairs in order, but instead took this time to furnish the palace and make it fit for the caliph, before handing it over to him. This anecdote is widely reported, but the original source of the story, the 11th-century chronicler Khatib, reports that the caliph in question

966-437: The city. As a result, he built a residence in the open country, at some distance to the south from the populated quarters of East Baghdad. Ja'far's palatial mansion was so splendid that it might have aroused jealousy from the Caliph; a friend therefore counselled him to ostensibly offer it as a gift to the then underage al-Ma'mun ( r.  813–833 ), Harun's second son and later caliph, who from his birth had been entrusted to

1008-485: The critical problems found in the original descriptive texts, Herzfeld, an architect by profession, offered new interpretations and developed new plans of the Round City of Baghdad. His study was more related to the description, arrangement, and function of the city's main buildings, contrasting with the more urbanistic approach of Le Strange. His reconstructions were celebrated as the first "major architectural work on this subject," accepted by subsequent scholars. One of them

1050-488: The guardianship and tutorship of Ja'far. Thus the palace, although used by Ja'far until the sudden downfall of the Barmakids in 803, became known as the "Palace of Ma'mun" ( al-Qaṣr al-Maʾmūnī ). After 803, al-Ma'mun moved into the building, which became one of his favourite residences. He enlarged the palace, and added a large open space ( maydan ) for horse racing and polo and a zoological park. A gate opening to

1092-415: The inside of the city walls, but the final construction added another ring, inside the first. In the center of the city lay the caliphal palace, 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

1134-475: The matter. The definite revelation for the academic community of the existence of the Round City of Baghdad was recorded by Guy Le Strange , a British Orientalist prominent in the field of historical geography. His work "Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate: from contemporary Arabic and Persian sources," (1900) revisited, among other scholars, the work of Serapion and Ya'qubi to reconstruct a plan of

1176-470: The old city. Le Strange himself wrote in the preface of his book: "(...) the real basis of the present reconstruction of the medieval plan is the description of the Canals of Baghdad written by Ibn Serapion in about the year a.d. 900. By combining the network of the water system, as described by this writer, with the radiating high-roads, as described by his contemporary Yakubi, it has been possible to plot out

1218-594: The open expanses of the east was added, as well as a canal bringing water from the Nahr Mu'alla . For his servants and the palace personnel he also laid out a residential quarter nearby, which was named Maʾmūnīya after him. The palace remained apparently unoccupied after al-Ma'mun left to take up the viceroyalty of Khurasan , and throughout the Abbasid civil war that followed Harun's death between al-Ma'mun and his half-brother, al-Amin ( r.  809–813 ). During

1260-532: The palace's common name, "Palace of al-Hasan" or "Hasani Palace" ( al-Qaṣr al-Ḥasanī ), although even in later times writers still were wont to refer to it as the Ma'muni or even the Ja'fari Palace ( القصر الجعفري , al-Qaṣr al-Ja'farī ). After al-Ma'mun's death in 833, his brother and successor, al-Mu'tasim ( r.  833–842 ) is said by one source to have also lived in the Hasani Palace, before he built for himself

1302-440: The sources connecting the caliph with such symbolism." Finally, he affirms that "The Round City was, in fact, an administrative center, and not at all a city in the conventional sense of the term." Yaqut al-Hamawi Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn ibn-ʿAbdullāh al-Rūmī al-Ḥamawī (1179–1229) ( Arabic : ياقوت الحموي الرومي ) was a Muslim scholar of Byzantine ancestry active during the late Abbasid period (12th–13th centuries). He

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1344-550: The title abnāʾ ( أبناء ), short for abnāʾ al-dawla ( أبناء الدولة , literally "sons of the state"), but also said to be echoing the title of the abna' of Yemen, also of Persian origin. The Persians of Baghdad were gradually acculturated by the early 9th century. As the host of one of the major intellectual centers in the Abbasid Caliphs, the Grand Library of Baghdad, also known as The House of Wisdom ,

1386-456: The topic while working in Iraq, conducting excavations in neighboring cities like Samarra. The first one to improve Le Strange's initial plan was Ernst Herzfeld , a German archeologist who produced between 1905 and 1913 a large body of work including translations, drawings, field notes, photographs, and objects inventories from his excavations at Samarra and elsewhere in Iraq and Iran. Concerned with

1428-408: The various quarters of older Baghdad, filling in details from the accounts of other authorities, which, taken alone, would have proved too fragmentary to serve for any systematic reconstruction of the plan." A few years after Le Strange's first publication of the Round City's plan, a wave of German and British excavations was commissioned by emerging museums and universities. Two scholars re-re-visited

1470-506: The village of Baghdad or its surrounding communities: all of which were absorbed into the new city of Baghdad. Rather, the Persian elements appeared after the foundation of the new city, and included Persian architectural influence, early Persian military settlement, continuous immigration by Persian scholars, and the late arrival of rulers of Persian origin (such as the Buyids ). The city

1512-578: The war, the Palace of the Golden Gate, which had been al-Amin's stronghold during the Siege of Baghdad (812–813) , was virtually destroyed, and the Khuld also suffered considerable damage. As a result, when al-Ma'mun returned to Baghdad in 819 he rook up residence in the western wing of the Khuld, while his vizier and trusted confidant, al-Hasan ibn Sahl , took up residence in the Ma'muni Palace. Shortly after, as

1554-470: Was British art historian Sir K. A. C. Creswell , whose 1932 publication of the first volume of his monumental survey "Early Muslim Architecture" remains widely acknowledged as an essential reference for early Islamic architecture. The lack of archeological excavations at the surmised location of the Round City means the task of reconstructing the Medinat al-Mansur is mostly a hypothetical exercise. The topic

1596-408: Was al-Mu'tadid, and himself expresses doubts about its authenticity, since Buran was known to have died years earlier. According to Guy Le Strange , however, the incident reported may reflect an earlier visit by al-Mu'tamid to the city. Under al-Mu'tadid, the Hasani became the official caliphal residence. The Caliph added new buildings, including a prison, and enlarged its grounds and enclosed them in

1638-414: Was designed as a circle about 1 km (0.62 mi) in radius, leading it to be known as the "Round City". Given this figure, it may be estimated that the original area of the city, shortly after its construction, was around 3 km (1.2 sq mi) (However, the historical sources do not agree on the size of the city. ) The original design shows a ring of residential and commercial structures along

1680-524: Was likely to have attracted scholars of several disciplines. Among them, geographers, historians, or simple chroniclers provided extensive descriptions of the Madinat al-Mansur even years after the city's fading. All the information we have today related to the physical characteristics, structural functions, and social life in Abbasid Baghdad comes from these literary sources which were revisited in

1722-511: Was not until 2 August 762 that construction began, under the supervision of four architects. Huge resources were amassed for the project: the Arab chroniclers report 100,000 workers and craftsmen, and sums of 18 million gold dinars or 100 million silver dirhams . The caliphal Palace of the Golden Gate and the main mosque , as well as some of the administration offices, were apparently completed by 763, allowing al-Mansur to move his residence into

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1764-452: Was revisited in the second half of the 20th century in new contexts. One of the more recent scholars who has undertaken the subject is Jacob Lassner , who presented a new critical interpretation based on the original texts "Tarikh Baghdad, (A History of Baghdad)," the "Geographical Dictionary" by al-Baghdadi and Ya'qubi, and the assessments made by Herzfeld and Creswell in the beginning of the 20th century. Lassner's "The Topography of Baghdad in

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