View source for History of Baghdad

[[File:Al Rasheed Street Baghdad after the rain 1942.png|thumb|[[Al-Rashid Street|Al Rasheed Street]] after the rain, 1942]]
[[File:Abdul Qadir al-Rassam - Untitled (River View) 1932.jpg|thumb]]
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The city of [[Baghdad]] ([[Arabic language|Arabic]]: بغداد ''Baġdād'') was established by the [[Abbasid dynasty]] as its capital in the [[8th century]], marking a new era in [[History of Islam|Islamic history]] after their defeat of the [[Umayyad Caliphate]]. It replaced [[Mada'in|Seleucia-Ctesiphon]], a [[Sasanian Empire|Sasanian]] capital 35 km southeast of Baghdad, which was virtually abandoned by the end of the 8th century. Baghdad was the center of the Caliphate during the [[Islamic Golden Age]] of the 9th and 10th centuries, growing to be the [[List of largest cities throughout history|largest city worldwide]] by the beginning of the 10th century. It began to decline in the [[Iranian Intermezzo]] of the 9th to 11th centuries and was destroyed in the [[Mongol invasions and conquests|Mongolian invasion]] [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|in 1258]].

The city   was rebuilt and flourished under [[Ilkhanid]] rule, but never rose to its former glory. It was again sacked by [[Timur]] in 1401 and fell under Turkic rule. It was briefly occupied by [[Safavid Iran|Safavid]] [[Persia]] in 1508, but fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1534. With the [[dissolution of the Ottoman Empire]], Baghdad fell under the [[Mandatory Iraq|British Mandate]] in 1920 and became the capital of the independent [[Kingdom of Iraq]] in 1932 (converted to a [[Iraqi Republic (1958–68)|Republic]] in 1958).

As the capital of the modern [[Iraq|Republic of Iraq]], Baghdad has a [[metropolitan area]] estimated at a population of 7,000,000 divided into [[List of neighborhoods and districts in Baghdad|neighborhoods in nine districts]]. It is the largest city in Iraq, the second-largest city in the [[Arab world]] (after [[Cairo]]) and the second-largest city in [[West Asia]] (after [[Tehran]]).

==Early history==
[[File:Baghdad 150 to 300 AH.png|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Round city of Baghdad]]]]

Baghdad was founded on 30 July 762 CE. It was designed by Caliph [[al-Mansur]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Marozzi|first=Justin|date=2016-03-16|title=Story of cities #3: the birth of Baghdad was a landmark for world civilisation|url=http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/16/story-cities-day-3-baghdad-iraq-world-civilisation|access-date=2021-08-04|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref> According to 11th-century scholar [[Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi]] in his ''History of Baghdad,''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tarikh Baghdad. Die Geschichte von Bagdad. The History of Baghdad. by al-Khatib al Baghdadi:: Gut Leinen/cloth. (1967) 14 Bände / volumes. {{!}} Fundus-Online GbR Borkert Schwarz Zerfaß|url=https://www.abebooks.com/Tarikh-Baghdad-Geschichte-Bagdad-History-Baghdad/22917449198/bd|access-date=2021-08-04|website=www.abebooks.com|language=en}}</ref> each course of the city wall consisted of 162,000 bricks for the first third of the wall's height. The wall was 80&nbsp;ft high, crowned with battlements and flanked by bastions. A deep moat ringed the outer wall's perimeter.

[[File:Baghdad-Zumurrud-Khaton.jpg|thumb|right|Zumurrud Khaton tomb in Baghdad,1932]]
Thousands of architects, engineers, legal experts, surveyors, carpenters, blacksmiths, diggers, and laborers from across the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] were brought in to survey, measure, and excavate the foundations. [[Ya'qubi]], in his ''Book of Countries'',<ref>{{Cite web|last=ThriftBooks|title=Kitab Al-Buldan - Primary Source... book|url=https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/kitab-al-buldan---primary-source-edition/17073909/|access-date=2021-08-04|website=ThriftBooks|language=en}}</ref> thought there were 100,000 workers involved. "They say that no other round city is known in all the regions of the world," according to [[Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi]]. Four equidistant gates pierced the outer walls where straight roads led to the center of the city. The Kufa Gate to the southwest and the Basra Gate to the southeast opened onto the Sarat canal – a key part of the network of waterways that drained the waters of the Euphrates into the Tigris. The Sham (Syrian) Gate to the northwest led to the main road on to Anbar, and across the desert to Syria. To the northeast the Khorasan Gate lay close to the Tigris, leading to the bridge of boats across it.

The four straight roads that ran towards the center of the city from the outer gates were lined with vaulted arcades containing merchants' shops and bazaars. Smaller streets ran off these four main arteries, giving access to a series of squares and houses; the limited space between the main wall and the inner wall was due to Mansur's desire to maintain the heart of the city as a royal preserve.

By 766, Mansur's Round City was complete. The ninth-century essayist, polymath, and polemicist [[al-Jahiz]] said. "I have seen the great cities, including those noted for their durable construction. I have seen such cities in the districts of Syria, in Byzantine territory, and in other provinces, but I have never seen a city of greater height, more perfect circularity, more endowed with superior merits or possessing more spacious gates or more perfect defenses than Al Zawra (Baghdad), that is to say, the city of Abu Jafar al-Mansur."

The city had an array of basic services and employed a staff of civil servants. These included night watchmen, lamplighters, health inspectors, market inspectors (who examined the weights and measures as well as the quality of goods), and debt collectors. It also had a police force with a police chief who lived in the caliph's palace.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bobrick |first1=Benson |title=The Caliph's Splendor: Islam and the West in the Golden Age of Baghdad |date=2012 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1416567622 |page=69}}</ref>

=== Foundation ===
{{Excerpt|Baghdad#History}}
After the fall of the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyads]], the first Muslim dynasty, the victorious [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] rulers wanted their own capital from which they could rule. They chose a site north of the [[Sassanid]] capital of [[Ctesiphon]], and on 30 July 762<ref>{{cite book |last=Corzine |first=Phyllis |title=The Islamic Empire |publisher=Thomson Gale |year=2005 |pages=68–69}}</ref> the [[caliph]] [[Al-Mansur]] commissioned the construction of the city. It was built under the guidance of the [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] [[Barmakids]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Times History of the World |publisher=[[Times Books]] |year=2000 |location=London}}</ref> Mansur believed that Baghdad was the perfect city to be the capital of the Islamic Empire under the Abbasids. The Muslim historian al-Tabari reported an ancient prediction by Christian monks that a lord named Miklas would one day build a spectacular city around the area of Baghdad. When al-Mansur heard the story, he became very joyful, for legend has it, he was called Miklas as a child.<ref>{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=14}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wiet |first=Gastron |url=https://archive.org/details/baghdadmetropoli00wiet |title=Baghdad: Metropolis of the Abbasid Caliphate |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |year=1971 |isbn=978-0-8061-0922-0 |url-access=registration}}</ref>
[[File:سکه_هارون_الرشید_ضرب_مدینه_السلام_سال_192_ه.ق.jpg|thumb|[[Dirham]] of [[Harun al-Rashid]] circa 807 Baghdad]]
The city's growth was helped by its excellent location, based on at least two factors: it had control over strategic and trading routes along the [[Tigris]], and it had an abundance of water in a dry climate. Water exists on both the north and south ends of the city, allowing all households to have a plentiful supply, which was quite uncommon during this time. The city of Baghdad quickly became so large that it had to be divided into three judicial districts: Madinat al-Mansur (the Round City), al-Sharqiyya ([[Karkh|al-Karkh]]) and Askar al-Mahdi (on the West Bank).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tillier |first=Mathieu |title=Les cadis d'Iraq et l'État Abbasside (132/750-334/945) |date=2009 |publisher=Presses de l'Ifpo |isbn=978-2-35159-028-7 |doi=10.4000/books.ifpo.673}}</ref> Al-Mansur also planned out al-Karkh district so that he could separate the markets from the Round City in order to keep the turbulent populace away from the Round City to ensure that the gates would not be open at night for markets. Over time, the markets became diverse and a home to merchants and craftsmen. Officials with the title of "Muhtasib" were hired to look after markets to prevent cheating and check the weighs and measures of stocks.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Clifford Edmund |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UB4uSVt3ulUC |title=Historic Cities of the Islamic World |date=2007-01-01 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-15388-2 |language=en}}</ref>

Baghdad eclipsed [[Ctesiphon]], the capital of the [[Sassanians]], which was located some {{cvt|30|km|mi}} to the southeast. Today, all that remains of Ctesiphon is the shrine town of [[Salman Pak]], just to the south of Greater Baghdad which is where [[Salman the Persian]] is believed to have been buried. Ctesiphon itself had replaced and absorbed [[Seleucia]], the first capital of the [[Seleucid Empire]], which had earlier replaced the city of Babylon.
[[File:Floods_in_Baghdad.jpg|left|thumb|A 1468 painting of Floods in Baghdad by Shirwan]]
According to the traveler [[Ibn Battuta]], Baghdad was one of the largest cities,{{Clarify|date=May 2023}} not including the damage it has received. The residents are mostly [[Hanbali|Hanbalis]]. Baghdad is also home to the grave of [[Abu Hanifa]] where there is a [[Abu Hanifa Mosque|cell and a mosque]] above it. The Sultan of Baghdad, [[Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan|Abu Said Bahadur Khan]], was a Tatar king who embraced Islam.<ref>Battuta, pg. 75{{full citation needed|date=July 2020}}</ref>

In its early years, the city was known as a deliberate reminder of an expression in the [[Qur'an]], when it refers to [[Paradise]].{{sfn|Wiet|1971|p=13}} It took four years to build (764–768). Mansur assembled engineers, surveyors, and art constructionists from around the world to come together and draw up plans for the city. Over 100,000 construction workers came to survey the plans; many were distributed salaries to start the building of the city.<ref>{{cite book |last=Corzine |first=Phyllis |title=The Islamic Empire |publisher=Thomson Gale |year=2005 |page=69}}</ref> July was chosen as the starting time because two [[Astrology|astrologers]], [[Naubakht|Naubakht Ahvazi]], an [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]], and [[Mashallah ibn Athari|Mashallah]], an [[Persian Jews|Iranian Jew]], believed that the city should be built under the sign of the [[Mesopotamian lion|lion]], [[Leo (astrology)|Leo]].{{sfn|Wiet|1971|p=12}} Leo is associated with fire and symbolizes productivity, pride, and expansion and Leo's connection symbolically to Mithra.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

The bricks used to make the city were {{cvt|18|in|mm}} on all four sides. [[Abu Hanifa|Abu Hanifah]] was the counter {{Clarify|date=May 2023}} of the bricks and he developed a canal, which brought water to the work site for both human consumption and the manufacture of the bricks. Marble was also used to make buildings throughout the city, and marble steps led down to the river's edge.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}
[[File:Baghdad_150_to_300_AH.png|thumb|The [[Round City of Baghdad]] between 767 and 912&nbsp;AD]]
[[File:صورة_للمتحف_البغدادي.jpg|thumb|[[Baghdadi Museum|Baghdad Museum]] is a local [[history museum]]. It features 70 scenes from different periods using lifesize models presenting Baghdad life]]
The basic framework of the city consists of two large semicircles about {{cvt|19|km|mi}} in diameter. The inner city connecting them was designed as a circle about {{cvt|2|km}} in diameter, leading it to be known as the "Round City". The original design shows a single ring of residential and commercial structures along the inside of the city walls, but the final construction added another ring inside the first.<ref name="ox">{{cite web |title=Abbasid Ceramics: Plan of Baghdad |url=http://islamicceramics.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/Abbasid/baghdad.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030325090348/http://islamicceramics.ashmol.ox.ac.uk/Abbasid/baghdad.htm |archive-date=25 March 2003 |access-date=5 October 2014}}</ref> Within the city there were many parks, gardens, villas, and promenades.<ref>"Yakut: Baghdad under the Abbasids, c. 1000CE"</ref> There was a large sanitation department, many fountains and public baths, and unlike contemporary [[Europe|European]] cities at the time, streets were frequently washed free of debris and trash.<ref>{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=65}}</ref> In fact, by the time of Harun al-Rashid, Baghdad had a few thousand [[Turkish bath|hammams]]. These baths increased public hygiene and served as a way for the religious to perform ablutions as prescribed by Islam. Moreover, entry fees were usually so low that almost everyone could afford them.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 67">{{harvnb|Bobrick|2012|p=67}}</ref> 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 Near Eastern [[Urban planning|urban design]]. The Sasanian city of [[Firuzabad, Fars|Gur]] in [[Fars province|Fars]], built 500 years before Baghdad, is nearly identical in its general circular design, radiating avenues, and the government buildings and temples at the center of the city. Much earlier, circular cities had existed in the Syro-Mesopotamian heartland, one of the better-known examples being [[Mari, Syria|Mari]], while [[Tell Chuera]] and [[Al-Rawda (tell)|Tell al-Rawda]] also provide examples of this type of urban planning existing in Bronze Age [[Syria (region)|Syria]]. This style of urban planning contrasted with Ancient [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] urban planning, in which cities are designed as squares or rectangles with streets intersecting each other at right angles.

Baghdad was a hectic city during the day and had many attractions at night. There were cabarets and taverns, halls for backgammon and chess, live plays, concerts, and acrobats. On street corners, storytellers engaged crowds with tales such as those later told in Arabian Nights.<ref name="Bobrick 2012 67" /> Storytelling became a profession called "[[al-Qaskhun]]" which survived until the modern era.<ref>{{Cite web |title=بالصور.. أبو تحسين آخر حكواتي في بغداد |url=https://www.aljazeera.net/culture/2019/5/16/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%b1%d8%a7%d9%82-%d8%a8%d8%ba%d8%af%d8%a7%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%82%d8%b5%d8%ae%d9%88%d9%86-%d8%ad%d9%83%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%aa%d9%8a-%d9%85%d9%82%d9%87%d9%89 |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=الجزيرة نت |language=ar}}</ref>
[[File:Niebuhr1778bd2_Baghdad.jpg|thumb|Contemporary sketch of Baghdad published by [[Carsten Niebuhr]] in 1778]]
The four surrounding walls of Baghdad were named [[Kufa]], [[Basra]], [[Greater Khorasan|Khurasan]], and [[Syria]]; named because [[Gates of Baghdad|their gates]] pointed in the directions of these destinations. The distance between these gates was a little less than {{cvt|1.5|mi|km|order=flip}}. Each gate had double doors that were made of iron; the doors were so heavy it took several men to open and close them. The wall itself was about 44&nbsp;m thick at the base and about 12&nbsp;m thick at the top. Also, the wall was 30&nbsp;m high, which included [[Merlon|merlons]], a solid part of an embattled parapet usually pierced by [[Embrasure|embrasures]]. This wall was surrounded by another wall with a thickness of 50&nbsp;m. The second wall had towers and rounded merlons, which surrounded the towers. This outer wall was protected by a solid [[glacis]], which is made out of bricks and [[quicklime]]. Beyond the outer wall was a water-filled moat.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}

The Golden Gate Palace,   the residence of the caliph and his family, was in the heart of Baghdad, in the central square. In the central part of the building, there was a green dome that was 48m high. Surrounding the palace was an [[esplanade]], a waterside building, in which only the caliph could come riding on horseback. In addition, the palace was near other mansions and officer's residences. Near the Gate of Syria, a building served as the home for the guards. It was made of brick and marble. The palace governor lived in the latter part of the building and the commander of the guards in the front. In 813, after the death of caliph [[Al-Amin]], the palace was no longer used as the home for the caliph and his family.{{sfn|Wiet|1971|p=15}} The roundness points to the fact that it was based on [[Arabic script]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hattstein |first=Markus |title=Islam Art and Architecture |author2=Peter Delius |publisher=Könemann |year=2000 |isbn=978-3-8290-2558-4 |location=Cologne |page=96}}</ref><ref>''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]'', [[Columbia University]], p.413.</ref> The two designers who were hired by [[Al-Mansur]] to plan the city's design were [[Naubakht]], a Zoroastrian who also determined that the date of the foundation of the city would be astrologically auspicious, and [[Mashallah ibn Athari|Mashallah]], a Jew from [[Khorasan province|Khorasan]], [[Iran]].<ref name="ref2">{{cite book |last=Hill |first=Donald R. |title=Islamic Science and Engineering |publisher=Edinburgh Univ. Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-7486-0457-9 |location=Edinburgh |page=10}}</ref>

===Destruction and abandonment===
The Round City was partially ruined during the siege of 812–813, when Caliph [[al-Amin]] was killed by his brother,{{efn|the partial ruin of Western Baghdad, more especially the Round City of Mançür, had followed as the result of the first siege in the time of Amin<ref name=Strange>{{cite journal |last1=Le Strange, G |title=Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate. A Topographical Summary, with a Notice of the Contemporary Arabic and Persian Authorities |journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |date=October 1899 |pages=847–893 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |jstor=25208155 |language=en}}</ref>}} who then [[Al-Ma'mun|became the new caliph]]. It never recovered;{{efn|witnessed the rebuilding of the half-ruined capital, but the Round City would appear never to have recovered from the effects of this disastrous siege<ref name=Strange />}} its walls were destroyed by 912,{{efn|in the early years of the fourth century (which began 912 A.D.) and the walls of West Baghdad, had likewise fallen to complete ruin<ref name=Strange />}} nothing of them remains,{{efn|but of the Round City of Mançur apparently nothing remains<ref name=Strange />}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Justin Marozzi |title=Story of cities #3: the birth of Baghdad was a landmark for world civilization |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/16/story-cities-day-3-baghdad-iraq-world-civilisation |access-date=1 August 2020 |work=The Guardian |date=16 March 2016 |quote=The last traces of Mansur’s Round City were demolished in the early 1870s}}</ref> there is no agreement as to where it was located.<ref>{{cite news |last1=NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF |title=A Crumbling Cultural History |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-dec-14-et-architecture14-story.html |access-date=1 August 2020 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=14 December 2003 |language=en |quote=few historians can agree on its exact location; most believe that it existed only a short time before it vanished}}</ref>

==Sphere of learning (8th to 9th centuries)==
{{further|Islamic Golden Age}}

Caliph al-Mansur of the Abbasid Caliphate chose the city's location because of its critical link in trade routes, mild climate, topography (critical for fortification), and proximity to water. All of these factors made the city a center for culture and knowledge. Baghdad is set on the [[Khurasan Road]], which was an established meeting place for caravan routes from all directions.<ref name="Bearman 2012" /> 

During the construction of the city, gates were placed at the entrances of the major roads into the city, in order to funnel traffic into the city. The Kufah Gate was on a major road that pilgrims took to [[Mecca]], and the Anbar gate linked the bridges over the canals and Euphrates River to the city. These helped in bringing people into the city, and around these entrances, markets allowed travelers to trade.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Le Strange |first=G |title=Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate. A Topographical Summary, with a Notice of the Contemporary Arabic and Persian Authorities |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |date=Oct 1899 |pages=847–893 |jstor=25208155}}</ref> The link in trade routes provided goods to the city, which allowed markets to draw people from all over the Middle East. 

The markets that developed in Baghdad were sophisticated because of the government's supervision of their products as well as trade amongst each other.<ref name="Bearman 2012">{{cite book|last=Bearman |first=P. |title=Baghdad |work=Encyclopedia of Islam |date=24 April 2012 |edition=Second |publisher=Brill Online |url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/baghdad-COM_0084}}</ref> An advanced banking system developed as well, allowing further settlement from outsiders. Baghdad's location between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers created a trade link to further destinations such as China, India, and Armenia, drawing more people, literature, and knowledge to the city.<ref>{{cite book|author=al-Tabari|title=The History of Al-Tabari, Volume XXVIII|year=1995|publisher=New York State University. Edited by Jane Dammen McAuliffe|location=New York|pages=243}}</ref> 

The mild climate and topography made it attractive as well for travelers. Cultures shared knowledge, books, language, and faiths, ultimately creating a "cosmopolitan city" that developed into a learning center.<ref name="Robinson 2003 27">{{cite book|last=Robinson|first=Chase|title=Islamic Historiography|year=2003|publisher=Cambridge UP|location=New York|pages=27}}</ref>

Schools were built including the [[Hanafi]] and [[Hanbali]] [[Madhhab|schools of law]]. Law is a critical study for the Muslim people, because of the understanding of justice on Earth as applied to God.<ref name="Bearman 2012" /> The Hanafi today is the largest school of [[Fiqh|legal thought in the Muslim world]], and it was a draw for scholars to the city of Baghdad. Another school was the [[Bayt al-Hikma]] ([[House of Wisdom]]), which focused on translating texts from various languages into Arabic. This practice began out of a need to supply educated texts from around the world to a growing educated public market.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bevan|first=Brock Llewllyn|title=Greek Though, Arabic Culture: The Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement in Baghdad and Early Abbasid Society (2nd-4th/8th-10th Centuries) |journal=Muslim World|year=2000|issue=90.1–2|pages=249}}</ref> In particular, the Arabic translation of Grecian texts became a substantial market because its primary impetus from the caliphate was to establish a new ideology with a political and scientific base.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bevan|first=Brock Llewllyn|title=Greek Though, Arabic Culture: The Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement in Baghdad and Early Abbasid Society (2nd-4th/8th-10th Centuries)|journal=Muslim World|year=2000|issue=90.1–2|pages=250}}</ref> This translation helped to foster the transition between a primarily oral society, to one centered on a written language. 

Baghdad's location made it ideal for paper production, which lowered the cost of creating books, making them more prevalent and accessible to more people.<ref name="Robinson 2003 27" /> As more texts began to be produced, a new market for book vendors opened, and libraries and bookstores appeared in the city. 

As the public and private sectors of the community became more educated, cultural narrative and secular writing began. In the city, demand for secular literature, designed for entertainment, developed, which shaped the culture of the city's population, as well as the Abbasid Empire as a whole, with Baghdad being a reason for the [[Golden Age of Islam]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cooperson|first=Michael |title=Baghdad in Rhetoric and Narrative|journal=Muqarnas|year=1996|issue=13|pages=106}}</ref> At this time, Baghdad was revered as the "center of the world" because of its scholarship. Michael Cooperson says that "Baghdadi scholars were so numerous and so eminent that reference to them could continue to support the 'center of the world' thesis…".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cooperson|first=Michael|title=Baghdad in Rhetoric and Narrative|journal=Muqarnas|year=1996|issue=13|pages=100}}</ref> Al-Mansur's foundation and construction of the city as well were done by only the best scholars, further fostering the notion of an intellectual city population to support the Golden Age.<ref>{{cite book|author=Al-Tabari. Edited by Jane Dammen McAuliffe|title=The History of Al-Tabari Volume XXVIII|year=1995|publisher=New York State University|location=New York|pages=245}}</ref> 

Al-Mansur's foundation of the city was ultimately based on its potential position as a military arsenal, and its ability to house and support many troops. Large numbers of troops were what originally gave the city such a dense population, but as the army continued to need supplies, more people came to the city for jobs, thus being another reason Baghdad became a center of commerce.<ref>{{cite book|author=Al Tabari |editor=Jane Dammen McAuliffe|title=The History of Al-Tabari|year=1995|publisher=New York State University|location=New York|pages=240}}</ref> Baghdad also being named the new capital of the Abbasid caliphate drew in people for the prestige and name alone. Al-Mansur designated a governor of Baghdad and sent with him a number of elites who gave the city a higher status, drawing more scholars to study.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kennedy|first=Hugh|title=Central Government and Provincial Elites in the Early Abbasid Caliphate|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London|year=1981|volume=44|issue=1|pages=26–38|doi=10.1017/s0041977x00104380|s2cid=151066906 }}</ref>

At its height, Baghdad was estimated to have over one and half million people living in the city.<ref>{{cite book |last=Micheau |first=Francoise |title=The City in the Islamic World |publisher=Brill |year=2008 |editor-last1=Jayyusi |editor-first1=Salma K. |volume=1 |page=235 |chapter=Baghdad in the Abbasid Era: A Cosmopolitan and Multi-Confessional Capital |editor-last2=Holod |editor-first2=Renata |editor-last3=Petruccioli |editor-first3=Attilio |editor-last4=Raymond |editor-first4=Andre}}</ref> It may have been the largest city in the world during that time.

==Stagnation and invasions (10th to 16th centuries)==
[[File:Ibn al-Aḥnaf, Kitāb al-Bayṭara, Baghdad, dated AH605 1209CE Rider with sharbūsh.jpg|thumb|Miniature from the ''[[Kitāb al-bayṭara]]'', published in Baghdad in 1209. The horserider is wearing a Turkic ''[[sharbūsh]]''. [[Egyptian National Library and Archives]], (Khalil Agha F8).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Contadini |first1=Anna |title=A World of Beasts: A Thirteenth-Century Illustrated Arabic Book on Animals (the Kitāb Na't al-Ḥayawān) in the Ibn Bakhtīshū' Tradition |date=1 January 2012 |doi=10.1163/9789004222656_005 |publisher=Brill |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004222656_005 |page=Plate 33}}</ref>]]
By the 10th century, the city's population was between 300,000 and 500,000.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}} Baghdad's early meteoric growth slowed due to troubles within the caliphate, including relocations of the capital to [[Samarra]] (during 808&ndash;819 and 836&ndash;892), the loss of the western and easternmost provinces, and periods of political domination by the [[Iran]]ian [[Buyid dynasty|Buwayhids]] (945&ndash;1055) and [[Seljuk Turks]] (1055&ndash;1135). 

Nevertheless, the city remained one of the cultural and commercial hubs of the Islamic world until February 10, 1258, when it was [[Battle of Baghdad (1258)|sacked]] by the [[Mongols]] under [[Hulagu Khan]]. The Mongols killed most of the city's inhabitants, including the Abbasid Caliph [[Al-Musta'sim]], and destroyed large sections of the city. The [[canal]]s and [[Levee|dykes]] forming the city's [[irrigation]] system were destroyed. The sack of Baghdad put an end to the Abbasid Caliphate, a blow from which the [[Islamic]] civilization never fully recovered. The Mongols placed a Chinese governor in Baghdad after it was captured.

At this point Baghdad was ruled by the [[Il-Khanids]], part of the [[Mongolian Empire]] centered in Persia. The city was reconstructed and flourished under the Mongols. In 1401, Baghdad was again conquered, by [[Timur]] ("Tamerlane"). It became a provincial capital controlled by the [[Jalayirid]] (1400&ndash;1411), [[Black Sheep Turkmen|Qara Qoyunlu]] (1411&ndash;1469), [[White Sheep Turkmen|Aq Quyunlu]] (1469&ndash;1508), [[Safavid Empire]] Under [[Ismail I|Shah Ismail]] (1508&ndash;1523), [[Dhul Fiqar Al-Kurdi|Dhul Fiqar Al Kurdi]] (1523–1529) [[Safavid empire|Safavid Empire]] under [[Tahmasp I|Shah Tahmasp]] (1529–1534), and [[Safavid empire|Safavid Empire]] under [[Abbas the Great|Shah Abbas]] (1624&ndash;1638). 

==Ottoman Baghdad (16th to 19th centuries)==
{{further|History of Baghdad (1638–1704)|History of Baghdad (1831–1917)}}

In 1534, Baghdad was conquered by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turks]], under the leadership of [[Suleiman the Magnificent]]. It was captured by [[Shah Abbas I]] of the Safavids in 1624, and retaken by the Ottomans under [[Murad IV]]'s command in 1638, during the Ottoman-Safavid War of 1623-1639. Under the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]], Baghdad fell into a period of decline, partially as a result of the enmity between its rulers and [[Safavid Persia]]. For a time, Baghdad had been the largest city in the Middle East before being overtaken by [[Constantinople]] in the 16th century. The city saw a relative revival in the latter part of the 18th century under the [[Mamluk dynasty of Iraq|Mamluk dynasty]]. ''[[The Nuttall Encyclopedia]]'' reports the 1907 population of Baghdad as 185,000.

==War timeline==
* [[Siege of Baghdad (812–813)]], during the Fourth Fitna (Islamic Civil War)
* [[Siege of Baghdad (865)]], during the Fifth Fitna
* [[Battle of Baghdad (946)]], Buyid–Hamdanid War
* [[Siege of Baghdad (1136)]], by the Seljuks
* [[Siege of Baghdad (1157)]], by the Seljuks
* [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)]], Mongol conquest of Baghdad
* [[Siege of Baghdad (1393)]], by [[Timur|Tamerlane]]
* [[Siege of Baghdad (1401)]], by [[Timur|Tamerlane]]
* [[Capture of Baghdad (1534)]], Ottoman–Safavid Wars
* [[Capture of Baghdad (1624)]], Ottoman–Safavid Wars
* [[Siege of Baghdad (1625)]], Ottoman–Safavid Wars
* [[Capture of Baghdad (1638)]], Ottoman–Safavid Wars
* [[Siege of Baghdad (1733)]], Ottoman-Persian Wars
* [[Fall of Baghdad (1917)]], World War I
* [[Battle of Baghdad (2003)]], United States invasion of Iraq
* [[Battle of Baghdad (2006–2008)]], Iraq War

==20th and 21st centuries==
[[File:Baghdad LOC 13186.jpg|thumb|Baghdad in 1932|upright=1.3]]
{{Recentism|date=July 2020}}
[[File:14_July_Revolution.jpg|left|thumb|Revolutionary soldiers in a street of Baghdad, 1958]]
Baghdad remained under [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] control until [[World War I]], when on 11 March 1917 it was captured by [[British Empire|British]] forces. After the war, Baghdad was placed under the control of a [[Mandatory Iraq|British Mandate]]. During the period of British control, the Mandatory administration ordered the construction of several new architectural projects around the city.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jackson |first=Iain |date=2 April 2016 |title=The architecture of the British Mandate in Iraq: nation-building and state creation |journal=The Journal of Architecture |language=en |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=375–417 |doi=10.1080/13602365.2016.1179662 |issn=1360-2365 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Iraq was given formal independence by the British in 1932, and increased autonomy in 1946. On 14 July 1958, the Iraqi king, [[Faisal II]], was executed and the [[Kingdom of Iraq|monarchy]] was dissolved after a [[14 July Revolution|revolution]], forming a [[Iraqi Republic (1958–1968)|republic]]. The city's population grew from an estimated 145,000 in 1900 to 580,000 in 1950. During the 1970s, Baghdad experienced a period of prosperity and growth because of a sharp increase in the price of [[petroleum]], Iraq's main [[export]]. New [[infrastructure]] including modern [[sewage|sewers]], water, and [[highway]] facilities were built during this period. 

[[File:Bagdad2 i juni 1977.jpg|thumb|left|Baghdad in the 1970s]]
However, the [[Iran–Iraq War]] of the 1980s was a difficult time for the city, as money flowed into the army and thousands of residents were killed. Iran launched a number of [[missile]] attacks against Baghdad, although they caused relatively little damage and few casualties.

In 1991, the first [[Gulf War]] caused extensive damage to Baghdad's [[transportation]], [[Electricity generation|power]], and sanitary infrastructure.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}

[[File:baghdad nima 2003.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|2003 street map of Baghdad]]
Baghdad was bombed heavily in March and April 2003 in the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]], and fell under US control by April 7–9. Additional damage was caused by the severe [[looting]]<ref>JOHNSON, I.M. "The impact on libraries and archives in Iraq of war and looting in 2003 – a preliminary assessment of the damage and subsequent reconstruction efforts." ''International Information and Library Review'', 37 (3), 2005, 209–271.</ref> during the days following the end of the war. With the deposition of [[Saddam Hussein]]'s regime, the city was occupied by [[United States Army|U.S. troops]]. The [[Coalition Provisional Authority]] established a three-square-mile (8&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) "[[Green Zone]]" within the heart of the city from which it governed Iraq during the period before the new Iraqi government was established. The [[Coalition Provisional Authority]] ceded power to the interim government at the end of June 2004 and dissolved itself.<ref>{{Cite web|title=U.S. transfers sovereignty to Iraq 2 days early|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna5312795|access-date=2021-08-04|website=NBC News|date=28 June 2004 |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Baghdad-smoke-satellite.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|A satellite [[false-color]] image of Baghdad, taken March 31, 2003. The image shows smoke rising from pools of burning oil spread along "Canal Road" and other locations. Ditches full of oil were created shortly before the war to obscure visibility (black) and vegetation (red).]]

On September 23, 2003, a [[Gallup 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-up [[Gallup 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."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-04-28-poll-cover_x.htm |work=USA Today |title=Poll: Iraqis out of patience |first1=Cesar G. |last1=Soriano |first2=Steven |last2=Komarow |date=2004-04-30 |access-date=2010-05-04}}</ref>

Most residents of Baghdad became impatient with the coalition forces because essential services such as [[electricity]] were still unreliable more than a year after the invasion. In the summer of 2004, electricity was only available intermittently in most areas of the city. An additional pressing concern was the lack of security. The [[curfew]] imposed immediately after the invasion had been lifted in the winter of 2003, but the city that had once had a vibrant [[nightlife (activity)|night life]] was still considered too dangerous after dark for many citizens. Those dangers included [[kidnapping]] and the risk of being caught in fighting between security forces and [[Iraqi insurgency (Iraq War)|insurgents]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2007}}

On 10 April 2007, the United States military began construction of a three-mile (5&nbsp;km) long 3.5 metre tall [[Baghdad Wall|wall]] around the [[Sunni]] district of Baghdad.<ref>{{cite news |title=Latest US solution to Iraq's civil war: a three-mile wall |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/21/iraq.iraqtimeline |work=[[The Guardian]] |first=Ewen |last=MacAskill |date=2007-04-21 |access-date=2009-08-21 |location=London}}</ref> On 23 April, the [[Iraq]]i Prime Minister, [[Nouri Maliki]], called for construction to be halted on the wall.<ref>{{cite news |title=Iraqi PM calls for halt to Baghdad wall |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/23/iraq.usa |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=2007-04-23 |access-date=2009-08-21 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Iraqi PM criticises Baghdad wall |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6582225.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=2007-04-22 |access-date=2009-08-21}}</ref>

In 2021, [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] [[suicide bomber]]s [[January 2021 Baghdad bombings|killed 32 people in January]] and 35 people in July.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-07-20|title=Suicide attack in Iraq's Sadr City kills at least 35, wounds dozens -sources|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/two-killed-13-wounded-explosion-iraqs-sadr-city-sources-2021-07-19/|access-date=2021-08-21|website=Reuters|language=en}}</ref> In April, 82 people died due to [[Baghdad hospital fire|a hospital fire]].

==See also==
* [[Timeline of Baghdad]]
* [[History of Iraq]]
* [[History of the Jews in Baghdad]]
* [[Iraq War]]
{{notes}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
{{see also|Timeline of Baghdad#Bibliography}}
* Connelly, Coleman. "Contesting the Greek Past in Ninth-Century Baghdad" (PhD dissertation, Harvard University ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  2016. 10632945).
* Falagas, Matthew E., Effie A. Zarkadoulia, and George Samonis. "Arab science in the golden age (750–1258 CE) and today." ''The FASEB Journal'' 20.10 (2006): 1581-1586. [https://faseb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1096/fj.06-0803ufm online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602110642/https://faseb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1096/fj.06-0803ufm |date=2023-06-02 }}
* Hanne, Eric J.  "The Caliphate revisited: The Abbasids of eleventh and twelfth century Baghdad" (PhD dissertation, University of Michigan; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  1998. 9909898).
* Hassan, Mona F.   "Loss of caliphate: The trauma and aftermath of 1258 and 1924"(PhD dissertation, Princeton University; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  2009. 3341296).
* Kheirandish, Elaheh. ''Baghdad and Isfahan: A Dialogue of Two Cities in an Age of Science CA. 750-1750'' (Harvard UP, 2021) [https://www.amazon.com/Baghdad-Isfahan-Dialogue-Science-750-1750/dp/1780768338/ excerpt]
* {{Citation |publisher = Clarendon Press |location = Oxford |author = Le Strange, Guy |author-link = Guy Le Strange |url = https://archive.org/stream/BaghdadDuringTheAbbasidCaliphateFromContemporaryArabicAndPersian/LeStrange_Baghdad_Abbasid#page/n9/mode/2up |title = Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate |date = 1900 }} ([https://archive.org/stream/BaghdadDuringTheAbbasidCaliphateFromContemporaryArabicAndPersian/LeStrange_Baghdad_Abbasid#page/n33/mode/2up Bibliography] + [https://archive.org/stream/BaghdadDuringTheAbbasidCaliphateFromContemporaryArabicAndPersian/LeStrange_Baghdad_Abbasid#page/n421/mode/2up Index]). A standard scholarly history.
* Marozzi, Justin. ''Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood--A History in Thirteen Centuries'' (Da Capo Press, 2014) [https://www.amazon.com/Baghdad-Blood-History-Thirteen-Centuries/dp/0306823985/ excerpt].
* Neggaz, Nassima. "The falls of Baghdad in 1258 and 2003: A study in Sunnī-Shī'ī clashing memories" (PhD dissertation,    Georgetown University ProQuest Dissertations Publishing,  2013. 3606870).
* {{Citation |publisher = University of Oklahoma Press |isbn = 080610922X |location = Norman |title = Baghdad: metropolis of the Abbasid caliphate |date = 1971 |translator = Seymour Feiler |author = Wiet, Gaston |url-access = registration |url = https://archive.org/details/baghdadmetropoli00wiet |author-link = Gaston Wiet }}. popular history
* Wu. Pai-nan Rashid. "The Fall of Baghdad and the Mongol Rule in Al-Iraq, 1258-1335' (PhD dissertation, U of Utah; ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1974. 7509617).

==External links==
* [http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/images/maps/Baghdad_Ethnic_Changes_lg.png Ethnic changes in Baghdad, 2003-2007] ([http://gulf2000.columbia.edu/maps.shtml See more ethnic maps of Baghdad here])

{{commons category|History of Baghdad}}

[[Category:History of Baghdad| ]]
[[Category:Histories of cities in Iraq|Baghdad]]
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