History of Baghdad
The city of Baghdad (Arabic: بغداد Baġdād) was established by the Abbasid dynasty as its capital in the 8th century, marking a new era in Islamic history after their defeat of the Umayyad Caliphate.
It replaced Seleucia-Ctesiphon, a Sasanian capital 35 km southeast of Baghdad, which was virtually abandoned by the end of the 8th century.
With the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Baghdad fell under the British Mandate in 1920 and became the capital of the independent Kingdom of Iraq in 1932 (converted to a Republic in 1958).
As the capital of the modern Republic of Iraq, Baghdad has a metropolitan area estimated at a population of 7,000,000 divided into neighborhoods in nine districts.
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.
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.
[9] The link in trade routes provided goods to the city, which allowed markets to draw people from all over the Middle East.
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.
Cultures shared knowledge, books, language, and faiths, ultimately creating a "cosmopolitan city" that developed into a learning center.
[8] The Hanafi today is the largest school of legal thought in the Muslim world, and it was a draw for scholars to the city of Baghdad.
[12] 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.
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.
[16] 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.
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.
[citation needed] Baghdad's early meteoric growth slowed due to troubles within the caliphate, including relocations of the capital to Samarra (during 808–819 and 836–892), the loss of the western and easternmost provinces, and periods of political domination by the Iranian Buwayhids (945–1055) and Seljuk Turks (1055–1135).
Nevertheless, the city remained one of the cultural and commercial hubs of the Islamic world until February 10, 1258, when it was sacked by the Mongols under Hulagu Khan.
The sack of Baghdad put an end to the Abbasid Caliphate, a blow from which the Islamic civilization never fully recovered.
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.
[23] 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.
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.
The curfew 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.
[citation needed] On 10 April 2007, the United States military began construction of a three-mile (5 km) long 3.5 metre tall wall around the Sunni district of Baghdad.
