Rashid Ali installed a pro-German and pro-Italian government to replace the pro-British government of Regent Abdul Ilah. The Abbasids moved the empire’s capital from Damascus, in modern-day Syria, to Baghdad, in modern-day Iraq, in 762 CE. Baghdad (Arabic: بغداد ‎ Baġdād) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. Even today, London remains an impressive and significant place, and not only as the center of a mighty empire on which the sun never set. From 1851 to 1852 and from 1861 to 1867, Baghdad was governed, under the Ottoman Empire by Mehmed Namık Pasha. Guy Le Strange, "Baghdad During the Abbasid Caliphate from Contemporary Arabic and Persian", pg 10. dad (băg′dăd′) The capital and largest city of Iraq, in the center of the country on the Tigris River. The Abbasids had depended heavily on the support of Persians in their overthrow of the Umayyads, and the geographic power shift appeased the Persian mawali support base. In recent years, the city has been frequently subjected to insurgent attacks, resulting in a substantial loss of cultural heritage and historical artifacts. Overview. Soon after,[62] by December 1058, a Shi'i adhān (call to prayer) was implemented in Baghdad and a khutbah (sermon) was delivered in the name of the Fatimid Imam-Caliph. During the Mandate, Baghdad's substantial Jewish community comprised a quarter of the city's population. Term. by Rawlinson, George. At that time, three possible locations had been identified, but no estimates of cost or completion date were given. [33] There was a large sanitation department, many fountains and public baths, and unlike contemporary European cities at the time, streets were frequently washed free of debris and trash. In 813, after the death of caliph Al-Amin, the palace was no longer used as the home for the caliph and his family. The city flourished into an unrivaled intellectual center of science, medicine, philosophy, and education, especially with the Abbasid Translation Movement began under the second caliph Al-Mansur and thrived under the seventh caliph Al-Ma'mun. For a variety of reasons, rural migrants have been particularly drawn to. As within the city, the district councils then elected representatives from among their members to serve on the 35 member Baghdad Regional Council. During the 2003 occupation of Iraq, AFN Iraq ("Freedom Radio") broadcast news and entertainment within Baghdad, among other locations. The city has also had a strong tradition of horse racing ever since World War I, known to Baghdadis simply as 'Races'. Continuing tension between the U.S. and Iraqi governments led to the Iraq War in 2003. capital city of Iraq; the name is pre-Islamic and dates to the 8c., but its origin is disputed. Baghdad. As of the end of 2014, only 1,500 Assyrians remained in Dora. Timur left the Sarbadar prince Khwaja Mas'ud to govern Baghdad, but he was driven out when Ahmad Jalayir returned. People from those regions would come to Baghdad … British influence remained dominant until 1958, when the Hashemite monarchy that Britain had helped to establish was overthrown in a military coup. In 1920 Baghdad became the capital of the newly created state of Iraq. In addition, the palace was near other mansions and officer's residences. The current study analyses the organizational structure of Bayt al-Hikmah al-Baghdad and its divisions … [84] It is characterized by the iconic clock tower which was donated by George V. The entire area is submitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Tentative list.[85]. Abu Hanifah was the counter 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. Baghdad eclipsed Ctesiphon, the capital of the Sassanians, which was located some 30 km (19 mi) to the southeast. It was followed by another war from 2013-2017 and a low-level insurgency from 2017, which included suicide bombings in January 2018, and January 2021.[78]. History Foundation and early growth. American troops entered the city in April and, despite criticism from other Arab states, met with little resistance from city residents. These baths increased public hygiene and served as a way for the religious to perform ablutions as prescribed by Islam. It was made of brick and marble. In 1991 and 2003, the Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq caused significant damage to Baghdad's transportation, power, and sanitary infrastructure as the US-led coalition forces launched massive aerial assaults in the city in the two wars. [83], Al-Shaheed, (Martyr's Monument), Zawra Park, Baghdad, The Victory Arch (officially known as the Swords of Qādisīyah, Qushla or Qishla is a public square and the historical complex located in Rusafa neighborhood at the riverbank of Tigris. There are a number of other locations in the wider region whose names are compounds of the word bagh, including Baghlan and Bagram in Afghanistan, Baghshan in Iran,[16] and Baghdati in Georgia, which likely share the same etymological origins. [29] It took four years to build (764–768). In Baghdad along the Tigris River in Iraq, because the capitol was closer to Persia, who played a key role in the over throw of the Umayyads. The Tigris splits Baghdad in half, with the eastern half being called "Risafa" and the Western half known as "Karkh". In 1040, they destroyed the Ghaznavids, taking over their land and in 1055, Tughril Beg, the leader of the Seljuks, took over Baghdad. The zoological park used to be the largest in the Middle East. From December through February, Baghdad has maximum temperatures averaging 16 to 19 °C (61 to 66 °F), though highs above 21 °C (70 °F) are not unheard of. [citation needed], This article is about the capital of Iraq. [79] This street is well established for bookselling and has often been referred to as the heart and soul of the Baghdad literacy and intellectual community. The siege, laid by Ilkhanate Mongol forces and allied troops, involved the investment , capture, and sack of Baghdad, which was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate at that time. Firdos Square is a public open space in Baghdad and the location of two of the best-known hotels, the Palestine Hotel and the Sheraton Ishtar, which are both also the tallest buildings in Baghdad. and thereafter; died in 632. The city of Baghdad soon became so large that it had to be divided into three judicial districts: Madinat al-Mansur (the Round City), al-Sharqiyya (Karkh) and Askar al-Mahdi (on the West Bank).[27]. As before, the representatives to the Provincial Council were elected by their peers from the lower councils in numbers proportional to the population of the districts they represent. By the 8th century AD, several villages had developed there, including a Persian[10][11] hamlet called Baghdad, the name which would come to be used for the Abbasid metropolis. Also find a similar words the begin with the same characters, end with the same characters, anagrams, reverse anagrams, word scrambles and words with similar letters. [9][19][20] Some scholars suggested Aramaic derivations.[9]. Baghdad has suffered severely from visitations of the plague and cholera,[71] and sometimes two-thirds of its population has been wiped out.[72]. "Yakut: Baghdad under the Abbasids, c. 1000CE". The Iraqi Civil War following ISIS' invasion in 2014 caused hundreds of thousands of Iraqi internally displaced people to flee to the city. [103], Annual rainfall, almost entirely confined to the period from November through March, averages approximately 150 mm (5.91 in), but has been as high as 338 mm (13.31 in) and as low as 37 mm (1.46 in). "Naked in Baghdad." by Cetinsaya, Gokhan. Various groups of people occupied the area around Baghdad as early as 4,000 years ago. Baghdad's population was estimated at 7.22 million in 2015. [104] On 11 January 2008, light snow fell across Baghdad for the first time in 100 years. Marble was also used to make buildings throughout the city, and marble steps led down to the river's edge. Several estimates suggest that the city contained over a million inhabitants at its peak. It often is conjectured to be of Indo-European origin, from Middle Persian elements, and mean "gift of god," from bagh "god" (cognate with Russian bog "god," Sanskrit Bhaga; compare Bhagavad-Gita) + dād "given" (from PIE root *do-"to give"). (1932). [112], Most Iraqi reconstruction efforts have been devoted to the restoration and repair of badly damaged urban infrastructure. Abu al-‘Abbas’s successor, Al-Mansur, welcomed non-Arab Muslims to his court. Suitable for teaching 7-11s. Four main roads led from the caliph’s palace and the grand mosque at the centre to various parts of the empire. The governorate council is responsible for the governorate-wide policy. They chose a site north of the Sassanid capital of Ctesiphon, and on 30 July 762[23] the caliph Al-Mansur commissioned the construction of the city. The Mustansiriya Madrasah was established in 1227 by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mustansir. Le Strange, G. (n.d.). This wall was surrounded by another wall with a thickness of 50 m. The second wall had towers and rounded merlons, which surrounded the towers. From the mid-9th century onward the ʿAbbāsid Caliphate was gradually weakened by internal strife, by crop failure caused by neglect of the irrigation system, and finally, in the 10th century, by the intrusion of nomadic elements. [110] Following the sectarian violence in Iraq between the Sunni and Shia militia groups during the U.S. occupation of Iraq, the city's population became overwhelmingly Shia. Some say it comes from an Aramaic phrase that means "sheep enclosure" (not very poetic . Sieges and wars in which Baghdad was involved are listed below: In 1058, Baghdad was captured by the Fatimids under the Turkish general Abu'l-Ḥārith Arslān al-Basasiri, an adherent of the Ismailis along with the 'Uqaylid Quraysh. In 1968 the Arab Socialist Baʿth Party came to power. With a metropolitan area estimated at a … The dialect of Arabic spoken in Baghdad today differs from that of other large urban centres in Iraq, having features more characteristic of nomadic Arabic dialects (Versteegh, The Arabic Language). According to the traveler Ibn Battuta, Baghdad was one of the largest cities, not including the damage it has received. There, local councils were elected from 20 neighbourhoods (Nahia) and these councils elected representatives from their members to serve on six district councils (Qada). Some of the important cultural institutions in the city include the National Theater, which was looted during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but efforts are underway to restore the theatre. Points of interest include the National Museum of Iraq whose collection of artifacts was looted during the 2003 invasion, and the iconic Hands of Victory arches. Prosperity began to be restored to Baghdad with the opening of steamship travel on the Tigris in the 1860s. [77] The Iraq War took place from 2003-2011, but an Islamist insurgency lasted until 2013. Wahlperiode Drucksache IV/3672, "Baghdad: The City in Verse, translated and edited by Reuven Snir", "Baghdad celebrates selection as UNESCO City of Literature | Nermeen Mufti", "Five women confront a new Iraq | csmonitor.com", "Gunmen storm independent radio station in latest attack against media in Iraq", "Occupation and international humanitarian law: Questions and answers – ICRC", Miastoprojekt goes abroad: the transfer of architectural labour from socialist Poland to Iraq (1958–1989), Iraq Image – Baghdad Satellite Observation, National Commission for Investment in Iraq, Description of the original layout of Baghdad, Ethnic and sectarian map of Baghdad – Healingiraq, UAE Investors Keen On Taking Part In Baghdad Renaissance Project, Iraq Inter-Agency Information & Analysis Unit, An unrecognised or partially-recognised nation, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baghdad&oldid=1010922534, Populated places established in the 8th century, Articles with incomplete citations from July 2020, CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia pages move-protected due to vandalism, Pages using multiple image with auto scaled images, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2018, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles lacking reliable references from December 2017, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from March 2019, All Wikipedia articles needing clarification, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2019, Articles needing additional references from June 2019, All articles needing additional references, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2020, Articles with dead external links from July 2017, Articles with permanently dead external links, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz area identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Siege of Baghdad (1625), Ottoman–Safavid Wars, Masjid Al-Kadhimain is a shrine that is located in the, Salihiya Residential area – situated off Al Sinak bridge in central Baghdad, surrounded by Al- Mansur Hotel in the north and Al-Rasheed hotel in the south, Al Khat al Sare'a – Mohammed al Qasim (high speed lane) – runs through Baghdad, north–south, Al Sinaa Street (Industry Street) runs by the University of Technology – centre of the computer trade in Baghdad, "Travels in Asia and Africa 1325-135" by Ibn Battuta. The nine districts are subdivided into 89 smaller neighborhoods which may make up sectors of any of the districts above. In 1401 the city underwent yet another sack, by Timur (Tamerlane), after which it fell under the sway of two successive Turkmen dynasties, the Ak Koyunlu and the Kara Koyunlu (1410–1508), both of which did little to restore its fortunes. The city’s educational and medical institutions also deteriorated, and levels of disease, malnutrition, and illiteracy rose dramatically. By the middle of the ninth century, Baghdad had become the centre of the civilised world, attracting the very best of Arab and Persian philosophers and scientists for several centuries to come. The origin of the name "Baghdad" is under some dispute. A concise Pahlavi Dictionary (p. 23, 16). In the 19th century European influence grew in Baghdad with the establishment of French religious orders and increased European trade. Mansur assembled engineers, surveyors, and art constructionists from around the world to come together and draw up plans for the city. The city has Shia, Sunni, Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriacs, Armenians and mixed neighborhoods. Facts about Ancient Baghdad 1: the construction of a city. 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. There, around the palace of al-Manṣūr’s heir apparent, al-Mahdī, grew up the three suburbs of Ruṣāfah, Al-Shammāsiyyah, and Al-Mukharrim, the forerunners of the modern city. "Ottoman administration of Iraq, 1890–1908." Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Synonyms of Baghdad will be presented below each meaning if they are available. Thousands of ancient manuscripts in the National Library were destroyed under Saddam's command. [9] They suggested various meanings, the most common of which was "bestowed by God". Baghdad. Baghdad has a hot desert climate (Köppen BWh), featuring extremely hot, prolonged, dry summers and mild to cool, slightly wet, short winters. Direct Ottoman rule was reimposed by Ali Rıza Pasha in 1831. The name was changed to Al-Mustansiriya University in 1963. Shia death squads would kidnap Muslims (Sunnis) and execute them as part of its milita's believes. [35] In the center of the city lay the mosque, as well as headquarters for guards. The true founding of the city, however, dates to 762, when the site, located between present-day Al-Kāẓimiyyah and Al-Karkh and occupied by a Persian village called Baghdad, was selected by al-Manṣūr, the second caliph of the ʿAbbāsid dynasty, for his capital. Today, all that remains of Ctesiphon is the shrine town of Salman Pak, just to the south of Greater Baghdad. Al-Qushla: Iraq's oasis of free expression. Baghdad was known as the center of the trade industry, and had many connections across the world especially Asia, Africa, and the Mediterranean region. [114] In late 2009, a construction plan was proposed to rebuild the heart of Baghdad, but the plan was never realized because corruption was involved in it. Administratively, Baghdad Governorate is divided into districts which are further divided into sub-districts. Today, it is a place where the citizens of Baghdad find leisure such as reading poetry in gazebos. "by Bosworth, Clifford Edmund. The wall itself was about 44 m thick at the base and about 12 m thick at the top. On 31 May, after the resulting Anglo-Iraqi War and after Rashid Ali and his government had fled, the Mayor of Baghdad surrendered to British and Commonwealth forces. The city grew rapidly after its inception: its military strength, economic power, booming trade, cultural and intellectual dominance and dizzying wealth establishing it as the center of an empire stretching from across the East and into North Africa. Baghdad was a busy city during the day and had many attractions at night. Baghdad (/ˈbæɡdæd, bəɡˈdæd/; Arabic: بَغْدَاد‎ [baɣˈdaːd] (listen)) is the capital of Iraq and one of the largest cities in the Arab world, and compared to its large population it has a small area at just 673 square kilometers (260 sq mi). In addition, the go-ahead has been given to build numerous architecturally unique skyscrapers along the Tigris that would develop the city's financial centre in Kadhehemiah. The CPA convened a series of meetings in each neighbourhood to explain local government, to describe the caucus election process and to encourage participants to spread the word and bring friends, relatives and neighbours to subsequent meetings. Many of the victim's bodies were then dragged through the streets of Baghdad. [130] Institutions offering cultural education in Baghdad include The Music and Ballet School of Baghdad and the Institute of Fine Arts Baghdad. As of 2018[update], Baghdad was listed as one of the least hospitable places to live, ranked by Mercer as the world's worst major city for quality of life.