Baghdad

Baghdad is the capital of the Republic of Iraq and the center of Baghdad Governorate. In 2016, its population was about 8.5 million, making it the largest city in Iraq and the second largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is ranked 40th in the world in terms of population. The city is the economic, administrative and educational center of the state. It was built by the Abbasid Caliph Abu Jaafar al-Mansur in the eighth century AD and was made the capital of the Abbasid state; Baghdad then gained a great status, as it was the most important center of diverse science in the world and a meeting place for scholars and students for several centuries. Baghdad currently represents a case of urban succession within a single location. Within the Mesopotamian location, capitals have followed one another from ancient Babylon to Greek Seleucia and Persian Ctesiphon, which were known as the cities of Khosrau, and then present-day Arab Baghdad. Baghdad was the largest city in the world for most of the Abbasid rule during the Islamic Golden Age, with a population of more than one million people. The city of Baghdad reached its peak during the reign of the fifth Abbasid Caliph, Harun al-Rashid, and was associated with his name in the world-famous One Thousand and One Nights novels, as it became the capital of the ancient world. It lost this status since 1258 when it was invaded by the Mongols and Tatars. With the advent of the early sixteenth century, the Safavids and Ottomans exchanged control of the city, until the Ottomans finally seized it in 1535, and it remained under their rule for nearly 4 centuries. In 1917, the British took control of the city, and like most other areas of Iraq, it was subject to the British mandate, then became the capital of the Kingdom of Iraq in 1921, and the Republic of Iraq in 1958.

The importance of Baghdad's geographical location lies in the availability of water and the decrease in the risk of floods, which in turn led to the expansion of the city and the increase of its influence, in addition to the ease of its connection across the Tigris River by bridges that connect it across the sides of the river, which penetrates its center to divide it into two parts: Karkh and Rusafa. Today, the city consists of 27 districts, which are in turn divided into several neighborhoods.

Baghdad is distinguished by its cultural importance, which is represented by the presence of a large number of important monuments such as museums, historical schools, libraries and theaters. The city is famous for its Islamic monuments, which are represented by the remains of the walls of the city of Baghdad, the House of the Caliphate, and the Mustansiriya School. Old Baghdad has several names such as the Round City, Al-Zawraa, and Dar Al-Salam.

History of Baghdad

The facade of the Great Imam Abu Hanifa Al-Nu'man Mosque in Al-A'dhamiyah, Baghdad, at the beginning of the twentieth century

Archaeological excavations have shown that Baghdad was an important human habitat in ancient times dating back to the Assyrian era before it was chosen to be the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. What made this site of geographical and strategic importance was its location in the middle of major human civilization cities extending from northern to southern Iraq. This historical geographical location made Baghdad occupy a central position between these cities, which created a suitable environment for human development and its civilizational and intellectual achievements. In the eras preceding and after the Islamic conquest, the area known as Baghdad in the Abbasid era was surrounded by cities of strategic and geographical importance. The city of Baghdad is located north of the site of the ancient city of Babylon, in addition to being located a few kilometers northwest of the city of Ctesiphon (Al-Mada'in), which was built by the Greeks before Christ and inherited by the Persians, and which continued as the main center of the country until it was replaced by Baghdad in the eighth century.

An old photo of the Persian Arch of Khosrow in Ctesiphon (currently Mada'in), southeast of Baghdad. Baghdad was built in the Abbasid era between 762 and 764 AD. It was called in ancient times Al-Zawraa and the City of Peace. It was once the capital of the world and the center of the Abbasid Islamic Caliphate. It was built by the Abbasid Caliph Abu Jaafar Al-Mansur, who named it the city of Al-Mansur. He made four gates for it: the Khurasan Gate (which was called the State Gate), the Levant Gate, the Kufa Gate, and the Basra Gate. Al-Mansur had chosen this spot of land on both banks of the Tigris River for it. Baghdad is rich in many historical and cultural landmarks, the most important of which are the Mustansiriya School, ancient Islamic mosques, and ancient palaces. It also has a number of religious shrines, the most important of which are the shrines of Imam Musa al-Kadhim and Muhammad al-Jawad in Kadhimiya, the shrine of Abu Hanifa al-Nu'man, the shrine of Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani, and the Abbasid Caliphs Mosque, known in ancient times as the Palace Mosque or the Caliph Mosque, and the Haidarkhana Mosque, which is one of the most perfect mosques in Baghdad in terms of craftsmanship and precision.

The city has museums that display various artifacts, including jewels, coins, human skeletons, and statues from prehistoric times until the seventeenth century AD.