The Land

This is the oldest drawn depiction of the original layout of Baghdad, as drawn by Commander F. Jones and Mr. W. Collingwood of the Indian Navy, 1853-54.

Baghdad – The City

Baghdad was originally created as a round fortified city that enclosed luxuries and treasures.  Each caliph built castles during his time, and from the beginning, the city was designed to be unique with the latest technology of the time incorporated.  Early Baghdad and its developments are described with the utmost detail in Baghdad: Metropolis of the Abbasid Caliphate, by Gaston Wiet, translated by Seymour Feiler.  The detail that is presently available for modern discourse is all thanks to the geographer Ya’qubi who recorded every detail, even minute, with respect to the foundation of Baghdad.

Historically, Baghdad prospered under the Abbasid Caliphate.  Yet, as the chain of caliphs continued, the Abbasid Empire witnessed strife and conflict due to the issue of succession.  Some might say that the Caliphs absorbed themselves into their wealth and luxurious castles and distanced themselves from the affairs of their people and dominion.  Regardless of the cause, Baghdad went into a slow decline after the tenth century.  The French Marius Canard quoted the following on the decline of Baghdad as mentioned by Wiet:

“For Baghdad, the tenth century and the beginning of the eleventh century are a period of political, religious, and social troubles that, all in all, deal a serious blow to the prosperity of the city and to its rank in the Moslem [Muslim] world.”

The Shihab al-Din family escaped the massacre of Alamut towards the City of Peace, and their son recorded some of what he had seen of the Mongols, as will be seen later on.  Regarding the city of Baghdad itself, Bassam Nasir Shihab al-Din (from henceforth:  Bassam), dedicated a few of his entries to the city itself with the utmost detail.  By the beginning of the 13^th century, Baghdad was certainly not at its grandeur; nevertheless, the marvel of the beautiful city still resonated amongst the ruins and newly built palaces and buildings.  Here is one of his entries from when he first set his eyes on Baghdad.

Muharram, 654 Hijri/January, 1256 Miladi [Birth – A.D.]

I do not even remember what date it is anymore.  Anything I attempt to remember reminds of me of Alamut.

The dust has finally settled, and Father has finally allowed the camels to stop.  Exhausted, Mother washed herself at the small spring the camels have led us to.  It is with fear that we sit and breathe with a weary eye still on the horizon for those barbarians who have now taken over Alamut.  Oh my beautiful home!  My friends, my memories, my home, will I ever see you again?!  Where have my memories of Alamut gone, and why is it that blood has washed over everything I remember?

The sun has a strangely red-orange hue, as if the blood of our people staining the sands was not enough.  The desert weeps as Alamut wails.  Oh how I just cannot stand the thought of those monsters on steeds and the bodies of our people in the streets.  May Allah be well-pleased with our martyrs who fought for our home!

Father told us to leave everything as we barely made it through the clutches of those monstrosities.  I can feel the sand grains taking over my body and clothing.  The heat is damning, and the water here is not enough to wash away my memories and the blood of Alamut on my clothes.  Woe, if I were only dust and did not have to witness it at all!

What soothes Mother is the sight of Baghdad in the distance.  The Baghdadis [People of Baghdad] have kept away the forces of Hulagu, may his name forever be cursed, and only the thoughts of Madinat as-Salaam [City of Peace] is keeping us from getting lost in our memories of the carnage.

The journey has been long and weary with sleepless nights fearing that they have followed us, because they are known for their merciless anger and love for destruction.  But the sight of Baghdad has sparked a ray of hope in my hardened heart, and I can see that Mother and Father are a bit less broken, though nothing can fix the pain we feel for Alamut.

Father is now saying that this might be the Tigris which the camels are grazing by, and not just a spring.  I do not know.  Tales of the Tigris, I have definitely heard, with Rusafa on the East, and Karkh on the west.  Therefore, if Father is correct, the wall I see is that of Karkh, but that remains to be seen.

If only this blood would come off!  What would the Baghdadis think of us?  Have news of Alamut even reached them?!

A few pages of Bassam’s journal have been omitted, by him or somebody else, it cannot be certain.  Nevertheless, the next entry provides a first hand look to Baghdad.

Muharram, 654 Hijri/January, 1256 Miladi [Birth – A.D.]

A few days have gone by since I last had a chance to write.  I finally took a shower this morning, and the feeling of being clean is making me a bit joyful.  The Baghdadis have come through on their known hospitality, and for this I am forever thankful.

This morning, we visited the Tomb of Abu Hanifa, may Allah be well-pleased with him, in Rusafa.  Crossing the Tigris to get to the former Camp of Mahdi was not difficult as numerous bridges span the Tigris to allow easy access to the East Bank.

While coming back to the West, to Karkh, Mother and Father suggested we visit the Dar al-Khilafa [Residence of the Caliphate].  Oh how could I ever describe the beauty of the Dar al-Khilafa?!  The palaces, the gardens, the streams!  So huge was the Harim [reserved enclosure], that it could have rivaled Shiraz!

With the family who has taken up caring for us, I feel that there is still hope for our family.  Father is already out looking for work.  He might be going to the Dar al-Hikmah where a relative works to look for potential employment.  I pray it works out for us here!

Everyday, there is fresh water here.  There is a huge system of canals all through the southern suburb of Baghdad which connects the Tigris and the Euphrates.  Ibn Majeed, whose family cares for us, told us that the canals provide fresh water in winter and summer, and feed canals so that the whole of Baghdad can have fresh water.

The city itself is made of brick, and there are four Babs [Gates].  To get into the round city, of which my thoughts were mostly incorrect because it is not round anymore, we passed Karkh into Harbiya, and entered via the Syria Gate, and came back through the Kufa Gate.  What a day!

From what I have seen so far, the markets and the homes are in Karkh, while the Mosque of Abu Hanifa, the mausoleums of the past Khulafa’ al-‘Abbasiyoon [Abbasid Caliphs], mosques and small markets are in Rusafa as well.  Rusafa is surrounded by a wall and a moat as well so it provides relief!  Oh how I wish the Caliph would not have surrendered our fortified city of Alamut!

Maybe tomorrow we will visit Qasr Hasani [Hasan’s Palace].  To some it might seem that we have already forgotten Alamut, but nay!  Alamut will forever be in our hearts!

Father has come in.  Let us see if the Bayt al-Hikmah will be favourable to the Shihab al-Din family.

Original Baghdad

We can see from Bassam’s entries that Baghdad was still a beauty and a wonder even if the city was in a decline.  The original Baghdad’s foundations, as laid out by the geographer Ya’qubi, entails that the city was supposed to be a round city, with four gates as Bassam mentions.  These were the Syria, Khurasan, Kufa, and Basra gates.  As understood, these gates led to various cities in the Muslim world.  After 762, the original round wall disappeared, and most people started living in Karkh.  The neighbourhoods and the markets were in Karkh, while the mausoleums, tomb of Abu Hanifa, along with the mosque and various palaces were in Rusafa.  One famous palace was Mahdi’s Palace, in which all Caliphs from Mahdi to Mu’tasim lived in on occasion.  Other palaces in Rusafa included the Palace of the Tahirids, and the Palace of Khuzayma.

Modern Area of Karkh.

Karkh & Rusafa

After the Mongol invasion in 1258, Rusafa was decimated.  All the markets and palaces were destroyed.  What still remains is the Mosque of Abu Hanifa and the mausoleums.  Indeed to the modern day, the names Karkh and Rusafa are still in use, while the areas of Harbiya, Zubaydiya, and Shammasiya have disappeared through time.

Modern day Karkh and Rusafa. The names are still in use.

Two Sunni Founders of Schools of Fiqh

The Mosque and Tomb of Abu Hanifa is in close proximity to the region of Al-Karkh.  It survived the Mongol invasion, and is still standing to this day.  Abu Hanifa was a great Islamic scholar and was the founder of the Hanafi Sunni school of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence).  A great portion of the current Muslim world follows the Hanafi school of fiqh.  In addition to Abu Hanifa, Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, who founded the other Sunni school of jurisprudence out of the four also resided in Baghdad.  Contrary to Abu Hanifa, Ibn Hanbal’s tomb has disappeared over time.

Abu Hanifa died in the year 765 C.E.

The Mosque which had stood through time, suffered severely during the attacks on Baghdad in 2003.

Dar al-Khilafa

The Dar al-Khilafa is known as the Residence of the Caliphate.  It was indeed reported to be as large as the city of Shiraz.  It can be seen throughout the history of Abbasid Baghdad, that various analogies to Persian cities and people were made due to the huge influence of the Persian Empire on the Abbasids.  The area that the Dar al-Khilafa was in was collectively known as the Harim or reserved enclosure.  Inside were buildings, gardens, shaded lawns, and streams, and it was surrounded by a wall.

Baghdad itself had a huge gate at the entrance known as the Gate of the Nubian, also as the Gate of the Threshold.  It was kissed by princes and ambassadors as they entered Baghdad.  It is important to note that there were not any marketplaces inside the original round city of Baghdad.  They were outside in Karkh and Rusafa.

From Bassam’s entry, one can grasp how the layout of Baghdad would have been like.  If it were not for him, such crucial details of Baghdad would have forever been lost.