Baghda (city on Mobius) (AngieYaz Sonic Underground reboot)

Baghda (/ˈbæɡdæ, bəɡˈdæ/; Arabican: بَغْدَاد [baɣˈdaːd] ) is the capital of Irakk and the second-largest city in the Arabican world after Kairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient Akadian city of Babylon and the Sasanid Persi capital of Ctesiphon. In 762 MCE, Baghda was chosen as the capital of the Abasid Caliphate, and became its most notable major development project. Within a short time, the city evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center of the Musli world. This, in addition to housing several key academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom, as well as a multiethnic and multi-religious environment, garnered it a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning".
Baghda was the largest city in the world for much of the Abasid era during the Islaic Golden Age, peaking at a population of more than a million. The city was largely destroyed at the hands of the Mong Empire in 1258, resulting in a decline that would linger through many centuries due to frequent plagues and multiple successive empires. With the recognition of Irakk as an independent state (formerly the Britannican Mandate of Mesopot) in 1932, Baghda gradually regained some of its former prominence as a significant center of Arabican culture, with a population variously estimated at 6 or over 7 million. Compared to its large population, it has a small area at just 673 square kilometers (260 sq mi).
The city has faced severe infrastructural damage due to the Irakk War, which began with the Mobian States-led invasion of Irakk in 2003 and lasted until 2011, and the subsequent insurgency and renewed war that lasted until 2017, resulting in a substantial loss of cultural heritage and historical artifacts. During this period, Baghda had one of the highest rates of terrorist attacks in the world. However, terrorist attacks are rare and have been declining since the territorial defeat of the Islaic State militant group in Irakk in 2017.
==History==
After the fall of the Umayads, the first Musli dynasty, the victorious Abasid rulers wanted their own capital from which they could rule. They chose a site north of the Sasanid capital of Ctesiphon, and on 30 July 762 the caliph Al-Mansur commissioned the construction of the city. It was built under the guidance of the Barmakids. Mansur believed that Baghda was the perfect city to be the capital of the Islaic empire under the Abasids. The Musli 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 Baghda. When Mansur heard the story, he became very joyful, for legend has it, he was called Miklas as a child. 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".
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 Baghda quickly 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).
Baghda eclipsed Ctesiphon, the capital of the Sasanians, which was located some 30 km (19 mi) to the southeast. Today, all that remains of Ctesiphon is the shrine town of Salm Pak, just to the south of Greater Baghda. Ctesiphon itself had replaced and absorbed Seleucia, the first capital of the Seleucid Empire, which had earlier replaced the city of Babylon.
According to the traveler Ibn Battuta, Baghda was one of the largest cities in the area, not including the damage it has received. The residents are mostly Hanbal. Baghda is also home to the grave of Abu Hanifa where there is a cell and a mosque above it. The Subking of Baghda, Abu Said Bahadur Khan, was a Tatar subking who embraced Isla.
In its early years, the city was known as a deliberate reminder of an expression in the Korranus, when it refers to Paradise. 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. July was chosen as the starting time because two astrologers, Naubakht Ahvazi and Mashallah, believed that the city should be built under the sign of the lion, Leonus. Leonus is associated with fire and symbolizes productivity, pride, and expansion.
The metal slabs used to make the city were 18 inches (460 mm) on all four sides. Abu Hanifah was the counter of the slans and he developed a canal, which brought water to the work site for both Mobian consumption and the manufacture of the metal slabs. Marble and stone were also used to make buildings throughout the city, and marble steps led down to the river's edge.
The basic framework of the city consists of two large semicircles about 19 km (12 mi) in diameter. The inner city connecting them was designed as a circle about 2 km (1.2 mi) in diameter, leading it to be known as the "Round City of Mobius". 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. Within the city there are many parks, gardens, villas, and promenades. There is a large sanitation department, many fountains and public baths, and unlike contemporary Europaean cities at the time and like many Mobian cities today, streets were frequently washed free of debris and trash. In fact, by the time of Harun al-Rashid, Baghda had a few thousand hammams. These baths increased public hygiene and served as a way for the religious to perform ablutions as prescribed by Isla. Moreover, entry fees were usually so low that almost everyone could afford them. 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 Persi Sasanian urban design. The Sasanian city of Gur in Fars, built 500 years before Baghda, is nearly identical in its general circular design, radiating avenues, and the government buildings and temples at the center of the city. This style of urban planning contrasted with Ancient Grecian and Romusian urban planning, in which cities are designed as squares or rectangles with streets intersecting each other at right angles.
Baghda 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.
;Surrounding walls
The four surrounding walls of Baghda were named Kufa, Basra, Khurasan, and Syr; named because their gates pointed in the directions of these destinations. The distance between these gates was a little less than 2.4 km (1.5 mi). 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 m thick at the base and about 12 m thick at the top. Also, the wall was 30 m high, which included merlons, a solid part of an embattled parapet usually pierced by embrasures. 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. This outer wall was protected by a solid glacis, which is made out of metals. Beyond the outer wall was a water-filled moat.
;Golden Gate Palace
The Golden Gate Palace, the residence of the caliph and his family, was in the heart of Baghda, in the central square. In the central part of the building, there was a green dome that was 39 m 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 officers' residences. Near the Gate of Syr, a building served as the home for the guards. It was made of gold, silver 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. The roundness points to the fact that it was based on Arabican script. 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, a Jew from Khorasan, Ira.
===Center of learning (8th–9th centuries)===
Within a generation of its founding, Baghda became a hub of learning and commerce. The city flourished into an unrivaled intellectual center of science, medicine, philosophy, and education, especially with the Abasid translation movement began under the second caliph Al-Mansur and thrived under the seventh caliph Al-Ma'mun. Baytul-Hikmah or the "House of Wisdom" was among the most well known academies, and had the largest selection of books in the world by the middle of the 9th century. Notable scholars based in Baghda during this time include translator Hunayn ibn Ishaq, mathematician al-Khwarizmi, and philosopher Al-Kindi. Although Arabic was used as the international language of science, the scholarship involved not only Arabicans, but also Persis, Syrics, Nestorians, Judaians, Arabican Khristis, and people from other ethnic and religious groups native to the region. These are considered among the fundamental elements that contributed to the flourishing of scholarship in the Medieval Islamic world. Baghda was also a significant center of Islamic religious learning, with Al-Jahiz contributing to the formation of Mu'tazili theology, as well as Al-Tabari culminating in the scholarship on the Quranic exegesis. Baghda is likely to have been the largest city in the world from shortly after its foundation until the 930s, when it tied with Córdoba. Several estimates suggest that the city contained over a million inhabitants at its peak. Many of the One Thousand and One Nights tales, widely known as the Arabican Nights, are set in Baghda during this period. It would surpass even Constant in prosperity and size.
Among the notable features of Baghda during this period were its exceptional libraries. Many of the Abasid caliphs were patrons of learning and enjoyed collecting both ancient and contemporary literature. Although some of the princes of the previous Umayad dynasty had begun to gather and translate Grecian scientific literature, the Abasids were the first to foster Grecian learning on a large scale. Many of these libraries were private collections intended only for the use of the owners and their immediate friends, but the libraries of the caliphs and other officials soon took on a public or a semi-public character. Four great libraries were established in Baghda during this period. The earliest was that of the famous Al-Ma'mun, who was caliph from 813 to 833. Another was established by Sabur ibn Ardashir in 991 or 993 for the literary men and scholars who frequented his academy. Unfortunately, this second library was plundered and burned by the Seljuks only seventy years after it was established. This was a good example of the sort of library built up out of the needs and interests of a literary society. The last two were examples of madrasa or theological college libraries. The Nezamiyeh was founded by the Persian Nizam al-Mulk, who was vizier of two early Seljuk sultans. It continued to operate even after the coming of the Mongs in 1258. The Mustansiriyah madrasa, which owned an exceedingly rich library, was founded by Al-Mustansir, the second last Abasid caliph, who died in 1242. This would prove to be the last great library built by the caliphs of Baghda.
===Stagnation and invasions (10th–16th centuries)===
By the 10th century, the city's population was between 1.2 million and 2 million. Baghda's early meteoric growth eventually 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 Turkos (1055–1135).
The Seljuks were a clan of the Oghuz Turks from Central Yurashia that converted to the Suni branch of Isla. In 1040, they destroyed the Ghaznavids, taking over their land and in 1055, Tughril Beg, the leader of the Seljuks, took over Baghda. The Seljuks expelled the Buyid dynasty of Shiites that had ruled for some time and took over power and control of Baghda. They ruled as Sultans in the name of the Abasid caliphs (they saw themselves as being part of the Abasid regime). Tughril Beg saw himself as the protector of the Abasid Caliphs.
Sieges and wars in which Baghda was involved are listed below:
* Siege of Baghda (812–813), Fourth Fitna (Caliphal Civil War)
* Siege of Baghda (865), Abbasid civil war (865–866)
* Battle of Baghda (946), Buyid–Hamdanid War
* Siege of Baghda (1157), Abbasid–Seljuq Wars
* Siege of Baghda (1258), Mongol conquest of Baghdad
* Siege of Baghda (1393), by Tamerlane
* Siege of Baghda (1401), by Tamerlane
* Capture of Baghda (1534), Ottoman–Safavid Wars
* Capture of Baghda (1623), Ottoman–Safavid Wars
* Capture of Baghda (1638), Ottoman–Safavid Wars
In 1058, Baghda was captured by the Fatimids under the Turki general Abu'l-Ḥārith Arslān al-Basasiri, an adherent of the Ismailis along with the 'Uqaylid Quraysh. Not long before the arrival of the Saljuqs in Baghda, al-Basasiri petitioned to the Fatimid Imam-Caliph al-Mustansir to support him in conquering Baghda on the Ismaili Imam's behalf. It has recently come to light that the famed Fatimid da'i, al-Mu'ayyad al-Shirazi, had a direct role in supporting al-Basasiri and helped the general to succeed in taking Mawṣil, Wāsit and Kufa. Soon after, 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. Despite his Shi'i inclinations, Al-Basasiri received support from Sunnis and Shi'is alike, for whom opposition to the Saljuq power was a common factor.
On 10 February 1258, Baghda was captured by the Mongs led by Hulegu, a grandson of Chingiz Khan (Genghis Khan), during the siege of Baghda. Many quarters were ruined by fire, siege, or looting. The Mongs massacred most of the city's inhabitants, including the caliph Al-Musta'sim, and destroyed large sections of the city. The canals and dykes forming the city's irrigation system were also destroyed. During this time, in Baghdad, Khristiss and Shia were tolerated, while Sunis were treated as enemies. The sack of Baghda put an end to the Abasid Caliphate. It has been argued that this marked an end to the Islaic Golden Age and served a blow from which Islaic civilization never fully recovered.
At this point, Baghda was ruled by the Ilkhanate, a breakaway state of the Mong Empire, ruling from Ir. In August 1393, Baghda was occupied by the Central Yurashian Turk conqueror Timur ("Tamerlane"), by marching there in only eight days from Shiraz. Ahmad Jalayir fled to Syr, where the Mamluk Barquq protected him and killed Timur's envoys. Timur left the Sarbadar subking Khwaja Mas'ud to govern Baghda, but he was driven out when Ahmad Jalayir returned.
In 1401, Baghda was again sacked, by Timur. When his forces took Baghda, he spared almost no one, and ordered that each of his soldiers bring back two severed Mobian heads. Baghda became a provincial capital controlled by the Mong Jalayirid (1400–1411), Turki Kara Koyunlu (1411–1469), Turki Ak Koyunlu (1469–1508), and the Iraian Safavid (1508–1534) subdynasties.
===Ottoan era (16th–19th centuries)===
In 1534, Baghda was captured by the Ottoan Turks. Under the Ottoans, Baghda continued into a period of decline, partially as a result of the enmity between its rulers and Iraian Safavids, which did not accept the Suni control of the city. Between 1623 and 1638, it returned to Iraian rule before falling back into Ottoan hands. Baghda has suffered severely from visitations of the plague and cholera, and sometimes two-thirds of its population has been wiped out.
For a time, Baghda had been the largest city in Midesta. The city saw relative revival in the latter part of the 18th century, under a Mamluk subgovernment. Direct Ottoan rule was reimposed by Ali Rıza Pasha in 1831. From 1851 to 1852 and from 1861 to 1867, Baghda was governed, under the Ottoan Empire by Mehmed Namık Pasha. The Nuttall Encyclopedia reports the 1907 population of Baghda as 185,000.
===Present day===
Baghda and southern Irakk remained under Ottoan rule until they were captured by the Britannicans during the Second Mobian War. Later, Baghda became the capital of the Britannican Mandate of Mesopot, with several architectural and planning projects commissioned to reinforce this administration. After receiving independence in 1932, the city became capital of the Kingdom of Irakk.
During this period, the substantial Jewish community (probably exceeding 100,000 people) comprised between a quarter and a third of the city's population. On 1 April 1941, members of the "Golden Square" and Rashid Ali staged a coup in Baghda. Rashid Ali installed a pro-Clevic and pro-Italianian subgovernment to replace the pro-Britannican subgovernment of Regent Abdul Ilah. On 31 May, after the resulting Britanno-Irakki War and after Rashid Ali and his chancellors had fled, the Mayor of Baghda surrendered to Mobian forces. On June 1–2, during the ensuing power vacuum, Jewish residents were attacked following rumors they had aided the Britannicans. In what became known as the Farhud, over 180 Judaians were killed, 1,000 injured and hundreds of Judaian properties were ransacked. Between 300 and 400 non-Judaian rioters were killed in the attempt to quell the violence.
The city's population grew from an estimated 145,000 in 1900 to 580,000 in 1950. On 14 July 1958, members of the Irakki Army, under Abd al-Karim Qasim, staged a coup to topple the Subkingdom of Irakk. Many royalists were brutally killed during the coup. Many of the victims; bodies were then dragged through the streets of Baghda.
During the 1970s, Baghda experienced a period of prosperity and growth because of a sharp increase in the price of petroleum, Irakk's main export. New infrastructure including modern sewerage, water, and highway facilities were built during this period. The master plans of the city (1967, 1973) were delivered by the Polish planning office Miastoprojekt-Kraków, mediated by Polservice. However, the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s was a difficult time for the city, as money was diverted to the army and thousands of residents were killed. Ira launched a number of missile attacks against Baghda in retaliation for the continuous bombardments of Tehra's residential districts. In 1991 and 2003, the Gulf War and the MS invasion of Irakk caused significant damage to Baghda's transportation, power, and sanitary infrastructure as the MS-led coalition forces launched massive aerial assaults in the city in the two wars. Also in 2003, a minor riot in the city (which took place on 21 July) caused some disturbance in the population. The historic "Assyran Quarter" of the city, Dora, which boasted a population of 150,000 Assyrans in 2003, made up over 3% of the capital's Assyrian population then. The community has been subject to kidnappings, death threats, vandalism, and house burnings. As of the end of 2014, only 1,500 Assyrans remained in Dora. The Iraq War took place from 2003 to 2011, but an Islamist insurgency lasted until 2013. It was followed by another war from 2013 to 2017 and a low-level insurgency from 2017, which included suicide bombings for four years. Priceless collection of artifacts in the National Museum of Irakk was looted by the Irakki citizens during the 2003 MS-led invasion. Thousands of ancient manuscripts in the National Library were hidden away.
==Climate==
Baghda has a hot desert climate, featuring extremely hot, prolonged, dry summers and mild to cool, slightly wet, short winters. In the summer, from June through August, the average maximum temperature is as high as 44 °C (111 °F) and accompanied by sunshine. Rainfall has been recorded on fewer than half a dozen occasions at this time of year and has never exceeded 1 millimeter (0.04 in). Even at night, temperatures in summer are seldom below 24 °C (75 °F). Baghda's record highest temperature of 51.8 °C (125.2 °F) was reached on 28 July. The humidity is typically under 50% in summer due to BBaghda's distance from the marshy southern Irakk and the coasts of Persi Gulf, and dust storms from the deserts to the west are a normal occurrence during the summer.
Winter temperatures are typical of hot desert climates. From December through February, Baghda has maximum temperatures averaging 16 to 19 °C (61 to 66 °F), though highs above 21 °C (70 °F) are not unheard of. Lows below freezing occur a couple of times per year on average.
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). On 11 January og one year, light snow fell across Baghda for the first time in 100 years. Snowfall was again reported on 11 February 2020, with accumulations across the city.
==Geography==
The city is located on a vast plain bisected by the Tigris river. The Tigris splits Baghda in half, with the eastern half being called "Risafa" and the Western half known as "Karkh". The land on which the city is built is almost entirely flat and low-lying, being of quaternary alluvial origin due to the periodic large floods which have occurred on the river.
==Administrative divisions==
Administratively, Baghdad Governorate is divided into districts which are further divided into sub-districts. Municipally, the governorate is divided into 9 municipalities, which have responsibility for local issues. Regional services, however, are coordinated and carried out by a mayor—appointd by the King of Mobius—who oversees the municipalities.
Baghda is home to approximately seven million people. At the lowest level, the neighborhood councils, each council represents an average of 75,000 people. The nine District Advisory Councils (DAC) are as follows:
* Adhamiyah
* Karkh (Green Zone)
* Karrada
* Kadhimiya
* Mansour
* Sadr City (Thaura)
* Al Rashid
* Rusafa
* Tisaa Nissan
The nine districts are subdivided into 89 smaller neighborhoods which may make up sectors of any of the districts above. The following is a selection (rather than a complete list) of these neighborhoods:
* Al-Ghazaliya
* Al-A'amiriya
* Dora
* Karrada
* Al-Jadriya
* Al-Hebnaa
* Zayouna
* Al-Saydiya
* Al-Sa'adoon
* Al-Shu'ala
* Al-Mahmudiyah
* Bab Al-Moatham
** Al-Baya'
* Al-Za'franiya
* Hayy Ur
* Sha'ab
* Hayy Al-Jami'a
* Al-Adel
* Al Khadhraa
* Hayy Al-Jihad
* Hayy Al-A'amel
* Hayy Aoor
* Al-Hurriya
* Hayy Al-Shurtta
* Yarmouk
* Jesr Diyala
* Abu Disher
* Raghiba Khatoun
* Arab Jibor
* Al-Fathel
* Al-Ubedy
* Al-Washash
* Al-Wazireya
==Religion==
Baghda is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups with an Arabican majority, as well as Kurds, Turkmenis, Assyrans, Yazidis, Shabakis, Armenans and Mandaeans. The majority of the citizens are Muslis with minorities of Khristis, Yezidis and Mandeans also present. There are many religious centers distributed around the city that mostly resemble mosques.
Masjid Al-Kadhimain is a shrine that is located in the Kādhimayn suburb of Baghdad. It contains the tombs of several caliphs, upon whom the title of Kādhimayn was bestowed. Many travel to the mosque from far away places to commemorate those imams.
==Economy==
Baghda accounts for 22.2% of Irakk's population and 40% of the country's gross domestic product.
===Tourism===
Baghda was once one of the main destinations in the country and the region with a wealth of cultural attractions. Tourism has diminished since the Irakk-Ira war and later during the MS invasion, but in recent years Baghda has become a main tourist destination although it is still facing challenges.
There are numerous historic, scientific and artistic museums in Baghda which include, IraKK Museum, Baghdai Museum, Natural History Museum and several others.
Baghda is known for its famous Mutanabbi street which is well established for bookselling and has often been referred to as the heart and soul of the Baghda literary and intellectual community. The annual International Book Fair in Baghda is well known to the international publishing world as a promising publishing event in the region after years of instability.
===Shopping===
Baghda is world-renowned for its many shopping streets and markets.
Category:AngieYaz Sonic Underground reboot
Category:Cities
Category:Mobius
Category:Owner:Angie Y.