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

Baghraq is the capital of Iraq and the third-largest city in the Arabican world after Kairo and Baghda. Like Baghda, it is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient Akadian city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persi capital of Ctesiphon. In 762 MCE, Baghraq was chosen as the second largest city in the 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 a House of Wisdom, as well as a multiethnic and multi-religious environment, garnered it a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning".
Baghraq was the one of the largest cities on Mobius for much of the Abasid era during the Islaic Golden Age, peaking at a population of more than a million. With the recognition of Irakk as an independent state (formerly the Britannican Mandate of Mesopot) in 1932, Baghraq 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 Second Mobian War,, resulting in a substantial loss of cultural heritage and historical artifacts.
==History==
===Foundation===
After the fall of the Umayads, the first Musli dynasty, the victorious Abasid rulers wanted another city from which they could rule after Baghda. They chose a site west of the Sasanid capital of Chesiphon, 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 Baghraq was the perfect city to be oone of the largest cities of the Islaic empire under the Abasids. The Musli historian al-Tabari reported an ancient prediction that a lord named Miklas would one day build a spectacular city around the area of Baghraq. 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 my descendants are 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 Baghraq quickly became so large that it had to be divided into three judicial districts.
Baghraq eclipsed Baghda and Chesiphon, the capital of the Sasanians. Today, all that remains of Ctesiphon is the shrine town of Salma Pak, just to the west 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, Baghraq was one of the largest cities, not including the damage it has received. The residents are mostly Hanbal. Baghraq is also home to the grave of Abu Hanifa where there is a cell and a mosque above it.
In its early years, the city was known as a deliberate reminder of an expression in the Korran, when it refers to Paradise. It, like Baghda, 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 bricks and he developed a canal, which brought water to the work site for both Mobian consumption and the manufacture of the metal slabs. Marble was 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". 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 were many parks, gardens, villas, and promenades. There was a large sanitation department, many fountains and public baths, and unlike contemporary Europaean cities at the time, streets were frequently washed free of debris and trash. In fact, by the time of Harun al-Rashid, Baghraq had a few thousand hammams. These baths increased public hygiene and served as a way for the religious to perform ablutions as prescribed by Islam. 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 Persian Sasanian urban design. The Sasanian city of Gur in Fars, built 500 years before Baghdad, 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.
Baghraq 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.
Category:AngieYaz Sonic Underground reboot
Category:Cities
Category:Mobius
Category:Owner:Angie Y.