A Brief History of Baghdad

[Music] by 900 ad Baghdad was the largest city in the world with a population of around 1 million people it was the center of the Islamic civilization and a place where Brilliant Minds gathered to teach and to learn timeline of a city in 762 ad the Umayyads were defeated by the abbasids the Victorious Abbasid khif al- mansur decided to build a new capital city on the banks of the Tigress River close to the side of ancient Babylon the city will be Grand and luxurious the perfect way to display his power and authority the city was centered around Al mansur's Palace city known as Medina Salam the city of Peace the complete city became known as Baghdad gift of God and al- mansur remained its ruler for almost 22 years Baghdad continued to be an important Cultural Center for 500 years until in 1,258 it was conquered by the Mongols the city fell into decline until 1,920 when it became the capital of Iraq geography and the Silk Road the city's location on both sides of the Tigris River provided the population with an unlimited supply of fresh water it was also an excellent location for transport and trade Baghdad was linked to cities and regions all over the world by both land and sea along trade routes known as the Silk Road textiles from Baghdad were sold throughout Europe Asia and Africa meanwhile Merchants Scholars and pilgrims from all around the world regularly passed through Baghdad bringing with them new knowledge and ideas the city soon became a thriving Center of Trade and learning in the Islamic World design and construction al- manur employed the best designers building ERS and Engineers from around the world the city took four years to build its clever design earned it the nickname the round City it had three perfectly circular defensive walls one inside the other the palace mosque and guards headquarters were in the very center surrounded by an inner wall the outer rings of the city were full of houses shops workshops and other buildings the city also had many beautiful parks and Gardens it was seen by many as an Earthly version of the wonderful Paradise described in the Quran defense the city was not just designed to be beautiful but also for defense the brick walls were 30 m high and up to 50 m thick the outer walls had towers and both the middle and outer walls had Merlins like the jagged top of a sand castle the city was also surrounded by a waterfill Mt there were four Gates each with heavy iron double doors that required several people to open and close them the house of wisdom from the mid 8th Century to the late 10th Century Baghdad was the center of the translation movement wealthy people such as al- Mansour funded the translation of rare and important texts into Arabic al- mansur's private library was named the house of wisdom and it included the translated works of famous Greek poets philosophers and mathematicians such as Aristotle and Plato as well as collections of Arabic poetry thanks to the translation movement Arabic Scholars now had unlimited access to academic writings thoughts and ideas from other parts of the globe many of the most important achievements in medicine mathematics and science were made by Scholars living in Baghdad during this time al- mansur and the city he built played a crucial part in making that possible