baghdad was built as a new capital for the abbasids in 836.
baghdad was built as a new capital for the abbasids in 836.
what city was built as a new capital for the abbasids in 836?
baghdad
in 762 the caliph al-mansur founded a new capital of baghdad on the tigris, which soon grew to one of the largest cities in the world. in 836 the caliph al-mu'tasim transferred the capital to samarra. the abbasids began to lose control over the outlying parts of the empire, with local dynasties gaining effective independence in khorasan (samanids) in eastern iran, egypt (tulunids) and ifriqiya (aghlabids). the caliph al-mu'tamid, by now the effective ruler only of iraq, moved his capital back to baghdad in 889. in 945 the buyids, followers of shia islam, became effective rulers as amirs, while the abbasid caliphs retained their nominal title. with caliph al-nasir (1179-1225) the abbasids once again gained control of iraq, but the sack of baghdad by the mongols in 1258 brought the abbasid caliphate to an end.
abbasid architecture
for the next several decades, libya was under the purview of the ummayad caliph of damascus until the abbasids overthrew the ummayads in 750, and libya came under the rule of baghdad. when caliph harun al-rashid appointed ibrahim ibn al-aghlab as his governor of ifriqiya in 800, libya enjoyed considerable local autonomy under the aghlabid dynasty. the aghlabids were among the most attentive islamic rulers of libya; they brought about a measure of order to the region, and restored roman irrigation systems, which brought prosperity to the area from the agricultural surplus. by the end of the 9th century, the shiite fatimids controlled western libya from their capital in mahdia, before they ruled the entire region from their new capital of cairo in 972 and appointed bologhine ibn ziri as governor. during fatimid rule, tripoli thrived on the trade in slaves and gold brought from the sudan and on the sale of wool, leather, and salt shipped from its docks to italy in exchange for wood and iron goods. ibn ziri's berber zirid dynasty ultimately broke away from the shiite fatimids, and recognised the sunni abbasids of baghdad as rightful caliphs. in retaliation, the fatimids brought about the migration of thousands from two troublesome arab bedouin tribes, the banu sulaym and banu hilal to north africa. this act drastically altered the fabric of the libyan countryside, and cemented the cultural and linguistic arabisation of the region. ibn khaldun noted that the lands ravaged by banu hilal invaders had become completely arid desert.
history of libya