BAG 



weft and north are altogethei- barren ; to tlie cad tliere are 

 excfUent gardens ; and tlie oppofite bank of the river fup- 

 plies a great variety of fruit and vegetables. The city it- 

 fclf, though much reduced in extent, magnificence, and 

 wealth, as well as population, is now fuppofed to contain 

 more treafure than any other city of equal lize in the world; 

 and the mimenfe quantity of fpecic and bullion, fays Johnfon 

 (ubi fupra), found in the coffers of the late Kya, or prime 

 miniller, amounting to upwards of three millions (Itrhng, 

 feems to warrant luch a conjecture. 



This city, which was for many ages the capital of the 

 Saracen empire and the llated rcfidence of the caliphs, was 

 found-ed by Al-Maiifor, the fecoiid of the family of the 

 Abaffides, in the 145th year of the Hegira, A. D. 762. 

 The Rawardians having attempted to airaffinate him in the 

 city of Al HiiOiemiyah, he determined to build a new city ; 

 and he fcletted for the fite of it, a fpot, fiifficient)y dillant 

 from Cufa, the inhabitants of which were treacherous and 

 incondant in their attachment, fccure againft the attacks of 

 thofe wlio might wilh to difpute the caliphate with him, and 

 fituate in the middle of a tract which would-furnifh an ample 

 fupply of proviCons by means of the rivers to which it gave 

 eafy accefs. Having confulted his allrologers and engaged 

 fl<ilFul workmen, he commenced his undertaking. As to 

 the name by which it was to be diftinguiflied, forae have de- 

 rived it from the Perfian Bnghdod, wiiich fignifics the gifi 

 or prefent of Bdgh, pretending that the plain on which it 

 flood was given by Cho'ui, nan-ed Anufl'.irwan, to one of 

 his wives, and that file had there erected a chapel or oratory 

 dedicated to her favourite idol. called Bcgh. In procefs of 

 time this chapel became the chofen rcfidence of a venerable 

 hermit, who reported to Al-Manfor a tradition that a city 

 was to be built in this place : but it is needhfs t.i recite 

 any further particulars. Others fay, that the verdant plain on 

 which this city was built, had been the cell of a Chril>:an 

 monk, called Baghdad ; and others fay, that this monk was 

 called Dad, and that he pofletTed a beautiful and extenfive 

 garden, whence the place where the city was fou;ided re- 

 ceived the appellation of Ba3;hdad, or " the garden of 

 Dad." The new metropolis was alfo denominated Medinat 

 Al Salam " the city of peace," either in allulion to the 

 name of Jerufalcm, or becaufe, at the time when it was 

 finiflitd, all the commotions in the em.pire were appeafed, 

 and almoft every nation in Afia had fubmitted, or was be- 

 come tributary. The tirll city erefted by Al-Manfor was 

 fituated on the weftern bank of tlie Tigris ; but the Perfians 

 taking offence at the ereftion of a city fo hear their fron- 

 tiers, a new city was afterwards built on the eaftem banks 

 of the river called " the camp, or fortrefs of Al Mohdi ;" 

 and both thcfe cities being united, fomicd the ancient Bag- 

 dad. The caliph had a fuperb and magnificent palace in 

 each portion of the new city. Bagdad was eredled on the 

 ruins of Stleucia, the remains of which, as well as of Cte- 

 fiph n furniflicd the materials; and it feems to have been 

 div;cvd by tlie Tigris, as ancient Babylon was by the Eu- 

 phrates. In the 149th year of the Hegira, A. D. 766, this 

 famous capit;.l of the ivioflem empire was finished. It was 

 of a circular form, inclofed by a double wall, and flanked 

 with a confiderable number of towers. The caille, or cita- 

 del, was in the middle of it, and commanded every part of 

 the town. Between the eallern and wcdern parts of the 

 city a bridge was conflruAed in order to facilitate a commu- 

 nication between thc'n. Belides fcveral public buildings 

 ercfted bv the calip!i Al ML>ftanler Bi'llah, there was a fa- 

 mous colle.rt founded by this prince, which has been extol- 

 led by Abulph'r?gius, on account of the beauty and elegance 

 of its llructuis, the number of Undents it toiitained, as well 



8 



BAG 



as the learned men it produced, and the ample revenues fet- 

 tled upon it, and fuperior in his time to every other houfe 

 of learning in the known world. Among the ftudents there 

 were 300 who devoted themfelvcs entirely to the fludy of 

 the Mahometan law, according to the deeifions of the tour 

 chief fcfts of the Sonnites, each of which fects had a pro- 

 feffor in this college. For fcveral ages Bagdad, btfides be-, 

 ing the feat of power, abounded more with learned men 

 than any other place in the Mahometan dominions, except 

 Mecca and Medina. It was alfo extremely populous, and 

 contained ieveral forts and caftles, capable of making a 

 tolerable defence, and deriving their rcfp.ctive names from 

 their founders. The language fpoken in this city was one 

 of the moll polite and elegant dialects of the Arabic, as there 

 was a greater conconrfe of nobility and learned men, who 

 exceRed in many branches cf literature, for feveral ages, ia 

 this city than in almuft any other of the call. The city had 

 alio a mint, in which were coined a gr^at number of dirhems 

 and dinars. Bagdad continued to be the feat of the caliphs 

 of the race of Al Abbas for 500 years; but at length, in the 

 year of the Hegira 656, A.D. 1258, the conqucll of Iran, 

 or Perfia, was atchicved by Holagou Khan, the grandfon of 

 Zingis, the brother and lieutenant of the two fuccelhve em- 

 perors Mangou and Cublai. After a fiege of two months, 

 it was ilormed and facked by the Moguls ; and their favage 

 commander pronounced the death of tiie caliph Mollafcm, 

 the lail of the tetrporal fucceffors of Mahomet; and thus 

 the family of the Abaffides was extinguiflied. The Tartars 

 or Moguls having plundered and fet it on fire, and maffi- 

 ered many of the inhabitants, enriched themlclves by its fpoil, 

 as it was then reckoned one of the moll confiderable cities 

 in the world ; and they retained pofTeflion of it till the year 

 of the Hegira 795, A.D J302, when it was taken by Ta- 

 nieripne. for the firil time, from fullan Ahmed, the fon of 

 Avis, who conveyed his baggage beyond the Tigris, and 

 abandoned the capital to the conqueror; and it was tciken 

 a fecond time in the year of the Hegira 803, A. D. 

 1400, from the fame lultan, who had recovered pof- 

 feffion of it. After this capture, it was rcftored by Ta:ner- 

 lane to the fuhan; but in the year 815, A.D. 1412, the 

 fultan was finally expelled by the Turcoman Cara Jofef. 

 The defcendants and fucceffors of TamerLine remained 

 mailers of Bagdad till the year of the Htgira 875. A.D. 

 1470, when they were expelled by Haffan, furnamcd Uzun, 

 or Ufun-CaiTci j. The princes of this family poflelFed it till 

 the year o! the Hegira 9 14, A.D. 1508, when Shah Ifmael, 

 furnamed Sort, the firft prince of that race which afterwards 

 reigned iu Perfia, made himfelf mailer of it. From that lime 

 it was an object of contcll in the wars between the PerfiaiiS 

 and the Turks, for lOO years. The Turks took it under 

 fultan Soliman, and the Perfians retook it under Shah Abbas 

 the Great, king of Perfia; but being at length befieged by a 

 formidable army under Amuraili III. it was funcndcrcd to 

 him by Shah Sofi, king of Perfia, A. D. 1638; and from this 

 time it has remained in the pofltfTion of the Turks. Her- 

 belot Bib. Or. p. 154. From tins difallrous piri;:d the trade 

 of the place has conlid'-'rahly decayed, as the li'kan rifled all 

 the rich merchants. Plowever, though it groans at prefent 

 under the Turkidi yoke, Bagdad is a cJ.ebvated emporium 

 and Irontier cf the Ottoman empire, on the fide ot Perfia, to 

 which not riily many merchants, but likeuife an incredible 

 number of paiTengers, travelhng from Natolia, Syria, Paitf- 

 tine, and Egypt, into Perfia, continually refort. Its fitua- 

 tion on the banks of the Tigris renders it convenient for 

 trade; but the heat of the climate is fo exccffive, that the 

 inhabitants are obliged to keep their markets in the night 

 during the fummer, and to flecp, as we have already laid, 



oa 



