Other Definitions
baghdad (dest)
baghdad (enc)
baghdad (dict)
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Baghdad Founded in AD 762 by Abu Jafar al-Mansur, the second Abbasid caliph, the city of Baghdad was originally built on the west bank of the Tigris River. During the 8th and 9th centuries AD, Baghdad was at the height of its commercial prosperity. Under the rule of the caliphs Mahdi and Harun, it became the centre of many important trade routes between the east and west. Its many impressive buildings and magnificent gardens gave it the reputation of the richest and most beautiful city in the world. In the latter half of the 9th century, the Abbasid caliphs' power was weakened by internal strife leading to civil war. When the Mongols invaded Baghdad in the 13th century, the caliph was murdered, many buildings and the irrigation system were destroyed, thus adding dramatically to the city's decline. When in 1534 it became part of the Ottoman Empire, the city fell into obscurity and neglect for several hundred years. Improvements were made on a modest scale at the beginning of the 20th century, when some schools and hospitals were built. The oil boom of the 70s brought increased wealth to Baghdad and the city began to develop on a much more impressive scale, with the construction of middle-class residential areas. New sewers and water lines were laid and above ground a network of super-highways was constructed, as well as a new airport. All such improvements, however, were brought to an abrupt halt by the war with Iran in the 80s and by the Gulf War which immediately followed it.
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