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Qasr Qubadh / the Hajjaj palace at Basra

قصر قباذ (قصر الحجاج) بالبصرة

Basra

The Basran palace that was a Khosrow hunting-lodge before the city was founded, ruined until al-Hajjaj rebuilt it and gave it his name — earlier it was Qubadh's. In it ran the famous boasting match when al-Hajjaj bade Jarir and al-Farazdaq appear in their fathers' jahiliyya dress: al-Farazdaq came in brocade under a dome, Jarir in mail and spear with forty horsemen of Banu Yarbu 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Umayyad Period
Region
Levant & Iraq
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In space

Basra

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Overview

A palace in Basra, known as the Palace of Qubadh and the Palace of al-Hajjaj. 1

Its history

Before the city was laid out, it was a residence where the Sasanian kings stayed during their hunting, and where the cavalry came out to their pleasure grounds. It later fell into ruin until al-Hajjaj rebuilt it, and it took his name. 1

The contest of boasting

The famous contest of boasting between Jarir and al-Farazdaq took place in it, when al-Hajjaj told them to come to him dressed as their fathers had dressed in the days of ignorance. 1

Al-Farazdaq wore brocade and silk and sat in a dome. Jarir wore chain mail, girded on a sword, took up a spear, and came with forty horsemen of the Banu Yarbu'. 1

Connections

Explore the connections

Located in
Basra

People and things also explored

Great Mosque of Basra· The Asawira's Settlement at Basra· The Basra Bathhouse Permissions· The Basrans' Cry to Abdallah ibn Ali· Building of al-Mughitha· The Bukharans' Settlement at Basra· The Basra Dar al-Imara Saga· Digging of Nahr Adi

Sources

  1. Masalik al-absar fi mamalik al-amsar — al-Umari (1924 printing) , p. 248
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Qasr Qubadh / the Hajjaj palace at Basra”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/building/qasr-qubadh-basra/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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Objects

Manuscripts, art, architecture and relics from collections worldwide. Related

Great Mosque of Basra

Basra's congregational mosque; Utba ibn Ghazwan built it of reeds in 14 AH — its layout claimed for himself, Nafi' ibn al-Adhra' al-Bahzi, Nafi' ibn al-Harith, and al-Aswad ibn Sari' who first judged in it — Abu Musa rebuilt it in mud-brick with mushab roofing, then Ziyad enlarged and rebuilt it in fired brick and gypsum with teak roofing, a stone minaret, the first maqsura, and columns hauled from Ahwaz's mountain by al-Hajjaj ibn Utayk and his son; he had pebbles strewn lest hand-dusting pass for sunnah, and the enforcers' harshness bred the saying 'lovely the governorship, even over stones'. Al-Mahdi bought the houses of Nafi' ibn al-Harith, Ubaydallah ibn Abi Bakra and Rabi'a ibn Kallada into it, and the governor's palace was taken in under al-Rashid.