The Building of the Hashimite City at Kufa

بناء المدينة الهاشمية بالكوفة

In al-Baladhuri: Yazid ibn Umar ibn Hubayra built a city at Kufa on the Euphrates and dwelt in it — save a little unfinished — when Marwan's letter came ordering him to shun the Kufans' neighborhood, so he left it and built the palace called Qasr Ibn Hubayra near Sura's bridge. When the Commander of the Faithful Abu al-Abbas rose he occupied that city, finished its pavilions, built in it and named it al-Hashimiyya; the people kept calling it Ibn Hubayra's out of habit, and he said 'I see Ibn Hubayra's name will not drop from it,' abandoned it, built the Hashimite City beside it and dwelt there, then chose al-Anbar where he built his famous city and was buried. Abu Ja'far al-Mansur, succeeding, dwelt in Kufa's Hashimiyya, finished what remained, added building and prepared it as he wished, then moved to Baghdad — founded it as Madinat al-Salam and repaired its old wall from the Tigris to al-Sarat. At al-Hashimiyya al-Mansur imprisoned Abdallah ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali (may God be pleased with him) ibn Abi Talib (may God be pleased with him) over his sons Muhammad and Ibrahim — his grave is there — and built al-Rusafa at Kufa, ordering his mawla Abu al-Khasib Marzuq to build the palace called Abu al-Khasib's on an old foundation — it is also said Abu al-Khasib built it for himself and al-Mansur would visit him there.

Overview

al-Baladhuri relates the story of the city of al-Hashimiyya at Kufa, and how its building passed between Yazid ibn Umar ibn Hubayra and the two caliphs al-Saffah and al-Mansur. ¹

From Ibn Hubayra to al-Saffah

Yazid ibn Umar ibn Hubayra built a city on the Euphrates and settled in it, but part of it was left unfinished. Then a letter came to him from Marwan ordering him to avoid living next to the people of Kufa, and he left it. When Abu al-Abbas came to power, he settled there, completed its palaces and named it al-Hashimiyya. People used to attribute it to Ibn Hubayra, so he abandoned it and built a new city opposite it, which he called al-Hashimiyya, and then chose al-Anbar and built his city there. ¹

al-Mansur

When Abu Ja'far al-Mansur became caliph, he settled in al-Hashimiyya at Kufa, completed what remained of it and added to it. Then he moved to Baghdad, built his city and named it the City of Peace. He imprisoned Abd Allah ibn al-Hasan in al-Hashimiyya, because of his two sons Muhammad and Ibrahim, and his grave is there. ¹

The rest of the account about al-Rusafa and the palace of Abu al-Khasib is cut out of the museum's data and needs an additional source.

Great Mosque of Kufa

The Great Mosque of Kufa; near-square with slightly unequal sides (~116×109×116×110 m), its south riwaq holding the mashhad of Imam Ali and scattered prayer-niches known as maqams (al-Khidr, Zayn al-Abidin, Jibril, Ibrahim), plus the 'Safina'/Tannur — a sunken octagonal court reached by stairs — and the bayt al-tasht; the Mawsu'at al-Atabat records that it joined the Qasr al-Imara, begun by Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, through a door in its south wall, and Iraqi excavations measured the palace's side at some 177 m.

The Building of the Hashimite City at Kufa

At a glance

In space

Overview

From Ibn Hubayra to al-Saffah

al-Mansur

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Time

Great Mosque of Kufa