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The Founding of Madinat al-Salam (Baghdad)

تأسيس مدينة السلام بغداد

Baghdad

In al-Baladhuri: Baghdad was ancient, and al-Mansur garrisoned it, beginning his city in year 145; when news of Muhammad and Ibrahim ibn Abdallah's rising reached him he returned to Kufa, then moved the treasury houses, coffers and diwans from Kufa to Baghdad in 146, naming it Madinat al-Salam; he finished the city wall and all its works, and the old Baghdad wall, in 147. He bought the city's ground from village-owners of Baduraya, Qatrabull, Nahr Buq and Nahr Bin, granted it in iqta' to his family, commanders, troops, companions and secretaries, made the markets' gathering at al-Karkh and ordered the merchants to build shops, obliging them their rents; he built Madinat al-Salam's two mosques and the new pontoon on al-Sarat, and built al-Rusafa for al-Mahdi on the east side — called Askar al-Mahdi from his camping there bound for Rayy — occupied on return in 151; earlier he had ordered Qasr al-Waddah built, named for an Anbar man who financed it, and Qasr al-Mahdi by Bab al-Karkh.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Levant & Iraq
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In space

Baghdad

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Caliph Abu Jafar al-Mansur built the round city of Baghdad on the Tigris River, making it a thriving center of peace and learning.

The Abbasid Caliph Abu Jafar al-Mansur founded the city of Baghdad in 145 AH, naming it the City of Peace (Madinat al-Salam). Master builders designed it in a remarkable circular plan surrounded by walls and monumental gates, and it quickly grew into a grand capital, trading crossroads, and vibrant home of scholars and libraries.

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The founding of Madinat al-Salam (the City of Peace, Baghdad) by the second Abbasid Caliph, Abu Jafar al-Mansur, who initiated its construction in 145 AH (762 CE) on the western bank of the Tigris River as the new imperial capital. Renowned for its ingenious circular city plan with concentric walls and four directional gates facing the empire's key provinces, it placed the caliphal palace and congregational mosque at its core. Baghdad rapidly evolved into the cosmopolitan metropolis of Afro-Eurasia, housing the House of Wisdom, hospitals, grand academies, and transcontinental commerce, epitomizing the classic zenith of Islamic civilization.

Overview

Al-Baladhuri reports that Baghdad was an old place, and that al-Mansur made it a garrison city and built in it a city he began in 145 AH, and named it the City of Peace. 1

The building

When news reached him of the rising of Muhammad and Ibrahim, the sons of Abd Allah ibn al-Hasan, he returned to Kufa, then moved the treasuries, the storehouses and the registers from Kufa to Baghdad in 146 AH. He completed the building of the wall of his city and the old wall of Baghdad in 147 AH. 1

He bought the land of the city from the owners of villages in Badurya, Qatarbal, the Buq River and the Bayn River, and granted it to his family, his commanders, his troops and his scribes. He made the market-place at al-Karkh, built two mosques and the new bridge over the Sarat. 1

Al-Rusafa

He built al-Rusafa for al-Mahdi on the eastern side, which was called the camp of al-Mahdi. Al-Mahdi lodged in it in 151 AH when he returned from Rayy. 1

Al-Suyuti's account

According to al-Suyuti, al-Mansur began building Baghdad in the year 140 AH and finished it in the year 149 AH, which differs from what was said before. 2

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Occurred at
Baghdad
Had participant
Abu Ja'far al-Mansur· Muhammad al-Mahdi
Basis for
Iqta' (land grant)

People and things also explored

The Aman of Samalu and its People's Transfer to Baghdad· Deposition of Isa ibn Musa from the succession· The Building of al-Rafiqa· Establishment of the barid from the Hijaz to Iraq· Muhammad al-Mahdi· Abu Ja'far al-Mansur· The Nizamiyya Madrasa of Baghdad· Bayt al-Hikma — the House of Wisdom

Sources

  1. Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition) , p.414
  2. Tarikh al-Khulafa — al-Suyuti (Dar al-Minhaj edition) , p.424-425
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Founding of Madinat al-Salam (Baghdad)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/founding-of-baghdad/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-25.

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The Aman of Samalu and its People's Transfer to Baghdad

In al-Baladhuri: al-Mahdi sent his son Harun al-Rashid raiding in year 163 and he besieged the people of Damalu — which common speech calls Samalu — and they asked his aman, ten householders among them the qummis, which he granted on the condition that they not be separated, so they were settled in Baghdad at the Shammasiyya gate and named their quarter Samalu, which it is still known as; others say they came down on al-Mahdi's ruling — he spared them, gathered them at that spot and ordered it named Samalu; al-Rashid had those remaining in the fortress cried and sold, and an Abyssinian who used to curse al-Rashid and the Muslims was taken and crucified on one of its towers.