The Founding of al-Ramla

تأسيس الرملة

c. 715 CE · c. 96 AH

In al-Baladhuri: al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik gave his brother Sulayman command of the Filastin jund, and he settled at Lydda then founded the city of al-Ramla and made it an amsar — the first thing he built being his palace and the house known as Dar al-Sabbaghin with a central cistern, then he laid out the mosque's plan and built it, taking the caliphate before completing it and finishing it in his reign, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz completing it while reducing the plan, saying 'the people of al-Ramla are content with this measure'; when Sulayman built for himself he gave people leave to build and they did, digging the canal called Barada and wells for them, a Christian clerk of Lydda named al-Batriq ibn al-Nakka overseeing the expenditure on the works and the congregational mosque; the city of al-Ramla did not exist before Sulayman, its site being a sandy tract; the Umayyads spent on its wells and canal after him, then the Abbasids did likewise, the charge issuing yearly from caliph to caliph until al-Mu'tasim entered it in the register, whence it became a standing annuity reckoned to the claimants.

Overview

Al-Baladhuri reports that al-Walid ibn Abd al-Malik appointed his brother Sulayman over the troops of Palestine, and he lodged at Lydda, then founded and laid out the city of Ramla. ¹

The building

The first thing he built was his palace and the House of the Dyers, and he made a cistern in it. Then he laid out the mosque and built it, but he became caliph before he completed it. Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz completed it with a reduction in the plan, and said that the people of Ramla would be content with this amount. ¹

Sulayman allowed the people to build, and a canal called Barda and wells were dug for them. The expense was managed by a Christian scribe from Lydda called al-Batriq ibn al-Naka. ²

After Sulayman

Ramla did not exist before Sulayman; its site was sand. The Umayyads continued to spend on its wells and its canal, and then the Abbasids did. Al-Mu'tasim recorded that expense in a register by which it continued to flow. ²

The date

The date falls in the governorship of al-Walid (86–96 AH) approximately, and the conversion is derived. ¹

The Founding of al-Ramla

At a glance

In time

Overview

The building

After Sulayman

The date

Connections

People and things also explored

Sources

Time

Muwatta 690