BAGDAD

BAGDAD, a city of Asia, formerly the capital of the empire of the caliph, and long renowned for its commerce and its wealth. It is situated on an extensive and desert plain, with scarcely a tree or village throughout its whole extent; and, though it is intersected by the Tigris, it stands mostly on its north-east bank, close to the water's edge. Old Bagdad on the west is now considered only as a suburb to the larger and more modern city on the eastern shore. It has, however, numerous and extensive streets, well furnished with shops, and is protected by strong walls, and three gates opening towards Hillah on the Euphrates and Kazameen. Beyond these recent bulwarks, vestiges of ancient buildings, spreading in various directions, are visible in the plain, which is strewed with fragments of brick, tiles, and rubbish. A burying-ground has extended itself over a large tract of land formerly occupied by the streets of the city; and here is the tomb of Zobeida, the favourite wife of Haroun el Raschid, built of brick, of a high octagonal shape, and surmounted by a lofty superstructure in the form of a cone. The two towns of Old and New Bagdad are connected by a ruinous bridge of thirty pontoons, so decayed that few of the natives venture across it. The form of the new city is that of an irregular oblong, about 1500 paces in length by 800 in breadth; and a brick wall, 1500 paces in length and about five miles in circuit, incloses the town on both sides of the river. This wall, which is built of brick, has been constructed and repaired at different periods; and, as in most other works of the same nature in Mahomedan countries, the oldest portion is the best, and the more modern the worst part of the fabric. At the principal angles are large round towers, with smaller towers intervening at short distances; and on these large towers batteries are planted, with about fifty brass cannon of different calibre, badly mounted. On two of these angular towers, Mr Buckingham remarked that the workmanship is equal to any ancient masonry that he had ever seen. The wall has three gates, one on the south-east, one on the north-east, and a third on the north-west of the city; and it is surrounded by a dry ditch of considerable depth. The town has been built without the slightest regard to regularity. The streets are even more intricate and winding than those in many other eastern towns; and, with the exception of the bazars and some open squares, the interior is little else than a labyrinth of alleys and passages. The streets are unpaved, and in many places so narrow that two horsemen can scarcely pass each other; and as it is seldom that the houses have windows facing the great public thoroughfares, and the doors are small and mean, they present on both sides the gloomy appearance of dead walls. All the buildings, both public and private, are constructed of furnace-burnt bricks, of a yellowish red colour, taken chiefly from the ruins of other

edifices, as their rounded angles evidently show. A house is generally laid out in ranges of apartments opening into a square interior court, and furnished with subterranean rooms called serdabs, into which the inhabitants retreat during the day for shelter from the intense heats of summer; and with terraced roofs, on which they take their evening meal, and sleep in the open air. In the months of June, July, and August, the thermometer at break of day generally stands at 112° of Fahrenheit; at noon it rises to 119°, and a little before two o'clock to 122°; at sunset it is about 117°, and at midnight 114°. In some seasons it rises even higher; and at these times the inhabitants during the day take refuge in the subterranean apartments, where they contrive, by every possible device, to mitigate the intolerable heat. In the interior the houses of the rich are splendidly furnished, and ornamented in the ceilings with a sort of chequered work, which has a grand appearance. A great portion of the ground within the walls of the town is unoccupied by buildings, especially in the north-eastern quarter; and even in the more populous parts of the city, near the river, there is a considerable space between the houses, occupied by gardens, in which are produced pomegranates, grapes, figs, olives, and dates, in great abundance, so that the city, when seen from a distance, has the appearance of rising out of the midst of trees.

The public buildings in Bagdad are chiefly the mosques, the khans or caravanserais, and the serai or palace of the pasha. This latter building, which is situated in the north-western quarter of the town, not far from the Tigris, is rather distinguished for extent than grandeur; it is a comparatively modern structure, and being built at different periods, it forms a large and confused pile, without either architecture, beauty, or strength. There are no remains of the ancient palace of the caliphs.

In all Mahomedan cities the mosques are conspicuous objects. The number in Bagdad is above 100; but of these not more than thirty are distinguished by their particular minarets or steeples, the rest being merely chapels and venerated places of prayer. The most ancient of these mosques was erected in the year of the Hegira 633, or 1235 of the Christian era, by the Caliph Mostanser. All that remains of the original building is the minaret, and a small portion of the outer walls; the former a short, thick, heavy column of the most ungraceful proportions, built of bricks, diagonally crossed, and of various colours. The jamah or mosque of Merjamecah, not far distant from the former, though the body of it is modern, has some remains of old and very rich arabesque work on its surface. The door is formed by a lofty arch of the pointed form, bordered on both sides by rich bands exquisitely sculptured, and having numerous inscriptions. The mosque of Khassakey is chiefly distinguished by the niche for prayer, which, instead of a simple and unadorned recess, is crowned by a Roman arch, with square pedestals, spirally-fluted shafts, a rich capital of flowers, and a fine fan or shell-top in the Roman and not in the Arabic taste. Around the arch is a sculptured frieze; and down the centre, at the back of the niche, is a broad band, richly sculptured with vases, flowers, &c. in the very best style of workmanship; the whole executed on a white and fine ground marble. The mosque of the vizier, near the Tigris, has a fine dome and lofty minaret; and the great mosque in the square of El Maidan is also a noble building. The others do not merit any particular notice. The domes at Bagdad are mostly high, and disproportionately narrow. They are richly ornamented with glazed tiles and painting, the colours

chiefly green and white, which being reflected from a polished surface, give rather a liveliness than a magnificence to the aspect of these buildings. But, in the opinion of Mr Buckingham, they are not to be compared to the rich and stately domes of Egypt, as the minarets, although they have the same bright assemblage of colours, are far from being equal "to the plain and grave dignity of some of the Turkish towers at Diarbekir, Aleppo, and Damascus, or to the lighter elegance of many of those in the larger towns on the banks of the Nile."¹

There are about thirty khans or caravanserais in Bagdad, all of inferior construction to those in the other large towns of Turkey. The bazars, which are numerous, are mostly formed of long, straight, and tolerably wide avenues. The one most recently built is the longest and the best, though it has still an air of meanness about it not common in the bazars of large Turkish cities. It is long, wide, and lofty, and well filled with dealers and wares of all sorts. Several of these bazars are vaulted over with brick work; but the greater number are merely covered with flat beams laid across, to support a roof of straw, dried leaves, or branches of trees and grass. There are about fifty baths in Bagdad, which are also far inferior in their accommodations to those in the other large towns of Mesopotamia.

Bagdad is about 500 miles from the mouth of the Tigris, including its windings, and about 400 from Bussora; and with this latter place it carries on a constant communication by means of boats, from twenty to fifty tons burden, though the river is navigable for larger vessels. With a northerly wind these boats will make the passage to Bussora in seven or eight days; in calms, when they have merely the aid of the current, the passage occupies from ten to fifteen days. Sir R. K. Porter mentions that the stream of the Tigris runs at the rate of seven knots an hour. This, however, is probably during floods, since, with such a powerful current, a boat could not occupy ten or fifteen days on its passage from Bagdad to Bussora. In coming up the stream, thirty or forty days are consumed before reaching Bagdad. The smaller craft, used for bringing supplies of provisions and fruit to the city, are circular boats of basket-work, covered with skins, the same that have been employed from the remotest antiquity. The communication with Bussora used formerly to be carried on by the way of Hillah on the Euphrates; but the banks of this river are now in possession of a tribe of Arabs, who detain and plunder all vessels sailing down the river, and frequently murder the crews. The Euphrates and the Tigris are liable to spring floods; and the streams of both rivers being joined, inundate the desert plain on which Bagdad stands, when the city appears like an island in the midst of the sea. The inhabitants are supplied with water from the Tigris, which is brought to their houses in goats' skins; the convenience of water-works, cisterns, and pipes, being entirely unknown.

Bagdad has declined from its ancient importance. It was formerly a great emporium of eastern commerce; and it still receives, by way of Bussora, from Bengal, the manufactures and produce of India, which are distributed over Arabia, Syria, Koordistan, Armenia, and Asia Minor. This trade has increased, owing to the moderate demands of the government, from two annual vessels to six under the English flag, besides those under Arabian colours. At the same time the inland trade from Persia and the East has declined. The productions and manufactures of Persia which were intended for the Syrian, Armenian, and Turkish markets, and were sent to Bagdad as a central depot, now reach Constantinople by the more direct route

Bagdad. of Erzerum and Tocat. Wealth appears to be deficient among all classes, and Bagdad has many symptoms of a decayed city.

The population is a mixture of nations from various quarters of the East. The chief officers of government, whether civil or military, are of the families of Constantinopolitan Turks, though they are mostly natives of the city; the merchants and traders are almost all of Arabian descent; while the lower classes consist of Turks, Arabs, Persians, and Indians. There are some Jews and Christians, who still remain distinct from the other classes; while the strangers in the town are Koords, Persians, and Desert Arabs in considerable numbers. The dress of the Bagdad Turks is not nearly so gay or splendid as that of their northern countrymen; and the costume of the Bagdad residents is, upon the whole, unusually plain in comparison with that of other Asiatics. As every nation retains its own peculiar dress, it may be easily conceived what an amusing variety of costume must be seen in the streets of Bagdad. The dress of the females is as mean as that used in the poorest villages of Mesopotamia; women of all classes being enveloped in a blue checked cloth, such as is worn by the lowest orders in Egypt, and having their faces covered by hideous veils of black horse-hair.

Bagdad is governed by a pasha, assisted by a council. The pasha receives his appointment from the sultan of Constantinople; which, however, has to be ratified by the public voice, not ascertained by votes, but expressed in the tumultuous acclamations of the populace. The pasha is chosen from a body of Georgian Mamelukes, maintained by importations from Georgia, which are said to increase every year. Among this body are distributed all the lucrative offices, as well as all the military commands. The pasha has a force of 2000 horsemen, 10 pieces of artillery, and a body-guard consisting of 1000 men. On particular emergencies he can call for the service of some Arab tribes of the Desert, who are bound to this duty in return for provisions supplied by the pasha; the pashas of Koordistan also aid him with 5000 or 6000 horse in case of need; so that on a short notice he can collect a force of 20,000 or 30,000 undisciplined troops for the defence of the city. He is generally considered as quite independent of the sultan of Constantinople. His revenue arises from a custom-duty on all merchandise entering Bagdad; and he seldom resorts to forced exactions for the supply of his treasury. The moderation and justice pursued by the government has the effect of giving great activity to commerce, and general satisfaction to all engaged in it. The police of Bagdad is extremely defective, and murders frequently take place at the gates of the palace and of the great mosque, without any attempt being made to bring the criminals to justice. Mr Buckingham mentions, that one murder was committed in open day, on the street, before a hundred witnesses, no one of whom thought of interfering; it being, according to the maxims of the Arabs, an affair of blood, which it belonged to the relatives of the slain to revenge, or the pasha to investigate, and which they had no business to meddle with. Robberies are also frequently committed with impunity. The English and French maintain each a consul at Bagdad. The late Mr Rich, whose amiable qualities furnish a theme of praise to every traveller, was appointed to that situation by the East India company, with a large establishment, and was considered the most powerful man in Bagdad next to the pasha.

Bagdad was founded by Al Mansour, second caliph of the race of Abbas, in the 145th year of the Hegira (A. D. 747). It was adorned with many noble and stately edifices by the magnificence of the renowned Haroun el Racshid, who also built on the eastern side of the river, connecting the two quarters of the town by a bridge of

boats. Under the auspices of Zobeida, the wife of that prince, and Jaffer Barmecide, his favourite, the city may be said to have attained its greatest splendour. It continued to flourish and increase, and to be the seat of elegance and learning, until the 656th year of the Hegira (A. D. 1257), when Holakoo the Tartar, the grandson of Genghis Khan, took it by storm, and extinguished for ever the reign of the Abbassides. The Tartars retained possession of Bagdad till about the year 1400 of our era, when it was taken by Tamerlane, from whom the sultan Ahmed Ben Avis fled, and finding refuge with the Greek emperor, contrived afterwards to repossess himself of the city, whence he was finally expelled by Kara Yusef in 1417. In 1477 his descendants were driven out by Usman Cassim, who reigned 39 years in Bagdad, when Shah Ismael the First, the founder of the royal house of Sefé, made himself master of it. From that time it continued for a long period an object of contention between the Turks and Persians. It was taken by Soliman the Magnificent, and retaken by Shah Abbas the Great; and it was afterwards besieged by Amurath the Fourth, with an army of 300,000 men. After an obstinate resistance, it was forced to surrender, A. D. 1638, when, contrary to the terms of the capitulation, most of the inhabitants were massacred by torch-light. Since this period it has remained under a nominal subjection to the Turks. Ashmed, the greatest of the pashas of Bagdad, and the first who rendered the pashalic independent of the Porte, defended the town with such courage and success against Nadir Shah, that he was compelled to raise the siege, after suffering great loss. The population of Bagdad is variously estimated at from 50,000 to 100,000. Mr Buckingham's estimate is 80,000, which is probably not far from the truth. Long. 44. 24. E. Lat. 33. 21. N. (Buckingham's Travels in Mesopotamia; Sir R. Ker Porter's Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, and Ancient Babylonia; Kinneir's Geographical Memoir of the Persian Empire.)