Baghdad
Baghdad, 800 CE: a city only 38 years old, already the world's crossroads. Caliph Harun al-Rashid ruled from here, while scholars, traders and dreamers filled its markets.
Sources
- Baghdad was founded by the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur as his new capital; construction began in 762 CE. — 762 is when construction began; the Round City took several more years to complete.
Iraq (Mesopotamia), 500–1000 A.D. (Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History chronology); The Art of the Abbasid Period (750–1258); The founding of Baghdad · Source-checked; editor sign-off pending. - Around 800 CE, Baghdad was a major commercial and cultural centre, drawing people and goods from well beyond Iraq. — Al-Ya'qubi wrote about a century later (late 9th century). The copy makes no claim about specific goods, communities or the translation movement, which mostly came later under al-Ma'mun.
The Art of the Abbasid Period (750–1258); The Golden Age of the Abbasid Caliphate (775–833), in The Abbasid Caliphate: A History; Kitab al-Buldan (The Book of Countries), opening chapter on Baghdad · Source-checked; editor sign-off pending.