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CHAPTER XI

Madînat as-Salâm

Built by al-Manṣûr. Baghdâdh^[1] was an ancient city, but al-Manṣûr colonized it, and added a city to it^[2] which he began in the year 145. Hearing that Muḥammad and Ibrâhîm, the sons of ʿAbdallâh ibn-Ḥasan ibn-Ḥasan, had thrown off their allegiance to him, al-Manṣûr returned to al-Kûfah. In the year 146, he rransferred the public treasures [buyût al-mâl], repositories, and registers from al-Kûfah to Baghdâdh, and called it Madînat as-Salâm [the city of peace]. In the year 147, the wall of this city, with everything else connected with it, and the wall of ancient Baghdâdh were completed. Al-Manṣûr died in Makkah in the year 158 and was buried near the well of Maimûn ibn-al-Ḥadrami, an ally of the banu-Umaiyah.

Ar-Ruṣâfah. Ar-Ruṣâfah^[3] was built for al-Mahdi by al-Manṣûr on the east side of Baghdâdh. This side was called ʿAskar [camp] al-Mahdi^[4] because al-Mahdi camped in it on his way to ar-Rai. When he returned from ar-Rai, he settled in ar-Ruṣâfah, although it had occurred to al-Manṣûr to direct him to settle in Khurâsân. This took place in the year 151. Before al-Mahdi had occupied the

 

1. A Persian word meaning the city "founded by God," see Le Strange, Baghdâd, pp. 10–11.
2. Ḥauḳal, p. 164.
3. i. e., causeway, the eastern suburb of Baghdâd. Iṣṭakhri, pp. 83, 84; Tanbîh, p. 360.
4. Yaʿḳûbi, Buldân, p. 251.

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