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Secondary sourceArtifact762–766

Round City of Baghdad

762–766

The circular planned capital founded by Caliph al-Mansur in 762, built as the centre of Abbasid power.

Al-Mansur personally commissioned and founded this circular capital as the centre of his caliphate.

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Historical map titled Baghdad between 150 and 300 A.H., showing the circular walled city at center labeled The Round City, with rivers, canals, districts such as Katrabbul, Harbiyah, Nahr Buk, Kalwadha, and Karkh, and a scale in English miles.
Map of Baghdad's Round City, showing the city between 767 and 912 AD.

About this source

What it is

The Round City was the original core of Baghdad, built by Caliph al-Mansur beginning in 762. According to Arab chroniclers, huge numbers of workers and vast sums of money were used to construct it. The caliph's palace and the main mosque stood at the centre, with administrative offices nearby, and the city was completed over several years.

Why it matters

Al-Mansur chose this location to replace an earlier Abbasid capital and to create a new seat of power for his dynasty. The circular design, with four gates facing major roads to the provinces, borrowed from older Persian city plans, showing how Abbasid rulers absorbed Persian traditions of kingship and architecture. The city grew into one of the great cities of the medieval world, home to the later House of Wisdom.

Look closer

  • Why might a ruler choose a circular design, with his palace and mosque at the exact centre?
  • What does the choice of four gates, each facing a different region, suggest about how al-Mansur saw his empire?
  • No original buildings survive — how do historians know what the city looked like?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Caliph al-Mansur on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Miniature painting from a manuscript page with Persian text above. A king seated on a golden throne with a green-sleeved robe is surrounded by attendants and craftsmen working at forges, anvils, and a furnace. A bearded man sits in a cage on the right, and a seated scribe writes at the lower left under a tree.Book

Secondary source

History of the Prophets and Kings

Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari · completed 915 AD

Historical map titled 'The Round City in the Time of Mansur' showing a circular walled city with concentric walls, radial streets, numbered buildings including the Mosque and Palace, the Tigris river to the east, and Harbiyah district outside. A second inset plan shows wall and gate details.Artifact

Secondary source

Palace of the Golden Gate

763

Scanned page of an Arabic manuscript printed in dense right-to-left columns of text, with the page number 585 at top, a handwritten marginal note on the left side, and a section heading in the lower half.Book

Secondary source

Genealogies of the Nobles

Al-Baladhuri

Close-up of a parchment page of a Syriac manuscript with dense brown-ink Syriac script in several lines, with red-ink headings at the top and bottom. A diagonal streak of red-brown ink strokes marks a comet-like shape in the lower middle of the page. The page is a Syriac chronicle folio.Book

Primary source

Zuqnin Chronicle

Pseudo-Dionysius of Tel-Maḥrē · completed c. 775

Photo of a hardcover book standing on a wooden table against a dark background. The cream cover has Arabic calligraphic title text in red, an illustration of an open book, stacked books, and a domed church, plus Arabic author and editor credits.Book

Secondary source

History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria

Mawhub ibn Mansur ibn Mufarrij · 1222

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