BAGHDAD.

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 March 1917, Page 8

BAGHDAD.

ANCIENT kHU STORIED CITY. PEACE OF A HUNDJtED MOSQUES (A cable message announces the British capture ot Baghdad.) Baghdad, formerly the capital, of the empire of the Khalif, is situated about 500 miles from the Persian Gulf, on an extensive, and desert, plain, with scarcely a tree or village through itu whole extent; and, though it ; s intersected by the Tigris, it stands mostly on its eastern batiilc, close to the water's, edge. Old Baghdad on the west is now considered only as a suburb to the larger and more modern (iity on the eastern shore. It has, however, numerous and extensive streets, well furnished with shops, and is protected by strung walls, with three gates opening) towards Hillah on the Euphrates and Kazameen. He- ■ yond these recent bulwarks, vestiges (if ancient buildings, spreading in various directions, are visible in the plain, which Is strewn with Fragments of brick, tiles and rubbish. A bury-ine-gnnmd has extended itself over a large tract of land formerly occupied i ,• the streets of the city; and here is (he lenib of Zobeida, the favorite wife of IJarouu el Raschid, built of brick-, of a high octagonal shape, and surmounted ny a lofty superstructure in iiic form of a cueThe two towns of Old and New Baghdad art cum vied by a bridge of iliii! v pontoons. 1 1"' form of the new city is t hat of an irregular oblong, iii.out lot'-O pace,) in length by f*o<) in bre-adMm and a brick wall, loUi) pace* in length and about live miles, in circuit, eiiel"sjs the town on both sides of i iic river. This wail, which !"« buill of brick, has been constrttcied and IV. Haired .it dili'motif periods; and, as in most other works of the same nature in Mahometan countries, the oldest portM.n is the best, and the more modern the worst part of the fabric. At the principal tingles are largo round towers, with smaller towel's intervening at short distances: and on these towers batteries are planted, hi two of tiiese angular towers Mr. Buckingham remarked that the workmanship i> equal to any ancient masonry rhat he had ever seen. The wall has three mates, one "ti the S.lv, one on the X.l''., iind a third on the X.W. <'f the city: and it is surrounded by a drv ditch of edti.siderable de])tli. The town has been built without Hie slightest regard to regularity. The streets are even more intricate and winding iTian those in most other Kastern towns: and. with the exception of the bazaars and some ope::! squares, tlie interior is little else than a labyrinth of alleys and passaged. The streets are uupaved, and in many places so narrow that two horsemen ran scarcely pass each other: and, as it is seldom that the houses 'nave windows facing the great public thorough. fares, and the doors are small and mean, they present on both sides the U'loomv appearance of dead walls. All the buildings, both public and private, are constructed of furnace-burnt bricks, of a yellowish-red color, taken chiefly from the ruins, of other edifices, as their rounded angles evidently show. A abuse is generally laid nut in ranges of apartments opening into a square interior court, and furnished with subterranean rooms called s.rdaubs. into which the inhabitants retreat during the day for shelter from the intense heat of summer: and with terraced roofs, on which, they take their evening meal, and sleep in the onen air. In the months of June, Julv. and August the thermometer at break of day generally stands at Udeg. Fahr. : at noon it rises to llOdeg, and a little before -' o'clock to 122 detr, : at sunset it is about UTdeg; am| at midnight I 1 Ideg. In some seasons it rist'H eve'u hitiher: and at

these times the inhabitants during the day take refuse in the subterranean apartments., where they endeavor, !'.- even* possible device, to mitigate the intolerable heat. I'lte interiors of llic. hous.es ol' the ficli are splendidly furnislied, and orriainented in the ceiling it'll a S; t" 1 "'' chequered wood, which lias a handsome appearance. A ureal portion <>l the gruiinu within the walls of the town is un.iL'rupied by buddings, especially in the north-casiom quarter; and even in tin- more iioj.iiK.iUN part:: of the city, near the" i ivcr, a c.,n ;i(k'ral.iie space between the houses is occupied by gardens, which produce pomegranates, grapes, ties, olives and da tea in great übutida'.iieo : so thai the city, when Seen from a distance, has the appearance of rising out of the midst of trees. The public buildings in Baghdad are chiefly the mosques, the khans or caravanserais, and the serai or palace of the Pasha. This latter building, wine!' is situated in the north-western quarter of the town, not far from the Tigris, is distinguished rather for extent than grandeur. It is a comparatively modern structure, built at different periods, and funning 11. large and confuted pile, without proportion, beauty, or strength. There are no remains of the ancient palace of the khalifs. l\\ all Mahometan cities the mosques are conspicuous objects. The number in Baghdad is, above 100; but of these not more than thirty are. distinguished by tlieir particular minarer.s or steeples, the rest being merely chapels and venerated places of pray, er. The most ancient of these mosques was erected■■ in the year of the H'egira 033, or 1235 of the* Christian era, by the Khalif Mostanser. All that remains of the original building is the minaret, and a email portion of the outer walls; the former a short, heavy erection, of the most ungraceful proportions, built of bricks of various colors, diagonally crossed. The jamah or mosque or not far distant from the former though the body of it is modem, has some remains of old and very rich arabesque work on its surface. The door is form, ed 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 reis crowned by a Roman arch, with square pedestals, spirally fluted shafts, a rich capital of flowers, and a line fan or shell-top in fho Romun

stylo. Around the iileli is a sculptured frieze; and Twit the centre, at the back of the niche, is a broad band, richly sculptured with vasts, (lowers, etc., in the very, best style of work--5 niansblp; the whole, executed on a white marble ground, 'the. ino.tque of the vizier, near the Tigris', has a tine dome and lofty minaret ; and the great mosque in the square of El Mai. dan is. also a nolle building. The 1 domes of Baghdad are mostly high, ' and disproportionately narrow. They 1 are richly ornamented with glazed ■ tiles and. painting, the colors chiefly s green and white, which, being reflect- > ed from a polished surface, impart 1 more of liveliness, than magnificence 1 to the aspect <i these buildings. But, 1 in the opinio,] of Mr. Buckingham, ' riiev are not to be compared to the 3 rich and stutelv domes of Egypt, as the minarets, although they have the 1 same bright asiembhige of colors, are 1 far from being equal "to the plain and grave dignity cf some of the ; Turkish towers; at Diarbekir, Aleppo, 1 and Damascus, or to the lighter eie- ' gance of many of those in the larger ; towns on the banks of the Nile." Baghdad was founded by Al Man- • sour, second khalif of the race of ! Abbas, in the libit ii year of the 1 iieu'ira (AA), To"). I 1 \>as adorned ' witli many noble and sutlely eUitices c bv the munificence of the renowned liaroun el Kaseind, wtiu aiso hunt |l n the eastern side ot the river, cu'miecting the two tptai iei s of Im- t..\\ ii by a midge <•'' boa' *. I mi"i' tin; auspices of Z'Teiiia, ihe wd" of that pi hum, and .laiiVr IJai-;uiviUe, his iavoi'iio, the eity may I v said o- have attained its creates! .-pleudor. Ii continued to : flourish and increase, end to bo the seat of ck-eaiie,' and ieariiillg. until the Obtitii year of the liegira (AA). I:.'7n, when llulakoo Llie tartar, the grandson of (h imhis Khan, took It by storm, and extinguished the dynasty of tlie Al/iiasides. The' Tartats retain. ed possession of Baghdad till about via- year 110" '■' our era. wlnm it was taken by Tamerlane, from whom the Sultan Alumni hhn Avis lied, and, lindiilii lefuev with lite '-deck Ktnperor, cut rived afterwards to repossess himself of the city, wheux J he was finally expelled . y Kara Vusef in 1-117. In 11m bis descendants weru drive" on! I.v I'miii ('asstm, who reigned th>rty-mue years in Baghdad, when Shah Isi'naei the First, the founder of the rev;,! house of Sefe. made himself master of if. From that time it continued fur a beer period an « Meet of contention between the Turks and Persians. It was taken by Solim.an the Magnmeeni, and retaken by Shah Abbas the Urea! : and it was afterwards besieged by Amurath the Fourth, with an army'of SUO.OOO men. After tin obstinate resistance, it was forced to surrender. A.l>. ItioN: when, ill defiance of the terms of capitulation, most of the inhabitants were massacred bv tort'hiignt. Since 'hat period it has remained under the Turks.