Dictionary of islamic architecture

particularly helpful; these are: the British School of
Archaeology in Jerusalem, the British School of
Acknowledgements
Archaeology in Iraq, the British Institute at Amman
for Archaeology and History, the British Institute in
Eastern Africa, the International Merv Project, Dr
Julian Reade and the Turkish Government.
Preparation of the manuscript and drawings was
helped by a number of people including Heather
Nixon, Charles Craske, Crispian Pickles, David
Myres and Kate Cheyne. Photographs were provided
by a number of people and institutions, in particular
I would like to thank Kerry Abbott, Pat and Charles
Aithie, Susan Bailey, Rebecca Foote, Cherry Pickles
and James Allan. Here I would also like to express
my thanks to Mark Barragry and Seth Denbo both
of Routledge for their enthusiasm and patience.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to
my wife Heather Nixon who tolerated and helped
with this book for so long.

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1
Abbasids
Dynasty which ruled most of the Islamic world between
750 and 945.
In 750 CE there was a revolution against Umayyad
rule which began in eastern Iran and rapidly spread
over the whole empire. The Umayyads were totally
destroyed except for one prince who fled to Spain and
established the Umayyad dynasty there. The newly
established Abbasids decided to move the capital from
Damascus to a city further east, first Raqqa was chosen
and then in 762 Baghdad was founded by the Abbasid
caliph al-Mansur. Baghdad grew to be one of the
biggest and most populous cities in the world based
around Mansur’s famous round city. In 836 the caliph
al-Mu
tassim was unhappy about clashes between the
local population and his troops so he established a
new capital further north on the Tigris at Samarra.
During this period the power of the caliphate began
to decline and control over distant provinces was
loosened. Several local dynasties grew up including
the Tulunids in Egypt, the Aghlabids in Ifriqiyya and
the Samanids in Khurassan (eastern Iran). Internal
troubles in Samarra caused the caliph al Mu
tamid to
move back to Baghdad in 889; at this time Abbasid
power outside Iraq was purely nominal. In 945 the
Abbasids were replaced by the Shi
a Buwaihid amirs
as rulers of Iraq and Iran. For the next two hundred
years the Abbasids remained nominal caliphs with
no real authority. In the mid-twelfth century the
Abbasids were able to reassert some authority when
the Seljuk ruler Sultan Muhamad abandoned his siege
of Baghdad. During the reign of Caliph al-Nasir (1179–
1225) the Abbasids were able to gain control over
much of present-day Iraq. The Mongol invasions and
sack of Baghdad in 1258 dealt a final blow to the
political aspirations of the Abbasids.
Although Abbasid architecture covers a vast area
from North Africa to western India, the majority of
extant buildings are in the Abbasid homeland of Iraq.
Abbasid architecture was influenced by three
architectural traditions—Sassanian, Central Asian
(Soghdian) and later, during the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries, Seljuk. Many early Abbasid
structures such as the palace of Ukhaidhir bear a
striking resemblance to Sassanian architecture, as
they used the same techniques (vaults made without
centring) and materials (mud brick, baked brick and
roughly hewn stone laid in mortar), and built to
similar designs (solid buttress towers). Central Asian
influence was already present in Sassanian
architecture but it was reinforced by the Islamic
conquest of Central Asia and the incorporation of a
large number of Turkic troops into the army. Central
Asian influence is seen most clearly at Samarra where
the wall paintings and some of the stucco work
resemble that of the Soghdian palaces at Panjikent.
The Abbasid architecture of the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries is essentially Seljuk architecture
built with Iraqi materials.
In addition to the various influences upon it, early
Abbasid architecture can be seen to have developed
its own characteristics. One of the most notable
features of the Abbasid cities of Baghdad and Samarra
is their vast scale. This is most clearly demonstrated
at Samarra with its extensive palaces and mosques
stretched out for more than 40 km along the banks of
the Tigris. The scale of the site led to the development
of new forms: thus the great spiral minarets of the
Great Mosque and the Abu Dulaf Mosque were never
repeated elsewhere (with the possible exception of
the Ibn Tulun Mosque). Other developments had far-
reaching consequences; for example, the three stucco
types developed at Samarra rapidly spread
throughout the Islamic world (e.g. the Abbasid
mosque at Balkh in Afghanistan) and continued to be
used centuries later.