136 chapter four
al-Wasìt were established in Iraq. Al-Qayrawan (Tunisia) was also
founded in North Africa to serve as a military base for the Islamic
expansion in the North African strip. However, in other areas, such
as Iran, the Muslim army settled on the outskirts of existing towns
and cities (ibid.).
During the Abbasìd reign the foundation was laid in 762 for the
establishment of the city that would occupy a prominent place in
history for centuries to come: Baghdad. The new city, which was
chosen as the capital of the Abbasids, was located at the intersec-
tion of three river routes and two land routes, which made the site,
as the Abbasìd Caliph al-Mansùr said, “excellent as a military camp”,
besides “here is the Tigris to put us in touch with lands as far as
China and bring us all that the seas yield as well as the food prod-
ucts of Mesopotamia, Armenia and their environs, then there is the
Euphrates to carry for us all that Syria, al-Raqqah and adjacent
lands have to offer” (Al- ̨abarì, Hitte, 1963). In the mid ninth cen-
tury, Baghdad, the “city of peace”, was larger than the Imperial
Rome and Constantinople together at that time, and as big as Paris
at the end of the nineteenth century (Hitti, 1963). The establishment
of new cities helped promote economic development in and around
the cities. Soldiers needed to be fed and clothed and weapons needed
to be made. Efforts were made to encourage agriculture, trade and
crafts. The swamps around al-Kufa were drained and brought under
cultivation, the salt marches to the east of al-Basra were reclaimed,
and the irrigation systems in Iran were improved, which helped
encourage agriculture, enhance trade and stimulate economic growth
(Lapidus, 1988). Moreover, the economic growth of the cities attracted
non-Arabs with various crafts and skills to settle, which helped inte-
grate the Arab and the non-Arab dwellers and transform the city
society into a more cosmopolitan structure. In addition, settlement
helped transform the Bedouin into a more sedentary person. For
example, as al-Basra developed into an important administrative cap-
ital, a centre of cloth manufacturing and a trading city connected
with Iran, India, China, and Arabia. Arab settlers became merchants,
traders and artisans (Lapidus, 1988).