abbasid architecture

Abbasids 
Dynasty which ruled most
of the Islamic world between
750 and 945.


                                                                                                                    
     Ibn Tulun  Mosque         

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 PanjikentThe 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 

were never repeated elsewhere (with the possible exception of 

the Ibn Tulun Mosque).

Other developments had farreaching 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.

ablaq

Term used to describe alternating light and dark courses 

of masonry.It is thought that the origin of this decorative 

technique may derive from  the Byzantine 

use of alternating courses of white ashlar stone and 

orange baked brick.The technique of ablaq seems 

to have originated in southern Syria where volcanic 

black basalt and white limestone naturally occur in 

equal quantities.

The first recorded use is in repairs to the north wall 

of the Great Mosque of Damascus  which are dated 

to 1109. In 1266 Sultan Baybars built a palace known 

as Qasr Ablaq which was built out of bands of light 

and dark masonry.

 Although the building has not survived, it demonstrates 

that the term ablaq was used to describe masonry of 

this type. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries this 

became a characteristic feature of Mamluk architecture 

in Egypt, Syria and Palestine.

At this stage red stone is also used so that some buildings 

are striped in three colours, red, black and white. 

Ablaq continued to be used in the Ottoman period and 

can be seen in buildings such as the Azzam palace in 

Damascus.A difference between its use in the Mamluk 

and the Ottoman periods is that earlier on it was restricted 

to façades, doorways and windows whereas in the Ottoman 

period it is used for overall decoration, sometimes including 

the floors.

The technique was also used in Spain and can be seen 

in the voussoirs of the arcades of the Great Mosque in 

Córdoba which are red and white.

The technique also seems to have been invented in 

Europe in the mid-twelfth century although it is not 

certain whether it was invented independently or 

copied from Syria.

Important European examples are the thirteenth-century 

churches of Monza, Siena and Orvieto and a fourstorey 

palace in Genoa.