Baghdad (English spelling)

Japanese: バグダード - ばぐだーど（英語表記）Baghdād

The capital of Iraq. Located in the center of the country, on the banks of the Tigris River. Population: 4,958,000 (2001). The climate is dry due to the proximity of the desert, with only 156 mm of annual precipitation, and most of the precipitation is concentrated in winter. Winters are mild, but summers are hot (average temperature in July: 35.1°C). With a long history, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Iraq, and is home to various government offices and foreign embassies. Most of the country's industries are concentrated here, including leather, silk and cotton products, cement, tobacco, and arak liquor, and oil-related industries are rapidly developing. Railways connect the city to major cities in the country, such as Basra, Kirkuk, and Mosul, and also extend to Syria and Turkey, and to Europe. In addition, it is a transportation hub with steamships on the Tigris River, a road network connecting various areas, and an airport with international flights, making it a bustling commercial hub. The city spreads out on both sides of the Tigris River. The east bank is home to the bazaar, the old royal palace, the National Liberation Monument, Baghdad University, the Kadzhimine Mosque, a holy site for Shiite Islam, as well as Rashid Street, a traditional shopping street and Iraq's busiest. New residential areas spread out to the south, where European-style restaurants and hotels can be found. The west bank is home to the presidential palace, parliament building, museums, the central railway station, and the international airport. It was attacked by American and British forces during the 2003 Iraq War, and was taken over by the armies of both countries in April of the same year. It was the headquarters of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), which administered the occupation after the war. Sovereignty was transferred to the Iraqi Interim Government in June 2004, but multinational forces remain stationed there.

[Ryuichi Hara]

history

In 762, the second Abbasid caliph, Mansur, chose Baghdad, a small village on the west bank of the Tigris, as the new capital of the Islamic empire, and built a large city that he named Madinat al-Salam (City of Peace). The center of the city was a circular fortress about 2.35 km in diameter, surrounded by three layers of walls. The interior was centered around the Golden Gate Palace and the Great Mosque, and consisted of a palace area with a large courtyard where the police and guards barracks were located, an administrative district surrounding the palace and government offices, and a residential area for high-ranking officials and guards on the periphery. The green dome of the central palace stood out as a symbol of the caliphate. The Kalhu district in the south outside the fortress was used as a commercial and industrial district, and a military barracks and palaces for the royal family were built on the east bank of the Tigris. Baghdad was located almost in the center of the fertile Mesopotamian region, and was also at the crossroads of trade routes between the East and the West, so it developed rapidly and flourished as the political, economic, and cultural center of the Islamic world. Although the center of the city moved to the east bank during the civil wars of 813 and 865, it is said that the population reached 1.5 million at its peak in the 9th and early 10th centuries. However, from the mid-10th century onwards, the city fell into disrepair due to fighting between warlords, the invasion of the Buyid dynasty, popular riots, and floods. It recovered temporarily during the Seljuk period, but when the Mongol army invaded in 1258, the citizens were massacred and it fell into complete ruins. Baghdad was no longer merely a provincial city, but it was sacked twice by Timur at the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century, and by the mid-15th century it was practically in ruins. It came under the control of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, and when the Kingdom of Iraq was established in 1921 it became its capital. It was then taken over by the Republic of Iraq, and gradually took on the appearance of a modern city.

[Kimi Morimoto]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

イラクの首都。同国中央部、ティグリス川沿岸に位置する。人口約495万8000（2001）。気候は、砂漠が近いため乾燥し、年降水量は156ミリメートルにすぎず、降水はほとんど冬に集中する。冬は温暖だが夏の暑さは厳しい（7月の平均気温35.1℃）。古い歴史をもち、イラクの政治、経済、文化の中心地で諸官庁や外国公館があるほか、同国の工業の大半が集中し、皮革、絹・綿製品、セメント、たばこ、アラック酒などの製造業があり、石油関連諸工業が急速に発展している。鉄道はバスラ、キルクーク、モスルなど国内の主要都市と結ばれるだけでなく、シリア、トルコへ延び、ヨーロッパへも通じている。また、ティグリス川の汽船の航行、各地を結ぶ道路網や国際線の発着する空港があり、交通の要衝となっており商業活動も盛んである。市街はティグリス川の両岸に広がる。東岸にはバザール、旧王宮、民族解放記念碑、バグダード大学、イスラム教シーア派の聖地カージマイン・モスクのほかに、伝統的な商店街でイラク随一のにぎわいをみせるラシード通りもある。また、南方には新住宅地が広がり、ヨーロッパ風のレストランやホテルもみられる。西岸には大統領府、議事堂、博物館、鉄道中央駅、国際空港などがある。2003年のイラク戦争でアメリカ・イギリス軍の攻撃を受け、同年4月には両国軍に制圧された。戦後の占領統治を行った連合国暫定当局（CPA）の本部が置かれた。04年6月にはイラク暫定政府へ主権が移譲されたが、多国籍軍が駐留する。

［原　隆一］

歴史

アッバース朝第2代カリフのマンスールは、762年、ティグリス川西岸の寒村バグダードをイスラム帝国の新首都の地に選び、大規模な都市を建設して、マディーナ・アッサラーム（平安の都）と命名した。その中心部は直径約2.35キロメートルの円城で、三重の城壁をもち、内部は黄金門宮と大モスクを中心に、警察と親衛隊の屯所があるだけの広い中庭の宮域部と、その周囲を取り巻く形での官庁街や、王子たちの宮殿などのある行政区、さらにその外周にあたる高官や衛兵たちの居住区とから成り立っていて、中央の宮殿の緑色のドームは、カリフ権の象徴としてひときわ高くそびえていた。また円城外南部のカルフ地区は商工業地区にあてられ、ティグリス川の東岸には軍隊の駐屯所や王族たちの宮殿が建設された。バグダードはメソポタミアの豊饒(ほうじょう)地帯のほぼ中央にあたるばかりでなく、東西通商路の十字路にもあたっていたことから、急速に発展し、イスラム世界の政治、経済、文化の中心地として栄えた。813年と865年の内乱で市の中心は東岸に移ったものの、最盛期の9～10世紀の初めには人口150万を数えたといわれる。しかし、10世紀なかば以降になると、軍閥相互の戦闘やブワイフ朝の侵入、民衆の暴動、洪水などによって荒廃化が進み、セルジューク朝時代に一時回復したが、1258年にモンゴル軍の侵入を受けると、市民は虐殺され、まったく荒れてしまった。バグダードはもはや単なる一地方都市にすぎなくなっていたが、14世紀末と15世紀初め2回にわたってティームールの略奪を受け、15世紀なかばには廃墟(はいきょ)同然となった。16世紀にオスマン帝国の支配下に入り、1921年イラク王国が樹立されるとその首都となり、ついでイラク共和国に引き継がれ、しだいに近代都市への様相を呈した。

［森本公誠］