Centers of Progress, Pt. 11: Baghdad (Astronomy) - HumanProgress

The superbly conducted ancient city was a hub of commercial activities, full of people from rich, diverse cultures, speaking a wide range of languages. It became a global bazaar, with a wide range of silk, spices, and precious stones from countries like China, India and Judhaba. As slavery was prevalent in those times, there were also people up for sale in those bazaars.

The city’s connection with the night sky, for the study of astronomy and astrology was due to the ancient indian knowledge of astrology, and many ancient books and manuscripts written in early languages went through translations. 

The value of wisdom was well-known among the rulers of Baghdad, as they implemented many infrastructure and geometric designs based on the principles learnt from books like Elements by Euclid.

Due to a potpourri of knowledge from various parts of the globe, Baghdad became a melting point of many innovations, like an early version of the telescope. Baghdad was tolerant towards all kinds of races and nations, and welcomed opinions from people who were in the minority, learning from everyone, albeit for a short time.

Baghdad became well known for serious scholarly work like the 9th Century fables called Arabian Nights, and had a lasting image of a city full of wonder and adventure.

The xenophobic part of the Islamic religious forces who opposed the teachings from different religions and races, promoting their own religious teachings instead, overthrew Baghdad when it was invaded by the Mongols in 1258 CE, lead by the grandson of Genghis Khan, Hulagu Khan. All the books, crafted with decades of hard work, were thrown into the Tigris River.