"كتيّب بلاد الرافدين. المجلد II. ١٩١٧" [‎٣‎٨‎٣] (٥٤٢/٣٩٤)

BAGHDAD
383
end of the fourteenth century by Tatars under Timur Lang. In the
fifteenth century it passed from the possession of one Mongol horde
to another until the Persians occupied it in a. d . 1508. Thence
forward its possession was disputed by Persians and Turks until it
was finally taken by the latter under Murad IV in 1638. From the
first part of the eighteenth to the first part of the nineteenth century it
was the capital of a practically independent but from that
time the authority of Constantinople was reasserted. Till 1884
the Baghdad Vilayet comprised the whole of Turkish Irak, but since
then the southern portion has been separately established as the
Vilayet of Basra.
Kazimain (called Kazimiyeh by the Turks and known also as
Imam Musa), on the r. bank of the Tigris about 3 m. from Baghdad.
Pop. about 8,000. Bridge of 21 boats, carrying road to Mo'adhdham,
which is about 1^ m. E. of bridge, joins road to Baghdad—Samarra.
Horse-tramway to Baghdad (for routes see under Baghdad).
All the inhabitants are Mohammedans, and about seven-eighths are
Shiahs, 1,000 being Persians : 200 (1908) British subjects, Indian or
of Indian descent. .
The town has grown up round the sanctuary, where are buried the
seventh and ninth Shiah Imams: there is a large and magnificent
Shiah mosque. Pilgrims passing from Samarra to Nejef stop here
to pay their respects to the shrine, and in the cold weather largely
increase the population. It is an unhealthy place, partly owing to '
the passage through it of nearly all the Shiah corpses sent from
Persia to be buried at the holy places of Nejef and Kerbela.
Ophthalmic and venereal diseases are prevalent.
Kazimain is the capital of the Kazimain of the of
Baghdad: the Kaza includes the country S. of Baghdad from the
Tigris to the Euphrates.
Mo'adlidham (also called A'Dhamlyeh), on the 1. bank of the
Tigris about 2 m. from Baghdad Citadel. Pop. about 2,000. Bridge
of 21 boats, carrying road to Kazimain. A short distance E. of the
town is Boute 25 a (ii), see vol. iii, p. 144. The road to Baghdad is un-
metalled and very rough : hackney carnages and omnibuses drawn
by four mules ply between Mo'adhdham and Baghdad.
For the important tanneries of Mo'adhdham see under Baghdad
above : there are market-gardens here and a small bazaar.
The inhabitants are almost all Sunnis : some good houses on the
river bank are the villas of wealthy inhabitants of Baghdad.
The town owes its importance mainly to the tomb of Abu Hanifa,
a shrine with a tiled dome. He was a historian and contemporary