Editing Samarra (section)

===Abbasid capital===
{{Main|Abbasid Samarra}}
[[File:Dirhem of al-Muntasir, AH 247-248.jpg|thumb|[[Dirham]] of [[Al-Muntasir]] minted in Samarra, 861/862 AD|left]]
In 836 [[Common Era|CE]], the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] [[Caliph]] [[Al-Mu'tasim]] founded a new capital at the banks of the Tigris. Here he built extensive palace complexes surrounded by garrison settlements for his guards, mostly drawn from [[Central Asia]] and [[Iran]] (most famously the [[Turkic peoples|Turks]], as well as the [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] [[Khurasan]]i ''[[Ishtakhaniyya]]'', ''[[Faraghina]]'' and ''[[Ushrusaniyya]]'' regiments) or North Africa (like the ''[[Maghariba (Abbasid troops)|Maghariba]]''). Although quite often called [[Mamluk]] slave soldiers, their status was quite elevated; some of their commanders bore Sogdian titles of nobility.<ref name="Babaie">{{cite book | title=Slaves of the Shah | url=https://archive.org/details/slavesshahneweli00baba | url-access=limited | publisher=I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd | author=Babaie, Sussan | year=2004 | location=New York | pages=[https://archive.org/details/slavesshahneweli00baba/page/n18 4]–5 | isbn=1-86064-721-9}}</ref>

[[File:قصر البركة في سامراء.jpg|thumb|260x260px|Remains of a circular pool surrounded by reception halls in the ''Dar al-Khilafa'' palace, built by [[Al-Mu'tasim|Al-Mu῾tasim]] ([[Reign|r.]] 833–842)<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Blair |first1=Sheila S. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-mhIgewDtNkC&pg=PP3 |title=The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800 |last2=Bloom |first2=Jonathan M. |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1995 |isbn=9780300064650 |location= |pages= |chapter=Samarra}}</ref>]]
The city was further developed under Caliph [[al-Mutawakkil]], who sponsored the construction of lavish palace complexes, such as al-Mutawakkiliyya, and the [[Great Mosque of Samarra]] with its famous spiral [[minaret]] or Malwiya, built-in 847.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rice |first1=David Talbot |title=Islamic Art |date=1965 |publisher=Praeger |location=New York |page=35}}</ref> For his son [[al-Mu'tazz]] he built the large palace Bulkuwara.

[[File:قصر العاشق مدينه سامراء.jpg|thumb|[[Qasr al-'Ashiq]], an Abbasid-era palace near Samarra]]
The Nestorian patriarch [[Sargis (Nestorian Patriarch)|Sargis]] (860–72) moved the patriarchal seat of the [[Church of the East]] from Baghdad to Samarra, and one or two of his immediate successors may also have sat in Samarra so as to be close to the seat of power.<ref>Mari, 80–1 (Arabic), 71–2 (Latin)</ref>

Samarra remained the residence of the caliph until 892, when [[al-Mu'tadid]] returned the capital to Baghdad.<ref name=":1" /> Historical sources report that the city was looted around this time. Its population probably decreased and the city declined, but it remained an important market center.<ref name=":1">{{EI2|volume=8|article=Sāmarrā'|last=Northedge|first=Alastair|pages=1039–1041}}</ref>

From the tenth century onward it turned into an important pilgrimage site. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the river's course to the south of the city shifted further east. As a result, the main road between Baghdad and Mosul was moved to the west bank and Samarra lost its importance as a trading town.<ref name=":1" />