When the Abbasids took power, they had to outdo their predecessors. In Baghdad and other cities throughout the empire, the caliphs built huge palaces made of brick.
In 836 the caliph al-Mu‘tasim was unhappy about clashes between the local population and his troops so he established a new capital further north on the Tigris at Samarra.
He sought an entirely new residence in Samarra, where he constructed monumental places for himself and his son with extensive courtyards and multiple walls with limited points of ingress that satisfied the complementary desires for safety and extravagantly luxurious ceremonial.
The Samarra palace is a city in itself, more than one mile long. Although Samarra remained the Abbasid capital until 892, it continued to lose importance as both an administrative and an urban center.
Qasr-al-Khalifa (Abbasid Palace) in Samarra
