Baghdad Iraq, Silk Road

Baghdad was founded in 762 by Al-Mansur, the second Abbasid caliph, and became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate (dynasty). The city was strategically built along the Tigris River, where major trade networks and Silk Road routes converged. Its location was ideal, offering abundant water, which was typically rare in dry climates. This marks the sixth country on this journey.

The caliph constructed Baghdad as a walled city with a circular layout, centred around a grand palace and enclosed by thick protective walls. The city was reinforced with four equidistant gates that opened onto major roads leading to other important regions, such as Syria to the west and Central Asia to the east. The city's residential streets and squares were interspersed with vaulted arcades that housed shops and bazaars. 

By the height of the Islamic Golden Age (9th-10th centuries), Baghdad, with a population of a million people, was the largest city in the world. It developed into a centre of learning and sciences marked by advancements in mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and philosophy, to name a few. During this era, The House of Wisdom was established as a public academy and one of the largest libraries where scholars translated works from Greek, Persian, Sanskrit and Syriac to Arabic. 

A considerable list of intellectuals who made significant, long-lasting contributions emerged from this region. Here's a short list of some of these remarkable figures, many of them were polymaths:

- Al-Khwarizmi developed algebra; the word "algorithm" was named after him.

- Ibn Sina wrote the Canon of Medicine, which was used as a textbook in the Islamic world and Europe until the 19th century.

- Al-Kindi combined the philosophy of Aristotle and Plato with Islamic thought, forming Islamic Neoplatonism. 

- Al-Jahiz wrote on various topics, including zoology and early ideas of natural selection.

- Hunayn ibn Ishaq was the most prolific translator, producing 116 works in Arabic. He translated all the Greek medical texts, including those of physicians Galen and Hippocrates.

- Ibn Qurra was a trilingual mathematician who translated the works of Ptolemy (geographer), Euclid (father of geometry), and Archimedes (who laid the foundations for physics and engineering).

The intellectual achievements of these scholars were instrumental in advancing knowledge and shaping modern science and thought.