BAGDAD 215 taxes, and granted them a general amnesty. Under Diocletian, in 294, they rose again, and Diocletian, himself engaged in putting down the Persians and the barbarians of the lower Danube, sent Maximian against them. They rallied under two leaders, . Hliniiu> and Aman- dus, who assumed the title of emperor. The coins of these Bagaudian emperors are still extant, and bear pagan inscriptions, although they were reputed to be Christians. Maximian soon compelled the Bagandse to capitulate. The two emperors fell in battle. The place of this sanguinary contest was long known as the Fosses des Bagaudes. The Bagaudse long con- tinued to be troublesome, and infested the forests and fastnesses of Gaul with an irregu- lar kind of brigandage until the end of the western empire. BAGDAD, a city of Asiatic Turkey, situated on both sides of the river Tigris, here about 700 feet wide, in lat. 33 20' N., Ion. 44 25' E. ; population estimated at about 100,000, of whom Ezekiel's Tomb. about 15,000 were Jews, 3,000 native Chris- tians, and the remainder Mohammedan Arabs, Kurds, Turks, and Persians. Bagdad is une- qually divided by the river Tigris, two thirds being on the left bank, and the remainder on the right, and the two divisions are connected by two bridges of boats. The town is fortified on one side by a high brick parapet wall, flanked at intervals with high-bastioned towers and surrounded by a wide fosse. The citadel is situated on the N. W. extremity. A large suburb, enclosed by ramparts to resist the at- tacks of the Arabs, is on the other side. The houses in Bagdad, like those of other oriental towns, present on the exterior either dead walls or ruins, and the streets are narrow, winding, and unpaved. The interiors of the houses of the wealthier classes are comforta- ble in an eastern sense, and compare favora- bly with those of Damascus and other cities. There are several mosques ornamented with glazed tiles of various colors, and crowned with domes. There are Syriac, Chaldee, Ar- menian, and Roman Catholic churches, and several Jewish synagogues. A new Jewish school was established in 1872 by the alliance Israelite uniterselle. A large general hospital has recently been erected. The bazaar built by Daoud Pasha is one of the finest in the East, and well stocked with home and foreign manufactures. The view of the city from the river presents a pleasant spectacle, the luxu- riant date groves and orange gardens forming an agreeable contrast with the domes and minarets. In summer the heat is intense, and sometimes the thermometer for several days ranges between 110 and 120 F. Five miles below Bagdad the Saklavieh or Isa ca- nal brings during the season of the floods a portion of the waters of the Euphrates into the Tigris. The commercial importance of this city has greatly declined, though during the last 25 years its decay has been somewhat checked. Large rafts support- ed by 200 or 300 inflated skins are much used for the trans- portation of goods. Fleets of boats of from 40 to 70 tons burden ascend and descend the river with cargoes to and from the Persian gulf, and car- avans carry goods in different directions from this great em- porium. The products of the region round Bagdad are to- bacco, timbac (a plant used as a substitute for tobacco), maize, wheat, barley, cotton, rice, fine wool, goats' hair, gall nuts, and yellow berries. The fruits are grapes, melons, apricots, quinces, figs, cherries, pomegranates, oranges, lem- ons, citrons, pears, and dates. Wild asses abound on the plains. Besides the above-mentioned articles, the city exports also horses, pearls, coral, honey, raw silk, bitumen, naphtha, salt- petre, and salt. The imports from Asiatic Turkey and Europe are soap, silks, woollen cloths, prints, opium, and copper ; from Arabia, raisins, gum, coffee, and drugs. The revenue derived from the tax on transit goods is estima- ted at $3,500,000. An English company has projected a railway from Bagdad to the Medi- terranean, by way of Aleppo. Bagdad is the seat of a Turkish vali or governor general, whose vilayet contains an area of about 10,000 sq. m., comprehending parts of Kurdistan and Khuzistan, most of Al-Jezireh, and Irak-Arabi. The city was built by the caliph Al-Mansour as his capital, 762-'6, and called Medinat el-Sa- lem, " City of Peace." It was a favorite resi- dence of the Abbasside caliphs, was beauti- fied by Haroun al-Rashid, and under his son Al-Mamoun became the great seat of Arabian literature and learning. In 873 the city was
