A planned city with many parks, gardens, villas, sanitation, fountains and public baths, Baghdad had a circular design with radiating avenues.  At the center of the city lay the Golden Gate Palace, central mosque,  government buildings, academies and libraries. Baghdad is thought to have been the largest city in the world from shortly after its foundation until the 930s.

By the 10th century, Baghdad’s growth slowed.  In 1058, Baghdad was captured by the Fatimids under the Turkish general Abu’l-Ḥārith Arslān al-Basasiri.  Then in 1258, Baghdad was captured and largely destroyed by the Mongols.  Large sections of the city were ruined and the canals forming the city’s irrigation system were also destroyed. A period followed in which the city was occupied by successive empires. In 1393 and again in 1401 Baghdad was sacked by Timur (“Tamerlane”).  It became a provincial capital controlled in turn by the Mongol Jalayirid (1400–1411), Turkic Kara Koyunlu (1411–1469), Turkic Ak Koyunlu (1469–1508), and the Iranian Safavid (1508–1534) dynasties.