Saracen Strongholds AD 630-1050 by David Nicolle

Author:David Nicolle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Saracen Strongholds AD 630–1050: The Middle East and Central Asia
ISBN: 9781782007111
Publisher: Osprey Publishing

The fortified old city of Samarkand was known as Afrasiayab in pre- and early Islamic times, but was abandoned after the Mongol conquest in the 13th century. This massive mud-brick structure overlooking the gorge of the small Siab River was the citadel, which still contains two levels of halls, corridors and rooms. (Author’s photograph)

The straight, southern side of the D-shaped fortified palace-city of al-Rafiqa (Raqqa) in eastern Syria overlooks a slope from the plateau down to the marshy floor of the Euphrates valley. This was presumably why the architects did not add a moat like that which surrounded the rest of the defences. (Author’s photograph)

Madina Sultan in neighbouring Libya is very different. Located between the two main zones of Libya, where the trans-Saharan caravan trade route from Chad reached the Mediterranean, it had a city wall by the 10th century. However, the fortified town of Madina Sultan is set back from the Mediterranean coast, with an outer wall reinforced by a few widely spaced towers, the strongest part of these defences facing the sea, from where piratical attack might be expected. Madina Sultan also had two internal forts while a third fort stood on its own between the town and the shore.

Not far away is Ajdabiyah, which contains a qasr fortified palace. The latter was probably built in AD 972 when the Fatimid caliph was transferring his residence from Mahdia in Tunisia to his new caliphal palace-city of al-Qahira in Egypt. This qasr is quite small, only 33 by 25m, with hollow, round corner towers and hollow square salients or towers to strengthen the side walls. There is also a monumental entrance similar to that of the Great Mosque in Mahdia and incorporating a bent entrance. On each side of the courtyard were long gallery-like rooms for bodyguards or retainers, while at the other end of this courtyard was a suite of rooms entered through a cross-hall or ceremonial reception chamber. Presumably the site of Ajdabiyah was also a link in the long chain of signal beacons that linked Sabta (Ceuta) on the northern tip of Morocco with Alexandria in Egypt during Fatimid times. According to al-Maqrizi, some of these beacons were on stone towers standing next to the coast.

During the troubled 11th century, almost all Iranian cities were walled, including previously open cities. In most cases, however, it was a matter of refortifying the old urban centres and newly fortifying their suburbs. On other occasions the new suburb had become the main centre, sometimes because it was better fortified, while the old city declined. A further variation saw different quarters of a city being fortified while a new citadel was constructed on the edge of town. In general, however, these new Iranian fortifications tended to enclose substantially larger areas than the earlier defences. Nasir-i Khusraw described Shamiran (Samiran) in the mountains of north-western Iran as a castle with a triple wall and an underground canal to take drinking water from the river. It was, he said, garrisoned by 1,000 men plus their families.

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