A Glimpse at the Travelogues of Baghdad

Iman Al-Attar is an Iraqi architect, historian and a doctor in philosophy and urban history. She is currently doing research on topics including urban history, Islamic architecture, cultural issues and Baghdad. In 2018 she published her first book; Baghdad: an urban history through the lens of literature, which examines the writings of some local scholars who stayed in Baghdad in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Contents

Illustrations v

Introduction 1

Author’s note 4






The context of travel writing 5



Baghdad and the Ottoman Empire 9
One name and multiple locations 9

A unique city with a mysterious history 11

The Ottoman Empire 15

The perception of Ottoman cities in historiography 16

The Mamluk’s ruling of Baghdad 20




Travelogues and history Representation 29
Travelogues methods and attitudes 29

Travelogues and Orientalism 33

Travelogues and Islamic studies 36

Travelogues and heritage understanding 43




Diverse travelers before the 18th Century 46
Regional travelers 46

European travelers 50




Europeans Involvement in the 18th Century 53
Mapping Efforts of Carsten Niebuhr 54

The Novels of Guillaume Antoine Olivier 60




British Intervention Intensifies 66
The Arabian Nights 67

Political focus of Claudius Rich 69

Lifestyle conditions by Mary Rich 73

City descriptions by James Silk Buckingham 76

Colonial interests in Heude’s writings 88




Summary 94

Endnotes 98

Bibliography

Index