Baghdad: Blacksmiths
Date: c. 762-766
Khatib al-Baghdadi (fl. eleventh century) writes that when the Abbasid caliph al-Mansur (r. 754-75) built the round city of Baghdad (Madinat al-Salam) he brought in a range of artisans to the site. This included blacksmiths. See also: Armourer; Swordsmith; Metalworker; Copper Founder; Copper Beater.
Citation: Khatib al-Baghdadi, Taʾrikh Baghdād (Cairo, 1931), pp. 66-67. Translated in Lassner, Jacob. The Topography of Baghdad in the early Middle Ages (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1970), pp. 45-46.
Also: Milwright, Marcus. Islamic Arts and Crafts: An Anthology (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017), p. 32.
B
Date: 903-904
Al-Hilal al-Sabiʾ (d. 1056) in his Kitāb al-Wuzarāʾ records the imperial budget for 291 (903-904) in Baghdad. The craftsmen listed in this document include blacksmiths (ḥaddād). See also: Coppersmiths; Copper Beaters; Armourers.
Citation: Al-Hilal al-Sabiʾ (d. 1056) in his Kitāb al-Wuzarāʾ, ed. H. F. Amedroz (Leiden: Brill, 1904), p. 17. Translated in R. B. Serjeant, ‘Material for a history of Islamic textiles up to the Mongol conquest,’ Ars Islamica 9 (1942), p. 73.