Succeeding Damascus as the center of the Muslim world, for 10 points, name this one-time Abbasid capital, which remains the present-day capital of Iraq.
Masudi's Meadows of Gold places this city at the culmination of civilization and chronicles its growth from the palaces of al-Mansur. Ownership of opulent properties in this city by Yahya and Ja'far contributed to the downfall of the Barmakid family as viziers of this city's rulers. Thabit, the Banu Musas, and al-Khwarizmi headlined this city's (*) House of Wisdom, a massive scholarly institute funded by al-Mamun, whose father Harun al-Rashid launched this city's golden age. Al-Musta'sim's incompetent defense of this city supposedly caused that great wealth of scholarship to stain the rivers black with ink when it was sacked in 1258 by Hulagu Khan. Succeeding Damascus as the center of the Muslim world, for 10 points, name this one-time Abbasid capital, which remains the present-day capital of Iraq.
Masudi's Meadows of Gold places this city at the culmination of civilization and chronicles its growth from the palaces of al-Mansur.
{Baghdad}