caliphate, had a circular palatial city, although it was enclosed by an irregular
triangle-shaped urban district formed by the river and canals, and residents lived
in surrounding areas, with irregular canal layouts (Fukami 2004). Cairo has a
complex urban history as the administrative center of Egypt moved several times.
It began in Babylon as a rectangular Roman military base. When Arabs invaded,
the administrative center moved to Fustat, which was an early Islamic military
city established just north of Babylon. Then, after 350 years, the center became
Al-Qahira, which was a palatial square city of the Fatimid dynasty, constructed
6 km north of Babylon. These cities had urban forms that were compromised
geometric ideals, involving irregular distortions. Other cities, such as Damascus,
originally a Roman colonial city, and other military-oriented cities continued to
use rectangular shapes with gridded road patterns.
In South Asia, very few cities have been excavated. However, some of the
religious complexes such as Nalanda and the small port towns, such as
Bhadreshwar (Fukami 2016), show geometric designs. Cities reflecting Hindu
design ideals, such as Angkor, also employed rectangular forms in Southeast
Asia. The major cities reflecting Chinese design ideals, such as Chang’an and
Luoyang in East Asia, were rectangular with grid road layouts. This grid planning
was used elsewhere in the Chinese cultural sphere of influence, including in
Heian-kyo in Japan and Gyeongju in Korea. The cities of El Mirador in Mayan
Latin America and Cahokia in North America might both have been sparse cities
with a geometrical arrangement of pyramids.
It is possible that the early medieval period was a transitional period, involving
a shift away from geometric cities based on local cosmology toward irregular
cities without strong morphological urban planning. In this context, it is notable
that an agricultural revolution took place in the Muslim world in the eighth
century, which helped sustain populous cities such as Baghdad and Cordoba.
Around 1000 CE, the agricultural revolution began to spread and encourage
greater decentralization as the surplus production increased wealth.
4. The late medieval era: After the agricultural revolution of around 1000 CE,
distinctly “Islamic cities” emerged, with Muslim rulers and the waqf and iqta
land management systems (Watson 1974). In the Mediterranean and West and
Central Asia, most cities had high density and were irregularly shaped, with
organic road layouts. This morphological tendency was found even in Europe, in
many small, Christian-ruled medieval cities. One difference between the “Islamic
cities” and European medieval cities was the location of the ruler’s residences or
palaces; whereas these were located at the periphery of Islamic cities, they were in
the center of the city in European medieval cities. Examples of the “Islamic cities”
under Muslim rulers appeared in South Asia, including Tughluqabad and
Gulbarga on the Indian Continent. In Africa, Timbuktu and Kilwa were similar
in design, but they were sparse, low-density cities. Other examples were many of
the small port cities of Southeast Asia, which adhered to conventional regular
shapes based on the local mythology that existed prior to Islam.
Key exceptions were the religious centers of Angkor Wat and Srirangam and
the capital cities, Mongolian Khanbaliq and Sukhothai, which had strict regular
72
N. Fukami
triangle-shaped urban district formed by the river and canals, and residents lived
in surrounding areas, with irregular canal layouts (Fukami 2004). Cairo has a
complex urban history as the administrative center of Egypt moved several times.
It began in Babylon as a rectangular Roman military base. When Arabs invaded,
the administrative center moved to Fustat, which was an early Islamic military
city established just north of Babylon. Then, after 350 years, the center became
Al-Qahira, which was a palatial square city of the Fatimid dynasty, constructed
6 km north of Babylon. These cities had urban forms that were compromised
geometric ideals, involving irregular distortions. Other cities, such as Damascus,
originally a Roman colonial city, and other military-oriented cities continued to
use rectangular shapes with gridded road patterns.
In South Asia, very few cities have been excavated. However, some of the
religious complexes such as Nalanda and the small port towns, such as
Bhadreshwar (Fukami 2016), show geometric designs. Cities reflecting Hindu
design ideals, such as Angkor, also employed rectangular forms in Southeast
Asia. The major cities reflecting Chinese design ideals, such as Chang’an and
Luoyang in East Asia, were rectangular with grid road layouts. This grid planning
was used elsewhere in the Chinese cultural sphere of influence, including in
Heian-kyo in Japan and Gyeongju in Korea. The cities of El Mirador in Mayan
Latin America and Cahokia in North America might both have been sparse cities
with a geometrical arrangement of pyramids.
It is possible that the early medieval period was a transitional period, involving
a shift away from geometric cities based on local cosmology toward irregular
cities without strong morphological urban planning. In this context, it is notable
that an agricultural revolution took place in the Muslim world in the eighth
century, which helped sustain populous cities such as Baghdad and Cordoba.
Around 1000 CE, the agricultural revolution began to spread and encourage
greater decentralization as the surplus production increased wealth.
4. The late medieval era: After the agricultural revolution of around 1000 CE,
distinctly “Islamic cities” emerged, with Muslim rulers and the waqf and iqta
land management systems (Watson 1974). In the Mediterranean and West and
Central Asia, most cities had high density and were irregularly shaped, with
organic road layouts. This morphological tendency was found even in Europe, in
many small, Christian-ruled medieval cities. One difference between the “Islamic
cities” and European medieval cities was the location of the ruler’s residences or
palaces; whereas these were located at the periphery of Islamic cities, they were in
the center of the city in European medieval cities. Examples of the “Islamic cities”
under Muslim rulers appeared in South Asia, including Tughluqabad and
Gulbarga on the Indian Continent. In Africa, Timbuktu and Kilwa were similar
in design, but they were sparse, low-density cities. Other examples were many of
the small port cities of Southeast Asia, which adhered to conventional regular
shapes based on the local mythology that existed prior to Islam.
Key exceptions were the religious centers of Angkor Wat and Srirangam and
the capital cities, Mongolian Khanbaliq and Sukhothai, which had strict regular
72
N. Fukami