Note 584 — Chapter VI

Karkh is the name of a part of the town of Baghdad upon the western side of the Tigris, where the khalif Mansúr built the town and his palace; this is the ancient Baghdad; the actual town of Baghdad, upon the eastern side of the river, has been built later. Karkh is chiefly inhabited by Shiâhs, who had frequent quarrels with the Sonnites, dwelling in the other part of the town. One of the most serious tumults between the two parties took place under the khalif Mostasem. Karkh is the actual suburb of Baghdad, in which the tombs of Zobeidah, wife of Harun Rashid, and of the pious Súfí Marúf Karkhí, above mentioned, are to be seen. The latter died in the year of the Hejira 200, A. D. 815.—(See Voyage en Arabie, par Niebuhr, t. II. pp. 245-246, and Chrestomathie arabe de Silvestre de Sacy, t. I. pp. 66-70).