A town on the east bank of the middle Tigris approximately 125 km north of Baghdad. From 221/836-279/892 it was the capital of the `Abbasid empire.
Sometime around 220/834-5, the caliph al-Mu`tasim decided to move the capital from Baghdad in order to limit conflict between the `Abbasid's Central Turkish Guard and the general population. Samarra, whose official name was Surra Man Ra'a ("he who sees it is delighted"), was conceived as an expanded court and military base. Besides the reign of al-Mu`tasim, the reign of al-Mutawakkil (232/847-247/861) saw the greatest architectural production in the new capital, including the famous congregational mosque with its spiral minaret. After the succession of al-Mu`tamid in 256/870, the army was relocated from Samarra, under the orders of al-Muwaffaq, but it wasn't until 279/892 that al-Mu`tadid reestablished the capital in Baghdad.
Mapof Samarra featuring the plans for the Mosque of al-Mutawakkil modified after the Herzfeld Archive (Freer/Sackler Gallery) and Creswell, Early Muslim Architecture. (Archnet.org)
Images of the Great Mosque of al-Mutawakkil (Archnet.org) built by the caliph al-Mutawakkil between 847-861.
The exterior of the Qubbat al-Sulaybiya (Archnet.org). This mausoleum was built in 862 by the mother of the caliph al-Muntasir on the western shore of the Tigris to honor her son.
Northedge, A. "Samarra" in EI2.
220 - al-Mu`tasim decides to move `Abbasid capital from Baghdad.
221 - Samarra established as the new `Abbasid capital.
232 - The reign of al-Mutawakkil begins, ushering in an unmatched period of architectural patronage in Samarra.
256 - The reign of al-Mu`tamid begins, starting the process of removing the `Abbasid military from Samarra under the command of al-Muwaffaq.
279 - al-Mu`tadid reestablishes the `Abbasid capital in Baghdad.