Translated by: Seyyed Rahim Rastitabar Karkh of Baghdad: the Base of Shi'ism in the 4th and 5th Centuries A.H.

Karkh is one of the quarters of Baghdad formed after the latter had built; Shi'ites gradually moved to that quarter. The reasons why Shi'ites' moved to Karkh, and why the people of that quarter converted to Shi'ism are as follows:1)Karkh was near to Baratha Mosque and Imam Kazem's Shrine and that of Imam Jawad.
2) It was on the caravans' path from Kufa to Baghdad, whose member were mostly Shi'ites.
3) There were some Shi'ite leading figures such as Hisham b. Hakam, etc.
Great Shi'ite scholars such as Sheikh Mufid, Sayyid Murteza, Sayyid Razi and Sheikh Tusi, especially under Buwayhids, made Karkh a center for their scientific, religious and political activities; thus they played an important role in growth and spread of Shiism.