Abbasid Papermaking

Timeline

1. c. 794–810Baghdad · IraqThe Abbasid court set up papermaking workshops in Baghdad using linen, hemp, and rags as raw materials, replacing expensive parchment and fragile papyrus to meet the needs of court documents and commercial contracts.
2. 801–850Samarkand · UzbekistanPapermaking workshops spread along the Silk Road to Samarkand, Damascus, and elsewhere; Central Asia and the Levant became major papermaking regions of the Islamic world, and paper became the mainstream medium for books and administrative archives.
3. c. 850–900Baghdad · IraqThe House of Wisdom's translation movement and various academies' mass transcription of Greek, Persian, and Indian texts caused paper demand to surge; Baghdad and surrounding workshops steadily raised output and quality, forming a mature manuscript culture.