Anbar

Anbar was an ancient and medieval town in Iraq which briefly served as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. Following the founding of Baghdad in 762, Anbar was superceded as the capital and became a province of Baghdad.

History

By 861, the young street thief Basim Ibn Ishaq lived in Anbar, where he joined a network of fellow thieves led by Dervis, performing various contracts for him on behalf of his allies, the Hidden Ones. On 11 December 861, the caliph al-Mutawakkil arrived in Anbar with his envoy to meet with his secret allies, the Order of the Ancients, and present them an artifact he had been asked to find. Learning about this and hoping to steal the artifact for the Hidden Ones in an attempt to impress them, Basim broke into the Winter Palace at night.

After observing al-Mutawakkil's meeting with the Order, during which one of the Ancients threatened the caliph to keep in line for his own sake, Basim grabbed the artifact, but was caught by al-Mutawakkil, who attempted to kill him. Acting in self-defense, Basim stabbed the caliph with his own dagger and then fled the palace as al-Mutawakkil's son Abu 'Abdallah called for the guards to capture his father's muderer. Ultimately, Basim managed to escape from the guards and returned to his hideout, where the Hidden One Roshan found him the next day.

Roshan took the artifact and invited Basim to flee Anbar with her, as the guards had started a manhunt of all thieves in the city. Basim refused at first, but after discovering most of his thief network had been executed by the guards, he accepted Roshan's offer and escaped with her. After becoming a Hidden One, Basim would return to Anbar several more times to find and speak to his "friend" Nehal.

Gallery

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  Concept art of Anbar
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  Concept art of Anbar as seen from the Euphrates river
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  The Winter Palace in Anbar
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  Basim and Nehal freerunning in Anbar
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  Basim and Nehal near the city gate
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  Basim finding his fellow thieves executed

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Mirage