High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Ukbarâ was a medieval city on the left bank of the Tigris between Samarra and Baghdad. The Tigris has changed course since, and its ruins now lie some distance from the river. Its name may possibly have inspired the "Uqbar" of Borges' short story Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius. According to the Cambridge History of Iran vol. 3 (2), pp. 757-760, it was refounded by Shapur I under the name of Vuzurg-Shapur (3rd century CE) and settled with Roman captives. According to adh-Dhahabi, the Buwayhid Sultan Jalal ad-Dawla fled there in 1031 to escape a slave revolt.