IRAQ
Iraq
was the very heartland of the ancient region of Mesopotamia. Following
the collapse of Sumer around 2004 BC, The region had been home to
successive empires (Babylonian, Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, Persian,
Greek, Roman and Parthian or other Persian successors), before it
was conquered by the Islamic empire. The caliphate began to weaken
in the tenth century, enabling other groups to seize control and
for a process of fragmentation to begin. It was briefly independent
under the Zangids of Mosul and Aleppo in the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries, and then fell to the Mongols. It was inherited by their
successor, the Il-Khanate, and then by a rival group, the Jalayirids,
who formed their own sultanate which vied for control of Persia.
Jalayirid
Sultanate :
AD 1336 - 1432 :
The
Jalayirids were a Mongol successor state to the Il-Khans who managed
to secure south-western Persia for themselves, ruling it from Baghdad.
Their founder had been the governor of Anatolia until the death
of the Il-Khan Sultan Abu Said. While attempting to take control
of Persia, they tried to maintain puppets on the throne from western
Persia, always in opposition to their main rivals, the Chobanids
in north-western Persia, while both sides used the surviving Il-Khan
Puppets themselves.
The
Jalayir (or Yyalair) seem to have originated as a unit of the Darliqin
Mongols, forming one of the three core tribes of the Khamag Mongol
confederation which was a precursor to the Mongol empire. During
the rise of the empire they spread across Central Asia and also
entered the Near East under Chingiz Khan and his commanders in the
thirteenth century. Those Jalayirs who remained in Central Asia
eventually adopted Turkic language and could be found in many of
the subsequent Mongol splinter and successor states, starting with
the Golden Horde. Those who ventured into Persia were responsible
for founding the Jalayirid sultanate. Their name is the Mongolian
version of a Turkic name which was used to describe the ruling dynasty
of the Second Uigur Kaganate.
Included
in the Jalayirid territories were parts of the collapsed Turkic
sultanate of Rum, but the expanding Ottoman Turks had already taken
much of the western Anatolian lands. Instead, the Jalayrids were
confined to territory that corresponded to modern Iraq and Iran
(western Persia).
1336
- 1356
:
Tajuddin
Hasan Buzurg : Ex-governor of Anatolia. First sultan from
1340.
1336
- 1340
:
The
puppet Il-Khan, Musa, is challenged by Hasan Buzurg. His master,
Padsah, is killed and Musa flees after being defeated at the Battle
of Qara Darra on 24 July 1336. Buzurg maintains his own puppet,
the child Muhammad Khan, on the Il-Kahn throne between 1337-1338.
Then the Chobanid, Hasan Kucek, defeats Buzurg and Muhammad at the
Battle of Alataq on 16 July 1338. Buzurg flees but Muhammad is captured
and executed. Following a short flirtation with another claimant,
Togha Temur, in 1339, Buzurg's next puppet is Jahan Temur (1339-1340).
After this he abandons the idea of puppet claimants to the throne
and establishes his own Jalayirid sultanate in Baghdad.
1356
- 1374 :
Uwais
I
1374
- 1382 :
Jalaluddin
Hussein I
1382
- 1410 :
Ghiyathuddin
Hussein I
1382
- 1383 :
Bayazid
1387
- 1405 :
The
Jalayirids are conquered by the Timurids from Persia, with Baghdad
falling in 1401. They also lose control of their vassals, the Black
Sheep Emirate. The sultanate is re-established after the death of
Timur.
![](Map_AD1400_full.jpg)
Timur
effectively recreated the ancient Persian empire through his various
conquests over the course of almost forty years, subduing many competing
clans and khanates that would begin competing again after his death
1410
- 1411 :
Shah
Walad
1411
- 1415 :
Mahmud
1415
- 1421 :
Uwais
II
1421
- 1422 :
Mohammed
1422
- 1424 :
Mahmud
1424
- 1432 :
Hussein
II
1432
- 1920
:
The
sultanate is finally conquered by its former vassal, the Black Sheep
emirate, in 1432. Following that, Mesopotamia follows the rest of
the region by becoming a White Sheep emirate prize (by 1469) and
then being held by the Safavids. However, the weak rule of Safi
I (1629-1642) allows their sworn enemies the Ottomans to seize a
foothold in Baghdad (in 1638) which it does not relinquish, despite
occasional, temporary reverses, until the collapse of the Turkish
empire at the end of the First World War.
Hashemite
Iraq :
AD 1920 - 1958 :
The
submergence of Il-Khan power in Iraq had been followed by a period
of fragmentation, during which first the Black Sheep emirate and
then its rival the White Sheep emirate had seized control (in 1432
and 1468/69 respectively). Subsequently the Safavid Iranians dominated
until 1638, when a weak shah failed to prevent the Ottoman empire
from gaining a foothold in Baghdad in 1638. The Ottomans did not
relinquish this, and went on to dominate the entire region as part
of their own empire.
By
the start of the twentieth century, that empire was crumbling, and
the First World War finished it off entirely. Between 1916-1918,
the Arab Revolt, led by Faysal, son of the sharif of Mecca, and
British Army officer T E Lawrence, freed the entire region from
Ottoman control (events played out in epic fashion on celluloid
in Lawrence of Arabia). The Arabs captured Damascus and secured
a semblance of power. The British now controlled the region, and
in the subsequent bargaining, Faysal was given the throne of Greater
Syria. The French ejected him a year later, so Britain compensated
their ally with the throne of the new country of Iraq, which included
the former Ottoman provinces of Basra and Baghdad. The province
of Mosul was added in 1926.
1920
- 1921 :
The
British Mandate of Mesopotamia controls the region, but increasing
unrest in Iraq brings about a decision to create a monarchy for
the country which will handle its day-to-day governance. In 1921
the kingdom of Iraq is created within that mandate with the coronation
of Faysal I, ex-king of Greater Syria.
1921
- 1933 :
Faysal
I / Faisal : Son of Husayn, sharif of Mecca. Died 8 Sept.
1932
:
Faysal
is instrumental in bringing about his country's independence from
Britain.
![](Modern_Faysal01_full.jpg)
King
Faysal was photographed at Homs in 1919, standing third from the
left, during his brief spell as King of Greater Syria, which was
opposed by France
1933
- 1939 :
Ghazi
: Son. Died in a mysterious accident.
1939
- 1958 :
Faysal
II / Faisal : Son. King at nearly 4 years old. Overthrown
& shot dead in coup.
1939
- 1953 :
'Abd
al-Ilah : Uncle and regent. Son of Ali, king of Arabia
(1925).
1941
- 1947 :
A
pro-German coup is suppressed during the darkest days of the Second
World War in order to secure the oil supply for the British war
effort. The country remains under military occupation until 1947.
948
- 1949 :
On
the day following the proclamation of the creation of the state
of Israel, the neighbouring Arab states of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan,
Lebanon, and Syria attack, prompting the start of the Arab-Israeli
War. Saudi Arabia sends its own military contingent to support the
Egyptians. The war lasts for a year before a ceasefire is agreed.
The Green Line is established - temporary borders which can be generally
agreed by all sides. Egypt gains the Gaza Strip while Jordan controls
East Jerusalem and the West Bank region, but an estimated 700,000
Palestinians have been expelled or have fled their homeland, mostly
to enter southern Lebanon or Jordan.nsive chain which will keep
out the Massagetae to the north of the River Jaxartes.
1958
:
In
light of the creation of the United Arab Republic between Egypt
and Syria, Faysal makes the same arrangement with Jordan on 14 February
1958. However, the political situation in Iraq has been deteriorating
for some time, especially after the signing of the Baghdad Pact
with Britain in 1955, which would allow Britain to retain an influence
on Iraqi affairs. Following a coup by the army called the 14 July
Revolution, a military dictatorship is set up in Iraq, which becomes
a republic. Faysal and several members of his family are shot down
in the palace courtyard, and the prime minister is murdered the
next day. The Hashemite line continues in Jordan.
Modern
Iraq :
AD 1958 - Present Day :
In
1958, the Arabic name for this newly-created republic was Al Mumhuriya
al-Iraqiya ('Republic of Iraq'). The modern republic is bordered
by Iran along its entire eastern border, by Turkey in the north,
Syria and Jordan to the west, and Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to the
south. It reputedly gained its name from the Sumerian city state
of Uruk, although this is hotly disputed. One alternative put forward
is that the name originates for the Persian word for lowlands, 'eraq'.
Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk originated as the Assyrian city of
Arrapha.
When
it comes to names, the two great rivers of Mesopotamia were known
by their universal regional names of Purat and Deklath, at least
until the Greeks arrived in the fourth century BC. Greeks had been
travelling to the ancient city of Babylonia for some time, as traders,
Persian military allies, or explorers. Herodotus was one of the
latter, but he made it clear by means of omission that the Greeks
did not know these names. Instead they were only familiar with the
Medo-Persian corruptions of them - Ufratush and Tigra. These names
remain in use today, although they have been subtly altered by 2,300
years of change into Euphrates and Tigris.
A
military coup set up a dictatorship in Iraq in 1958, after which
the capital remained at Baghdad. General Qassom withdrew the country
from the Baghdad Pact and the Arab Union with Jordan, and established
relations with Soviet Russia during the darkest days of the Cold
War. The country was controlled by a council made up of Iraq's three
main ethnic groups but remained unstable until the 1963 coup. Led
by dictators all the way, another coup in 1979 brought Saddam Hussein
to power. He remained there, ruthlessly destroying any opposition
but overseeing a relatively stable country, until he himself was
toppled in 2003.
The
subsequent Anglo-American-led administration found itself fighting
a guerrilla war against Saddam's former loyalists and supporters,
as well as al Qaeda terrorists. It took the country until 2012 to
find any semblance of ordered peace, only for this to be badly threatened
by the eruption onto the world political stage of Isis in 2014.
However, the new government has stabilised matters and seems to
be forming a more inclusive Iraqi state as a result. Archaeological
excavations have been able to restart, often for the first time
in decades, resulting in finds such as one of the cities of the
mysterious Lullubi. in Kurdistan.
(Additional
information by Allan Rousso, from Jewish War & Jewish Antiquities,
Flavius Josephus, from The Persian Empire, J M Cook (1983), from
The Histories, Herodotus (Penguin, 1996), and from External Links:
Encyclopædia Britannica, and Appian's History of Rome: The
Syrian Wars at Livius.org, and Diodorus of Sicily at the Library
of World History (dead link).)
1958
- 1963 :
Abdul
Karim Qassim : Dictator responsible for overthrowing the
monarchy. Overthrown.
1961
:
Kuwait
is granted full independence from Britain on 19 June with the ending
of the protectorate. The sheikh becomes an emir, a prince, and the
state joins the Arab League. Iraq renews old claims that Kuwait
is part of its territory but backs down following British military
intervention.
1963
:
A
coup on 8 February sees Qassim overthrown and killed. His position
is taken over by a fresh dictator who is a member of the Ba'ath
Party, which had been repressed under Qassim's governance.
1963
- 1966 :
Abdul
Salam Arif : Dictator. Killed in a helicopter crash.
1966
- 1968 :
Abdul
Rahman Ari : Brother. Dictator. Overthrown.
1967
:
Amid ever-increasing tensions and acrimonious relations with Israel,
Egypt expels the UN peacekeepers from the Sinai and announces a
partial blockade of Israel's access to the Red Sea. Expecting further
military action, several Arab states begin to mobilise their troops.
Israel sees this as reason enough to launch a pre-emptive attack
against Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Syria, triggering the Six Day War.
Jordan loses the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a third of the kingdom,
while Israel also gains the Golan Heights and the ancient region
of Bashan from Syria, and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, and also temporarily
occupies the Sinai peninsula for a second time.
1968
- 1969 :
A
third coup, this time bloodless, leads the Ba'ath Party to power
(a political rival to the party of the same name in Syria), with
Saddam Hussein as its security chief. He seizes ultimate power ten
years later, killing many to secure his position at the top.
1969
- 1979 :
Ahmed
Hasan al-Bakir : Dictator.
1979
- 2003 :
Saddam
Hussein al Tikriti : Dictator. Overthrown and executed.
1980
- 1988 :
Hussein
claims that the new revolutionary government of Iran is attempting
to topple him from power. He declares war and the border between
the two countries is a permanent battlefield for nearly a decade.
Iraq is supported strategically and financially by Kuwait. Hussein
occasionally employs chemical weapons on his enemy, but the two
sides are evenly matched and the war ends in stalemate.
![Cyrus the Great](Iraq_IranWar01_full.jpg)
In
places the Iran-Iraq War was a regional recreation of the First
World War, with hopeless charges against enemy lines of trenches,
and the death toll was suitably immense
1990
:
The
First Gulf War is triggered when Kuwait is occupied by Iraq. A United
Nations coalition army is assembled in Saudi Arabia under the control
of the USA to force them out, with heavy Iraqi losses. Saddam Hussein
survives in power, however, as the allies fail to follow up their
victory with an invasion of Iraq itself.
2003
- 2008 :
An
Anglo-American-led Second Gulf War leads to the collapse of Hussein's
regime after just twenty-one days of fighting. Hussein is eventually
captured, after having been located in an underground bunker (more
of a deep fox hole). He is tried by an Iraqi court, and at the very
end of 2006 sentenced to death by hanging for his crimes. A democratically-elected
Iraqi government takes control in 2005, ending the Allied administration
of the country, although Allied troops remain for several more years
to aid in maintaining security and training the new national army
and police forces.
2014
:
Iraq's
democratic government had gradually assumed more responsibility
for running the country while the allies gradually withdrew their
forces. However, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was repeatedly accused
of filling official positions with his Muslim Shia allies at the
expense of the country's other main groups, the Sunnis and Kurds.
To make matters worse in a highly unstable region, the 'Arab Spring'
of 2011 had kick-started a civil war in neighbouring Syria which
created several opposition groups.
Suddenly
in 2014, one of those groups, known generally as Isis (Islamic State
in Iraq and Syria), launched a sweeping campaign in Iraq which gained
them large areas of the north-west, extending almost into Baghdad
itself. Initially stunned and helpless, Iraqi forces began a slow
fight-back, but the Islamic State is still proclaimed on 30 June
2014.
The
Kurdish population of north-eastern Iraqi, always strong and self-sufficient,
secures its districts against the Isis fighters. The Kurds also
use the opportunity to take over disputed territories in Kirkuk,
Nineveh, Salahuddin, and Diyala provinces, including the oil fields
around Kirkuk and other newly discovered oil or gas fields.
2015
:
Having
consolidated its territory in 2014 and established a reputation
for medieval brutality, the self-proclaimed Islamic State suffers
its first substantial setbacks. Western and Arab forces unite to
provide Allied air cover for Iraqi and Kurdish resistance. The town
of Kobane on the Turkish border is successfully defended by the
Kurds with allied air support (although Turkish tanks sit inactive
on the hillside above the town, apparently with orders not to support
the Kurds who are otherwise seen as a threat to its own security).
By February 2015, the Kurds are making careful strategic advances
further south.
2016
- 2017 :
Having
recovered from the initial shock of Islamic State launching itself
across northern Syria and Iraq almost unopposed, both states have
recovered and rallied. Syria, with Russian support, is largely winning
its own civil war. Iraq has reorganised and revitalised its own
army, while the Kurds in the north can always be guaranteed to provide
reliable service and organisation.
![](Iraq_Kurds01_full.jpg)
The
Kurds of northern Iraq proved again - following a similar successful
mobilisation during the Second Gulf War (2003) - that they could
offer the most united and organised defence and subsequent attack
against external opponents, standing against Daesh when the regular
Iraqi military had fled the north
The
Iraqis and Kurds launch effective campaigns around Mosul and in
the northern Sinjar Province respectively, while the US-backed Syrian
Democratic Forces (SDF) conduct the Raqqa campaign in northern Syria.
By July 2017 Mosul is cleared of IS fighters while they continue
to hold firm in Tal Afar and three towns in the western province
of Anbar. Raqqa, the IS capital for three years, falls in October
2017.
Source
:
https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/
KingListsMiddEast/MesopotamiaIraq.htm
#Modern