Iraq, a country located inWest Asia, largely coincides with the ancient region ofMesopotamia, often referred to as thecradle of civilization. The history of Mesopotamia extends back to theLower Paleolithic period, with significant developments continuing through the establishment of theCaliphate in the late 7th century AD, after which the region became known as Iraq. Within its borders lies the ancient land ofSumer, which emerged between 6000 and 5000 BC during theNeolithicUbaid period. Sumer is recognized as the world’s earliest civilization, marking the beginning of urban development, written language, and monumental architecture. Iraq's territory also includes the heartlands of theAkkadian,Neo-Sumerian,Babylonian,Neo-Assyrian, andNeo-Babylonian empires, which dominated Mesopotamia and much of theAncient Near East during theBronze andIron Ages.
In the following centuries, the regions constituting modern Iraq came under the control of several empires, including theGreeks,Parthians, andRomans, establishing new centers likeSeleucia andCtesiphon. By the3rd century AD, the region fell under Persian control through theSasanian Empire, during which time Arab tribes fromSouth Arabia migrated into Lower Mesopotamia, leading to the formation of the Sassanid-alignedLakhmid kingdom. The Arabic nameal-ʿIrāq likely originated during this period. The Sasanian Empire was eventuallyconquered by theRashidun Caliphate in the 7th century, bringing Iraq under Islamic rule after theBattle of al-Qadisiyyah in 636. The city ofKufa, founded shortly thereafter, became a central hub for the Rashidun dynasty until theiroverthrow by theUmayyads in 661.
With the rise of theAbbasid Caliphate in the mid-8th century, Iraq became the center of Islamic rule, withBaghdad, founded in 762, serving as the capital. Baghdad flourished during theIslamic Golden Age, becoming a global center for culture, science, and intellectualism. However, the city's prosperity declined following theBuwayhid andSeljuq invasions in the 10th century and suffered further with theMongol invasion of 1258. Iraq later came under the control of theOttoman Empire in the 16th century, remaining under Ottoman rule until the end of World War I, after whichMandatory Iraq was established by theBritish Empire. During Ottoman rule of Iraq, theKingdom of Khaza'il, ruled by theBanu Khuza'ah Royal dynasty was founded, controlling most of the Middle and Lower Euphrates until 1921 when sovereign control was ceded to the Hashemite family. Iraq gained independence in 1932 as theKingdom of Iraq, which became a republic in 1958. The modern era has seen Iraq facing challenges, including the rule ofSaddam Hussein, the2003 invasion of Iraq, and subsequent efforts to rebuild the country amidst sectarian violence and the rise of theIslamic State. Despite these difficulties, Iraq plays a vital role in the geopolitics of the Middle East.
Inside the Shanidar Cave where the remains of eight adults and two infantNeanderthals, dating from around 65,000–35,000 years ago were found.[1][2]
Between 65,000 BC and 35,000 BC, northern Iraq was home to aNeanderthal culture, archaeological remains of which have been discovered atShanidar Cave.[3] During 1957–1961,Shanidar Cave was excavated byRalph Solecki and his team fromColumbia University, uncovering nine skeletons of Neanderthal man of varying ages and states of preservation (labelled Shanidar I–IX). A tenth individual was later discovered byM. Zeder during examination of a faunal assemblage from the site at the Smithsonian Institution. The remains seemed to suggest that Neanderthals hadfuneral ceremonies, burying their dead with flowers (although the flowers are now thought to be a modern contaminant), and that they took care of injured and elderly individuals.
This region is also the location of a number of pre-Neolithic burials, dating from approximately 11,000 BC.[4] Since approximately 10,000 BC, Iraq, together with a large part of theFertile Crescent, was a center of aNeolithic culture known asPre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA), where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time. In Iraq, this period has been excavated at sites likeM'lefaat andNemrik 9. The following Neolithic period,PPNB, is represented by rectangular houses. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone,gypsum, and burnt lime (Vaisselle blanche). Finds ofobsidian tools fromAnatolia are evidence of early trade relations. Further important sites of human advancement wereJarmo (circa 7100 BC),[4] a number of sites belonging to theHalaf culture, andTell al-'Ubaid, thetype site of theUbaid period (between 6500 BC and 3800 BC).[5]
Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of theNeolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. It has been identified as having "inspired some of the most important developments in human history including the invention of the wheel, the planting of the first cereal crops, and the development of cursive script, mathematics, astronomy, and agriculture."[6]
Sumer emerged as the civilization of Lower Mesopotamia out of the prehistoricUbaid period (mid-6th millennium BC) in the Early Bronze Age (Uruk period). Classical Sumer ended with the rise of theAkkadian Empire in the 24th century BC. Following theGutian period, theUr III kingdom was once again able to unite large parts of southern and central Mesopotamia under a single ruler in the 21st century. It may have eventually disintegrated due toAmorite incursions. The Amorite dynasty ofIsin persisted until c. 1600 BC, when southern Mesopotamia was united underKassiteBabylonian rule.
During theBronze Age, in the 26th century BC,Eannatum ofLagash created a short-livedempire. Later,Lugal-Zage-Si, the priest-king ofUmma, overthrew the primacy of the Lagash dynasty in the area, then conqueredUruk, making it his capital, and claimed an empire extending from thePersian Gulf to theMediterranean.[8] It was during this period that theEpic of Gilgamesh originated, which includes the tale ofThe Great Flood. The origin and location of Akkad remain unclear. Its people spokeAkkadian, anEast Semitic language.[9] Between the 29th and 24th centuries BC, a number of kingdoms and city-states within Iraq began to have Akkadian-speaking dynasties, includingAssyria,Ekallatum,Isin, andLarsa. However, the Sumerians remained generally dominant until the rise of theAkkadian Empire (2335–2124 BC), based in the city ofAkkad in central Iraq.Sargon of Akkad founded the empire, conquered all the city-states of southern and central Iraq, and subjugated the kings of Assyria, thus uniting the Sumerians and Akkadians in one state. The Akkadian Empire was the first ancientempire ofMesopotamia after the long-lived civilization ofSumer.
He then set about expanding his empire, conqueringGutium,Elam in modern-dayIran, and had victories that did not result in full conquest against theAmorites andEblaites of the Levant. The empire of Akkad likely fell in the 22nd century BC, within 180 years of its founding, ushering in a "Dark Age" with no prominent imperial authority until theThird Dynasty of Ur. The region's political structure may have reverted to thestatus quo ante of local governance bycity-states.[10]
After the collapse of theAkkadian Empire in the late 22nd century BC, theGutians occupied the south for a few decades, while Assyria reasserted its independence in the north. Most of southern Mesopotamia was again united under one ruler during theUr III period, most notably during the rule of the prolific kingShulgi. His accomplishments include the completion of construction of theGreat Ziggurat of Ur, begun by his fatherUr-Nammu.[11] In 1792 BC, anAmorite ruler namedHammurabi came to power and immediately set about building Babylon into a major city, declaring himself its king. Hammurabi conquered southern and central Iraq, as well as Elam to the east and Mari to the west, then engaged in a protracted war with the Assyrian kingIshme-Dagan for domination of the region, creating the short-livedBabylonian Empire. He eventually prevailed over the successor of Ishme-Dagan and subjected Assyria and its Anatolian colonies. By the middle of the eighteenth century BC, the Sumerians had lost their cultural identity and ceased to exist as a distinct people.[12][13]
It is from the period of Hammurabi that southern Iraq came to be known asBabylonia, while the north had already coalesced intoAssyria hundreds of years before. However, his empire was short-lived, and rapidly collapsed after his death, with both Assyria and southern Iraq, in the form of theSealand Dynasty, falling back into native Akkadian hands. After this, another foreign people, thelanguage-isolate-speakingKassites, seized control of Babylonia. Iraq was from this point divided into three polities:Assyria in the north,KassiteBabylonia in the south-central region, and theSealand Dynasty in the far south. The Sealand Dynasty was finally conquered by Kassite Babylonia circa 1380 BC. The origin of the Kassites is uncertain.[14]
During theBronze Age collapse (1200–900 BC), Babylonia was in a state of chaos, dominated for long periods by Assyria andElam. The Kassites were driven from power by Assyria and Elam, allowing native south Mesopotamian kings to rule Babylonia for the first time, although often subject to Assyrian or Elamite rulers. However, these Akkadian kings were unable to prevent new waves ofWest Semitic migrants from entering southern Iraq, and during the 11th century BC,Arameans andSuteans entered Babylonia fromThe Levant, followed in the late 10th to early 9th century BC by theChaldeans.[15] However, the Chaldeans were absorbed and assimilated into the indigenous population ofBabylonia.[16]
Assyria was anAkkadian (East Semitic) kingdom in Upper Mesopotamia, that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city ofAssur (AkkadianAššūrāyu).
Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria, little is positively known. In theAssyrian King List, the earliest king recorded wasTudiya. He was a contemporary ofIbrium ofEbla, who appears to have lived in the late 25th or early 24th century BC, according to the king list. The foundation of the first true urbanised Assyrian monarchy was traditionally ascribed toUshpia, a contemporary ofIshbi-Erra ofIsin andNaplanum ofLarsa.[17] c. 2030 BC.
Assyria had a period of empire from the 19th to 18th centuries BC. From the 14th to 11th centuries BC, Assyria once more became a major power with the rise of theMiddle Assyrian Empire.
Panoramic view of ruins in Babylon photographed in 2005
It was during this period that an Akkadian-influenced form ofEastern Aramaic was adopted by the Assyrians as theirlingua franca, and Mesopotamian Aramaic began to supplant Akkadian as the spoken language of the general populace of both Assyria and Babylonia. The descendant dialects of this tongue survive among theMandaeans of southern Iraq andAssyrians of northern Iraq. TheArabs and theChaldeans are first mentioned in written history (circa 850 BC) in the annals ofShalmaneser III. The Neo-Assyrian Empire left a legacy of great cultural significance. The political structures established by the Neo-Assyrian Empire became the model for the later empires that succeeded it, and the ideology ofuniversal rule promulgated by the Neo-Assyrian kings inspired similar ideas of rights toworld domination in later empires. The Neo-Assyrian Empire became an important part of later folklore and literary traditions in northern Mesopotamia.Judaism, and thus in turn alsoChristianity andIslam, was profoundly affected by the period of Neo-Assyrian rule; numerous Biblical stories appear to draw on earlier Assyrian mythology and history, and the Assyrian impact on early Jewish theology was immense. Although the Neo-Assyrian Empire is prominently remembered today for the supposed excessive brutality of theNeo-Assyrian army, the Assyrians were not excessively brutal compared to other civilizations.[18][23]
In the late 7th century BC, the Assyrian Empire tore itself apart with a series of brutal civil wars, weakening itself to such a degree that a coalition of its former subjects, including theBabylonians,Chaldeans,Medes,Persians,Parthians,Scythians, andCimmerians, were able to attack Assyria, finally bringing its empire down by 605 BC.[24]
The short-livedNeo-Babylonian Empire (626–539 BC) succeeded that of Assyria. It failed to attain the size, power, or longevity of its predecessor; however, it came to dominateThe Levant,Canaan,Arabia,Israel, andJudah, and even defeatedEgypt. Initially, Babylon was ruled by theChaldeans, who had migrated to the region in the late 10th or early 9th century BC. Its greatest king,Nebuchadnezzar II, rivaledHammurabi as the greatest king of Babylon. However, by 556 BC, the Chaldeans had been deposed by the Assyrian-bornNabonidus and his son and regentBelshazzar.[25]
The transfer of empire toBabylon marked the first time the city, and southern Mesopotamia in general, had risen to dominate theAncient Near East since the collapse ofHammurabi'sOld Babylonian Empire. The period of Neo-Babylonian rule saw unprecedented economic and population growth and a renaissance of culture and artwork.Nebuchadnezzar II succeededNabopolassar in 605 BC. The empire Nebuchadnezzar inherited was among the most powerful in the world. He quickly reinforced his father's alliance with the Medes by marrying Cyaxares's daughter or granddaughter,Amytis. Some sources suggest that the famousHanging Gardens of Babylon, one of theSeven Wonders of the Ancient World, were built by Nebuchadnezzar for his wife (though the existence of these gardens is debated). Nebuchadnezzar's 43-year reign brought a golden age for Babylon, which became the most powerful kingdom in the Middle East.[26]
The Neo-Babylonian period ended with the reign ofNabonidus in 539 BC. To the east, the Persians had been growing in strength, and eventuallyCyrus the Great established his dominion over Babylon. The Chaldeans disappeared around this time, though both Assyria and Babylonia endured and thrived under Achaemenid rule (seeAchaemenid Assyria). The Persian rulers retained Assyrian Imperial Aramaic as the language of empire, together with the Assyrian imperial infrastructure and an Assyrian style of art and architecture.[citation needed]
The Persian Empire fell toAlexander of Macedon in 331 BC and came underGreek rule as part of theSeleucid Empire.Babylon declined after the founding ofSeleucia on the Tigris, the newSeleucid Empire capital. The Seleucid Empire at the height of its power stretched from the Aegean in the west toIndia in the east. It was a major center ofHellenistic culture that maintained the preeminence ofGreek customs where a Greek political elite dominated, mostly in the urban areas.[27] The Greek population of the cities who formed the dominant elite were reinforced by immigration fromGreece.[27][28] Much of the eastern part of the empire was conquered by theParthians underMithridates I of Parthia in the mid-2nd century BC.
"Entry of Alexander into Babylon", a 1665 painting byCharles LeBrun, depicts Alexander the Great's uncontested entry into the city of Babylon, envisioned with pre-existingHellenistic architecture.
At the beginning of the 2nd century AD, theRomans, led by emperorTrajan, invaded Parthia and conquered Mesopotamia, making it an imperial province. It was returned to the Parthians shortly after by Trajan's successor,Hadrian.
Christianity reached Mesopotamia in the 1st century AD, andRoman Syria in particular became the center ofEastern Rite Christianity and theSyriac literary tradition.Mandeism is also believed to have either originated there around this time or entered as Mandaeans sought refuge from Palestine.Sumerian-Akkadian religious tradition disappeared during this period, as did the last remnants ofcuneiform literacy, although temples were still being dedicated to the Assyrian national godAshur in his home city as late as the 4th century.[29]
In the 3rd century AD, the Parthians were in turn succeeded by theSassanid dynasty, which ruled Mesopotamia until the 7th-century Islamic invasion. The Sassanids conquered the independent states ofAdiabene,Osroene,Hatra, and finallyAssur during the 3rd century. In the mid-6th century, the Persian Empire under the Sassanid dynasty was divided byKhosrow I into four quarters, of which the western one, calledKhvārvarān, included most of modern Iraq, and was subdivided into the provinces ofMishān,Asuristān (Assyria),Adiabene, and Lower Media. The term Iraq is widely used in the medieval Arabic sources for the area in the center and south of the modern republic as a geographic rather than a political term, implying no greater precision of boundaries than the term "Mesopotamia" or, indeed, many of the names of modern states before the 20th century.
There was a substantial influx ofArabs in the Sassanid period.Upper Mesopotamia came to be known asAl-Jazirah in Arabic (meaning "The Island" in reference to the "island" between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers), and Lower Mesopotamia came to be known asʿIrāq-i ʿArab, meaning "the escarpment of the Arabs" (viz. to the south and east of "the island").[30]
Until 602, the desert frontier of the Persian Empire had been guarded by the ArabLakhmid kings ofAl-Hirah. In that year,ShahanshahKhosrow II Aparviz (Persian خسرو پرويز) abolished the Lakhmid kingdom and laid the frontier open to nomad incursions. Farther north, the western quarter was bounded by the Byzantine Empire. The frontier more or less followed the modernSyria-Iraq border and continued northward, passing betweenNisibis (modern Nusaybin) as the Sassanian frontier fortress and Dara andAmida (modernDiyarbakır) held by theByzantines.
The first organized conflict between invading Arab-Muslim forces and occupying Sassanid domains in Mesopotamia seems to have been in 634, when the Arabs were defeated at the Battle of the Bridge. There was a force of some 5,000Muslims under Abū `Ubayd ath-Thaqafī, which was routed by the Persians. This was followed byKhalid ibn al-Walid's successful campaign, which saw all of Iraq come under Arab rule within a year, with the exception of the Sassanid Empire's capital,Ctesiphon. Around 636, a larger Arab Muslim force underSa`d ibn Abī Waqqās defeated the main Persian army at theBattle of al-Qādisiyyah and moved on to capture Ctesiphon. By the end of 638, the Muslims had conquered all of the Western Sassanid provinces (including modern Iraq), and the last Sassanid Emperor,Yazdegerd III, had fled to central and then northern Persia, where he was killed in 651.
The Islamic expansions constituted the largest of the Semitic expansions in history. These new arrivals established two new garrison cities, atKufa, near ancientBabylon, and atBasra in the south and establishedIslam in these cities, while the north remained largelyAssyrian and Christian in character.
The city ofBaghdad, established in the 8th century as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, quickly became the leading cultural and intellectual hub of theMuslim world during theIslamic Golden Age. At its peak, Baghdad was the largest and most multicultural city of theMiddle Ages, with a population exceeding a million. However, its prominence was dramatically curtailed in the 13th century when theMongol Empire sacked the city and destroyed its famed library during theSiege of Baghdad (1258).
In the 9th century, the Abbasid Caliphate entered a period of decline. During the late 9th to early 11th centuries, a period known as the "Iranian Intermezzo", parts of (the modern territory of) Iraq were governed by a number of minor Iranian emirates, including theTahirids,Saffarids,Samanids,Buyids andSallarids.Tughril, the founder of theSeljuk Empire, captured Baghdad in 1055. In spite of having lost all governance, the Abbasid caliphs nevertheless maintained a highly ritualized court in Baghdad and remained influential in religious matters, maintaining the orthodoxy of theirSunni sect in opposition to theIsmaili andShia sects of Islam.
In the later 11th century, Iraq fell under the rule of theKhwarazmian dynasty. Both Turkic secular rule and Abbasid caliphate came to an end with theMongol invasions of the 13th century.[31]The Mongols underGenghis Khan hadconquered Khwarezmia by 1221, but Iraq proper gained a respite due to the death of Genghis Khan in 1227 and the subsequent power struggles.Möngke Khan from 1251 began a renewed expansion of theMongol Empire, and when caliphal-Mustasim refused to submit to the Mongols,Baghdad was besieged and captured byHulagu Khan in 1258. Estimates of the number of dead range from 200,000 to a million.[32] With the destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate, Hulagu had an open route to Syria and moved against the other Muslim powers in the region.[33]
The Mongols destroyed the Abbasid Caliphate and Baghdad'sHouse of Wisdom. The city has never regained its previous pre-eminence as a major centre of culture and influence. Some historians believe that the Mongol invasion destroyed much of theirrigation infrastructure that had sustained Mesopotamia for millennia. Other historians point tosoil salination as the culprit in the decline in agriculture.
Iraq now became a province on the southwestern fringes of theIlkhanate and Baghdad would never regain its former importance.
TheJalayirids were aMongolJalayir dynasty[34] which ruled overIraq and westernPersia[35] after the breakup of the Ilkhanate in the 1330s. The Jalayirid sultanate lasted about fifty years, until disrupted byTamerlane's conquests and the revolts of the "Black Sheep Turks" orQara QoyunluTurkmen.
The mid-14th-centuryBlack Death ravaged much of theIslamic world.[36] The best estimate for the Middle East is a death rate of roughly one-third.[37]
In 1401, a warlord of Mongol descent, Tamerlane (Timur Lenk), invaded Iraq. After thecapture of Baghdad, most of its citizens were massacred. Timur also conducted massacres of the indigenousAssyrian Christian population, and it was during this time that the ancient Assyrian city ofAssur was finally abandoned.[38] After Tamerlane's death in 1405, there was a brief attempt to re-establish the sultanate in southern Iraq andKhuzistan. The Jalayirids were finally eliminated byKara Koyunlu in 1432.
Map of the Safavid Iran. The area of Mesopotamia, permanentlylost to the Ottomans in 1639 is shaded.
During the late 14th and early 15th centuries, theQara Qoyunlu, or Black SheepTurkmens, ruled the area now known as Iraq. In 1466, theAq Qoyunlu, or White Sheep, defeated the Qara Qoyunlu and took control. From 1508, as with all territories of the former White Sheep Turkmen, Iraq fell into the hands of the IranianSafavids. With theTreaty of Zuhab in 1639, most of the territory of present-day Iraq came under the control of the Ottoman Empire as theeyalet of Baghdad as a result ofwars with the neighboring rival,Safavid Iran. Throughout most of the period of Ottoman rule (1533–1918), the territory of present-day Iraq was a battle zone between rival regional empires and tribal alliances. Iraq was divided into threevilayets:
In the 16th century, the Portuguese commanded byAntónio Tenreiro crossed from Aleppo toBasra in 1523, attempting to make alliances with local lords in the name of the Portuguese king. In 1550, the local kingdom of Basra and tribal rulers relied on the Portuguese against the Ottomans, leading to threats of invasion and conquest by the Portuguese. From 1595, the Portuguese acted as military protectors of Basra, and in 1624, they helped the Ottoman pasha of Basra repel a Persian invasion. The Portuguese were granted a share of customs revenue and exemption from tolls. From approximately 1625 to 1668, Basra and the Delta marshes were in the hands of local chiefs independent of the Ottoman administration in Baghdad. In the 17th century, frequent conflicts with the Safavids sapped the strength of the Ottoman Empire and weakened its control over its provinces. The nomadic population swelled with the influx ofbedouins fromNajd, leading to raids on settled areas that became difficult to curb.[39]
Conquest ofMosul (Nineveh) byMustafa Pasha in 1631, a Turkish soldier in the foreground holding a severed head. L., C. (Stecher), 1631–1650.
During the years 1747–1831, Iraq was ruled by aMamluk dynasty ofGeorgian origin, who succeeded in obtaining autonomy from the Ottoman Empire. They suppressed tribal revolts, curbed the power of theJanissaries, restored order, and introduced a program of modernization in the economy and military. In 1802,Wahhabis from Najdattacked Karbala in Iraq, killing up to 5,000 people and plundering theImam Husayn Shrine.[40] In 1831, the Ottomans managed to overthrow the Mamluk regime and imposed their direct control over Iraq. The population of Iraq, estimated at 30 million in 800 AD, was only 5 million at the start of the 20th century.[41]
The Kingdom of Khaza'il (Arabic: مملكة الخزاعل,romanized: Mamlakat al-Khaza'il), also known as the Emirate of Khaza'il (Arabic: إمارة الخزاعل,romanized: Imārat al-Khaza'il) to the Arabs and officially as the Kingdom of the Middle and Lower Euphrates(Arabic: مملكة الفرات الأوسط والأسفل,romanized: Mamlakat al-Furāt al-Awsaṭ wa-al-Asfal) by Britain,[42][43] was an autonomouskingdom in present-day Iraq that resistedOttoman colonial rule from the early 16th century to the early 20th century. Ruled by the Khaza'il Royal family, also known as theBanu Khuza'ahSheikhly dynasty, the Kingdom exercised military, economic, and political sovereignty, particularly in the Middle and LowerEuphrates region.
At the height of their power in the 17th, 18th and 19th century, the Khaza'il ruled from the northern city ofAnah toBasra, including the southern outskirts ofBaghdad and all cities along both sides of theEuphrates River, controlling all cultivatable land and tribal forces in their territory.[44][45] TheEmirs of Khaza'il were known for their fierce armed resistance to Ottoman imperial authority lasting several centuries, vast land ownership, and their immense wealth established through the creation ofSilk Road taxation mechanisms and agricultural monopoly.[44][46] They are also known for establishing the dominance ofShiism inMesopotamia and ending 383 years of Ottoman Empire rule in Iraq.[47]
Ottoman rule over Iraq lasted untilWorld War I, when the Ottomans sided withGermany and theCentral Powers. In theMesopotamian campaign against the Central Powers,British forces invaded the country and suffered a defeat at the hands of the Turkish army during theSiege of Kut (1915–16). However, the British ultimately won theMesopotamian Campaign with the capture of Baghdad in March 1917. During the war, the British employed the help of several Assyrian, Armenian, and Arab tribes against the Ottomans, who in turn employed the Kurds as allies. Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and its subsequent division, theBritish Mandate of Mesopotamia was established by theLeague of Nations mandate.
In line with their "Sharifian Solution" policy, the British established a monarchy on 23 August 1921, withFaisal I of Iraq as king, who was previouslyKing of Syria but was forced out by theFrench. The official English name of the country simultaneously changed fromMesopotamia to the endonymicIraq.[48] Likewise, British authorities selectedSunni Arab elites from the region for appointments to government and ministry offices.[specify][49][page needed][50] The royal family wereHashemites, who were also rulers of the neighboringEmirate of Transjordan, which later became theKingdom of Jordan.[49]
Faced with spiraling costs and influenced by the public protestations of the war heroT. E. Lawrence,[52] Britain replacedArnold Wilson in October 1920 with a new Civil Commissioner,Sir Percy Cox.[53] Cox managed to quell a rebellion and was also responsible for implementing the policy of close cooperation with Iraq's Sunni minority.[54]Slavery was abolished in Iraq in the 1920s.[55] Britain granted independence to theKingdom of Iraq in 1932,[56] on the urging of King Faisal, though the British retainedmilitary bases and local militia in the form ofAssyrian Levies. KingGhazi ruled as a figurehead after King Faisal's death in 1933. His rule, which lasted until his death in 1939, was undermined by numerous attemptedmilitary coups until his death in 1939. His underage son,Faisal II succeeded him, with'Abd al-Ilah asRegent.[57]
In 1934 Iraq became an oil exporter with the completion of theKirkuk-Haifa oil pipeline which transported oil from the Kirkuk Field, discovered in 1927, to the Mediterranean coast for shipment to Europe. The first commercial oil production on a small scale for domestic consumption had begun in 1927 from theNaft Khana field on the border with Iran.
Establishment of Arab Sunni domination in Iraq was followed byAssyrian,Yazidi andShi'a unrests, which were all brutally suppressed. In 1936, thefirst military coup took place in the Kingdom of Iraq, asBakr Sidqi succeeded in replacing the acting Prime Minister with his associate. Multiple coups followed in a period of political instability, peaking in 1941.[citation needed]
In 1948, massive violent protests known as theAl-Wathbah uprising broke out across Baghdad with partial communist support, having demands against the government's treaty with Britain. Protests continued into spring and were interrupted in May when martial law was enforced as Iraq entered the failed1948 Arab–Israeli War along with other Arab League members.[citation needed]
In February 1958, KingHussein of Jordan and `Abd al-Ilāh proposed aunion of Hāshimite monarchies to counter the recently formed Egyptian-Syrian union.[citation needed] The prime ministerNuri as-Said wantedKuwait to be part of the proposed Arab-Hāshimite Union. Shaykh `Abd-Allāh as-Salīm, the ruler of Kuwait, was invited to Baghdad to discuss Kuwait's future. This policy brought the government of Iraq into direct conflict with Britain, which did not want to grant independence to Kuwait. At that point, the monarchy found itself completely isolated. Nuri as-Said was able to contain the rising discontent only by resorting to even greater political oppression.[citation needed]
Iraq state emblem undernationalistQasim was mostly based on Mesopotamian symbol ofShamash, and avoided pan-Arab symbolism by incorporating elements ofSocialist heraldry.
This revolution was strongly anti-imperial and anti-monarchical in nature and had strong socialist elements.[59][60] Numerous people were killed in the coup, including KingFaisal II, PrinceAbd al-Ilah, andNuri al-Sa'id, as well as members of the royal family, which came to be known as the "Royal family massacre".[60] After burial, their bodies were dragged through the streets of Baghdad by their opponents and mutilated.[61][60] The short-lived federation betweenJordan and Iraq was abolished by King Hussein following the coup in 1958.[60]
Qasim controlled Iraq through military rule and began forcibly redistributing surplus land owned by some citizens in 1958.[63][64] The Iraqi state emblem under Qasim was largely based on the Mesopotamian symbol ofShamash, avoiding pan-Arab symbolism by incorporating elements ofSocialist heraldry.[65] Under Qasim, freedom of religion was granted to religious minorities, and early restrictions on Jews were removed, leading to their reintegration into society.[66][67]
Qasim's political ideologies were based on Iraqi nationalism instead of Arab nationalism, and he refused to joinGamal Abdel Nasser's political union between Egypt and Syria, known as theUnited Arab Republic. In 1959, ColonelAbd al-Wahab al-Shawaf led an uprising in Mosul against Qasim with the aim of joining the United Arab Republic, but was defeated by the government.[65]
Iraq withdrew from theBaghdad Pact in 1959, leading to strained relations with theWest and developing a close alliance with theSoviet Union.[65][68] Qasim began claimingKuwait as part of Iraq when it was officially declared an independent country in 1961.[68] During Ottoman rule, Kuwait was part ofBasra Province and was separated by the British to establish theKuwait protectorate.[68] In response, theUnited Kingdom sent its armed forces to theIraq–Kuwait border, and Qasim was forced to back down.[68]
In 1961, Kurdish nationalist movements, led byMustafa Barzani'sKurdistan Democratic Party, launched an armed rebellion against the Iraqi government, seeking Kurdish autonomy.[65] The government faced challenges in quelling the Kurdish uprising, leading to intermittent conflict between Kurdish forces and the Iraqi military.[65] The armed rebellionescalated into war, which officially lasted for nine years until 1970, during which numerous coups occurred.[65]
Qāsim was assassinated in February 1963 when theBa'ath Partytook power under the leadership of GeneralAhmed Hassan al-Bakr (prime minister) and ColonelAbdul Salam Arif (president). In June 1963, Syria, which by then had also fallen under Ba'athist rule, took part in the Iraqimilitary campaign against the Kurds by providing aircraft, armoured vehicles, and a force of 6,000 soldiers. Several months later, Abd as-Salam Muhammad Arif leda successful coup against the Ba'ath government. Arif declared a ceasefire in February 1964, which provoked a split among Kurdish urban radicals on one hand and Peshmerga (Freedom fighters) forces led by Barzani on the other.
On 13 April 1966, President Abdul Salam Arif died in a helicopter crash and was succeeded by his brother, GeneralAbdul Rahman Arif. Following this unexpected death, the Iraqi government launched a last-ditch effort to defeat the Kurds. This campaign failed in May 1966, when Barzani forces thoroughly defeated the Iraqi Army at theBattle of Mount Handrin, near Rawanduz. Following theSix-Day War of 1967, the Ba'ath Party felt strong enough toretake power in 1968.Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr became president and chairman of theRevolutionary Command Council (RCC). The Ba'ath government started a campaign to end theKurdish insurrection, which stalled in 1969 due to internal power struggles and tensions with Iran. The war ended with more than 100,000 casualties and little achievement for both sides.
In March 1970, a peace plan was announced that provided for broader Kurdish autonomy and gave Kurds representation in government bodies, to be implemented in four years.[69] Despite this, the Iraqi government embarked on an Arabization program in the oil-rich regions of Kirkuk andKhanaqin. By 1974, tensions escalated again, leading to theSecond Kurdish Iraqi War, which lasted until 1975. The1975 peace treaty between Iraq andIran resolved theShatt al-Arab dispute, leading to Iran withdrawing support for the Kurdish rebels and their subsequent defeat by the Iraqi government.[70][71]
Saddam Hussein promoting women's education in the 1970s
In July 1979,President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr was forced to resign bySaddam Hussein, who assumed the offices of both President and Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council. Saddam thenpurged his opponents including those from within the Baath party.
Iraq's Territorial Claims to Neighboring Countries
Iraq's territorial claims to neighboring countries were largely due to the plans and promises of theEntente countries in 1919–1920, when theOttoman Empire was divided, to create a more extensive Arab state in Iraq andJazeera, which would also include significant territories of easternSyria, southeasternTurkey, all ofKuwait andIran’s border areas, which are shown on this English map of 1920.
British ruled Mesopotamia in pink
Territorial disputes withIran led to an inconclusive and costly eight-year war, theIran–Iraq War (1980–1988, termedQādisiyyat-Saddām – 'Saddam'sQādisiyyah'), which devastated the economy. Iraq falsely declared victory in 1988 but actually only achieved a weary return to thestatus quo ante bellum, meaning both sides retained their original borders.
The war began when Iraq invaded Iran, launching a simultaneous invasion by air and land into Iranian territory on 22 September 1980, following a long history ofborder disputes, and fears ofShia insurgency among Iraq's long-suppressed Shia majority influenced by theIranian Revolution. Iraq was also aiming to replace Iran as the dominantPersian Gulfstate. TheUnited States supported Saddam Hussein in the war against Iran.[72] Although Iraq hoped to take advantage of the revolutionary chaos in Iran and attacked without formal warning, they made only limited progress into Iran and within several months were repelled by the Iranians who regained virtually all lost territory by June 1982. For the next six years, Iran was on the offensive.[73] Despitecalls for a ceasefire by theUnited Nations Security Council, hostilities continued until 20 August 1988. The war finally ended with a United Nations-brokered ceasefire in the form ofUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 598, which was accepted by both sides. It took several weeks for the Iranian armed forces to evacuate Iraqi territory to honor pre-war international borders between the two nations (see1975 Algiers Agreement). The lastprisoners of war were exchanged in 2003.[73][74]
The war came at a great cost in lives and economic damage—half a million Iraqi and Iranian soldiers, as well as civilians, are believed to have died in the war with many more injured—but it brought neither reparations nor change in borders. The conflict is often compared toWorld War I,[75] in that the tactics used closely mirrored those of that conflict, including large scaletrench warfare, manned machine-gun posts, bayonet charges, use ofbarbed wire across trenches,human wave attacks acrossno-man's land, and extensive use ofchemical weapons such asmustard gas by the Iraqi government against Iraniantroops and civilians as well as IraqiKurds. At the time, theUN Security Council issued statements that "chemical weapons had been used in the war." However, in these UN statements, it was never made clear that it was only Iraq that was using chemical weapons, so it has been said that "the international community remained silent as Iraq used weapons of mass destruction against Iranian as well as Iraqi Kurds" and it is believed.
A long-standing territorial dispute was the ostensible reason for Iraq'sinvasion of Kuwait in 1990. In November 1990, the UN Security Council adoptedResolution 678, permitting member states to use all necessary means, authorizing military action against the Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait and demanded a complete withdrawal by 15 January 1991. When Saddam Hussein failed to comply with this demand, theGulf War (Operation "Desert Storm") ensued on 17 January 1991. Estimates range from 1,500 to as many as 30,000 Iraqi soldiers killed, as well as less than a thousand civilians.[76][77]
In March 1991 revolts in theShia-dominated southern Iraq started involving demoralizedIraqi Army troops and the anti-government Shia parties. Another wave of insurgency broke out shortly afterwards in theKurdish populated northern Iraq (see1991 Iraqi uprisings). Although they presented a serious threat to the IraqiBa'ath Party regime, Saddam Hussein managed to suppress the rebellions with massive and indiscriminate force and maintained power. They were ruthlessly crushed by the loyalist forces spearheaded by theIraqi Republican Guard and the population was successfully terrorized. During the few weeks of unrest tens of thousands of people were killed. Many more died during the following months, while nearly two million Iraqis fled for their lives. In the aftermath, the government intensified the forced relocating ofMarsh Arabs and the draining of theIraqi marshlands, while the Coalition established theIraqi no-fly zones.
Kuwait became a Governorate of Iraq.
On 6 August 1990, after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the U.N. Security Council adoptedResolution 661 which imposedeconomic sanctions on Iraq, providing for a full trade embargo, excluding medical supplies, food and other items of humanitarian necessity, these to be determined by the Security Council sanctions committee. After the end of the Gulf War and after the Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait, the sanctions were linked to removal ofweapons of mass destruction byResolution 687.[78] To varying degrees, the effects of government policy, the aftermath of Gulf War and the sanctions regime have been blamed for these conditions.
The effects of the sanctions on the civilian population of Iraq have been disputed.[79][80] Whereas it was widely believed that the sanctions caused a major rise in child mortality, recent research has shown that commonly cited data were fabricated by the Iraqi government and that "there was no major rise in child mortality in Iraq after 1990 and during the period of the sanctions."[81][82][83] Anoil for food program was established in 1996 to ease the effects of sanctions.
Iraqi cooperation with UN weapons inspection teams was questioned on several occasions during the 1990s.UNSCOM chief weapons inspectorRichard Butler withdrew his team from Iraq in November 1998 because of Iraq's lack of cooperation. The team returned in December.[84] Butler prepared a report for theUN Security Council afterwards in which he expressed dissatisfaction with the level of compliance[2]. The same month, US President Bill Clinton authorized air strikes on government targets and military facilities. Air strikes against military facilities and alleged WMD sites continued into 2002.
After theterrorist attacks on New York and Washington in the United States in 2001 were linked to the group formed by the multi-millionaire SaudiOsama bin Laden, American foreign policy began to call for the removal of the Ba'ath government in Iraq. Neoconservative think-tanks in Washington had for years been urgingregime change in Baghdad. On 14 August 1998, President Clinton signed Public Law 105–235, which declared that ‘‘the Government of Iraq is in material and unacceptable breach of its international obligations.’’ It urged the President ‘‘to take appropriate action, in accordance with the Constitution and relevant laws of the United States, to bring Iraq into compliance with its international obligations.’’ Several months later, Congress enacted theIraq Liberation Act of 1998 on 31 October 1998. This law stated that it "should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime." It was passed 360 - 38 by theUnited States House of Representatives and 99–0 by theUnited States Senate in 1998.
The US urged theUnited Nations to take military action against Iraq. American presidentGeorge W. Bush stated that Saddām had repeatedly violated 16 UN Security Council resolutions. The Iraqi government rejected Bush's assertions. A team of U.N. inspectors, led by Swedish diplomatHans Blix was admitted, into the country; their final report stated that Iraqis capability in producing "weapons of mass destruction" was not significantly different from 1992 when the country dismantled the bulk of their remaining arsenals under terms of the ceasefire agreement with U.N. forces, but did not completely rule out the possibility that Saddam still had weapons of mass destruction. TheUnited States and theUnited Kingdom charged that Iraq was hiding WMD and opposed the team's requests for more time to further investigate the matter.Resolution 1441 was passed unanimously by theUN Security Council on 8 November 2002, offering Iraq "a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations" that had been set out in several previous UN resolutions, threatening "serious consequences" if the obligations were not fulfilled. The UN Security Council did not issue a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq.
Over the following years in theU.S. occupation of Iraq, Iraq disintegrated into acivil war from 2006 to 2008, and the situation deteriorated in 2011 which later escalated into arenewed war following ISIL gains in the country in 2014.By 2015, Iraq was effectively divided, the central and southern part being controlled by thegovernment, the northwest by theKurdistan Regional Government and the western part by theIslamic State. IS was expelled from Iraq in 2017, but a low-intensityISIL insurgency continues mostly in the rural parts of northern western parts of the country, due to Iraq's long border with Syria.[85]
In 2003, after the American and British invasion, Iraq was occupied by U.S.-ledCoalition forces. On 23 May 2003, the UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution lifting all economic sanctions against Iraq. As the country struggled to rebuild after three wars and a decade of sanctions, it was plagued by violence between a growingIraqi insurgency and occupation forces. Saddam Hussein, who vanished in April, was captured on 13 December 2003 inad-Dawr,Saladin Governorate.
U.S. Army soldier searches an Iraqi boy, March 2011.
Terrorism emerged as a threat to Iraq's people not long after the invasion of 2003.Al Qaeda now had a presence in the country, in the form of several terrorist groups formerly led byAbu Musab Al Zarqawi. Al Zarqawi was a Jordanian militant Islamist who ran a militant training camp in Afghanistan. He became known after going to Iraq and being responsible for a series of bombings, beheadings and attacks during the Iraq war. Al Zarqawi was killed on 7 June 2006. Many foreign fighters and former Ba'ath Party officials also joined the insurgency, which was mainly aimed at attacking American forces and Iraqis who worked with them. The most dangerous insurgent area was theSunni Triangle, a mostly Sunni-Muslim area just north of Baghdad.
Reported acts of violence conducted by an uneasy tapestry of insurgents steadily increased by the end of 2006.[86] Sunni jihadist forces includingAl Qaeda in Iraq continued to target Shia civilians, notably in the 23 February 2006 attack on theAl Askari Mosque inSamarra, one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest sites leading to acivil war between Sunni and Shia militants in Iraq. Analysis of the attack suggested that theMujahideen Shura Council and Al-Qaeda in Iraq were responsible, and that the motivation was to provoke further violence by outraging the Shia population.[87] In mid-October 2006, a statement was released stating that the Mujahideen Shura Council had been disbanded and was replaced by the "Islamic State of Iraq". It was formed to resist efforts by the U.S. and Iraqi authorities to win over Sunni supporters of the insurgency. Shia militias, some of whom were associated with elements in the Iraq government, reacted with reprisal acts against the Sunni minority. A cycle of violence thus ensued whereby Sunni insurgent attacks were followed reprisals by Shiite militias, often in the form of Shi'ite death squads that sought out and killed Sunnis. Following a surge in U.S. troops in 2007 and 2008, violence in Iraq began to decrease. The U.S. ended their main military presence in 2011, however, resulting inrenewed escalation into war.[88]
Pro-independence rally inIraqi Kurdistan in 2017. TheKurdistan Regional Government announced it would respect the Supreme Federal Court's ruling that no Iraqi province is allowed to secede.[97]
On 30 April 2016,thousands of protesters entered theGreen Zone in Baghdad and occupied theIraqi parliament building. This happened after the Iraqi parliament did not approve new government ministers. The protesters included supporters of Shia clericMuqtada Al Sadr. Although Iraqi security forces were present, they did not attempt to stop the protesters from entering the parliament building.[98]
Continued ISIL insurgency and protests (2017–present)
In October 2022,Abdul Latif Rashid was elected as the newPresident of Iraq after winning the parliamentary election against incumbentBarham Salih, who was running for a second term. The presidency is largely ceremonial and is traditionally held by a Kurd.[104] On 27 October 2022,Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, close ally of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, took the office to succeed Mustafa al-Kadhimi as newPrime Minister of Iraq.[105]
^Murray, Tim (2007).Milestones in Archaeology: A Chronological Encyclopedia. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 454.ISBN978-1576071861.
^Edwards, Owen (2010)."The Skeletons of Shanidar Cave". Smithsonian.
^Edwards, Owen (March 2010). "The Skeletons of Shanidar Cave". Smithsonian. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
^abRalph S. Solecki, Rose L. Solecki, and Anagnostis P. Agelarakis (2004). The Proto-Neolithic Cemetery in Shanidar Cave. Texas A&M University Press. pp. 3–5.ISBN9781585442720.
^Carter, Robert A. and Philip, Graham Beyond the Ubaid: Transformation and Integration in the Late Prehistoric Societies of the Middle East (Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization, Number 63) The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (2010)ISBN978-1-885923-66-0 p.2, athttp://oi.uchicago.edu/research/pubs/catalog/saoc/saoc63.htmlArchived 15 November 2013 at theWayback Machine; "Radiometric data suggest that the whole Southern Mesopotamian Ubaid period, including Ubaid 0 and 5, is of immense duration, spanning nearly three millennia from about 6500 to 3800 B.C".
^"Akkad".World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved18 August 2017.
^Zettler (2003), pp. 24–25. "Moreover, the Dynasty of Akkade's fall did not lead to social collapse, but the re-emergence of the normative political organization. The southern cities reasserted their independence, and if we know little about the period between the death of Sharkalisharri and the accession of Urnamma, it may be due more to accidents of discovery than because of widespread 'collapse.' The extensive French excavations at Tello produced relevant remains dating right through the period."
^Wolkstein, Diane; Kramer, Samuel Noah (1983).Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer. New York City, New York: Harper&Row Publishers. pp. 118–119.ISBN978-0-06-090854-6.
^Beaulieu, Paul-Alain."Berossus on Late Babylonian History".Y. Gong and Y. Chen, eds., Special Issue of Oriental Studies. A Collection of Papers on Ancient Civilizations of Western Asia, Asia Minor and North Africa (Beijing, 2007) 116-149.
^abSteven C. Hause, William S. Maltby (2004).Western civilization: a history of European society. Thomson Wadsworth. p. 76.ISBN978-0-534-62164-3.The Greco-Macedonian Elite. The Seleucids respected the cultural and religious sensibilities of their subjects but preferred to rely on Greek or Macedonian soldiers and administrators for the day-to-day business of governing. The Greek population of the cities, reinforced until the second century BCE by immigration from Greece, formed a dominant, although not especially cohesive, elite.
^Glubb, Sir John Bagot (1967).Syria, Lebanon, Jordan. Thames & Hudson. p. 34.OCLC585939.In addition to the court and the army, Syrian cities were full of Greek businessmen, many of them pure Greeks from Greece. The senior posts in the civil service were also held by Greeks. Although the Ptolemies and the Seleucids were perpetual rivals, both dynasties were Greek and ruled by means of Greek officials and Greek soldiers. Both governments made great efforts to attract immigrants from Greece, thereby adding yet another racial element to the population.
^Bayne Fisher, William "The Cambridge History of Iran", p.3: "(From then until the Timur's invasion of the country, Iran was under the rule of various rival petty princes of whom henceforth only the Jalayirids could claim Mongol)
^Reports of administration for 1918 of divisions and districts of the occupied territories in Mesopotamia. Vol. 1. British Administration. 1919. p. 66.
^Mann, James Saumarez (1921).An Administrator In The Making: James Saumarez Mann, 1893–1920. Longmans, Green, & Co. p. 201.
^abNieuwenhuis, Tom (1982).Politics and Society in Early Modern Iraq: Mamlūk Pashas, Tribal Shayks and Local Rule Between 1902 and 1831. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.ISBN90-247-2347-7.
^Güngörürler, Selim (2016).Diplomacy and Political Relations Between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Iran, 1639–1722. Georgetown University. p. 373.
^Fernea, Robert (1959).Irrigation and Social Organization Among the El Shabana; A Group of Tribal Cultivators in Southern Iraq. University of Chicago.
^Husain, Faisal (2018).The Tigris–Euphrates Basin Under Early Modern Ottoman Rule, c. 1534–1830. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University.
^Wilson, Jeremy (1998).Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorised Biography of T. E. Lawrence. Stroud: Sutton.ISBN978-0-7509-1877-0.The exploits of T. E. Lawrence as British liaison officer in the Arab Revolt, recounted in his work Seven Pillars of Wisdom, made him one of the most famous Englishmen of his generation. This biography explores his life and career including his correspondence with writers, artists, and politicians.
^Liam Anderson; Gareth Stansfield (2005).The Future of Iraq: Dictatorship, Democracy, Or Division?. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 6.ISBN978-1-4039-7144-9. Archived fromthe original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved30 November 2018.Sunni control over the levels of power and the distribution of the spoils of office has had predictable consequences - a simmering resentment on the part of the Shi'a...
^Reich, Bernard.Political leaders of the contemporary Middle East and North Africa: A Bibliographical Dictionary. Westport, Connecticut, USA: Greenwood Press, Ltd, 1990. Pp. 245.
^Ibrahim, Ellen Knickmeyer and K. I. (23 February 2006)."Bombing Shatters Mosque In Iraq".The Washington Post.Archived from the original on 14 February 2011. Retrieved3 December 2017.
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de Gaury, Gerald.Three Kings in Baghdad: The Tragedy of Iraq's Monarchy, (IB Taurus, 2008).ISBN978-1-84511-535-7
Elliot, Matthew.Independent Iraq: British Influence from 1941 to 1958 (IB Tauris, 1996).
Fattah, Hala Mundhir, and Frank Caso.A brief history of Iraq (Infobase Publishing, 2009).
Franzén, Johan. "Development vs. Reform: Attempts at Modernisation during the Twilight of British Influence in Iraq, 1946–1958,"Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 37#1 (2009), pp. 77–98
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