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Mamluk dynasty of Iraq مماليك العراق Mamālīk al-ʻIrāq | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1704–1831 | |||||||||
.svg) Approximate area under Mamluk rule. | |||||||||
| Status | Nominally part of theOttoman Empire | ||||||||
| Capital | Baghdad | ||||||||
| Common languages | Ottoman Turkish,Iraqi Arabic | ||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam (majority), alsoShia Islam (In Najaf and Karbala),[1]Christianity,Mandaeism,Judaism | ||||||||
| Government | Pashalik (autonomous) | ||||||||
| Pasha | |||||||||
• (1704–1723) | Hassan Pasha | ||||||||
• (1816–1831) | Dawud Pasha | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Dynasty formed | 1704 | ||||||||
| 1831 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Iraq | ||||||||
The Mamluk dynasty of Mesopotamia (Arabic:مماليك العراق,romanized: Mamālīk al-ʻIrāq) was a dynasty ofGeorgianMamluk origin which ruled overIraq in the 18th and early 19th centuries.[2][3]
In theOttoman Empire,Mamluks werefreedmen whoconverted to Islam, were trained in a special school, and then assigned to military and administrative duties. Such Mamluks presided overIraq from 1704 to 1831.
The Mamluk ruling elite, composed principally ofGeorgian andCircassian origin fromCaucasian officers,[4][5] succeeded in asserting autonomy from their Ottoman overlords, and restored order and some degree of economic prosperity in the region. The Ottomans overthrew the Mamluk regime in 1831 and gradually imposed their direct rule over Iraq, which would last untilWorld War I, although the Mamluks continued to be a dominant socio-political force in Iraq, as most of the administrative personnel of note inBaghdad were drawn from former Mamluk households, or comprised a cross-section of the notable class in Mamluk times.[6]
Even before the rise of the Mamluks, Iraq was never fully integrated into the Ottoman administrative system. The Mosul province was placed under the timar system where taxes were farmed out to cavalry officers. Baghdad and Basra were placed the salyane system where taxation was farmed out to the governors. Constant war with Iran weakened Ottoman control further. By the 1700s this problem was becoming worse.[7]
The early 18th century was a time of important changes both inConstantinople and inBaghdad. The reign ofSultan Ahmed III (1703–30) was marked by relative political stability in the capital and by extensive reforms—some of them influenced by European models—implemented during theTulip Period byGrand Vizierİbrahim Pasha.
As in the previous two centuries, Iraq continued to be a battleground between the rivalOttoman Empire andSafavid Empire. The region also suffered from frequent inter-clan struggles.[8]
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The Mamluks ruled thepashaliks ofBaghdad,Basrah, andShahrizor.[9] The pashalik ofMosul was ruled by theIraqiJalili dynasty.
In Baghdad, Hassan Pasha (Georgian:ჰასან ფაშა), the Ottoman governor ofGeorgian origin sent fromConstantinople, and his son Ahmad Pasha (1723–47) established a Georgian Mamluk household, through which they exercised authority and administered the province.
Hassan's son and successor, Ahmad (Georgian:აჰმედ ფაშა), continued to recruit the Mamluks and promoted them to key administrative and military positions. Both Hasan and Ahmad rendered a valuable service to theOttoman Porte by curbing the unruly tribes and securing a steady inflow of taxes to the treasury in Constantinople as well as by defending Iraq against yet another military threat from theSafavids andAfsharids of Iran.
By the time Ahmad Pasha died in 1747, his Mamluks had been organized into a powerful, self-perpetuating elite corps of some 2,000 men ("Georgian Guard"). On Ahmad's death, the sultan attempted to prevent these Mamluks from assuming power and sent an outsider as hiswali in Baghdad. However, Ahmad's son-in-law Sulayman Abu Layla, already in charge ofBasra, marched on Baghdad in the head of his Georgian guard and ousted the Ottoman administrator, thereby inaugurating 84 years of the Mamluk rule in Iraq.[10]
By 1750, Sulayman Abu Layla had established himself as an undisputed master at Baghdad and had been recognized by the Porte as the first Mamluk Pasha of Iraq. The newly established regime embarked on a campaign to gain more autonomy from the Ottoman government and to curb the resistance of theArab andKurdish tribes. They managed to counterAl-Muntafiq threats in the south and brought Basra under their control. They encouragedOmani andEuropean trade and allowed theBritish East India Company to establish an agency in Basra in 1763.
The successes of Mamluk regime, however, still depended on their ability to cooperate with their Ottoman suzerains and religious elite within Iraq. The Porte sometimes employed force to depose the recalcitrant pashas of Baghdad, but the Mamluks were able to retain their hold of the pashalik, and even enlarged their domains. They failed, however, to secure a regular system of succession and the gradual formation of rival Mamluk households resulted in factionalism and frequent power struggles. Another major menace to the Mamluk rule came from Iran whose resurgent ruler,Karim Khan, invaded Iraq and installed his brother Sadiq Khan in Basra in 1776 after a protracted and stubborn resistance offered by the Mamluk general Sulayman Aga. The Porte hastened to exploit the crisis and replacedOmar Pasha (Georgian:ომარ ფაშა) with a non-Mamluk, who proved incapable of keeping order.[10]
In 1779, Sulayman the Great (Georgian:სულეიმან ბუიუქი) returned from his exile inShiraz and acquired the governorship ofBaghdad,Basrah, andShahrizor in 1780.[11] This Sulayman the Great is known asBüyük ('the Great' in Turkish;Ottoman Turkish:بیوك), and his rule (1780–1802) was efficient at first, but weakened as he grew older. He imported large numbers of Georgians to strengthen his clan, asserted his supremacy over the factionalized Mamluk households and restricted the influence ofJanissaries. He fostered economy and continued to encourage commerce and diplomacy with Europe, which received a major boost in 1798 when Sulayman gave permission for a permanent British agent to be appointed in Baghdad.[12] However, his struggle against the Arab tribes in Northern Iraq was less despite the fact that he brutally crushed the revolters.[11]
The aftermath of Sulayman the Great's death in 1802 was a power struggle between Ali Pasha theKaymakam, Ahmad Agha leader of theJanissaries, and Selim agha, which was won by Ali Al-kahiya (Georgian:ალი ფაშა), who started a campaign to discipline Kurdish tribes who paid a tribute through their animals, then put down a rebellion by theYazidis inSinjar, then rode toTal Afar and arrested Muhammad beg al Shawi and his brother and executed them both, due to animosity towards them, then he returned to Baghdad to quell disorder there.
Ali Al-kahiya repelled the Wahhabi raids againstNajaf andHillah in 1803 and 1806 but failed to challenge their domination of thedesert.
Ali Al-kahiya was assassinated in 1807 by Madar beg al Abadhi and his followers due to personal grudges against him, while Ali was praying, by stabbing, They initially escaped but were apprehended and killed with their bodies sent to Baghdad.[13]
After Ali's assassination in 1807, his nephew Sulayman the Little took over the government. Inclined to curtail provincial autonomies, SultanMahmud II (1808–39) made his first attempt to oust the Mamluks from Baghdad in 1810. Ottoman troops deposed and killed Sulayman, but again failed to maintain control of the country. After yet another bitter internecine feud in 1816, Sulayman's energetic son-in-lawDawud Pasha ousted his rivalSaid Pasha (Georgian:საიდ ფაშა; 1813–16) and took control of Baghdad. The Ottoman government reluctantly recognized his authority.[10]
Dawud Pasha (Georgian:დაუდ ფაშა) was the last of the Mamluk rulers of Iraq. Dawud Pasha initiated important modernization programs that included clearing canals, establishing industries, reforming the army with the help of European instructors, and founding a printing press. He maintained elaborate pomp and circumstance at his court. Besides the usual troubles with the Arab tribes and internal dissensions withsheikhs, he was involved in more serious fighting with the Kurds and the conflict with Iran over the influence in the Kurdish principality ofBaban. The conflict culminated in the Iranian invasion of Iraq and the occupation ofSulaymaniyah in 1818. Later, Dawud Pasha capitalized on the destruction of Janissaries at Constantinople in 1826, and eliminated the Janissaries as an independent local force.[10][12]
Meanwhile, the existence of the autonomous regime in Iraq, a long-time source of anxiety at Constantinople, became even more threatening to the Porte whenMuhammad Ali Pasha ofEgypt began to claimOttoman Syria. In 1830, the Sultan decreed Dawud Pasha's dismissal, but the emissary carrying the order was arrested at Baghdad and executed. In 1831, the Ottoman army underAli Riza Pasha marched fromAleppo into Iraq. Devastated by floods and an epidemic ofbubonic plague, Baghdad capitulated after a ten-week-long blockade which caused mass-famine. Dawud Pasha, facing opposition from local clergymen within Iraq, surrendered to the Ottomans and was treated with favor. His life ended in 1851, while he was custodian of the shrine atMedina.[10] The arrival of the Sultan's new governor in Baghdad in 1831 signaled the beginning of a direct Ottoman rule in Iraq.[12]
The new Ottoman governor, Ali Ridha Pasha, was forced to come to terms with the still-pervasive Mamluk presence in Baghdad even after the last Mamluk ruler had been deposed.[6] He later married the daughter of former Mamluk governorSulayman the Little (1807–1810).[6]
