IRAQ

IRAQ. – An Arab state of Western Asia, comprising the lower basins of the Tigris and Euphrates and parts of the adjacent Syrian and Arabian deserts.

CONTENTS:

I. Geography

II. Civil history

III. Ecclesiastical history.

I. GEOGRAPHY

Of the two rivers, the Euphrates has no notable tributaries, whereas the Tigris collects waters descending from the more humid, mountainous margin of the Iranian region in the northwest. Apart from these two higher sectors (up to 1,000 m.), the entire country is a plain or lowland, mostly steppe and desert, given the hot and dry climate of markedly continental stamp, with short and relatively cold winters and long, torrid summers.

To the north, a region poor in rainfall and therefore sparsely populated, bordered as it is by an arid plateau, stand in contrast the southern regions, fertilized by the waters and silt of the twin rivers, which unite into a single course (Shatt al-‘Arab) near Baghdad. The extent of the territory, whose borders are not well defined (except toward Iran), is variously estimated (from 292,000 to 452,000 sq. km.), but the area suitable for cultivation, which partly corresponds to the northern mountain zone and partly to the irrigated strips near the rivers, does not even reach 30,000 sq. km. (though a considerable expansion is envisaged).

Of the population (4.8 million inhabitants), nine-tenths are Arabs, with minorities of Kurds, Turks, and Jews. More than agriculture, which produces cereals (wheat, rice, barley, maize, tobacco, opium, fruit, and above all dates—80% of the world’s crop)—and livestock (7.4 million sheep, milk, meat, hides, etc.)—the extractive industry stands out in the “Iraqi” economy, with a single product: petroleum. The entire eastern mountain arc from Mosul to the Persian Gulf is saturated with II. Production (4.5 million tons in 1948) has surpassed the pre-war level. Of minor importance, however, are other industries (textiles, tobacco manufacturing, soap-making). Roads (640 km of motorable roads) and railways (1,850 km) remain inadequate to need. The port of Basra is modernly equipped. The capital, Baghdad, has 285,000 inhabitants; Basra (80,000) and Mosul (80,000) follow in importance.

Iraq is a constitutional hereditary monarchy with a bicameral parliament, one chamber of which is elective.

II. CIVIL HISTORY

The treatment of the history of Iraq is conditioned by the meaning attributed to this name. Strictly speaking, it would designate only that part of the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers extending from the Persian Gulf up to about the latitude of Baghdad, while the area between the two rivers above this point is more properly called Mesopotamia. However, since “Iraq” is now the name of the state governing both regions, the history of Iraq precludes discussion of the events of either territory separately, projecting into the past a unity that, while geographically real, was not politically so for many centuries.

Iraq was the center of autonomous empires between the 4th millennium and 538 B.C. It then became a province, not always unified, of foreign empires until 1918, when the history of the new national “Iraqi” state began, first under British protection and then, from 1932, in effective independence. For a broader understanding of “Iraqi” history up to 1918, one should therefore refer in turn to the following entries: SUMERIANS; BABYLONIANS; ASSYRIANS; PERSIA; ISLAM.

The ancient period of “Iraqi” history is of high political and cultural significance; on the banks of the two rivers, favored by favorable economic and geographical conditions, there flourished one of the greatest civilizations of the ancient world. Its ethnic components were the Sumerians, the first to settle in the region, and the Semites. Sumerian populations appear in the south of the region (Babylonia) as early as the 4th millennium, forming small city-states and developing an advanced culture. Around 2400 B.C. (according to the recent “low” chronology), the Semites, long present on the periphery of the cities as nomads, established themselves in the same area and founded the Babylonian Empire, which, through various dynasties interspersed with foreign invasions, lasted until 1500 B.C., then gave way to a long period of non-Semitic domination (the Kassites: ca. 1500–1150 B.C.). Meanwhile, in the north, the Assyrian Empire was asserting itself, which under Tiglath-Pileser I (1115–1093 B.C.) extended from one side to the Persian Gulf and from the other to the Mediterranean.

After a long period of prosperity, the Assyrians fell in 612 B.C. at the hands of the Medes and Babylonians; the latter experienced a final period of flourishing from 612 to 538 B.C., when their empire also came to an end at the hands of Cyrus.

With Cyrus’s conquest, Iraq became part of the Persian Empire and remained so, under the Achaemenid dynasty, until Alexander the Great’s conquest (331 B.C.). After his death and the division of his empire, Iraq passed to the Seleucids, who ruled it from 312 to 140 B.C. The region then returned to the Persian Empire, first under the Arsacids (140 B.C.–226 A.D.) and then under the Sassanids (226–637 A.D.). During this phase of Persian rule, there were dangerous conflicts first with Rome and then with Byzantium in the northeast, where the Romans had established a province of Mesopotamia from the time of Trajan (2nd century A.D.).

The Battle of al-Qādisiyyah (637 A.D.) marks the Arab conquest of Iraq and its inclusion in the Islamic Empire. Arab administration distinguished the two provinces of Iraq proper in the south and Mesopotamia (al-Jazīrah) in the north. From the fortified camps of Kufah and Basra, which were to become important cities, the Arabs pushed further into the conquest of Central Asia. Under the fourth caliph ‘Alī (656–661), who made Kufah his residence, Iraq became the center of the Empire and of the struggle against the rival Mu‘āwiyah; this conflict, which ended with Mu‘āwiyah’s victory and the rise for about a century of his dynasty, the Umayyads (661–750), left deep traces in Iraq: while the center of the state moved to Syria, Iraq became a turbulent seat of the politico-religious movement favoring ‘Alī, the ‘Alids, and of another heterodox movement arising from the same events, Kharijism (v. ISLAM, The sects). Tribal discord was violent. Some great Umayyad governors (Ziyād ibn Abīhi, al-Ḥajjāj, Khālid al-Qasrī) nevertheless managed to contain the unrest, while promoting the country’s economic development, which was essentially tied to irrigation canals. This work continued in the early years of the ‘Abbāsid dynasty (750–

1258), which brought the centre of the state precisely to the II., where he built the new capital of Baghdad; in the 9th and 10th centuries the region reached a high level of prosperity, enhanced by the trade that radiated from it towards the East and the West; the great factors of unrest were diminished or disappeared in the new political situation. Then, the decline of the 'Abbasid caliphate was also the decline of the II. Although the caliphs retained nominal sovereignty, dynasties of different origins established themselves there, among which the Persian Buwayhids and the Turkish Seljuks prevailed. Then, in 1258, the caliphate disappeared under the wave of the Mongols, who brought to the II., with the destruction of the irrigation canals and the abandonment of every work of economic and commercial development, a long period of decline. Mongol dynasties succeeded one another in the region; then it was swept over by the wave of Timur Lang (Tamerlane: 1393). In 1500 the II. was annexed to Persia by Shāh Ismā'il. Finally, in 1534, it was conquered by Sulaymān the Magnificent from the Ottomans, under whom it remained, despite intermittent struggles with Persia, until the end of the First World War (1918).

1918 marks the beginning of the new history of the II. But for some time economic recovery of the region had already begun, both through the work of the Turkish administration and through the interest that the economic resources and geographical position of the II. aroused in the great European powers. In particular, for England, the II. constituted an essential link between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean; at the beginning of the world war, the English landed in the Persian Gulf and in 1917 conquered Baghdad. In 1920 the II. was entrusted to the British mandate and in 1921 a kingdom was established under Fayṣal, son of the Sharif of the Hejaz Ḥusayn and known for a previous Syria (v.). Fayṣal reigned from 1921 to 1933. His government marked decisive phases in the progress of the new state in economic (especially important was the exploitation of oil resources) and administrative terms. There were, however, from that time onwards periodic agitations, revealing the contrasts that still make life difficult for the country: these are due to the problems of ethnic minorities (Armenians, Kurds) and religious ones (Christians, Jews, Yazidis). Other difficulties were caused by relations with England, as the II., like the other Arab states of the post-war period, tended to obtain independence. This was sanctioned, with the end of the mandate, by the Treaty of 1932, although England retained considerable economic and military rights. Fayṣal was succeeded by Ghāzī (1933–39), under whom political contrasts and agitations recurred. In 1939, Fayṣal II ascended the throne at the age of six, under the regency of his uncle 'Abd al-Ilāh. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Italo-German propaganda had free rein: in 1941, Rashīd 'Alī al-Kaylānī took power in a coup d'état, appointed a new regent (Ṣaraf) and opposed the British landings at Basra; the British then marched on Baghdad, the government of Rashīd 'Alī al-Kaylānī was overthrown and the former regent was reinstated. In 1943 Italy declared war on Germany; in 1945 it adhered to the League of Arab States.

Among the post-war events, noteworthy are the Kurdish insurrections of 1945 and 1947, which testified to the persistent state of unrest among the minorities. In 1948 a new Anglo-Iraqi treaty was concluded at Portsmouth, but it was subsequently repudiated by Iraq under pressure from popular agitations. After the dissolution of Parliament, new elections were held and various governments succeeded one another. The last, presided over by Tawfīq al-Suwaydī (5 February 1950), shows tendencies favourable to the resumption of negotiations with the British, as well as to the recent project of a Syrian-Iraqi union.

III. ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY

Since the II. until the Arab conquest was part of the Persian Empire, for religious history, V. PERSIA. Christianity is then represented by the Nestorians (v.); from the 16th century a Catholic community re-emerges with the Chaldeans (v.). At present the population is predominantly (79%) Arab. Islam is the state religion. The Shi‘ites prevail. However, the royal family and the dominant classes are Sunnis.

1. Legal situation of Christians

The Constitution of 1924 guarantees freedom of religion for all in art. 13. Art. 18 promises all citizens equality with regard to public employment. In practice, however, it is very difficult for a Christian to obtain a high position. Art. 16 guarantees communities the right to have their own schools. Arts. 78-80 deal with personal status and guarantee different communities their own religious courts. In recent times a dangerous tendency towards secularism has been noted in legislation, which threatens the privileges of the communities, as happens in Turkey. In 1940 a law was issued that subjects Catholic schools to state control. In 1947 a law on religious courts appeared, making them dependent on state control.

2. Situation of schools

Despite the unfavourable school law of 1940, the situation of Catholic schools has noticeably improved in recent years. It is true, however, that the majority of the schools of the communities are still in the hands of the government and conducted according to Muslim spirit. The schools of the missionaries, on the other hand, enjoy sufficient freedom. The higher school of the Jesuits in Baghdad flourishes greatly and is attended by the sons of the most prominent Muslim families. Since 1944 the Dominicans have had a higher school in Mosul.

3. Situation of Catholic communities

There is an Apostolic Delegation in the II. with residence in Baghdad. The most important community is that of the Chaldeans, which numbers about 160,000 faithful. They belong to the patriarchate of Babylon, which has as patriarchal dioceses Mosul and Baghdad, and to the four dioceses of Kirkuk, Akra, Amadia and Zākhō. The Catholic Syrians have the dioceses of Baghdad and Mosul with 23,000 faithful, the Armenians the diocese of Baghdad with 2,500 faithful, the Melkites the patriarchal vicariate of Baghdad with 2,500 faithful; the Latins the diocese of Baghdad with 750 faithful. Among the European missionaries are the Discalced Carmelites, Dominicans, Jesuits and the Sisters of the Presentation.

Non-Catholic Christians. — The Syrian Monophysites or Jacobites number 12,000, the Monophysite Armenians 15,000, the Nestorians 30,000 and the “Orthodox” of Byzantine origin 230.

For further information V. CHALDEANS; NESTORIANS.