Baghdad has a history soaked in bloody rivalries and invasions, as well as severe forms of natural calamities, besides being the seat of learning, power and wealth
DESPITE its accumulation of knowledge, power and wealth, Baghdad has been ransacked, plundered, undergone mass massacres, sectarian and tribal rivalries, riots and bloodshed. It also faced natural calamities in the shape of furious floods and fatal epidemics. Baghdad suffered the first severe blow during a bloody conflict between Mansur’s sons — Al-Ameen and Al-Mamun, when their father was away from the capital.
Baghdad remained under siege for 14 months, according to Tabri and Masudi, as quoted in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, “destruction and ruin raged until the splendour of Baghdad was gone.” Chaos and trouble continued until the return of Al-Mamun from Marw in 819.
Some other misfortunes which Baghdad faced were:
*865-66: Turkish disorder and during the siege the houses, shops and gardens outside the eastern wall of the city were devastated as a defensive measure.
*883: Flood ruined 7,000 houses and thousands upon thousands made shelterless and jobless.
*892: Sectarian differences encouraged by the Buwayhids caused a lot of bloodshed. Before them the Hanbalis were also a source of trouble.
*920-21: For two consecutive years, Karkh, a crowded suburb of Baghdad, turned into ashes due to heavy fire.
*929 : Considerable losses due to heavy flood.
*983: Flood swept beyond Kufa gate, enters city: heavy losses.
*959-1033: An era of chaos, fire, disorder, loot and plunder. At the same time, Baghdad remained the great centre of culture, the home of Hanafi and Hanbali schools of law, centre of translation and scientific experimentations.
*1055: Tughril Bey entered Baghdad, and the Seljuks overthrew the Buwayhid rule.
(From the second half of the 11th century, Baghdad was in decline and lived on its past glory. A series of fires, flood, feuds and dissension destroyed the very fibre of civic society.)
*1087-1187: No less than a dozen fires took a heavy toll in human beings and material losses.
*1242: Thousands of people were massacred and hundreds of houses and shops were turned into ashes in sectarian riots.
*1256: The worst-ever flood inundated Baghdad. Again the city experienced heavy losses in lives and material. According to Ibn al-Fuwati, (as quoted in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol I: “Thus, nature and man joined hands to eclipse Baghdad.”
*1258: Mongols, under Hulagu, devastated Baghdad. The Caliph Al-Mustasim made an unconditional surrender. For over a week, people were put indiscriminately to the sword. Estimates of the number of the killed vary between 800,000 to two million. But it probably exceeds 100,000. The Caliph was trampled to death. Culture suffered enormously, but was not uprooted. Baghdad became a provincial centre in all respects.
*1339: Hasan Buzurgh established himself in Baghdad and found the Djalayirid dynasty, which lasted till 1410.
*1392: Timurlane descended on Baghdad, fortunately departed with little damage.
*1401: After the great massacres in Damascus, where some of his favourite generals were killed, the enraged Timur invaded Baghdad. Its population was indiscriminately slaughtered, and many of its public (Abbasid) buildings and quarters were wrecked. This was a devastating blow to culture in Baghdad. This heralded the end of the golden era of Muslim civilization.
*1507: Baghdad came under the control of Shah Ismail Safwi, and an era of Perso-Ottoman struggle for the possession of the city began, typifying a Baghdadi song: Between the Persians and Rum, what woe befell us!
*1534: Ottoman Sultan Sulaman captured Baghdad.
*1534-1638: In 104 years, Baghdad had seen six Ottoman and five Safawi rulers. It was a great tragedy that both dynasties belonged to two different sects. They ruined the city, killed the population belonging to rival sects and desecrated the mausoleums of highly venerated Imams, seers and Ulema.
*1638-1704: Baghdad was governed by 24 pashas, who were nominal heads, the real power was in the hands of Janissaries (slave soldiers).
*1532: Ottomans captured Mesopotamia.
*1538: Turkish naval expedition conquered the west coast of Arabia.
*1555: Peace treaty was signed between the Ottoman Turks and the Safawids of Persia.
*1590: Ottoman Turks wrested control of Georgia and Azerbaijan from Persia.
*1603: Persians under Abbas I (1571-1629) captured Baghdad from the Ottomans.
*1605: The Turks recaptured Baghdad from Abbas I.
*1609: Persia defeated the Turks at the battle of Urmia and captured Baghdad.
*1625: The Janissaries (slave soldiers) revolted against the Ottoman rule in Turkey.
*1638: Ottoman Turks under Murad IV (1607-40) recaptured Baghdad.
*1639: Treaty of Kasr-i-Shirin established a permanent border treaty between Turkey and Baghdad.
*1665: Muhammad Koprulu became Ottoman vazir (chief minister) and established the Ottoman empire.
*1704: Hasan Pasha and his son Ahmed restored law and order with the help of Mamluks, forgetting that they were laying a foundation for the Mamluk supremacy.
*1737-38: Nadir Shah besieged Baghdad twice. Though the city suffered much in the first siege, during the second invasion, the people courageously fought back and forced the invaders to retreat.
*1744: Al-Saud family of central Arabia allied with the new Wahabi sect.
*1770: Britain established a trading post at Basra.
*1772: A terrible plague gripped Baghdad, lasting six months; thousands perished, others migrated and commercial activities came to a standstill.
*1773: The Turks defeated the Persians at the battle of Kirkuk (lraq)
*1774: Russia allied with Persia against the Turks who were defeated at the Battle of Baghavand.
*1775: The Persians attacked and briefly captured Basra from the British.
*1807: The Ottoman Janissaries (slave soldiers) revolted and replaced Sultan Selim III (1761-1808) with Mustafa IV (1779-1808).
*1826: Sultan Mahmud II (1785-1839) massacred the Janissaries in Turkey.
*1874: Turkish Ottoman empire began to disintegrate rapidly under economic pressure.
*1876: Turkish chief minister Midhat Pasha (1822-84) replaced Sultan Murad V (1840-1918) with Abdul Hameed (1840-1918) and promulgated a constitution.
*1877: The Turkish constitution was set aside by Sultan Abdul Hameed II.
*1899: A concession was granted to a German company to build the Berlin-Baghdad railway line.
*1900: The Turks began the construction of the Hejaz railway line to the holy places of Madina and Makka.
*1903: Britain declared the Arabian Gulf to be within its sphere of control.
*1907: Britain and Russia divided Persia into sphere of influence under the Treaty of St Petersburg.
*1908: Rising by Young Turks, supported by the military, restored the Turkish constitution.
*1908: Oil discovered in Persia.
*1913: Young Turks, led by Enver Pasha (1881-1922), seized power in Turkey and suppressed the opposition.
*1914: Britain, France and Russia declared war on Turkey.
*1914: Britain occupied Basra (now in Iraq).
*1915: Britain occupied Kut el-Amra in Mesopotamia from the Turks and also captured Bushehr in Persia.
*1916: Arab revolt against the Turks began. Hussein Ibn Ali (1856-1931), the Sharif of Makka, was declared king of the Arabs.
*1916: Britain and France agreed to partition the Ottoman Empire.
*1917: Arab forces, led by T.E. Lawrence (1888-1935), captured Aqaba.
*1917: British forces captured Baghdad and Jerusalem.
*1917: British foreign minister Arthur Balfour (1848-1930) declared his support for the settlement of Jews in Palestine.
*1918: British troops captured Damascus; French forces took Beirut.
*1918: Britain occupied Persia after Russian troops’ withdrawal.
*1920: France acquired a mandate over Syria and Lebanon.
*1920: Britain acquired a mandate over Mesopotamia, renaming it Iraq and Persia.
*1921: Cossack officer Raza Pahlevi (1878-1944) staged a coup in Persia and became minister of war.
*1922: The Sultanate is abolished in Turkey.
*1922: Kurds in Iraq began an armed campaign for independence.
*1923: Treaty of Lausanne confirmed the dismemberment of the Ottoman empire and provided for the compulsory population exchange between Greece and Turkey.
*1923: Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938) was elected president of Turkey. Ankara became the capital.
*1923: Transjordan was separated from Palestine.
*1924: Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud (1880-1931) captured Makka and Madina from Hussein Ibn Ali, Sharif of Makka.
*1925: Raza Pehlvi (1878-1944) became the Shah of Persia.
*1926: Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud proclaimed himself king of Hejaz and Nejd in Arabia.
*1927: Britain recognized the independence of Iraq.
*1928: Tansjordan becomes self-governing under Emir Abdullah Ibn Hussein (1882-1961).
*1929: The first Arab-Jewish clash in Palestine over forcible settlement of foreign Jews.
*1932: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was formally established.
*1936: Britain sent reinforcements to Palestine to impose order on the warring Jews and Arabs.
*1939: Britain installed Faisal II (1935-58) boy-king of Iraq.
*1945: Independent republic of Syria and Lebanon were established.
*1945: Arab League was founded.
*1946: Jordan became an independent kingdom.
*1948: State of Israel was established. Arabs refused to recognize it. The first Arab-Israeli war was fought.
*1949: Israel and Egypt agree to an armistice.
*1950: Jordan took over the West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem.
*1953: Hussein I (1935-99) became king of Jordan.
*1956: President Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-70) nationalized the Suez Canal. Israel invaded Egypt. Britain and France also joined the war on the Israeli side; but withdrew under the Russian pressure.
*1957: Israel evacuated Gaza strip.
*1959: Military coup in Baghdad. The king was killed. General Abdel Karim Kassem took over.
*1967: Israel invaded its Arab neighbours in a six-day war. It captured the West Bank and Eastern Jerusalem and occupied the Golan Heights.
*1971: Bahrain and Qatar became independent and the United Arab Emirates set up.
*1973: Another Arab-Israel war in which the latter won.
*1973: Arab states cut oil production and caused a worldwide crisis.
*1979: Camp David accord was signed between Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel in Washington.
*1979: Saddam Hussein seized power in Iraq.
There is no need to repeat the account of how Saddam Hussein consolidated his power: and with whose help, cooperation, encouragement and support. But his sudden and swift, rather mysterious exit, has caused an irreparable and incalculable loss not only to Iraq, but also to the entire humanity.
According to Robert Fisk of the Independent of London, who was in Baghdad on April 12 to witness the “sacking of Baghdad — Burning of the History of Baghdad”: “This is Zero Year; with the destruction of antiques...burning of archives and then the Quranic library, the cultural identity of Iraq is being erased.”
At the same time, vultures and vandals ransacked and plundered the priceless treasure of ancient artifacts discovered and preserved by millions of hands for over 6,000 years. This was not the property of a single nation, country or people belonging to one religion. They belonged to the entire human race. Despite rapid and mind-boggling scientific and technological achievements, humankind has become poorer and poorer culturally and spiritually.
Baghdad has a history soaked in bloody rivalries and invasions, as well as severe forms of natural calamities, besides being the seat of learning, power and wealth 
