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Historical Period

Ilkhans, Timur, the Turkmen, and the Ottoman–Safavid struggle for Iraq.

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Mongol, Turkmen & Ottoman Iraq · 1258-1918
Medieval & Ottoman Iraq

Mongol, Turkmen & Ottoman Iraq

After the Mongols, Iraq ceased to be the centre of anything. For six centuries it was a battered borderland — ruled from Mongol Tabriz, ravaged again by Timur, fought over by Turkmen confederations, and finally torn between the Ottoman and Safavid empires as a frontier between Sunni and Shia. Under Ottoman pashas it slept, until the First World War brought British armies up the rivers. Slide across Iraq's long twilight.

1258 AD
Ilkhanate
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1258 AD

Ilkhanate
  • Political

    Iraq under the Ilkhans

    Once the centre of the world, Baghdad becomes a provincial town ruled by Mongol Ilkhans from distant Tabriz.

11 milestones

Meanwhile

Around 1258 AD

Full Chronicle

Mongol, Turkmen & Ottoman Iraq

After the Mongols, Iraq ceased to be the centre of anything. For six centuries it was a battered borderland — ruled from Mongol Tabriz, ravaged again by Timur, fought over by Turkmen confederations, and finally torn between the Ottoman and Safavid empires as a frontier between Sunni and Shia. Under Ottoman pashas it slept, until the First World War brought British armies up the rivers. Slide across Iraq's long twilight.

  1. Ilkhanate

    • Iraq under the Ilkhans

      Once the centre of the world, Baghdad becomes a provincial town ruled by Mongol Ilkhans from distant Tabriz.

  2. Ilkhanate

    • Ghazan Khan embraces Islam

      The Ilkhan Ghazan converts to Islam, and the Mongol rulers of Iraq and Iran become Muslim.

  3. Jalayirid Dynasty

    • The Jalayirids of Baghdad

      The Jalayirid dynasty rules Iraq from Baghdad, bringing a brief revival of courtly art and manuscript painting.

  4. Timurid Invasions

    • Timur's massacre at Baghdad

      The conqueror Timur storms Baghdad and butchers its people, building towers from the skulls of the dead.

  5. Turkmen Confederations

    • The Black Sheep and White Sheep

      Rival Turkmen confederations, the Kara Koyunlu and Aq Koyunlu, contest Iraq amid its long decline.

  6. Safavid Iraq

    • The Safavids and the shrine cities

      Shah Ismail's Safavids seize Iraq, exalting the Shia shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala.

  7. Ottoman Iraq

    • Suleiman takes Baghdad

      Suleiman the Magnificent conquers Baghdad for the Ottomans, beginning four centuries of Ottoman rule.

  8. Ottoman Iraq

    • Murad IV retakes Baghdad

      After the Safavids seize Baghdad again, Sultan Murad IV storms it back, fixing the Ottoman–Persian border for good.

  9. Ottoman Iraq

    • The Mamluk pashas of Baghdad

      A dynasty of Georgian Mamluk officers rules Iraq in the sultan's name, nearly independent for over a century.

  10. Ottoman Reforms

    • Midhat Pasha and the Tanzimat

      The reformer Midhat Pasha modernizes Baghdad, bringing the first newspaper, steamboats, and secular schools.

  11. The First World War

    • The British take Baghdad

      British forces capture Baghdad from the Ottomans, ending four centuries of Ottoman rule over Iraq.