evolved rapidly into major new towns: Basra,
Kufa, and Wasit. They were bolstered by an indig-
enous Arab population (mostly Christian) based
in Iraq’s older cities and in rural areas. A new
postconquest Iraqi society emerged consisting of
a mixed population of Arabs, Jews, Kurds, Chris-
tians, Zoroastrians, Africans, Indians, and tribal
groups, all subject to Muslim rulers. Iraqi Arabs
and non-Arabs who converted to Islam became
clients of Arab Muslim tribes and clans, gaining
second-class status. Other groups acquired dhimmi
(protected) status, which allowed them to main-
tain their own communal organization and reli-
gious laws as long as they bowed to the authority
of Muslim government, paid their taxes, and did
not engage in proselytizing. Adherence to ancient
polytheistic forms of religion, already in decline,
virtually came to an end in postconquest Iraq
with loss of political patronage and conversion to
monotheistic religions, especially Islam.
Ruled by governors appointed by the caliphs
in medina and later by the Umayyad dynasty in
damascUs, Iraq was a major source of wealth for
the early Muslim empire and a gateway to Per-
sia and lands beyond. It had a large, diversified
population and productive agricultural lands and
developed into an important political center. ali
ibn abi talib (d. 661) was able to become the
fourth caliph with the support of Kufa’s popula-
tion, and it was near Basra that he defeated rivals
at the Battle of the Camel (656). Ali made Kufa
the capital, but after his assassination there, the
first Umayyad caliph, Muawiya (r. 661–680),
moved it to Damascus. Years later hUsayn ibn ali
sought to rally his father’s old supporters in his
campaign to become the Muslim head of state,
but he and his supporters were massacred on the
way to Kufa at karbala by Umayyad troops. Early
Shii movements and other anti-Umayyad senti-
ments continued to stir in Iraq and beyond to the
distant plains of Persia until they coalesced into
the Abbasid Revolution, which ended Umayyad
rule in Syria in 750 and brought forth the new
abbasid caliphate.
The Abbasids ruled much of Islamdom from
Iraq until the 10th century, when they had to
bow to various regional soldier dynasties who
paid them nominal allegiance. They ruled from
Baghdad, originally a round city founded in 762
by Mansur, the second Abbasid caliph (r. 754–
775), as a royal fortress. It grew rapidly, however,
into a center of medieval urban civilization that
outshone all the cities of the Middle East–Medi-
terranean region in its cultural importance, opu-
lence, and power. Under Abbasid rule, the major
branches of Islamic law and learning flourished in
Iraq, while the Sunni and Shii branches of Islam
crystallized. sUFism grew from Iraqi soil through
the contributions of legendary ascetics, teachers,
and visionaries such as al-hasan al-basri (d. 728),
rabia al-adaWiyya (d. 801), Maaruf al-Karkhi (d.
ca. 815), al-Muhasibi (d. 857), mansUr al-hallaJ
(d. 922), abU hamid al-ghazali (d. 1111), and
abd al-qadir al-Jilani (d. 1166). Iraq’s cities were
also famous for their poets, philosophers, and
scientists. Even when the Abbasid political power
waned, the intellectual and cultural achievements
that had been realized in Iraq had a lasting impact
that extended far beyond the frontiers of the Mus-
lim Middle East.
The Abbasid era was brought to an end by
the Mongols, nomadic warriors who rode in from
Central Asia and ravaged cities in Persia and Iraq,
finally plundering Baghdad in 1258. Although the
Mongol rulers, known as the Ilkhanids, converted
to Islam, they relegated Iraq to provincial status
and divided it into a northern and a southern dis-
trict. While Persia prospered under Mongol rule,
Iraq’s urban populations declined, and neglect of
its irrigation systems led to a marked decrease in
its agricultural production. Baghdad was plun-
dered for a second time in 1401 by tamerlane,
a Mongol warrior king. In the following cen-
tury, the country experienced further political
fragmentation as it fell into the hands of local
rulers—Arabs, Kurds, and Turkomans. During
the 16th and 17th centuries, it became a frontier
between the expansionist projects of the PersianIraq 369 J