Iraq's 5,000 years of pride

Its people were living in city states when all Britain could boast was Stonehenge and it is home to some of Islam's holiest sites. Small wonder that its history is one of fierce self-belief and that it has sent the British packing more than once

Ancient Iraq

The area we now know as Iraq gave the world its earliest civilisations. Around 3000BC, when the tribes of ancient Britain were struggling to raise Stonehenge, the people had organised themselves into city states. The civilisation of Sumer emerged in the rival cities of Kish, Erech, Ur and Lagash, which developed into independent kingdoms. Ur, south-east of Babylon, eventually became the dominant city and was the centre of the civilisation from the 29th to the 24th centuries BC. From 858-627BC the Assyrians ruled an empire from their capital in Nineveh, which stretched from Cyprus and Egypt in the west to the Persian Gulf in the east. In 612BC, Nineveh was destroyed and power shifted to Babylon under the legendary Nebuchadnezzar II, the builder of the Hanging Gardens.

Islamic Iraq

Beyond the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Arabia and Jerusalem, Iraq contains some of the most sacred sites in Islamic history. From the earliest days of the Islamic empire, Iraq's cities formed important centres for the followers of Muhammad and the converts to the new religion. Ali, the son-in-law and cousin of the Prophet, whom Shia Muslims believe to be the true successor to Muhammad, had his base in the garrison city of Kufa. Basra is traditionally linked to Talha and al-Zubayr, two early converts supported by the Prophet's youngest widow, Aisha, and opposed to Ali's succession. In 680AD, Ali's son Husayn was martyred at the battle of Karbala in Iraq, an event marked annually by Shia Muslims around the world.

Baghdad became the capital of the Islamic empire in 762, when the Caliph al-Mansur rebuilt the city as his bureaucratic headquarters away from the Christian influences of the former capital of Damascus. In 1055 Baghdad was occupied by Turkish Seljuks and remained in Turkish hands until 1918.

Britain in Iraq

The three Ottoman provinces of Baghdad, Mosul and Basra were merged after the First World War under a British mandate but attempts to rule the new state were hampered by Arab nationalism. A revolt in the three major cities was put down in 1920, but a year later King Faisal was declared king of Iraq with the blessing of the British Government. Faisal agreed to establish a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government. Independence came in 1932. Tribal conflicts, often provoked by the military, were signs of deep instability within the new regime. Growing dissatisfaction with British influence in Iraq led to negotiations with the Axis powers, but in 1941 a British invasion re-established control of the region for the Allies.

Modern Iraq

The political unrest that toppled King Faisal led to a pattern of coup and counter-coup, which ended only when Saddam Hussein took power in 1979. The country was initially led by the Free Officer Abd al-Karim Qasim, but his power was gradually undermined by the Baathist Arab-nationalist socialists from whose ranks Saddam would eventually emerge. In 1963 Qasim's power collapsed and he was executed. The Baath party was driven underground, but became the dominant force after the revolution of 1968 which established military rule in Iraq.