Timeline of Baghdad

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Baghdad, Iraq.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Prior to 16th century

• Babylonian city of Baghdadu in existence.
• 762 CE
  • Round City construction begins per Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur.
  • Al-Khassakiyya mosque built.
• 767 – Al-Mansur Mosque built.
• 775 – Bab al-Taq (gate) built.
• 786 – Harun al-Rashid in power.
• 794 – Paper mill in operation.
• 799 – Mashhad al-Kazimiyya built.
• 812-813 Siege of Baghdad , Fourth Fitna (Islamic Civil War)
• 814 – City captured by al-Ma'mun.
• 827 – Tomb of Zobeide built.
• 836 – Abbasid Caliphate of Al-Mu'tasim relocated from Baghdad to Samarra.
• 850 – Book of Ingenious Devices published.
• 855 – Funeral of Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
• 861 – 11 December: Caliph Al-Mutawakkil assassinated.
• 865 – City wall built.
• 865-866 Caliphal Civil War, was an armed conflict during the "Anarchy at Samarra" between the rival caliphs al-Musta'in and al-Mu'tazz.
• 892 – Abbasid Caliphate of Al-Mu'tamid relocated to Baghdad from Samarra.
• 901 – Jami al-Qasr (mosque) built.
• 908 – Khulafa Mosque built.
• 946 – Battle of Baghdad; Shia Buyids in power.
• 993 – Dar al-'Ilm (educational institution) founded.
• 1055 – Seljuq Nizam al-Mulk in power.
• 1157 - Siege of Baghdad, Abbasid–Seljuq Wars
• 1060 – Dar al-Kutub (library) founded.
• 1066 – Abu Hanifa Mosque restored.
• 1067 – Al-Nizamiyya of Baghdad (college) established.
• 1095 – City wall rebuilt.
• 1180 – Caliph Al-Nasir in power.
• 1193 – Jami' Zumurrud Khatun (mosque) and Turbat Zumurrud Khatun (tomb) built.
• 1202 – Minaret of Jami' al-Khaffafin built (approximate date).
• 1215 – Tomb of Maruf el-Kerkhi built.
• 1221 – Bab al-Talsim (Talisman gate) built.
• 1226 - al-Baghdadi compiles ar (cookbook).
• 1228 – Jami' al-Qumriyya Mosque built.
• 1230 – Al-Qasr al-Abbasi fi al-Qal'a built (approximate date).
• 1232 – Mustansiriya Madrasah established.
• 1252 – Shrine of Abdul-Kadir built.
• 1258 – January–February: City destroyed by forces of Mongol Hulagu Khan during the Siege of Baghdad; most of population killed.
• 1272 – Marco Polo visits city (approximate date).
• 1326 – Ibn Battuta visits city.
• 1357 – Al-Madrasah al-Mirjaniyya built.
• 1358 – Khan al-Mirjan built.
• 1393 – City captured by Timur.
• 1401 – City captured by Timur again.
• 1405 – Sultan Ahmed Jalayir in power.
• 1417 – City taken by Qara Yusuf.
• 1468 – Aq Qoyunlu in power.

16th–19th centuries

• 1508 - City taken by Persian Ismail I.
• 1534
  • Capture of Baghdad by Ottomans.
  • Jami' Abd al-Qadir al-Jaylani built.
• 1535 – City becomes capital of the Baghdad Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire.
• 1544 – City taken by forces of Suleiman I.
• 1578 – Jami' Murad Basha built.
• 1601 – Coffeehouse built.
• 1602 – City taken by forces of Abbas I of Persia.
• 1623 – 23 January: Capture of Baghdad by Safavids.
• 1625 - Siege of Baghdad, Ottoman–Safavid Wars
• 1638 – Capture of Baghdad by forces of Ottoman Murad IV.
• 1682 – Khaseki mosque built.
• 1683 – City besieged.
• 1780 – Mamluk Sulayman Pasha the Great in power.
• 1795 – Jami al-Maydan built.
• 1799 – City besieged by Wahhabi-Saudi forces.
• 1816 – Mamluk Dawud Pasha in power.
• 1823 – Population: 80,000 (estimate).
• 1826 – Jami' Haydar Khanah built.
• 1830
  • British East Indian Company in residence (approximate date).
  • Plague.
• 1831 – Flood, then famine.
• 1841 – Lynch Brothers in business.
• 1848 – Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baghdad established.
• 1849 – Remnants discovered of quay of Nebuchadrezzar, from Babylonian city of Baghdadu.
• 1861 – Istanbul-Baghdad telegraph line installed.
• 1865
  • Basrah-Baghdad telegraph line installed.
  • Alliance Israélite boys' school established.
• 1869 – Midhat Pasha in power.
• 1870
  • Municipal council established.
  • City walls demolished.
• 1871 – Population: 65,000.
• 1880 – Turkish camel post begins operating (approximate date).
• 1895 – Population: 100,000 (estimate).
• 1899 – Alliance Israélite girls' school established.

20th century

1900s–1940s

• 1908 – Population: 140,000 (estimate).
• 1909 – Cinema built.
• 1911 – Ottoman XIII Corps headquartered in Baghdad.
• 1912 – Population: 200,000 (estimate).
• 1914 – October: Samarra-Baghdad railway begins operating.
• 1915
  • Istanbul-Baghdad railway begins operating.
  • Al Rasheed Street laid out.
  • Cholera epidemic.
• 1917
  • March: Fall of Baghdad (1917); British in power.
  • Cinema opens.
• 1919 – Guardians of Independence organized.
• 1920
  • City becomes capital of the British Mandate of Iraq.
  • Iraqi revolt against the British.
  • Maktabat al-Salam (library) established.
• 1926 – Baghdad Antiquities Museum founded.
• 1927 – British Imperial Airways begins operating Cairo-Baghdad-Basrah flights.
• 1929 – Al-Maktabatil Aammah (public library) active.
• 1931 – Strike.
• 1936 – Military coup.
• 1940 – Iraqi Music Institute inaugurated.
• 1941 - Iraqi coup d'état in Baghdad, World War II
• 1941
  • May: Anglo-Iraqi War.
  • June: Farhud (pogrom against Jews).
• 1944 – Baghdad Symphony Orchestra founded.
• 1946 – Al-Sarafiya bridge built.
• 1948
  • Uprising.
  • Popular Theatre Company and filmmaking Studio of Baghdad formed.

1950s–1990s

• 1952
  • Uprising.
  • Modern Theatre Company formed.
• 1953 – Baghdad Central Station built.
• 1956
  • Samarra Barrage constructed on the Tigris River near the city.
  • May: Government television begins broadcasting.
  • Uprising.
  • Iraqi Artists Society formed.
• 1957
  • University of Baghdad established.
  • Demonstration.
• 1958
  • 14 July: Iraqi coup d'état against king Faisal II at Royal Palace.
  • City becomes capital of the Republic of Iraq.
• 1959
  • Revolution City built.
  • Al-Mabda' newspaper begins publication.
  • Unknown Soldier monument erected on Firdos Square.
• 1961 – Iraq National Library and Archive established.
• 1963
  • 8–10 February: Iraqi coup d'état.
  • Khulafa Central Mosque built.
  • Al-Mustansiriya University and Al-Rasheed Sport Club established.
• 1964 – Al-Yarmouk Teaching Hospital established.
• 1965 – Population: 1,745,000 (approximate).
• 1966
  • Film festival held at Al-Rashid Cinema.
  • Al-Shaab Stadium and Martyrs' Mosque built.
• 1967 – Firqat Ittahaad al-Fannaaneed theatre group formed.
• 1968 – National Theatre Company established.
• 1971 – Baghdad Zoo opens.
• 1975 – Central Post Office built.
• 1978 – November: Arab League summit.
• 1980
  • Iran–Iraq War begins.
  • Film school of the Institute of Fine Arts established.
• 1981 – National Film Center and Saddam Hussein Gymnasium (now Baghdad Gymnasium) built.
• 1982
  • Saddam International Airport, Al Rasheed Hotel, Palestine Meridien Hotel, and Baghdad Conference Palace built.
  • Ishtar Sheraton Hotel opens.
  • The Monument to the Unknown Soldier inaugurated.
• 1983 – Al-Shaheed Monument built.
• 1985
  • Baghdad Festival of Arab theatre begins.
  • Amanat Al Assima Housing complex and Central Bank of Iraq building constructed.
• 1988 – Saddam University established.
• 1989 – Victory Arch erected.
• 1991
  • Gulf War.
  • 13 February: Amiriyah shelter bombing.
• 1993 – 26 June: Missile strikes by United States.
• 1994 – Baghdad Tower constructed.

21st century

2000s

• 2002 – April: Statue of Saddam Hussein erected in Firdos Square.
• 2003
  • 3–12 April: Battle of Baghdad; United States in power; Green Zone established.
  • 9 April: Firdos Square statue destruction.
  • 7 August: Jordanian embassy bombing.
  • 19 August: Canal Hotel bombing.
  • 27 October: Bombings.
• 2004
  • 2 March: Ashura bombings.
  • 29 May: Alaa al-Tamimi becomes mayor.
  • 25 August: Baghdad International Airport reverts to civilian control.
  • 12 September: Haifa Street helicopter incident.
  • 14 September: Bombing.
• 2005
  • 8 August: Municipal coup d'état.
  • 31 August: 2005 Baghdad bridge stampede.
  • Baghdad International Film Festival begins.
• 2006
  • 7 April: Buratha Mosque bombing.
  • 1 July: Sadr City bombing.
  • 9 July: Hay al Jihad massacre.
  • 23 November: Sadr City bombings.
• 2007
  • 16 January: Mustansiriya University bombings.
  • 22 January: Bombings.
  • 3 February: Market bombing.
  • 14 February: Baghdad Security Plan effected.
  • 18 February: Bombings.
  • 5 March: Mutanabbi Street bombed.
  • 29 March: Bombings.
  • April: Adhamiyah neighborhood Wall construction begins.
  • 26 July: Market bombing.
  • 1 August: Bombings.
• 2008
  • Baghdad Metro resumes operation.
  • 6 March: Bombing.
  • 17 June: Bombing.
• 2009
  • 1 January: Control of Green Zone transferred from US to Iraq.
  • Dismantling of war-time blast walls begins.
  • 19 August: Bombings.

2010s

See also: Iraqi insurgency (2011–present)

• 2010
  • 17 August: Bombings.
  • Baghdad FC Stadium opens.
• 2012
  • 5 January: Bombings.
  • 27 January: Bombing.
  • 23 February: 23 February 2012 Iraq attacks.
  • 4 June: Bombing of Shia office.

See also

• History of Baghdad
• List of Abbasid Caliphs
• Neighbourhoods of Baghdad
• List of mosques in Baghdad
• Administrative districts in Baghdad (formed in 2003)
• List of hospitals in Baghdad Governorate

Other cities in Iraq

• Timeline of Basra
• Timeline of Mosul

Further reading

Published in the 20th century

• (Bibliography + Index).
• Jacob Lassner. The Topography of Baghdad in the Early Middle Ages. Detroit: Wayne University Press, 1970.

External links

• (includes photos of Baghdad)
• Europeana. Items related to Baghdad, various dates.