Erbil city, which is considered from the main cities of Turkmeneli or the Iraqi Turkmenistan, has taken many names during its long history, which dates back to the 6th millennium BC.¹ Its silent letters remained stable, while the vowels mainly changed.

The names Urbilum and Erbila can be found in the correspondences of Shulgi, during Sumerian period. Erbilim was the name of city during the third Ur Empire.^{2, 3}

In the writings of Babylon and Assyrian, the city called Arba illo, or Arba ilu and Ishtar Erbla. It was an important religious center including the Temple of Ishtar.^{4, 5}

It is reported Erbira in the miniatures of the Persians. From the excavation plats, it is found that the city called Arbela since 331 BC. This name is sometimes given to the battle fought at Gaugamela, some 100 km away, in which Alexander the Great defeated Darius III.⁶ The name Erbl was mentioned in the Chaldaen and Arab’s sources.⁷

Islam historians ibn al-Athir, ibn al-Kathir and ibn al-Khaldun named the city Erbl. The Old Testament mentioned Erbil by the name Erbaila.⁸

The name Erbil expected to have been used early in the second millennium at the time of Turkmen Seljuk Empire. According to the Turkmen writer Shakir Sabir al-Zabit the word Erbil is formed from two Turkmen words; Er, which means Soldier or brave, and bil, which means you should know. Therefore, Erbil as a compound means "you should know that he is brave".

The name Hauwler appeared in the last century and during the second Kurdish emigration stage, when Turkmeneli exposed massively to emigration of the Kurds.

History^9-18

Erbil city is considered from the ancient cities of the world. The first agricultural village in the history was established in Erbil. It has been continuously inhabited for about 8000 years.

The great Empires of the human history had ruled Erbil city. Subarians and the Gutians dominated the city around 3000 BC. In 2150 BC, the city held by Kutians after defeating the Acadians. From 2050 - 1950 BC, the city ruled by the Sumerians. Kashians caught Erbil city in 1600. It became the capital of Assyrians and the temples of the Gods Ishtar and Asshur. During this period, drink water was brought by the pipes made of pot from the Bastura river to the Citadel, which the distance is about 20 km. Kingdom of Eashnunna took hold of Erbil in 1850 BC. Afterward, Hammurabi invaded it. The Hurrian-Mitannian state controlled Erbil Between the 15th - 14th century BC. The Assyrians liberated country in 1365 BC. Medes the Persians, the Greeks and the Parthians held on Erbil until 226 AD. The great Iskander conquered the city in 331 BC. Many architectural developments took place during Greek period, particularly by the king Salukis who rebuilt the Kerkuk citadel as well. Erbil was administration center during the Sassanian era. The city held by the Arabs in 642 AD and after the Qadisiyya battle.

The establishment of Turkmen in Erbil City dates back to the Abbasids period, which is increased with the entrance of Buyids with troops formed mainly from the Azerbaijanis Turkmen in 945. With the establishment of great Seljuk Empire and Iraqi Seljuk state increased the number of Turkmen in northern Iraq.

The city annexed to the Atabegian’s (Zangids) reign in Mosul in 1127. In 1144 Zeynuddin Ali Küçük founded the independent Erbil Atabegian’s state. During this period Erbil city got the only independent status in the history. Afterwards, this city remained keeping its power under the rule of Mosul Atabegian’s until 1232. At this period, the constructional, cultural and social flourishing took place.^{19, 20} During his sovereignty, Muzaffaraddin Gokburu constructed several buildings in the city, which stands until now. The Broken minaret and Qaysseria bazaar, which were built by hem, is considered from the important historical monuments. He conquered the small states in the region and widened his principality. The geographical term Shehrezur, which was extended from the Greater Zab river to the boundaries of Suleymaniyya governorate and included also the present Tavuk district and Dohuk governorate, was added to the land of Erbil Atabegs. At the time of Gokburu, Muzaffereddin University (madrasahs) was founded.

In 1232 Erbil fell under the control of the Kipchak Turkmen.^{21, 22} In 1258 AD and after a one yearlong siege, the Moguls invaded the city, and their occupation continued until 1410 AD. Jalayirids ruled Erbil from 1337, which were defeated by Timur in 1401. Between 1410 and 1508, the Kara Koyunlu and Ak Koyunlu Turkmen states alternated in rule of the city.^{23, 24}

In 1501, Shah Ýsmail managed to get the Turkmen groups of Ustaçlý, Rumlu, Musullu, Tekeli, Bayburtlu, Karadaðlý, Dulkadýrlý, Karamanlý, Varsak and Avþar on his side and founded Safavids state. In 1508, he annexed Erbil city to Safavids state. ^{25, 26. 27, 28}

In 1534 the Ottoman Sultan Suleyman Magnificent completed the conquest of the north and central Iraq. In the first half of the 19th century, Erbil city was administratively related to Baghdad province. In 1870, the city annexed to the Shehrezur Sanjak (district), which was part of the independent Mosul wilayet (province).²⁵

In 1879 Mosul wilayet was separated from Baghdad wilayet. Then Erbil became a town within the Sanjaq (province) of Sharazur in the Mosul wilayet. ²⁹

The Ottomans ruled Iraq until 1918; later on the British army controlled the city. On November 11, 1918 the governorate of Erbil was established, and both districts of Köy Sanjak and Rawanduz and sub-district Qush Tepe were annexed to it. In 1923, Ahmed Efendi Ottoman was appointed as the first governor of the city.

Erbil City is located on the center of a hill called Erbil plain, which is 414 meter higher than the sea level. Erbil city is 87 Kms to the South East of the city of Mosul, 96 Kms to the North of Kerkuk City. It is located on latitude 36.11, longtitude 42.2.

At the west of the city located Qara Chog mountains chain, which continuous toward the north east of the city. The highest top of this series is 874,5 and 3000 meters in the west and east, respectively. Kandinawah plain located at the south of the city, which is separated from the Erbil plain by Zurga Zirau hills. Toward the east of the city, the plain of Bastura and Dardawan Mountains valleys, which the height is 1475 meters, are present. At the north of the city Birmam and Sefin mountains are present; the height of these mountains is about 1475 meters.

The boundaries of Erbil governorate are Mosul and Duhok governorates at the west and north, Iran and Suleymaniyya at the east, Kerkuk governorate at the south.

English governor of the Erbil district in 1920 described Erbil City; “Erbil, with its battlemented heights and its great solitary minaret presents an unique appearance. The upper town, built on a huge circular mound commends the surrounding plain like a vast fort, the outer walls being lofty and containing only small irregular windows like loopholes, except where some of the rich aghast have constructed balconies” “ the streets within are very rough and narrow, and cannot be used for wheeled traffic” “the lower town clusters round the south and east sides of the mound, here is the bazaar”. ³⁰

Erbil city is well known with its fertile lands and productive plains. Shamamik, which is rich in water sources, is consistently fertile land. Kandinawah soil is as fertile as that of shamamik. The Erbil plain is a great expanse stretches about 50 miles from the greater to the lesser Zab, with a width of some 25 miles from Zurga Ziraw to the foothills proper. The main southern portion of the plain, which was occupied by Kurdish Diazi tribes in the 19th century, was described by the English governor in 1920 as follows: “In spring the traveler may stand on one of the ancient mounds which dots its surface and, except for the white roads, as far as he can see the whole country is under cultivation, either green with the standing crops or ploughed ready for the autumn sowing”. ³¹

Citadels are found almost in all big cities of the Iraqi Turkmenstan. Erbil citadel, which is considered the symbol of Erbil city, is ancient as the city of Erbil. In the early 19th century, it was forming the whole Erbil city. It is 26 meters above the surrounding ground level and it has an area of 102,000 square meters. Atabegs constructed a tunnel-contained rampart around the citadel.

The citadel constitutes 3 neighborhoods: Top hane, Saray and Tekke. It has two major and one minor gate. The southern entrance is called Old Entrance passing to the bazaar. The northern entrance is called New Entrance or Ahmet Aga Entrance passing in under the old Saray.

When the Erbil city was formed only from the Citadel, these entrances had an iron doors³² to protect the city from Kurdish incursions to which all the Turkmen villages on the Kurdish line were repeatedly subjected.³³ The minor entrance is uncovered sandy path, which is located in the Saray neighborhood and guides to the Hanaka neighborhood behind the New Museum. At the time being, there are 5 mosques, two religious abodes and one bath in the citadel. The Grand mosque, which is considered from the oldest mosques in the Erbil City, was built in a Turkish fashion.

The ancient citadel is known with its Turkmen-style houses mistreated. Up to the beginning of this century it served as a cultural and administrative center, where elegant buildings stood and prosperous Turkmen families lived. Many buildings are either structurally unsound or collapsing outright.

Erbil region is rich in water, the ground formed from a hilly land, which the height of the undulating increases gradually towards the East north, where high mountains are formed. There are many plains at the south and west of the Erbil governorate. The geological structure of the Erbil plain is suitable for artesian water. Boring of heavy rainfall water into the lower beds large supplies of water would be trapped, and rise to the surface under their own pressure. The main feature of the Erbil district is the kehriz.

The weather of the Erbil city is very hot mainly for only one month. It rain from November to May. The heavier rain fall in the later half of December and all January. The winter is mild and snow falls rarely. Hot weather experienced from July to August.

The country is poor mineralogical, possessing no known veins of valuable ore. Oil oozes out in some place on the banks of the Greater Zab, but the wells are not properly worked. ³⁴

Population

The official governmental census was achieved for the first time in Iraq in the 1930s. Thereafter, the censuses organized every 10 years and in the seventh year of each decade. The first few censuses were achieved in primary manners. The censuses have been relatively better organized in the second half of the last century. Due to the sever conflicts between the nationalities and religious sects, the composition of Iraqi community has been never honestly estimated.

The origin of Erbil Turkmen is not Ottoman, but it is generally inferred that it must be descended from a line of colonies settled by the Seljuks. Large number of Azerbaijan Turkmen had settled in Erbil city by Nadir Shah in 1732. The grace and elegance of some Erbil Turkmen approximate more nearly to the Azerbaijanis, but being all from pure Sunnite sect is against this theory. ³⁵

In spite of the large differences between the sources, the majority reported that the population of Erbil city (Table 1) was between 4000 and 6000 at the second half of the 19th century. ^{36, 37}

Al-Munshi al-Baghdadi visited Erbil city in 1822 and estimated the total number of houses as 5 thousands. He considered the houses of citadel 1000. If the average family number of one house considered 5 souls, then the population of Erbil city can be predicted to be 25,000.^{38, 39}

Willima R. Hay mentioned that the chief town in the area was Erbil city and numbered to 14,000 souls. ⁴⁰

البداية في كركوك

Erbil City in 1920