Halabja: From 13 Houses to a Province

PUKMEDIA

Photos from the Halabja Chemical Attack.

Halabja dates back to the time of Lulubi in 2000 BC. In 641, the Islamic army took over the city from the Sassanid Empire and annexed it to the Muslim Empire.

In the year 1700, a tribe rebuilt Halabja by building 13 houses. Jews later arrived in the city and established a Jewish neighbourhood. Several Jaff princes arrived and constructed tents and a number of homes in the Pasha neighbourhood during Mohamed Pasha Jaff's rule. Later, Halabja's prosperity increased as more people arrived and joined the Jaff tribes.

Before becoming a district, it was a part of the Gulanbar district (currently known as Khurmal). In 1889, Halabja became a district and Osman Pasha Jaff became the first mayor of Halabja. After Osman Pasha's death in 1914, his wife Adila Khanum became the ruler of Halabja.

According to British statistics, the population of the town in 1920 was 6,509 people and administered Penjwen, Khurmal, Warmawa and Darbandikhan.

Halabja is the birthplace of many great Kurdish poets such as Ahmed Mukhtar Jaff, Mawlawi, Abdullah Goran, Tahir Bag Jaf, Qani, etc.

- The first school in Halabja was built in 1919.

- The first automobile appeared in the town in 1924, and later in the same year the telegraph was installed.

- The first hospital in Halabja was built in 1929, followed by water supply in the same year.

- In 1939, the first play in the town was staged by prominent actors Ahmed Jutiar and Salih Mullah Ahmed.

- In 1945, the first middle school was built, and the public park opened the same year.

In the 1930s, the town had three neighbourhoods, Pasha, Pir Mohammed and Sara, comprising a total of about 500 houses.

In 1952, the people of Halabja launched an uprising against the monarchy led by the famous Ahmed Haji Rahim. The Iraqi government bombed the town on 26 April 1974, killing 100 people.

On 16 March 1988, the Ba'ath regime bombarded the city with chemical weapons, killing at least 5,000 civilians.

With an area of 1599 square kilometres, Halabja made up 39.9% of Sulaymaniyah province's entire area when it was a part of it. The city is not yet designated as a province in Iraq; however, it has been designated as a province in the Kurdistan Region.





PUKMEDIA