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Hillah (Arabic: ٱلْحِلَّة al-Ḥillah), also spelled Hilla, is a city in central Iraq. On the Hilla branch of the Euphrates River, it is 100 km (62 mi) south of Baghdad. The population was estimated to be about 455,700 in 2018. It is the capital of Babylon Province and is situated in a predominantly agricultural region which is extensively irrigated with water provided by the Hilla canal, producing a wide range of crops, fruit and textiles. Its name may be derived from the word "beauty" in Arabic. The river runs in the middle of the town, and it is surrounded by date palm trees and other forms of arid vegetation, reducing the harmful effects of dust and desert wind.
The city is located adjacent to the ancient city of Babylon, and close to the ancient cities of Borsippa and Kish. It was once a major centre of Islamic scholarship and education. The tomb of the Abrahamic prophet Ezekiel is reputed to be located in a nearby village, Al Kifl. It became a major administrative centre in Ottoman Iraq, and later Mandatory Iraq. In the 19th century, the Hilla branch of the Euphrates started to silt up and much agricultural land was lost to drought, but this process was reversed by the construction of the Hindiya Barrage in 1911–1913, which diverted water from the deeper Hindiya branch of the Euphrates into the Hilla canal. It saw heavy fighting in 1920 during an uprising against the British, when 300 men of the Manchester Regiment were defeated in the city.
Hillah is located near the ruins of ancient Babylon. It is likely that Babylon was founded in the third millennium BC and rose to prominence over the next thousand years. By the 18th century BC the city was the centre of the empire of Hammurabi. Various empires controlled Babylon over the following centuries. Babylon briefly regained independence during the Neo-Babylonian empire towards the end of the 7th century BC, most notably under the reign of king Nebuchadnezzar II, but came under Persian occupation in the 6th century BC.
The name "Babylon" translates to "Gate of the God". Following the fall of the Sumerians, Babylon emerged as the center of the Babylonian Empire, established by King Hammurabi around 2100 BCE. The empire spanned from the Persian Gulf in the south to the Tigris River in the north. Hammurabi's rule lasted 43 years, during which the Babylonian civilization flourished, marking his reign as a golden age. Among Babylon's wonders were the Hanging Gardens, considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, constructed by the Chaldean king Nebuchadnezzar II.
The city featured eight gates, with the grandest being the massive Ishtar Gate, and housed the Temple of Marduk within its walls, located in the great religious festival area outside the city. Ancient sources refer to Babylon by various names, including "Babylonia," meaning the land of Babylon, as well as "Mesopotamia" and "the land of the two rivers."
The ruins of Babylon have suffered greatly due to looting and destructive policies. Parts of Nebuchadnezzar's palace and some of the old city walls still remain. Saddam Hussein commissioned a restoration of ancient Babylon on part of the site. A modern palace was restored on Nebuchadnezzar ancient palace. A reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate is displayed in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
In the 10th century, the town of Al Jami'ayn was founded on the eastern bank of the Euphrates. The location of that town is in modern-day Hillah now. In 1101 AD a new town was founded near Al Jami'ayn. Bricks were taken from Babylon to build houses and so Hillah expanded. During the 18th century, the town became an administrative centre in the Ottoman Empire. In the 19th century, the flow in the al-Hillah stream decreased, and that led to worsening conditions for agriculture, which affected them greatly. To solve the problem, al-Hindiya Barrage was built.
According to some researchers, based on eyewitness accounts, the area where Hillah was established was not devoid of military and civilian construction for habitation. Instead, it was previously home to a city known as Al-Jamain. An eyewitness, who died about a century and a half before the founding of Hillah by Sadqa, described it as a small platform surrounded by a very fertile settlement. This description aligns with information from Ibn Hawqal, who lived in the 4th century AH (10th century CE), noting that the land of Al-Jamain stretched along both banks of the Hillah River. This area included the site of the ancient city of Nile, which was settled by the Banu Mazid tribe around 405 AH (1014 CE).
At that time, the land where the city of Nile was located was a large, populated village along the river, which had been excavated by Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf. In contrast, Al-Jamain was a thriving city during the 4th century AH, with notable leaders such as Ali ibn Dawood al-Tanukhi serving as judges. Throughout its history, Al-Jamain faced invasions, including attacks by the Qaramita in the 4th century AH and repeated raids by the Khafaja tribes in the early part of the 5th century AH. Historical texts confirm that Al-Jamain had a significant urban, economic, and social presence long before the establishment of Hillah.
Hillah was founded by Sayf al-Dawla Sadqa ibn Mansur in 495 AH (1101 CE) on the western bank of the Hillah River, having relocated from the city of Nile, which had been the residence of the Banu Mazid family since 405 AH (1014 CE). However, prior to Sadqa's establishment of Hillah, the site had already been home to the city of Al-Jamain.
From the historical texts and information presented, it can be inferred that the site of Hillah on the right bank of the Hillah River witnessed the emergence of two adjacent cities, each differing in their founding dates and founders. One was Al-Jamain, whose founder remains unknown but is believed to have been established in the first half of the 1st century AH. The other was the city founded by Prince Sayf al-Dawla Sadqa in 495 AH, known as Hillah al-Sayfiyah, which became a significant center in its own right, encompassing a vast area of what is now Iraq, dominated politically and militarily by foreign elements at the time.
Following the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate and the Mongol invasion of Baghdad, the Mongols prepared to conquer other regions of Iraq. However, Hillah managed to avoid the devastation inflicted by the Mongols due to the wisdom of its scholars. They understood the catastrophic consequences that the Mongol forces would bring upon any city they entered, including destruction, pillaging, and violations of local laws.
In response, the prominent scholars of Hillah convened, including Sheikh Yusuf ibn Ali ibn Muthahir al-Hilli (father of the renowned scholar Al-Hilli), Sayyid Majd al-Din ibn Tawus, and Ibn Abi al-Ghar al-Hilli. They agreed to send a letter to Hulagu Khan, expressing their willingness to submit to his authority. This strategic decision preserved their city and the two holy shrines. Subsequently, Sayyid Majd al-Din Muhammad ibn Tawus authored a book titled Al-Bashara, which he presented to Hulagu. This action led Hulagu to restore local governance in the Euphrates region to Sayyid ibn Tawus and to ensure the safety of the two revered shrines and Hillah itself. As a result, Hillah continued to serve as a center of cultural and religious vitality, safeguarding treasures of Islamic knowledge and literary heritage without the upheaval experienced by other cities in Iraq. After Baghdad fell, the Jalairid state chose Hillah as its capital around 812 AH (1410 CE) during the reign of the Qarakarunlu dynasty.
During the Ottoman period, Hillah became a district (qaimmaqam) within the Diwaniya province, eventually being elevated to a mutasarrifate. Under the governance of the Ottoman official Yusuf Bey, the city underwent significant development, including the construction of public facilities, such as the Great Hillah Mosque, built in 1125 AH (1713 CE) in the Al-Jabran neighborhood, a notable historical landmark.
One of the most significant events in Hillah during the late Ottoman period, particularly during World War I, was the “Dakka Akif” uprising. Hillah raised the banner of rebellion against the oppressive Ottoman authority, leading to two assaults by the Turkish commander Akif Bey. His first campaign did not yield significant success; however, he returned with a larger force and more advanced weaponry in 1916 from his camp at Al-Kifl. During this second assault, he bombarded the city, resulting in the destruction of three neighborhoods: Al-Taq, Al-Jamain, and Al-Wardiya. The campaign led to the execution of 126 men from Hillah, while many women were captured and taken as slaves to Anatolia, forcing the remaining residents to flee.
The British occupied the city of Hillah on March 9, 1917 (15 Jumada al-Awwal, 1335 AH). Three years later, the famous 1920 Revolution erupted, in which prominent scholars and notables from Hillah played significant roles. After the 1920 Revolution, the literary sentiment evolved into a national political feeling against the British, leading to the establishment of various cultural and political associations. Hillah's writers and intellectuals engaged in manuscript writing, as there were no opportunities for publishing or creating periodicals at that time. The events of the 1920 Revolution began on June 30, 1920, during a peak of conflict regarding governance with British occupying forces, who had abandoned their promises to the Iraqi people. Hillah was not isolated from the political climate in Iraq that preceded the uprising; the atmosphere was marked by widespread public rejection of the secretive referendum on the nature of governance held on November 30, 1918.
Hillah was among the few Iraqi cities to establish a branch of the Independence Guard Association shortly after its founding in Baghdad in late February 1919. It included prominent local figures in political activism, such as the poet Muhammad Mahdi al-Basir, who was appointed to lead the branch, along with Ra'uf al-Amin and Muhammad Baqir al-Hilli. A representative from Hillah attended a meeting in Baghdad with leaders of the movement on May 23, 1920, which served to prepare and gauge the sentiments of the Euphrates region regarding the impending revolution. The impact of these activities and the prevailing national sentiment among Hillah's residents became clear during a large national meeting held at the Great Mosque (in Hillah's market) just days before the revolution, on June 19, 1920, which was the second day of Eid al-Fitr. Sheikh Muhammad al-Shuhayb read a letter from religious authority Shirazi urging Iraqis to demand their legitimate rights peacefully. Following his reading, Ra'uf al-Amin and Sayyid Abdul Salam al-Hafiz addressed the crowd, delivering passionate speeches calling for Iraq's independence and proclaiming Prince Abdullah as its king.
The British response to this public gathering was swift, resulting in the arrest of Ra'uf al-Amin, Sayyid Abdul Salam al-Hafiz, Sayyid Ahmad al-Salim al-Tawut, Baqir al-Ali al-Khafaji, Jabbar Ali al-Hassani, Ali al-Hammadi, and Khairi al-Hindawi. They were transported by train to Basra and subsequently exiled to Hengam Island in the Persian Gulf, where they remained for five months; during this time, Sayyid Ahmad al-Salim al-Tawut passed away. In her memoirs, Miss Bell noted that the exiling of these individuals helped ease tensions in Hillah. It is noteworthy that prior to the outbreak of the 1920 Revolution, the British made Hillah a military center, reinforcing it with additional troops. Following a series of victories by the revolutionaries, most British forces stationed in the Euphrates region withdrew to Hillah, which became the last British stronghold in central Euphrates by August 1920.
Sheikh Abdul Karim al-Mashita and several family members were arrested amid the events of the revolution, facing accusations of inciting rebellion and firing at a British aircraft. They were detained until the intervention of Hajj Abdul Razzaq al-Sharif, a local dignitary and mayor of Hillah, secured their release. It was said that they faced the death penalty were it not for this intervention. Following the revolutionaries' victory at the Battle of Raranjah on July 24, which exemplified bravery and sacrifice, they launched an assault on Hillah at the end of July. However, this effort was ultimately unsuccessful due to various factors, including British superiority in numbers, equipment, and fortifications, as well as the reluctance of some tribal leaders to support the revolutionaries. One of the revolution's leaders, Sayyid Muhammad Ali Kamal al-Din, expressed regret in his memoirs about the failure to achieve their goals, lamenting that the revolution's direction had shifted, and the Euphrates was almost entirely under the control of British forces, as they sought to quash the uprising and dominate the rural areas of Hillah and central Euphrates. The last communiqué issued by the British High Commissioner in Iraq on November 26, 1920, announced the end of hostilities with the Shami tribes.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Hillah”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.