Al-Shatrah (also known as Shatrat al-Muntafiq) is a town in southern

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, located northeast of Nasiriyah. It is the administrative capital of the

al-Shatrah District Al-Shatra District () is a district of the Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bor ...

, a part of the

Dhi Qar Governorate Dhi Qar Governorate ( ar, ذي قار, translit=Thi Qār, ) is a governorate in southern Iraq. The provincial capital is Nasiriyah. Prior to 1976 the governorate was known as Muntafiq Governorate. Thi Qar was the heartland of the ancient Iraqi civ ...

. Al-Shatrah is situated along the Gharraf Canal at the intersection with Highway 7. It lies 22.35 km (13.9 mi) west of the ancient city of

Lagash Lagash (cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian: ''Lagaš''), was an ancient city state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Ash Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash (modern Al-Hiba) w ...

. In 2009, it had a population estimated 254,000.

History

Al-Shatrah was founded in 1872 during the

Ottoman era The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in Iraq when the town was part of the Basra Vilayet. Not long afterward, the town established a strong trading relationship with

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

and became a hub of the grain trade in southern Iraq. Shatrah became the most important town along the Gharraf Canal and gained the nickname "Little Baghdad". It served as the administrative center of a ''

qadaa A kaza (, , , plural: , , ; ota, قضا, script=Arab, (; meaning 'borough') * bg, околия (; meaning 'district'); also Кааза * el, υποδιοίκησις () or (, which means 'borough' or 'municipality'); also () * lad, kaza , ...

'' (subdistrict) of the same name, which was part of the Muntafiq Sanjak of the Basra Vilayet. The town's original official name was "Shatrat al-Muntafiq", but it was simplified by local residents to "al-Shatrah" to distinguish it from the nearby town of Qal'at Salih, which was officially known as "Shatrat al-Amarah" by the Ottoman authorities. In the summer of 1889, al-Shatrah experienced an outbreak of cholera, which caused the deaths of around 700 of its inhabitants, including the '' qaimaqam'' (lieutenant-governor) of the town. Prior to the outbreak, the population stood at around 5,000, but al-Shatrah was largely and temporarily deserted after the outbreak. Al-Shatrah was a stronghold of the al-Muntafiq tribal confederation which dominated southern Iraq during the Ottoman era. In the early 20th century, it was regarded as the tribe's seat of power. It had a population of roughly 4,000, nearly all of whom were

Shia Muslim Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

s with small

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and Mandean communities. Its market contained nearly 300 shops and was frequented by the Muntafiq tribesmen who predominated in the surrounding region. The Jewish community managed a primary school in the village.

Iraq War

During the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, a body of a

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

was dragged through the streets of al-Shatrah and hanged in the town square.Wright, Evan (2004) ''Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America, and the New Face of American War'' G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, p. 228,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shatrah, al- District capitals of Iraq Populated places established in 1872 Populated places in Dhi Qar Province