The king of Iraq ( ar, ملك العراق, ''Malik al-‘Irāq'') was

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 ...

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

and

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power i ...

from 1921 to 1958. He served as the head of the Iraqi monarchy—the Hashemite dynasty. The king was addressed as His Majesty (صاحب الجلالة).

History

In the aftermath of World War I and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the three provinces (''

vilayet A vilayet ( ota, , "province"), also known by various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated ...

s'') of

Ottoman Iraq Ottoman Iraq ( ar, العراق العثماني}) refers to the period of the history of Iraq when the region was ruled by the Ottoman Empire (1534–1920; with an interlude from 1704 to 1831 of autonomy under the Mamluk dynasty of Iraq).Before ...

came under the control of the United Kingdom. Under

British occupation The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

, the people rebelled and Iraq showed itself a hard land to govern. In order to establish a pro-British client regime, a dynasty of Hashemite kings from the Hejaz region was established, beginning with Faisal I who was the son of Hussein bin Ali. As a family originating in the Hejaz, the House of Hashim was foreign to Iraq. The British Government appointed them as Iraq's royal family after a rigged

plebiscite A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of ...

in 1921. The Hashemites were largely opposed by the Iraqi Shiites and

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ira ...

. The Kingdom of Iraq existed until an

Iraqi nationalist Iraqi nationalism is a form of nationalism which asserts the belief that Iraqis are a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Iraqis of different ethnoreligious groups such as Mesopotamian Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Yazidi ...

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

in 1958 known as the

14 July Revolution The 14 July Revolution, also known as the 1958 Iraqi coup d'état, took place on 14 July 1958 in Iraq, and resulted in the overthrow of the Hashemite monarchy in Iraq that had been established by King Faisal I in 1921 under the auspices of the B ...

established the Iraqi Republic.

King-designate of Iraq (1920)

Kings of Iraq (1921–1958)

Timeline

Royal standard

References

{{Iraq topics

Kings Kings

Kings of Iraq The king of Iraq ( ar, ملك العراق, ''Malik al-‘Irāq'') was Iraq's head of state and monarch from 1921 to 1958. He served as the head of the Iraqi monarchy—the Hashemite dynasty. The king was addressed as His Majesty (صاحب ال� ...