Ghazi ibn Faisal ( ar, غازي ابن فيصل, Gâzî ibn-i Faysal) (21 March 1912 – 4 April 1939) was the
King 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 ...
from 1933 to 1939 having been briefly
Crown Prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wi ...
of the
Kingdom of Syria
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
in 1920. He was born in
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
, the only son of
Faisal I
Faisal I bin Al-Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashemi ( ar, فيصل الأول بن الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, ''Faysal el-Evvel bin al-Ḥusayn bin Alī el-Hâşimî''; 20 May 1885 – 8 September 1933) was King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria ...
,
the first King of Iraq.
Early life
Ghazi was the only son of Faisal (later to become
King Faisal I of Iraq
Faisal I bin Al-Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashemi ( ar, فيصل الأول بن الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, ''Faysal el-Evvel bin al-Ḥusayn bin Alī el-Hâşimî''; 20 May 1885 – 8 September 1933) was King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria ...
) and Huzaima bint Nasser. He was born when his father was leading a campaign in
'Asir
The ʿAsir Region ( ar, عَسِيرٌ, ʿAsīr, lit=difficult) is a region of Saudi Arabia located in the southwest of the country that is named after the ʿAsīr tribe. It has an area of and an estimated population of 2,211,875 (2017). It is ...
against
Muhammad ibn Ali al-Idrisi of 'Asir so He was named Ghazi (meaning warrior due to this campaign, In his childhood, Ghazi was left with his grandfather,
Hussein bin Ali, the
Hashemite
The Hashemites ( ar, الهاشميون, al-Hāshimīyūn), also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921 ...
Grand Sharif of Mecca
The Sharif of Mecca ( ar, شريف مكة, Sharīf Makkah) or Hejaz ( ar, شريف الحجاز, Sharīf al-Ḥijāz, links=no) was the title of the leader of the Sharifate of Mecca, traditional steward of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and ...
and head of the royal house of Hashim, who called Ghazi "Awn" after his great grandfather
Awn bin Muhsin
AWN may stand for:
* Awn Access to Justice Network in Gaza Strip, Legal Aid Network operate in Gaza Strip, Palestine
* Animation World Network, an online organization for animators
* Avant Window Navigator
Avant Window Navigator (abbreviated AWN ...
, while his father was occupied with travel and in military campaigns against the Ottomans. The Hashemites had ruled the
Hijaz
The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provi ...
within the
Ottoman Empire
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) ...
before rebelling with British assistance in the later stages of World War I. He attended
Harrow School.
Unlike his worldly father, Ghazi grew up a shy and inexperienced young man. Following the defeat of his grandfather's army by Saudi forces in 1924, he was forced to leave the Hijaz with the rest of the Hashemites. They travelled to
Transjordan where Ghazi's uncle
Abdullah
Abdullah may refer to:
* Abdullah (name), a list of people with the given name or surname
* Abdullah, Kargı, Turkey, a village
* ''Abdullah'' (film), a 1980 Bollywood film directed by Sanjay Khan
* '' Abdullah: The Final Witness'', a 2015 Pakis ...
was King. In the same year, Ghazi joined his father in
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 was appointed as
crown prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wi ...
and heir to the Kingdom of Iraq. His father had been crowned following a national referendum in 1921.
''Flying Carpet''
As a 16-year-old schoolboy, he met the traveller-adventurer
Richard Halliburton
Richard Halliburton (January 9, 1900 – presumed dead after March 24, 1939) was an American travel writer and adventurer who swam the length of the Panama Canal and paid the lowest toll in its history—36 cents in 1928. He disappeared at ...
and his pilot
Moye Stephens
Moye Wicks Stephens (February 21, 1906 – 1995) was an American aviator and businessman. He was a pioneer in aviation, circumnavigating the globe with adventure writer Richard Halliburton in 1931, and co-founding Northrop Aircraft, Inc.
Family ...
during their round-the-world flight (shortly after
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...
's celebrated transatlantic flight). Ghazi was taken for his first flight by Halliburton and Stephens in their biplane, the ''Flying Carpet''. They flew down to see the ruins of
Ancient Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
and other historical sites and flew low over the prince's own school so that his schoolmates could see him in the biplane. An account of the young Crown Prince Ghazi's experience flying over his country can be found in Richard Halliburton's ''The Flying Carpet''.
Simele Massacre
Ghazi came to
Simele to award "victorious" colours to the military and tribal leaders who, on 11 August 1933, participated in the
Simele massacre
The Simele massacre, also known as the Assyrian affair, was committed by the Kingdom of Iraq, led by Bakr Sidqi, during a campaign systematically targeting the Assyrians in and around Simele in August 1933. An estimated 600 to 6,000 Assyrians ...
of Assyrians and the looting of their homes.
King of Iraq
On 8 September 1933, King Faisal I died, and Ghazi was crowned as King Ghazi I. On the same day, Ghazi was appointed
Admiral of the Fleet in the
Royal Iraqi Navy,
Field Marshal of the
Royal Iraqi Army, and
Marshal of the
Royal Iraqi Air Force
The Iraqi Air Force (IQAF or IrAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية العراقية, Al Quwwat al Jawwiyah al Iraqiyyah}) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Iraqi Armed Forces. It is responsible for the defense of Iraqi airspace as well ...
. A staunch
pan-Arab nationalist, opposed to British interests in his country, Ghazi's reign was characterized by tensions between civilians and the army, which sought control of the government. He supported General
Bakr Sidqi
Bakr Sidqi al-Askari (; 1890 – 11 August 1937) was an Iraqi general of Kurdish origin, born in 1890 in Kirkuk and assassinated on 11 August 1937, at Mosul.
Early life
Bakr Sidqi was born to Kurdish family either in ‘Askar,Edmund Ghareeb, ...
in his coup, which replaced the civilian government with a military one. This was the first coup d'état to take place in the modern Arab world. He was rumoured to harbour sympathies for
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
and also put forth a claim for
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
to be annexed to Iraq. For this purpose, he had his own radio station in al-Zuhoor royal palace in which he promoted that claim and other radical views.
[Tripp, p.98.]
Marriage and children
On 25 January 1934, King Ghazi married his first cousin, Princess
Aliya bint Ali
Aliya bint Ali of Hejaz (1911 – 21 December 1950), was an Arabian princess and a queen consort of Iraq. She was the spouse and first cousin of King Ghazi of Iraq and the queen mother of King Faisal II of Iraq. She was the second and last Quee ...
, daughter of his uncle
King Ali of Hejaz, in
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 ...
,
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 ...
. They had only one son,
Faisal II
Faisal II ( ar, الملك فيصل الثاني ''el-Melik Faysal es-Sânî'') (2 May 1935 – 14 July 1958) was the last King of Iraq. He reigned from 4 April 1939 until July 1958, when he was killed during the 14 July Revolution. This regici ...
, born 2 May 1935.
Faisal had a circumcision party on Thursday, 7 November 1935, in al Zuhoor Palace and
Emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...
Abdullah I of
Transjordan and his son,
Prince Nayef bin Abdullah
Prince Nayef bin Abdullah (14 November 1914 – 12 October 1983) was the younger son of King Abdullah I of Jordan, by his second wife, Suzdil Khanum.
Nayef attended Victoria College in Cairo. He underwent Military training in Turkey, being assi ...
, attended the party as well as the staff of the Hashemite Family. King Ghazi then ordered the distribution of ِalms towards the poor and needy, and over 50 children in an Islamic orphanage were also circumcised on the account of King Ghazi who then distributed desserts among them.
[Directory of the Iraqi Kingdom 1935](_blank)
(in Arabic) page 29 King Ghazi attended a banquet in the evening of that day which was attended by the
Emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...
Abdullah of Transjordan and his son Nayef, and
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
'Abd al-Ilah
'Abd al-Ilah of Hejaz, ( ar, عبد الإله; also written Abdul Ilah or Abdullah; 14 November 1913 – 14 July 1958) was a cousin and brother-in-law of King Ghazi of the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq and was regent for his first-cousin once r ...
, and he invited the Prime Minister, former prime ministers, the leaders of the
Senate and the
Chamber of Deputies, and senior statesmen.
Ghazi was suspected of having an extra-marital affair with a young Iraqi servant. British sources wrote in 1938 that King Ghazi's bad reputation was tarnished "further" when a "Negro youth", who was employed at the palace, died by "accidentally" discharging his revolver when he didn't remove it before his afternoon siesta. An official police expert ruled that the Palace's explanation was consistent with the police examination.
The British suspected there was more to the story, in particular, that one of
Queen Aliya's "adherents" might have killed the boy, as the boy was suspected to be "the King's boon companion in debauchery" and the
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
therefore had a "deep aversion" to the boy. The King was in a panic after this incident, fearing imminent assassination.
Death
King Ghazi died in April 1939 in an accident involving a sports car that he was driving.
According to the scholars
Ma'ruf al-Rusafi and
Safa Khulusi
Safa may refer to:
Sudhir Chubby Puddy Buddhavarapu Venkata Ramana Murthy
Organizations
* Al Safa FC, sports club in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia
* Safa SC, an association football club in Lebanon
** Safa WFC, a women's association foo ...
, a common view by many Iraqis at the time was that he was killed on the orders of
Nuri al-Said
Nuri Pasha al-Said CH (December 1888 – 15 July 1958) ( ar, نوري السعيد) was an Iraqi politician during the British mandate in Iraq and the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq. He held various key cabinet positions and served eight terms as ...
, because of his plans for unification of Iraq with Kuwait.
[Safa Khulusi, Ma'ruf Al-Rusafi (1875–1945). The Muslim World, Hartford Seminary Foundation, LXVII No.1, 1977.]
Faisal, Ghazi's only son, succeeded him as King Faisal II. Because Faisal was underage,
Prince Abdul Ilah served as
regent
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
until 1953.
Ancestry
See also
*
British Mandate of Mesopotamia
The Mandate for Mesopotamia ( ar, الانتداب البريطاني على العراق) was a proposed League of Nations mandate to cover Ottoman Iraq (Mesopotamia). It would have been entrusted to the United Kingdom but was superseded by the ...
*
List of unsolved deaths
This list of unsolved deaths includes well-known cases where:
* The cause of death could not be officially determined.
* The person's identity could not be established after they were found dead.
* The cause is known, but the manner of death (homi ...
*
Saib Shawkat
References
Books
*
Ali, Tariq. ''
Bush in Babylon
''Bush in Babylon'' is a book by the historian Tariq Ali, that attacks the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The book comprises two parts, the first being a modern history of Iraq, the second a condemnation of the 2003 invasion. Ali uses poetry and critica ...
: the Recolonisation of Iraq''. W.W. Norton, 2003. .
*
External links
*
*
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghazi
1912 births
1939 deaths
20th-century Iraqi people
20th century in Iraq
Field marshals of Iraq
Grand Cordons of the Order of Independence (Jordan)
Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
House of Hashim
Iraqi Arab nationalists
Iraqi Sunni Muslims
Kings of Iraq
Marshals of the Royal Iraqi Air Force
People educated at Harrow School
People from Mecca
Road incident deaths in Iraq
Unsolved deaths