39 / 128
By the end of the 19th century, widespread unrest had devel-
oped in Mesopotamia. This occurred in part because of a land law
that had been passed by the Ottoman government in 1858. Before
passage of this law, the Arabs did not recognize private ownership
of land. Those who used the land and could hold it occupied the
land. But under the land law, the Ottoman government allowed
people to register their claim to land, and the government would
recognize them as the owners of the property.
The land law affected the way power was distributed in the
region. Traditionally, Arab sheikhs had ruled with the consent of
I
RAQ
’
S
H
ISTORY TO
1990 39
The Mongols’ sack of Baghdad in 1258 was considerably more violent than this illustration
from a Persian manuscript might indicate. The conquerors laid waste to the magnificent city
and slaughtered most of its inhabitants. The Mongol leader, Hülegü Khan, even constructed a
pyramid from the skulls of the dead.