Aqra and Its Surroundings in the Memoirs of Mosul Governor Abu Bakr Hazim Bey (1898-1901)

Abstract

Aqra district was administered through district governors as a district of the Mosul province since the first half of the 19th century, after the collapse of the Bahdinan Emirate. Ottoman administration continued in the Mosul province until the establishment of the Iraqi State. Abu Bakr Hazim Bey was one of the governors of Mosul during the Ottoman Empire. He served as governor there for two and a half years between 1898 and 1901. During the reign of Sultan Abdulhamid II (1876-1909), the situation of the Mosul province was quite complicated. There, corruption on the one hand and security problems on the other had increased. Abu Bakr Hazim Bey toured the entire province during his governorship of Mosul and took a photograph of the province with his observations. Hazim Bey also visited the Aqra district and gave very rare information about the administration, society, geography and many other fields of the region. He recorded all his travels and observations, along with his feelings and thoughts, in his memoirs. These memories were later published as a book in modern turkish. In this work, a description of Aqra and its surroundings will be made in accordance with the memoirs of Mosul governor Abu Bakr Hazim Bey, and the social, political, administrative, religious and geographical aspects of Aqre will be revealed.