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History of Kirkuk


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Originally the city was founded by Hurrian-related Zagros-Taurus dwellers who were known as Gutian people by lowland-dwellers of Southern Mesopotamia. Under its ancient name Arraphkha, Kirkuk was capital of Kingdom of Gutium which is mentioned in cuneiform records about 2400 BC.

The small Hurrian kingdom of Arraphka, of which modern Kirkuk was the capital, was situated along the southeastern edge of the area under Aryan Mittanian domination. From 1500 to 1360 BC all kings of Assyria were vassals of kingdom of Mittani. Assyria's revolt against the Hurrian kingdom of Mittani probably led to fall of the kingdom in the 14th BC century and ultimately contributed to Mittani empires�s collapse.

The city reached great prominence in the 10th and 11th centuries BC under Assyrian rule. However in 6th BC, Assyria was conquered by a union of Medes, remaining Hurrian-related tribes, and Babylonians. After Achaemenids had the region under their dominion; in the Parthian and Sassanid eras Kirkuk was capital of Beth Garmai.

Arab Muslims invaded the Sassanid empire in the 7th century AD. Up to the end of the 14th century AD, Kirkuk often administratively and economically belonged to Daquq and they were both at the same time in contact with Arbil, the modern capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, and Sharazor and their extensions. In the medieval era the city was part - and since the 16th century the capital - of the ancient wilayet of Sharazor which is still important to Kurdistan's economy.

The principal Arab extended families in the city of Kirkuk were: the Tikriti and the Hadidi. The Tikriti family was the main Arab family in Kirkuk coming from Tikrit in 17th century. Other Arab tribes who settled in Kirkuk during the Ottoman Period are the Al-Ubaid and the Al-Jiburi. The Al-Ubaid came from just northwest of Mosul when they were forced out of the area by other Arab tribes of that region. They settled in the Hawija district in Kirkuk in 1935 during the government
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