Ghazi of Iraq

Ghazi of Iraq
King of Iraq
Reign	8 September 1933 – 4 April 1939
Predecessor	Faisal I
Successor	Faisal II
Issue
Faisal II
Full name
Ghazi bin Faisal
Father	Faisal I
Mother	Huzaima bint Nasser
Born	(1910-03-12)12 March 1910 Mecca, Emirate of Mecca, Ottoman Empire
Died	4 April 1939(1939-04-04) (aged 27) Baghdad, Kingdom of Iraq
Religion	Sunni Islam [1]

Ghazi bin Faisal (Arabic: غازي ابن فيصل‎ Ġāzī bin Fayṣal) (21 March 1912 – 4 April 1939) was the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq from 1933 to 1939 having been briefly Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Syria in 1920. He was born in Mecca (in present-day Saudi Arabia), the only son of Faisal I,^[2] the first King of Iraq.

Early life

As Ghazi was the only son of Faisal I, he was left to take care of his grandfather, Hussein bin Ali, the Grand Sharif of Mecca, while his father was busy in his campaigns and travels. He therefore grew up, unlike his worldly father, a shy and inexperienced young man. He left the Hijaz to Jordan with the rest of the Hashimites in 1924. He came to Baghdad at the same year and was appointed as the crown prince. When he was sixteen, Ghazi was taken for his first airplane flight by the American adventurer Richard Halliburton and pilot Moye Stephens. They flew down to see the ruins of ancient Babylon, among other historical sites, and buzzed the schoolyard so that his schoolmates could see him in the biplane.

As 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 Iraq Army, and Marshal of the Royal Iraqi Air Force. A staunch pan-Arab nationalist, opposed to British interests in his country,^[3] Ghazi's reign was characterized by tensions between civilians and the army, which sought control of the government. He supported General Bakr Sidqi in his coup, which replaced the civilian government with a military one. This was the first coup d'état to take place in the Arab world. He was rumored to harbor sympathies for Nazi Germany and also put forth a claim for Kuwait 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.^[4]

Ghazi died in 1939 in a mysterious accident involving a sports car he was driving.^[4] Some believe he was killed on the orders of Nuri as-Said.

Faisal, Ghazi's only son, succeeded him as King Faisal II. Because Faisal was under age, Prince Abdul Ilah served as Regent until 1953.

Marriage and children

Queen Aliya of Iraq

On 25 January 1934 Ghazi married Princess Aliya bint Ali daughter of King Ali of Hejaz in Baghdad Iraq. They had only one son:^[2]

• Faisal II, King of Iraq – born 2 May 1935, died 14 July 1958

The flying carpet

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ghazi of Iraq.

When the Prince was a school boy he was taken for a biplane ride by Moye Stephens, pilot of The Flying Carpet and Richard Halliburton, traveller-adventurist, during their round-the-world flight, shortly after Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight. An account of young prince Ghazi's experience flying over his country can be found in Richard Halliburton's The Flying Carpet.

See also

• British Mandate of Mesopotamia
• Saib Shawkat

References

1. ↑ "IRAQ – Resurgence In The Shiite World – Part 8 – Jordan & The Hashemite Factors". APS Diplomat Redrawing the Islamic Map. 2005. 
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The Hashemite Royal Family". Jordanian Government. 
3. ↑ Tripp, Charles. A History of Iraq. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2000, p.81.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tripp, p.98.

• Ali, Tariq. Bush in Babylon: the Recolonisation of Iraq. W.W. Norton, 2003. ISBN 1-85984-583-5.

External references

• "Young King.". Time Magazine. 17 April 1939. Retrieved 17 August 2009. 
• "Coins of Ghazi I.". Retrieved 30 August 2009. 

v t e Kings of Iraq House of Hashim Faisal I Ghazi I 'Abd al-Ilah (as Regent) Faisal II