The Role of the Pashas of Baghdad in the Wars of Qajar and Ottoman Iran: the Case Study of Najib Pasha's Policies in Karbala

The role of the governors of Baghdad is one of the important issues in the relations between Iran and the Ottoman Empire during the Qajar period. The administration of Iraq was difficult due to the distance from the center, the presence of different ethnic groups and Shiite pilgrimage sites, and the proximity to Iran, and the appointed governors tried to strengthen their political and financial power by fueling the differences between Iran and the Ottoman Empire. From the middle of the 19th century and the reforms carried out in the Ottoman territory, an attempt was made to coordinate their administration with Istanbul by appointing governors such as Najib Pasha. However, Pasha's contractionary policy in Baghdad caused a political crisis. Against this backdrop, the research question of the present study concerns the policy adopted by Najib Pasha during the governorship of Baghdad to divide Iran and the Ottoman Empire. Based on the descriptive-analytical approach and the view of centralism, the governors of Baghdad and consequently Najib Pasha saw the security threat from Iran and the Iranians living in Iraq very forceful for their position. Therefore, in their political orientation, they tried to use this intellectual atmosphere of the Istanbul court in line with their interests. Also, relying on the idea of centralism and the unbreakable link of the empire and removing its destructive elements, they tried to consider the suppression and massacre of the people of Karbala as legitimate and necessary.