Jalawla (, also known as Jalula) is a town in Diyala Governorate, Iraq. It is located on the Diyala River, north of Sadiyah. The town is populated by Arabs, Kurds and Turkmens.
It experienced significant Arabization during the Saddam era. The town had a Kurdish majority prior to the Arabization.
Name Folk etymology derives the name Jalūlāʾ from the phrase jalūlulā (جلولولاء), which was supposedly said by the Muslim soldiers at the Battle of Jalula. Under the Ottoman Empire, the town was known as Qarah Ghān, which literally means "black blood" in Turkish; alternatively, according to Khadir Abbas, the name could be a reference to a grove of trees surrounding the town. The name went back to Jalūlāʾ in 1940, after a suggestion by the military historian Muhammad Durrah which was taken up by the government.
History Early history Under the Sasanian Empire, Jalawla was the center of a subdistrict of the province of Šāḏ Qobāḏ, located in the eastern Sawad. The Khurasan Road, which connected the imperial capital of Ctesiphon with the Iranian highlands, passed through the town of Jalawla. The next stage on the road was Khanaqin.
The ancient city of Jalula was located on the opposite side of the river to today's town. Its location was discovered in 2023 by a team of archaeologists led by Ahmed Abdul Jabbar Khamas. As for the modern town, the site of Tall Abu Krush in the al-Tali‘ah neighborhood contains some pottery fragments but has no traces of a large urban settlement such as city walls or a mosque.
The Sasanians ultimately lost control over the town after the Battle of Jalula in 637 to Muslim invaders.
In Muslim times, the geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi applied the name Jalula to both the town and a river, and also as the name of a tasuj, a district extending along the Diyala river. According to Hamdallah Mustawfi, the town was named Ribat Jalula, because it contained a ribat attributed to the Seljuk sultan Malik Shah I.
At some point, the old town of Jalula effectively lost its urban character, and a new town would not be rebuilt until the early 20th century.
Modern history The development of the modern city of Jalawla can be traced back to 1918, when the Jalawla train station was built. This provided new job opportunities and led to an influx of immigrants. In 1936, a permanent army camp was built, which further stimulated population growth (from transfer of soldiers to here) and economic growth. Much of this immigration came from the nearby town of al-Saadiya.
In the al-Tali‘ah neighborhood is Tall Abu Krush, which in the 1918–1958 period served as a residential area.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Jalawla (then Qarah Ghan) was just a small non-urban settlement with a population not exceeding 200, with 26 houses.
A market area called al-Sayyrah (الصّيرة), in what is now the al-Tali‘ah neighborhood, was established in the 1918–1958 period and is now called the old market. Some industrial development took place during this period, with light industry concentrated around the commercial area and automobile and machinery establishments were established along the main commercial street in the east side of town. There was growth of gypsum mining activity and textile manufacturing, using wool from the surrounding region (since large amounts of sheep were kept in the surrounding area); there was also dyeing activity, and agricultural tool making. Automobiles and tractors were introduced during this period, and their use meant that there was also mechanic workshops to repair them. The first primary school was established in 1936, in the al-Tali‘ah area. Water was often in short supply for domestic use; it was partly sourced from the water supply at the train station. There was also a generator at the train station, along with a telegraph line. A post office was established in the early 1950s. Between 1958 and 1980, two new neighborhoods were established: al-Wahdah and al-Jamahir. Al-Wahdah was planned in 1958, while al-Jamahir emerged as an unplanned area north of al-Wahdah to accommodate the increase in population.
By 1957, the population had increased from just a few dozen to 6,416. The establishment of Jalawla as a district capital caused further economic growth and, by 1965, the population had doubled to 12,279.
During the 1958–1980 period, industrial units began to move out of the central commercial area as commercial uses pushed them out toward the outskirts of this zone. The first industrial area began to appear during this period: behind the district directorate building, near the public parking garage in the al-Wahdah neighborhood. These were largely car repair places as well as heaters and agricultural pumps. Another important establishment was an ice factory in the southwest of al-Wahdah neighborhood, near the bank of the Diyala river and close to the main street; it consumed large amounts of water. The construction materials industry also grew significantly, with gravel and sand quarries displacing gypsum quarries in the south side of the city, south of al-Wahdah along the bank of the Diyala. These not only served local needs but also exported to al-Saadiya and Khanaqin districts. The gypsum quarrying moved back to the highlands, leaving behind open pits in al-Jamahir and al-Wahdah districts. By 1983, there were 9 primary schools, 3 kindergartens, 4 middle schools, and 2 secondary schools in Jalawla, mostly concentrated in the al-Uruba and al-Jamahir neighborhoods, while al-Tali‘ah in particular was short of schools. The town's first library was established in the southwest of al-Wahdah in 1975, and the Jalawla General Hospital was established in 1971 in the south of al-Wahdah. It employed 6 doctors and 9 nurses, but in practice it ended up facing a shortage of available beds. During this period, coffeehouses were popular among more elderly residents, while casinos were popular with young adults; both types of establishments were clustered in the central commercial district. The Jalawla Youth Center was established during this period in al-Jamahir, with attached playgrounds/sports fields. After the district was established in 1958, several government facilities were established in Jalawla: the district directorate, the municipal directorate, the courthouse, the irrigation and agriculture department, the military recruiting office, and the veterinary medicine department. With the exception of the municipal directorate, which was in al-Tali‘ah, all these facilities were in al-Wahdah. Municipal water and electricity works were both begun in 1961, both in al-Wahdah. Only the major roads were paved at this point; secondary streets remained unpaved.
In the 1980s and 1990s, there was significant population growth in Jalawla along with an increase in commercial and industrial activity. Commercial establishments sprang up along the main commercial street in al-Wahdah and al-Jamahir, pushing out residential uses, while a new municipal market was set up as well. This new commercial zone was next to the old one. The state also distributed residential land for the families of those killed in the Iran–Iraq War. The industrial zone by the garage in the south of al-Wahdah expanded significantly, especially with car repair, and a new industrial zone was built in al-Shuhada neighborhood along the main commercial street. A light industry zone also emerged in al-Tali‘ah, adjacent to the central commercial zone; residential houses were converted into industrial workshops. Increased demand for construction materials caused an increase in gravel and sand mining to the south of town, while concrete blocks industry grew in the town to make more construction materials. Gypsum quarries continued to retreat into the eastern highlands. Four middle and secondary schools were established, concentrated in al-Jamahir and al-Shuhada, while the Jalawla Trade and Preparatory School was established in al-Tali‘ah, the Teachers' Training Institute was established in al-Wahdah, and a kindergarten was established in al-Tali‘ah. New lands were designated for sports fields, and in the 1990s the first video game arcades appeared in the central commercial area. A new external garage was established in the al-Shuhada neighborhood on the main street. A new residential area was established, the al-Shuhada neighborhood. General expansion also continued on the outskirts and in open spaces throughout the city. The first tall buildings were built during this period, in the central commercial area. Increasing land prices and rents in the city center contributed to pushing out residential uses in favor of commercial and industrial ones. However, due to continuing horizontal expansion, the overall proportion of residential zones in the city remained high. The public healthcare did not expand during this period, although some private practices were established in the central commercial district.
It was at this point that urban planning was first begun. By 1977, the population was 19,268; in 1987, it was 26,666. In 1997, it was 30,273. In each of these decades, Jalawla's growth exceeded both regional and national growth rates. During the Iran–Iraq War, Jalawla received an influx of refugees from border settlements such as Khanaqin. During the 1990s, the town had a decreased growth rate both due to international sanctions against Iraq and due to increased economic growth in Iraqi Kurdistan, which caused a relative economic disparity that led many residents to migrate from Jalawla to Iraqi Kurdistan. Another change was that the old road was submerged when Lake Hamrin was created and the new road was built around the lake to the south, creating a more direct route to Khanaqin and removing some of Jalawla's transport significance.
Jalawla has been the center town of Jalawla District since its creation with a Republican decree in 1958. Prior to the decree, Jalawla was part of Saadiya District. Before the launch of the Ba'athist Arabization campaigns in northern Iraq in the 1960s, the town had a Kurdish majority. In the 1970s, Iraq deported a large portion of the Kurdish population of the town after having denaturalized them as Arabs were encouraged to settle instead, to intensify the Arabization of the town. Of the 28,822 people enumerated in the 1977 census, 77% were Arab, 19.8% were Kurdish and Turkmens constituted 2.5% of the population. In the 1987 census, the Arab population increased to 85.2%, while the Kurdish population decreased to 12.9% and the Turkmen to 1.7%. In the 1997 census, the Arab population stood at 83.7%, the Kurdish at 14.3% and the Turkmen at 1.9%.
Kurdish rebels (Peshmerga) captured the town on 12 March 1991 during the uprisings. The People's Mujahedin of Iran are known to have supported the 1991 Kurdish uprising. After the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, Kurdistan Region pressured Arab settlers in Khanaqin to settle in Jalawla which increased the Arab population further. Moreover, many Kurds returned to the town but left again due to the lack of security. Concurrently, the Arab al-Shuraifi tribe, which had settled in the area in the 1970s, was expelled from both Jalawla and Khanaqin after direct order from Kurdish politician Jalal Talabani.
ISIS and the aftermath