Establishment and Ottoman era beth manda (house of worship) in Nasiriyah, 2016 Nasiriyah was founded in 1872 by Nasir al-Sadoon Pasha (), the
sheikh ("chief") of the
Muntafiq tribal confederation, after whom the city was named. During that same year, it became the administrative center of the Muntafiq
sanjak ("district"). Belgian architect, Jules Tilly, was commissioned to develop a modern urban plan for the city. Tilly introduced a Western-style grid layout, characterised by long, straight, and parallel streets intersecting at right angles, unprecedented in Iraq at the time. This planning approach shaped the city’s infrastructure and facilitated the orderly growth of roads and residential plots, which were arranged in rectangular clusters, consequently, the flat topography of the region made this layout particularly effective. Tilly placed great emphasis on urban aesthetics and functionality, incorporating central squares, wide sidewalks, and public gardens into the design. These green spaces quickly became popular as communal resting areas and contributed to the city’s distinctive charm. Tilly’s urban plan received the approval of Medhat Pasha, who praised its elegance, modernity, and engineering ingenuity. In 1920, Nasiriyah had 6,523 inhabitants. The population was ethnically diverse with Arab Muslims accounting for 72.7% of the inhabitants, Jews 8%, Mandeans 9.7%, Persians 4.6%,
Lurs 4.3% and Christians, Turks, and Indians forming the remainder of the population.
Iraq War In March 2003, Nasiriyah was one of the first major battles of the
2003 US invasion of Iraq. Phillip Mitchell of the
International Institute for Strategic Studies so described the town's strategic importance to
The Guardian: On March 23, the U.S. invasion force was ambushed near the city: 11 US soldiers were killed and Army Private
Jessica Lynch, Army Private
Lori Piestewa and Specialist
Shoshana Johnson were taken prisoners of war during the skirmishes. The
Battle of Nasiriyah between Iraqi forces and the
2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade under the call sign "
Task Force Tarawa" of the
U.S. Marine Corps lasted between about March 23 and March 29, in which 18 Marines were killed and over 150 were wounded, including a number hit by friendly fire from Air Force A‑10 aircraft, but the Iraqi resistance was defeated fairly rapidly thereafter. The town has been relatively calm since the fall of Saddam Hussein. A
truck bomb killed 18 Italian soldiers and 11 civilians in November 2003 (see
2003 Nasiriyah bombing), and clashes erupted here in April 2004. ==See also==