Prior to 16th century

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• 638 CE - Military camp established by Utbah ibn Ghazwan per order of Omar ibn al-Khattab.
• 646 - Abdallah ibn Amer becomes governor.
• 658 - Battle of the Camel.
• 664 - Ziyad ibn Abihi becomes governor.
• 673 - Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad becomes governor.
• 683 - Uprising against Umayyads.
• 684 - The governor Mas'ud ibn Amr is killed by the asāwira under Māh-Afrīdūn
• 691 - Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan in power.
• 701 - Uprising against the Umayyads.
• 772 - Ramparts built.
• 820 - Zott conflict.
• 868 - Zanj Rebellion.
• 871 - City sacked during Zanj Rebellion.
• 923 - Qaramitah conflict.
• 10th century - Public library active.
• 1052 - Traveller Nasir Khusraw visits city.
• 1122 - Imad ad-Din Zengi in power.
• 1123 - City wall rebuilt.
• 1258 - City sacked by Mongols.
• 1327 - Traveller Ibn Battuta visits city.
• 1411 - Kara Koyunlu in power.

16th-19th centuries

• 1546 - Ottomans in power.
• 1547 - Basra Eyalet (administrative region) formed.
• 1556 - Portuguese attempt to take city.
• 1596 - Afrasiyab becomes governor.
• 1604 - Population: 50,000 (approximate); number of houses: 10,000 (approximate).
• 1645 - English factory in business.
• 1668 - City was conquered by the Turks.
• 1694 - Muntafiq tribes in power.
• 1733 - City becomes part of Baghdad Eyalet (administrative region).
• 1763 - British East India Company in business.
• 1773 - Epidemic.
• 1777 - City besieged by Persian forces led by Sadiq Khan Zand.
• 1779 - Turks in power.
• 1823 - Population: 55,000 (approximate).
• 1840 - Turks in power.
• 1865 - Baghdad-Basra telegraph begins operating.
• 1884 - Basra Vilayet (administrative region) formed.

20th century

• 1901 - Consulate of Russia established.
• 1910 - Cholera and bubonic plague outbreak.
• 1911
  • Consulate of Germany established.
  • Cholera epidemic.
• 1913 - Reform Society of Basra founded.
• 1914 - Battle of Basra (1914); British in power.
• 1915 - April: Turkish forces attempt to take city.
• 1919 - Baghdad-Basra Railway in operation.
• 1920
  • Uprising against British occupation.
  • Population: 40,000 (approximate).
• 1947 - Population: 101,535.
• 1964 - University of Basrah established.
• 1965 - Population: 310,950.
• 1967 - Basrah Medical College established.
• 1982 - July: Iranian forces attempt to take city.
• 1984 - Iranian forces attempt to take city.
• 1987
  • January–February: Iranian forces attempt to take city.
  • Population: 406,296.
• 1991
  • 1 March: Uprising against Saddam Hussein.
  • Marsh Arab population in city expands.
• 1999
  • 25 January: Bombing by United States forces.
  • Uprising.

21st century

• 2003
  • March–April: Battle of Basra (2003); British forces in power.
  • August: Oil strike.
• 2004 - 21 April 2004 Basra bombings.
• 2005 - July: Oil strike.
• 2007
  • June: Al-Ashrah Al-Mubashra mosque bombed.
  • December: British military occupation ends.
  • Population: 1,912,533 (estimate).
• 2008 - Battle of Basra (2008).
• 2011 - 2011 Basra bombings.
• 2012 - 14 January 2012 Basra bombing.

See also

• Timelines of other cities in Iraq: Baghdad, Mosul