The development of the city after the Arab conquest
Mosul developed fully following the Arab conquest of the region in 641. It was initially a simple garrison town (misr) under the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab (634‒644), and later became the capital of the Jazira province under the Umayyads (661‒750). Its growth gained new momentum in the 10th and 11th centuries under the aegis of the Hamdanids and the Uqaylids. The city is mentioned during this time by the geographers Ibn Hawqal and al-Muqadasi, who describe it as flourishing, with its citadel, covered markets and Umayyad Mosque.
From Seljuks to Ottomans
In the 12th and 13th centuries, during the Seljuk period, Mosul experienced a golden age under the regency of the emirs, who were known as Atabegs. We owe many of the city's emblematic monuments to this period, including the Great Mosque of al-Nuri. Preserved by the Mongol invasions, Mosul was even embellished in the 14th and 15th centuries.
From 1535 onwards, the city became part of the Ottoman Empire. It became the capital of the eyalet (province) of Mosul, which in the 19th century became the vilayet of Mosul (the name in Ottoman Turkish for an administrative division of the empire). The city was governed by a pasha, a title held by the local al-Jalili family until 1834.
