View source for Qal'at Saleh

{{Infobox settlement
|official_name          = Qal'at Saleh
|native_name            = قلعة صالح
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|pushpin_map            = Iraq
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|subdivision_name       = {{flag|Iraq}}
|subdivision_type1      = Governorate
|subdivision_name1      = [[Maysan Governorate|Maysan]]
|subdivision_type2      = Municipality
|subdivision_name2      = [[Qal'at Saleh District]]
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|leader_title           = Mayor
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The town of '''Qal'at Saleh''' ({{langx|ar|قلعة صالح}}) is the district centre of [[Qal'at Saleh District]], [[Maysan Governorate]], southern Iraq. It is located along the road that links [[Basra]] to [[Amarah]], a mere 40&nbsp;km away. Qalat Saleh’s nearest towns are the district centres of [[Al-Majar Al Kabeer]] (20&nbsp;km north-west), Al Kahlaa (17&nbsp;km north), and Al Azeer (29&nbsp;km south). The town is surrounded by agricultural villages and rural communities: Sulaymaniyah village, Abu Samih village, and Beit Khaled village.
==History==
Qal'at Saleh, formerly known as "Shatra Al-Amarah", was named after "Saleh Suleiman Al-Najdi", an Arab officer from [[Najd]], who was appointed by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]]s to collect tribute from the rebellious local tribes. In 1866, once the Ottoman troops managed to restrain the rebels, Saleh built a mud fortress ({{langx|ar|قلعة|Qal'at}}) to maintain control of the region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.almadasupplements.com/news.php?action=view&id=17383#sthash.L6Y7UT1z.dpbs|title=قلعة صالح.. شيء من تاريخها ونشأتها|work=Al-Mada|language=ar|access-date=28 November 2017}}</ref><ref name="Al-Journal" >{{cite web|url=http://journaliraq.com/%D9%82%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A9-%D8%B5%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD-%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%81%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%AC/|title=قلعة صالح.. عاصمة الطائفة المندائية في جنوب العراق|work=Al-Journal|language=ar|access-date=28 November 2017}}</ref>   The settlement attracted more and more residents and expanded over time around the fortress, which was later destroyed. By the 1920s, Qalat Saleh was a small town developed on both sides of the Karma canal. In the mid-1930s, the canal dried out and became the town’s main commercial axis, Karma Street, along which once could find traders, gold and silver jewelers, carpenters and blacksmiths. At the time, the town comprised five neighborhoods: Al-Amir, Ghadir, Karama, Al Shuhada and Zahra. A few typical timber-latticed ''shanasheel'' buildings are still standing – albeit in poor conditions. The great [[Mosque of Qalat Saleh]], built in 1868 during the [[Ottoman Empire]], is one of the town’s most significant heritage landmarks.
Most visitors come to the area to pay a visit to the [[shrine of Imam Abdullah bin Ali]], located 10&nbsp;km south of the town. Not far from Qalat Saleh is another of [[Maysan Governorate|Maysan]]’s famous attractions, the [[Ezra's Tomb|Tomb of Ezra]] (Prophet Uzayr) and its adjacent old synagogue located in Al Uzair, on the western bank of the Tigris, popularly believed to be the burial place of the biblical figure [[Ezra]], the scribe of the [[Old Testament]]. Due to frequent embellishment works, not much of the original Ottoman period shrine has been preserved.
Qal'at Saleh was traditionally a center of learning for the [[Mandaeans]] during the 1900s.<ref name="Buckley2010">{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=Jorunn Jacobsen|title=The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history|publisher=Gorgias Press|publication-place=Piscataway, N.J|year=2010|isbn=978-1-59333-621-9}}</ref> However, following the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]], many Mandaeans have since emigrated from Iraq, and there are few Mandaeans left in Qal'at Saleh.
==Demographics==
The town is mostly [[Shia]], but it has a sizable [[Mandaeans|Mandaean]] and previously [[Iraqi Jews|Jewish]] community.<ref name="Al-Journal" /> As many smaller rural towns in [[Iraq]], dependent on an agrarian economy, Qalat Saleh is experiencing the inexorable population movements towards regional economic magnets. Since the mid-1950s, many families migrated to [[Amarah]], [[Baghdad]] and [[Basra]] seeking better opportunities. Worsening living conditions and deprivation of the peasants, endemic diseases, neglected irrigation projects and increased salinity of the soil has over time reduced the productivity of agricultural land. Today, poor returns on agricultural activities is pushing farmers – particularly youth – to leave their land to seek work in towns and cities.  In 2016, according to estimates of the Directorate of Planning, the town of [[Qalat Saleh]] was home to 37,958 inhabitants.<ref>COSIT</ref> Qalat Saleh municipality’s population estimates reach 40,000 inhabitants,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Addressing Expansion Needs in the Town of Qalat Saleh, Maysan Governorate|last=UN-Habitat|publisher=LADP/UN-Habitat|year=2018|location=Erbil|pages=30}}</ref> with an average household size of 7.7 – which is higher than the national average.
== Industries ==
The Municipality established a dedicated industrial area in the south of the city. By 2017, it was only partially developed.
== Tourism and leisure activities ==
In July 2013, the Iraqi Council of Ministers approved the designation of the Central Marshes of Iraq as the country’s first National Park, as a joint effort by Iraq’s Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Environment, and Ministry of Municipalities with support from [[Nature Iraq]], and Iraqi environmental conservation organization. Despite expectations, the planned National Park has not yet been approved by the Council of Ministers. In January 2014, the ‘[[Ahwar of Southern Iraq]] and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamian Cities’ was successfully nominated for inscription of the property on the [[World Heritage List]]. The nomination covers a vast area, spanning between the governorates of [[Muthanna Governorate|Al Muthanna]], [[Dhi Qar Governorate|Dhi Qar]] and [[Maysan Governorate|Maysan]]. It includes the [[Hawizeh Marshes|Hawizeh]] and [[Central Marshes]], that fall under the jurisdiction of [[Maysan Governorate|Maysan]] governorate. Since the nomination, the marshes have seen a significant increase of local tourists, researchers and nature enthusiasts. Local inhabitants have benefited from this influx of visitors, offering thrilling excursion on motor boats or the traditional ''[[mashoof]]'' to visits to the uniquely designed ''al-[[mudhif]]'', the traditional ceremonial spaces and reed houses. According to the local authorities, since 2016, the marshes have attracted some 150 visitors and tourists per month, but in peak winter and spring periods they can go up to 150 per week. Yet, gains from the tourism sector have been very limited because of the scarcity in local accommodation, poor accessibility, lack of information and/or organised tours.
==Notable people==
* [[Abdul Jabbar Abdullah]] (1911–1969), an Iraqi [[wave theory]] physicist, dynamical [[meteorologist]], and President Emeritus of [[Baghdad University]].
* [[Abdullah bar Sam]] ({{died in|1981}}), Mandaean priest who is the father of [[Abdul Jabbar Abdullah]]
== See also ==
*[[Ezra's Tomb|Tomb of Ezra]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Qal'at Saleh| ]]
[[Category:Historic Jewish communities in Iraq]]
[[Category:Populated places in Maysan Province]]