Faisal I's army arrives at Yanbu in present-day Madinah, during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule in December 1916. Pierre Perrin / Sygma via Getty
Faisal, son of Hussein ibn Ali of Makkah, with his delegates and advisers at the Versailles peace conference on January 22, 1919. Faisal was briefly king of Syria, and later Iraq. Behind him are (L-R) his private secretary and fellow delegate Rustem Haidar; Brig Gen Nuri Said, of Baghdad; Captain Pisani of France; Col. T. E. Lawrence 'of Arabia', and Hassan Kadri.
1921: Members of the Mesopotamia Commission, set up to discuss the future of Mesopotamia at the Cairo Conference. Included in the photograph are Gertrude Bell (second L, second row), T E Lawrence (fourth R, second row), Winston Churchill (centre front row) and Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel (L of Churchill). General Photographic Agency / Getty Images
A portrait of Faisal I bin Hussein bin Ali Al Hashemi, King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria in 1920 and King of Iraq from 1921 to 1933. Library of Congress
Traders at the bazaar in Baghdad, circa 1925 – a few years into King Faisal's rule. Hulton Archive / Getty
King Faisal of Iraq is shown above with his advisers on European affairs in March 1928. King Faisal was son of King Hussein ibn Ali of Hejaz. He was appointed King of Iraq seven years before this photo was taken. Bettmann / Corbis / Bettmann Archive
The streets of Iraq pictured in 1932, the year the British Mandate lifted. A year later, King Faisal I would die and his son, Ghazi I, would become king. Granger / Shutterstock
The streets of Baghdad, pictured in around 1940, a year after the death of King Ghazi. Hulton Archive / Getty
Modern buildings and new cars on a street in Baghdad, October 30, 1957, less than a year before the 14 July Revolution and the overthrow of the monarchy. Keystone / Hulton Archive / Getty
Traffic on a street in Baghdad, Iraq, circa 1950, during the regency of King Faisal II's uncle, Prince Abdullah. King Faisal II would begin his reign on turning 18 in 1953. Three Lions / Hulton Archive / Getty
King Faisal I of Iraq (L) with his brother Emir Abdullah of Transjordan, at the palace in Baghdad, on October 6, 1932. Library of Congress
A view of Baghdad from the clock tower of the old Turkish barracks, now a government building in April 1932. A year later, King Faisal I died and his son, Ghazi, ascended the throne. Topical Press Agency / Hulton Archive / Getty
Baghdad in 1938, a year before the death of King Ghazi. Ts / Keystone USA / Shutterstock
King Ghazi of Iraq shortly before his death in April 1939 at the Royal Palace in Baghdad. He ruled for six years. AFP
A funeral procession for King Ghazi moves through Baghdad on April 9, 1939. He died in a motor accident and his three-year-old son became King. AFP
King Faisal II stands for a photograph with his uncle Prince Abdullah, his regent, on June 25, 1939, months after the death of King Ghazi, at the Royal Palace in Baghdad. AFP
King Faisal II of Iraq reigned from April 1939 to July 1958, when the monarchy was overthrown and he and some of his family were killed during the July 14 Revolution. This regicide marked the end of a 37-year monarchy in Iraq. Afterwards, the country became a republic. ANL / Shutterstock
King Faisal II (L) inspects troops in Baghdad in 1953, when he became king and succeeded his father King Ghazi who was killed in 1939. Faisal II was three years old when his father died so his uncle became regent. AFP
Demonstrators carry portraits of the United Arab Republic President Gamal Abdel Nasser during revolt of pro-Nasser forces in Baghdad on July 14, 1958. The government of King Faisal was overthrown. AP Photo / Iraq Revolutionary Army / Stan Carter
Heavily armed revolutionary soldiers on a street of Baghdad, on July 14, 1958, a few hours after the military staged a coup to take control of the country and overthrow the monarchy, declaring a republic. King Faisal II and Crown Prince Abdullah were shot dead in his palace at the height of the coup. AP
For many, Iraq's short-lived monarchy was the golden era of a country that has since been marred by decades of war and instability.
Founded in 1921, it rose from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire, which Arab forces helped topple, motivated by the promise of an independent nation, free from external influences.
But when it came time to establish an independent state, as agreed with Hussein ibn Ali, the Sharif of Makkah, leaders in Europe had other ideas.
After the British withdrew their support for a unified Arab state that included Palestine, Hussein's son, Faisal, declared a Kingdom of Syria in March 1920 that covered modern Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Syria. But the new monarchy crumbled in less than six months, having been rejected by the local populace and crushed by the French military, who held a mandate in Damascus.
Meanwhile, in Iraq, where the British had established a mandate, locals had begun to revolt against foreign rule and launched attacks against the army.
A new king begins a new era
The following year, the Cairo Conference was held to decide the future of the region. Britain, led by Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill and advised by TE Lawrence “of Arabia”, saw an opportunity to maintain indirect control over Iraq and appointed Faisal, who had fled to London, King of Iraq.
The first order of business was to endear a Hejazi prince – from western Saudi Arabia – to the local and diverse population of Iraq. He arrived to the country via Basra port and took the train to Baghdad. On his way, Faisal visited the cities of Hillah and Kufa, plus Karbala and Najaf, where revered Shiite Imams are buried – in an effort to garner support from the Shia community.
[King Faisal I] enjoyed wide acceptance among local communities in Iraq due to his direct lineage to Prophet Mohammed
Yassir Ismaiel Nassir, historian
“Then, Iraqi dignitaries and majority of senior religious leaders from both Shiites and Sunnis pledged allegiance to the King,” historian Yassir Ismaiel Nassir told The National.
“He enjoyed wide acceptance among local communities in Iraq due to his direct lineage to the Prophet Mohammed,” Mr Nassir said.
In an important gesture, he choose August 23 as his coronation day to coincide with Eid Al Ghadeer – a key date for Shiites as it was when the Prophet Mohammed declared his cousin, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, to be his successor.
With the establishment of the monarchy, a new and important chapter in Iraq’s modern history began. The king got to work transforming the country from a entity comprised three Ottoman provinces – Mosul, Baghdad and Basra – into a state with a with a national regime.
During his 12-year rule, King Faisal I laid the foundations for government institutions that exist to this day, earning the title “Founder of Modern Iraq”.
He established Ahl Al Beit University in Baghdad’s Azamiyah district, which remains under the name The Arab University.
Faisal, son of Hussain of Makkah, with his delegates and advisors at the Versailles peace conference on January 22, 1919. Faisal was briefly king of Syria, and later Iraq. Behind him are (left to right) his private secretary and fellow delegate Rustem Haidar; Brig Gen Nuri Said of Baghdad; Capt Pisani of France; Col T. E. Lawrence 'of Arabia'; unidentified man; and Hassan Kadri.
He encouraged Syrian exiles to work as doctors and teachers in Iraq, among them Sati Al Husari, a writer who became the general director of the education ministry.
Under his reign, plans were in place to link Baghdad, Damascus and Amman by rail and he aimed to build an oil pipeline to the Mediterranean through Syria.
Iraqis remember him as a modest king, who would mingle with the public. His main goal was to achieve full independence for Iraq.
In 1930, Iraq and Britain signed a treaty to establish a close alliance between the two countries but also give Iraq a degree of political independence. It eased British control but also gave it rights to station and move military forces in Iraq – as well as full control of Iraq's oil resources.
Two years later, the British mandate ended and Iraq gained independence, becoming the 57th member of the League of Nations.
“The King was clever. Despite his differences with Britain, he tried to grab independence from them in any form he could,” Mr Nasir said.
“Despite the hardships he faced during his reign, he succeeded in leading the country to safety and laying the foundations for a modern state.”
In 1933, aged 48, Faisal I died of a heart attack and his son, Ghazi, ascended the throne.
A funeral procession for King Ghazi moves through Baghdad on April 9, 1939. He died in a motor accident and his 3-year-old son became king. AFP
King Ghazi ruled for just six years before he died in a motor accident in Baghdad, passing the throne on to his 3-year-old son Faisal II.
Faisal II's uncle, Crown Prince Abdullah, held power until the boy completed finished his education in Britain's Harrow boarding school, where he studied alongside his cousin, King Hussein of Jordan – father of the country's current king, Abdullah.
King Faisal II ascended the throne aged 18, in 1953. High hopes were placed on the young king to build on his father and grandfather's legacies.
However, the British colonial power that established the Hashemite kingdom in Iraq had not accounted for the country's diverse ethnic and religious communities, including a large Shia and Kurdish population.
Many minorities felt marginalised by a Sunni Arab king – a theme that continues to influence the country's stability today.
In July, 1958, the monarchy was overthrown in a military coup, led by the Free Officers Movement. King Faisal II, his uncle and other family members were killed. The group had been inspired by the 1952 Egyptian Revolution that saw its monarchy abolished in favour of a more secular and nationalist state.
Heavily armed revolutionary soldiers are seen in a street of Baghdad, Iraq on July 14, 1958, hours after the military staged a coup, overthrowing the monarchy and declaring a republic. AP
How is Iraq's era as a kingdom viewed today?
Despite only lasting 37 years, many view Iraq's monarchy as a positive period in the country's history.
Feisal Al Istrabadi, Iraq's former UN ambassador, said the monarchical system presented “an optimistic and hopeful movement in Iraqi history, one that was lost and that cannot be replaced.
“The monarchy found Iraq, a backward, forgotten corner of the Ottoman Empire, and in less than 40 years turned it into a state that mattered in the power equations of the region,” he told The National.
King Faisal I of Iraq (L) with his brother Emir Abdullah of Transjordan, at the palace in Baghdad, on October 6, 1932. Library of Congress
Under the monarchy, Iraq became a central regional player in international politics, including America’s fight to stop the spread of communism, he said.
“Of course, in 1958, the new dispensation chose the Soviet Union, the losing side in the Cold War, and we know the rest of the history of Iraq.”
To the British, the monarchy was thought to be an institution that would inspire loyalty, and unite a diverse society, thus making it a foundation for nation-building, said Charles Tripp, Professor of Middle East Politics at London’s SOAS university.
“This was one of the many contradictions of their policy – the stronger a sense of Iraqi nationalism became, the less justification there was for having a monarch at all, especially one from a Hejazi dynasty,” Mr Tripp told The National.
He said the British wanted the monarchy to be constitutional and “their own style of indirect rule”, which undermined its legitimacy.
The king’s dependence on British was “pretty obvious to all Iraqis and made him the effective centre of a web of patronage and class privilege”, Mr Tripp said.
After the Second World War, Iraq's society became increasingly mobilised with Iraqi and Arab nationalism, communism and socialism.
“None of which had any tolerance of continued British influence or of the monarchy that was so obviously a British creation,” Mr Tripp said.
He said this was why Iraq’s kingdom only lasted 26 years after the country’s independence from the British mandate in 1932.
Authoritarian nostalgia among Iraqis
When Mr Al Istrabadi went to Baghdad in July 2008, the prevailing feeling among Iraqis was that only suffered after the coup.
“Even diehard communists and leftists at the time of the coup spoke against it,” he said.
“I do not know many Iraqis who would not undo the 1958 coup if they could.”
He said the monarchy was “looked back upon wistfully by most Iraqis”.
People in Iraq are nostalgic for the past because they don’t have the same tools to assess the past with which they can assess the present, but that’s not unique to Iraqis
Marsin Alshamary, Harvard Kennedy School
A trend has emerged in Iraq in recent years for authoritarian nostalgia, said Marsin Alshamary, research fellow with the Middle East Initiative at the Harvard Kennedy School.
“Authoritarian nostalgia takes on different forms in Iraq: sometimes it’s thinking life was better under Saddam Hussein and sometimes it’s Abdel Karim Qasim [the military leader who overthrew the monarchy].
“Recently it’s been the question of whether the monarchy would have been better,” she said.
“Young Iraqis perhaps think of the monarchy as being a better time because it has all these superficially appealing aspects — the single “strong” leader (as opposed to the politicking they witness among the many political actors today),” Ms Al Shamary told The National.
“All these things appeal to young Iraqis, who have not lived through traditional authoritarianism,” she said.
“The gist of it is, people in Iraq are nostalgic for the past because they don’t have the same tools to assess the past with which they can assess the present, but that’s not unique to Iraqis.”
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
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Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Why your domicile status is important
Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.
Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born.
UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.
A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Chicago from Dh5,215 return including taxes.
The hotels
Recommended hotels include the Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, located in an iconic skyscraper complete with a 1929 Olympic-size swimming pool from US$299 (Dh1,100) per night including taxes, and the Omni Chicago Hotel, an excellent value downtown address with elegant art deco furnishings and an excellent in-house restaurant. Rooms from US$239 (Dh877) per night including taxes.
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela
Edited by Sahm Venter
Published by Liveright
Stormy seas
Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.
We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice.
