1 This study deals with the Mamliik period in Iraqi history (1750- 1831), and more particularly with later Mamliik times (1802-1831). The year 1831 marks the watershed between an era of 'local rule' and one of restored Turkish centralization. During the Mamliik period the influence of external powers in Iraq was not excessive; after that year direct Turkish rule coincided with growing British in- fluence, which increasingly opened the country to the forces of the world market. As an object of study the period of local rule is inter- esting, particularly because it formed the background to,...