What Country Was Najaf In?

Najaf (An-Najaf, Iraq) lies within 18 different states on Chronica Maps' 39 historical border maps. The longest stretch is under Ottoman Empire, from 1600 to 1919. The earliest state recorded here is Achaemenid Empire (500 BC).

Who ruled Najaf?

Period (by border map)	Ruled by
500 BC – 324 BC	Achaemenid Empire
323 BC – 301 BC	Empire of Alexander
300 BC – 2 BC	Seleucid Kingdom
1 BC – AD 99	Parthian Empire
AD 100 – AD 299	Roman Empire
AD 300 – AD 399	Parthian Empire
AD 400 – AD 499	Persia
AD 500 – AD 699	Sasanian Empire
AD 700 – AD 799	Umayyad Caliphate
AD 800 – AD 999	Abbasid Caliphate
1000 – 1099	Buwayhid Emirates
1100 – 1199	Seljuk Empire
1200 – 1299	Khwarazmian Empire
1300 – 1399	Ilkhanate
1400 – 1491	Timurid Empire
1492 – 1599	Emirate of the White Sheep Turks
1600 – 1919	Ottoman Empire
1920 – 1944	Mesopotamia (GB)
1945 – today	Iraq

Map showing Najaf in 1800 — Border map for 1800. See Europe in 1800.

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Historic cities nearby

Babylon · about 60 km
Baghdad · about 150 km
Nineveh · about 500 km

Battles and events within 200 km

Battle of al-Qadisiyyah · AD 636
Battle of Karbala · AD 680

Landmarks nearby

Babylon

Based on approximate historical borders; towns close to a frontier may be assigned to a neighbouring state.

Famous people from the region

Lived	Person
c. 1810 BC – 1750 BC	Hammurabi	King of Babylon
c. 634 BC – 562 BC	Nebuchadnezzar II	King of Babylon
c. AD 763 – AD 809	Harun al-Rashid	Abbasid caliph
c. AD 780 – AD 850	al-Khwarizmi	Mathematician

Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.