Al Rasheed Street

Al Rasheed Street or Al Rashid Street is located in Downtown Baghdad and is one of the city's main street, stretching from North Gate to South Gate.

The origin of Al Rasheed Street goes back to the Ottoman era who ruled Iraq from 1534 to 1918. During that time, the only known public street in Baghdad was Al Naher Street (Shari al-Naher). Al Naher means River - the street is stretching few kilometers along the east banks of the river Tigris and this may be the reasoning behind its name.

After the defeat of the British by the Ottomans on the 29th of April 1916 in Kut (south of Baghdad), where tens of thousands of Anglo-Indian troops dead or wounded, and thousands more taken prisoners, including their commander, Sir Charles Townshend, the military governor of Baghdad, Khalil Pasha (1864 – 1923), decided to honor this victory by giving orders to build the first ever "real" street in Baghdad. Work began in May 1916, after the head of Baghdad’s municipality, Ra’ouf Al Chadirchy met with owners of houses to pay them compensations for the demolition of their houses which will be demolished.

The street was first opened for the public on July 23, 1916. The first name given to the street was by Khalil Pasha who named the street “Jadde Si”. The name of the street was written then on a ceramic plate and put on the main wall of Sultan Ali Mosque till mid fifties of the last century.

References

* [http://iraqthelastinglove.blogspot.com/2007/09/al-rasheed-street.html Al Rasheed Street]