[4] After the Safavid takeover, Sunni Muslims, Jews and Christians became targets of persecution, and were killed for being infidels.

[4] In addition, Shah Ismail ordered the destruction of the grave of Abu Hanifa, founder of the Hanafi school of law which the Ottomans adopted as their official legal guide.

It was decisively recaptured by the Ottomans in 1638,[4] whose possession over Iraq was agreed upon in the 1639 Treaty of Zuhab.

The city saw relative revival in the latter part of the 18th century under a largely autonomous Mamluk government.

Direct Ottoman rule was reimposed by Ali Ridha Pasha in 1831.