Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to review the institution of Al-Jarkhaji (Al-Charkhachi), or the Night Watchman, in the heritage of Baghdad and the whole of Iraq. What was Al-Jarkhaji? The term is of Turkish (Ottoman) origin (جرخه جي), which means a guard, a watchman. In Iraqi reality, Al-Jarkhaji appeared to us as a night watchman, whose duty was to patrol the city streets on foot and maintain order. In the 18th-19th centuries, it was a kind of police unit that operated independently of other police, Janissary, and Mamluk units. The predecessors of al-Jarkhaji appeared on the scene as early as the reign of the four righteous caliphs. The term denoting them was “al-‘asasu” (العَسَسُ), which is also found in Georgian reality in the 17th-18th centuries. The institution of “asas” is found in medieval Georgia (mainly in eastern Georgia). In addition to the semantic similarity of the term, its practical meaning is also identical.
Source: The near East and Georgia
Author: Irakli Topuridze
Institution: Ilia State University
Language: English
Topic: Islamic Studies and History
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4407407285