A piece of India in Iraq: Kirkuk's crematorium
Shafaq News / Despite Iraq'shistorical absence of cremation practices, a century-old crematorium in Kirkukreveals the legacy of Indian workers employed in the region's oil industryduring the 1960s. This site serves as a testament to a ritual that dates backthousands of years, with archaeological evidence suggesting its existence asfar back as 20,000 years ago near Lake Mungo in Australia. The practice hasbeen inherited by East Asian cultures, as well as having ancient roots inEurope and among Native American tribes, and remains prevalent in variousregions around the world.
Secrets of Kirkuk: The IndianCrematorium
Traveling three kilometers from theNorth Oil Company (NOC) headquarters in Kirkuk’s Arafa residential area, whichaccommodates company employees’ families, visitors encounter a checkpoint thatverifies the identities of vehicle occupants. Access to this area is restrictedto those with special permissions for non-employees.
Upon passing the checkpoint, theroute leads to the renowned "Baba Karkar" area, home to Kirkuk'slargest oil field and Iraq's second-largest one after Rumaila in Basra. Thevehicle approaches the core of the NOC, where industrial zones and oil refinerytowers become visible, accompanied by the pervasive smell of crude oil.
As one nears Well No. 1—the firstdrilled in Kirkuk—and the eternal flame that has burned for millennia, anIndian crematorium comes into view. The small building, topped with a chimney,features a five-meter-long iron table that once held the bodies of Indianworkers from the 1960s.
The crematorium consists of threerooms: one for receiving and preparing the deceased, another where a specialistplaces the body in a metal coffin, and a third that houses the furnace forcremation.
Khalil Remembers Crematorium
Khalil Abdullah, 83, reflects on theIndian workers who were instrumental in building oil facilities in the 1960s aspart of the British companies that laid the initial foundations of the NorthOil Company.
"The Indian crematorium was asignificant landmark in the area," Abdullah told Shafaq News. "Muslimworkers would gather when an Indian worker died to witness how his body wascremated, and I witnessed those rituals in 1968."
He elaborated, "There was aperson who performed the religious rites for the deceased, while another wouldplace the body in the metal coffin, adorn it, perfume it, and push it into thefurnace to be cremated."
Cultural and Historical Cornerstone
Ayham Bahaa al-Din, a professor ofIndian studies at the University of Kirkuk, explained that the Indiancrematorium is an integral part of Kirkuk's history and culture, especiallyconcerning the NOC, as it reflects the events that have transpired in thegovernorate and its residents.
"The crematorium wasestablished over 100 years ago with the drilling of the first oil well inKirkuk around 1921, when Indian labor was predominant in the British companiesthat occupied Iraq and began establishing oil companies, with Indiansrepresenting more than 60% of the workforce in these companies," he noted.
Moreover, Bahaa al-Din emphasizedthat Indians, especially Hindus, practice the ritual of cremation, and theircrematorium in Kirkuk is a clear testament to this. “Until the 1970s, Indianworkers were still employed in Kirkuk until the nationalization of oil in 1975by the Iraqi government, after which Indian workers left Iraq and were replacedby Iraqi staff.”
The ancient Hindu texts mention thatwives have the right to participate in the final rites if their husband dieswithout leaving a son or daughter and without a brother, but they areprohibited from attending the cremation ceremony.
In this context, Bahaa al-Dinconfirmed, “The cremation must be performed by the eldest son, and there is aHindu religious text addressing funeral rituals believed to be over a thousandyears old, which does not address the role of women."
The professor concluded by stating,"The crematorium could be transformed into an important site forresearchers interested in the Indian presence in Iraq, facilitating studiesabout it and the events that surrounded it in the past."
