The city was called by many names throughout its history, Basrah being the most common. In Arabic the word ba?rah means "the overwatcher", which might have been an allusion to the city's origin as an Arab military base against the Sassanids. Others have argued that the name is derived from the Aramaic word basratha, meaning "place of huts, settlement".

Rashidun Caliphate (632–661)

The modern city was founded at the beginning of the Islamic era in 636 and began as a garrison encampment for Arab tribesmen constituting the armies of the Rashid Caliph Umar. A tell a few kilometres south of the present city, still marks the original site. While defeating the forces of the Sassanid Empire there, the Muslim commander Utbah ibn Ghazwan erected his camp on the site of an old Persian settlement called Vahešt?b?d Ardaš?r, which was destroyed by the Arabs. The name Al-Basrah, which in Arabic means "the over watching" or "the seeing everything", was given to it because of its role as a military base against the Sassanid Empire. However, other sources claim the name originates from the Persian word Bas-r?h or Bassor?h meaning "where many ways come together".

In 639 Umar established this encampment as a city with five districts, and appointed Abu Musa al-Ash'ari as its first governor. Abu Musa led the conquest of Khuzestan from 639 to 642 and was ordered by Umar to aid Uthman ibn Abu al-?As, then fighting Iran from a new, more easterly mi?r at Tawwaj. In 650, the Rashidun Caliph Uthman reorganised the Persian frontier, installed ?Abdullah ibn Amir as Basra's governor, and put the military's southern wing under Basra's control. Ibn Amir led his forces to their final victory over Yazdegerd III, the Sassanid King of Kings.

In 656, Uthman was murdered and Ali was appointed Caliph. Ali first installed Uthman ibn Hanif as Basra's governor, who was followed by ?Abdullah ibn ?Abbas. These men held the city for Ali until the latter's death in 661.

Umayyad Caliphate(661–750)

Sufyanids (661–684)

The Sufyanids held Basra until Yazid I's death in 683. The Sufyanids' first governor was Umayyad ?Abdullah, a renowned military leader, commanding fealty and financial demands from Karballah, but ? poor governor. In 664, Mu?awiyah I replaced him with Ziyad ibn Abi Sufyan, often called "ibn Abihi" ("son of his own father"), who became infamous for his draconian rules regarding public order. On Ziyad's death in 673, his son ?Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad became governor. In 680, Yazid I ordered ?Ubaydullah to keep order in Kufa as a reaction to Hussein ibn Ali's popularity as the grandson of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. ?Ubaydullah took over the control of Kufa. Hussein sent his cousin as an ambassador to the people of Kufa, but ?Ubaydullah executed Hussein's cousin Muslim ibn Aqeel amid fears of an uprising. ?Ubaydullah amassed an army of thousands of soldiers and fought Hussein's army of approximately 70 in a place called Karbala near Kufa. ?Ubaydullah's army was victorious; Hussein and his followers were killed and their heads were sent to Yazid as proof.

Ibn al-Harith spent his year in office trying to put down Nafi' ibn al-Azraq's Kharijite uprising in Khuzestan. In 685, Ibn al-Zubayr, requiring a practical ruler, appointed Umar ibn Ubayd Allah ibn Ma'mar Finally, Ibn al-Zubayr appointed his own brother Mus'ab. In 686, the revolutionary al-Mukhtar led an insurrection at Kufa, and put an end to ?Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad near Mosul. In 687, Mus?ab defeated al-Mukhtar with the help of Kufans who Mukhtar exiled.

?Abd al-Malik (685–705)

Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan reconquered Basra in 691, and Basra remained loyal to his governor al-Hajjaj during Ibn Ash?ath's mutiny (699–702). However, Basra did support the rebellion of Yazid ibn al-Muhallab against Yazid II during the 720s.

Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258)

In the 740s, Basra fell to as-Saffah of the Abbasid Caliphate. During the time of the Abbasids, Basra became an intellectual centre and home to the elite Basra School of Grammar, the rival and sister school of the Kufa School of Grammar. Several outstanding intellectuals of the age were Basrans; Arab polymath Ibn al-Haytham, the Arab literary giant al-Jahiz, and the Sufi mystic Rabia Basri. The Zanj Rebellion by the agricultural slaves of the lowlands affected the area. In 871, the Zanj sacked Basra. In 923, the Qarmatians, an extremist Muslim sect, invaded and devastated Basra.

Buyid Dynasty (945–1055)

From 945 to 1055, a Buyid dynasty ruled Baghdad and most of Iraq. Abu al Qasim al-Baridis, who still controlled Basra and Wasit, were defeated and their lands taken by the Buyids in 947. Adud al-Dawla and his sons Diya' al-Dawla and Samsam al-Dawla were the Buyid rulers of Basra during the 970s, 980s and 990s. Sanad al-Dawla al-Habashi (ca.921-977), the brother of the Emir of Iraq Izz al-Dawla, was governor of Basra and built a library of 15,000 books.

Seljuq Dynasty (1055–1194)

The Oghuz Turk Tughril Beg was the leader of the Seljuks, who expelled the Shiite Buyid dynasty. He was the first Seljuk ruler to style himself Sultan and Protector of the Abbasid Caliphate.

Islamic Golden Age

The Great Friday Mosque was constructed in Basra. In 1122, Imad ad-Din Zengi received Basra as a fief. In 1126, Zengi suppressed a revolt and in 1129, Dabis looted the Basra state treasury. A 1200 map "on the eve of the Mongol invasions" shows the Abbasid Caliphate as ruling lower Iraq and, presumably, Basra.

The Assassin Rashid-ad-Din-Sinan was born in Basra on or between 1131 and 1135.

In 1258, the Mongols under Hulegu Khan sacked Baghdad and ended Abbasid rule. By some accounts, Basra capitulated to the Mongols to avoid a massacre. The Mamluk Bahri dynasty map (1250–1382) shows Basra as being under their area of control, and the Mongol Dominions map (1300–1405) shows Basra as being under their control.

In 1290 fighting erupted at the Persian Gulf port of Basra among the Genoese, between the Guelph and the Ghibelline factions.

Ibn Battuta visited Basra, noting it "was renowned throughout the whole world, spacious in area and elegant in its courts, remarkable for its numerous fruit-gardens and its choice fruits, since it is the meeting place of the two seas, the salt and the fresh."

In 1411, the Jalayirid leader was ousted from Basra by the Black Sheep Turkmen. In 1523, the Portuguese under the command of António Tenreiro crossed from Aleppo to Basra. By 1546, the Turks had reached Basra. In 1550, the Portuguese threatened Basra. In 1624, the Portuguese assisted Basra Pasha in repelling a Persian invasion. The Portuguese were granted a share of customs and freedom from tolls. From about 1625 until 1668, Basra and the Delta marshlands were in the hands of local chieftains independent of the Ottoman administration at Baghdad.

Ottoman Empire