A brilliant account has come down of the ceremonies at the installation of a new exilarch.
A spirited description of the glories of the exilarch is given in D'Israeli's novel Alroy.
Hence the head of the Babylonian Jews was the exilarch (in Aramaic Resh Galutha) .
Hezekiah (c. 1040) was the last Babylonian exilarch, though the title left its traces in later ages.
In the 6th century an attempt was made to secure by force political autonomy for the Jews, but the exilarch who led the movement (Mar Zutra) was executed.
In the age succeeding the Mahommedan conquest the exilarch was noted for the stately retinue that accompanied him, the luxurious banquets given at his abode, and the courtly etiquette that prevailed there.
Our chief knowledge of the position and function of the exilarch concerns the period beginning with the Arabic rule in Persia.
Some traditions regarded the last king of Davidic descent (Jehoiachin) as the first exilarch, and all the later holders of the dignity claimed to be scions of the royal house of Judah.
The Babylonian Jews were practically independent, and the exilarch (reshgalutha) or prince of the captivity was an official who ruled the community as a vassal of the Persian throne.
The exilarch could excommunicate, and no doubt had considerable jurisdiction over the Jews.
The exilarch then delivered a discourse, and in the benediction or doxology (Qaddish) his name was inserted.
The Jewish chief priest may be said to be the successor of the exilarch or resh galutha of the earlier period.
The last exilarch of importance was David, son of Zakkai, whose contest with Seadiah had momentous consequences.
The seat of the exilarch or resh galutha was transferred from Pumbedita(Pumbeditha or Pombeditha) inBabylonia to Bagdad, which thus became the capital of oriental Judaism; from then to the present day the Jews have played no mean part in Bagdad.