"تاريخ الحرب الكبرى استنادًا إلى وثائق رسمية. الحملة في بلاد الرافدين ١٩١٤-١٩١٨. مجلد I" [ظ‎‎١‎٥] (٤٥٤/٣٥)

10 HISTORY OF THE WAR : MESOPOTAMIA
thirty-five miles farther north-west and by the Tigris at the
Fat-ha gorge about sixty-five miles above Samarra. In the
region of the two Zabs there is much cultivation.
The Kurdish mountains rise to heights of 11,000 to 14,000
feet and form a difficult and intricate barrier. To the south
east they merge often into rolling downs and lower hills, where
in spring grass is frequently plentiful. Along the Persian
frontier the ranges run generally north-west and south-east
and the tracks for pack animals which cross them are all
more or less difficult. The passes in winter are usually blocked
by snow.
West of the Euphrates the country is generally an arid
desert, though towards the north it becomes gradually less so.
The above necessarily brief description of a country, difficult
to visualise even in general terms—because it is rarely the
same for more than a few weeks together—shows that “ all
military problems therein, whether strategical, tactical or
administrative, are affected by local conditions to an extent
rarely met with in any theatre of war. Nearly all the
conditions combine to create difficulties ; there is little to
alleviate them, and most may be ascribed either to a lack of
water or a surfeit of it. Far away from the rivers want of water
makes operations impossible, while near them the excess of
water is almost as great a source of trouble.”*
The population has been estimated at between two and
two and a half millions ; but, as there are no accurate statistics
on which to base such an estimate, it may be very wide of the
truth. The Arabs form the great majority of the population
in the plains, where other races are hardly found except in
the towns or on the northern and eastern fringes of the plains—
Armenians and Kurds form the majority of the latter category ;
ut there is a sprinkling there, in the hills and especially in
the towns, of Persians, Jews, Christians of different races and
sects, Yezdis, Chabaks, Circassians, etc.
The Arabs have emigrated from the Arabian deserts and their
establishment in Mesopotamia dates back very many years.
robably caused by the pressure of an increasing population
on a soil growing steadily poorer, they have taken the oppor
tunity offered by the weakness of neighbouring northern states
o occupy land and pastures. The weakness of past adminis
trations has not assisted to accelerate their transition from a
nomadic to a settled life. It seems probable, however, that
in a reconstituted Mesopotamia t he surplus population of
* Field Notes, Mesopotamia, General Staff, India.