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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [234] (243/568)
The record is made up of 1 volume (282 folios). It was created in 1918. It was written in English, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Armenian, Kurdish and Syriac. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
234
CURRENCY, WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
calculation, 20 sagh piastres going to the the principal silver
coin (for which see below).
(d) A piastre (sometimes also called at 108-5 to the
Urah, used by merchants for some purposes, such as the keeping of
wholesale accounts.
(e) A piastre at 155 to the lirah, used at Basra in the date trade.
(/) The raij, or small, piastre (I), at 482 to the lirah. This is
a quarter of the sagh piastre, and is used in retail trade. It corre
sponds to the nickel coin called mit (^d.).
(g) The raij, or small, piastre (II), at 414 to the lirah. This
is a quarter of the piastre at 103-5 {d above).
The first four of the above-mentioned piastres were sometimes
known as ' big' or ' grand seigneur' piastres. In quotations of
prices the sagh piastre (occasionally denoted by the letters g. was
generally used.
In the calculation of small sums is much used,
going to the sagh piastre. There are no coins.
A unit of computation used in the quotation of prices in the date
market is the shami, equivalent to 5 gold piastres. There was for
merly a coin of this name with a nominal value of ten gold piastres,
but having been reduced after the Russo-Turkish War to the value of
5 gold piastres, which was less than the value of the metal contained
in the coin, it was everywhere melted down, and has now altogether
disappeared.
There are five Turkish gold coins, of 5, 2|, 1, and ^
respectively. Even before the war the first two were very rarely
seen, and the last infrequently. As has been mentioned above there
is still a limited circulation of lirahs at the beginning of 1917 they
were current at a greatly enhanced rate, about 10 per cent, above
their rupee value.
The principal coin is the mejidi or In cash transactions,
where no special arrangement exists, 5-4 are reckoned to the
lirah. The value of the mejidi in terms of piastres is as follows :
18-5 gold piastres.
19 mejidiyeh piastres at 102-6 to the lirah.
20 sagh piastres at 108 to the
19-1 piastres at 103-5 to the
80 raij piastres at 432 to the
76-6 raij piastres at 414 to the lirah.
Before the war the mejidi was ordinarily reckoned as the equivalent
of about 3s. 4d of English money.
About this item
- Content
This volume is A Handbook of Mesopotamia, Volume I, General (Naval Staff, Intelligence Department: November 1918). This is an updated and expanded edition of A Handbook of Mesopotamia, Volume I, General (Admiralty War Staff, Intelligence Department: August 1916) (IOR/L/MIL17/15/41/1). This is an introductory volume containing matter of a general nature giving an account of conditions in Mesopotamia, for the most part as they were before the First World War.
The volume includes a note on official use, a title page and 'Note'. There is a page of 'Contents' that includes the following chapters and sections:
- Chapter 1: Boundaries and Physical Features;
- Chapter 2: Climate;
- Chapter 3: Minerals;
- Chapter 4: Fauna and Flora;
- Chapter 5: Hygiene;
- Chapter 6: History;
- Chapter 7: Inhabitants;
- Chapter 8: Religions;
- Chapter 9: Administration;
- Chapter 10: Irrigation of Irak [Iraq];
- Chapter 11: Agriculture and Land Tenure;
- Chapter 12: Commerce and Industry;
- Chapter 13: Currency, Weights, and Measures;
- Chapter 14: Communications and Transport;
- Vocabularies;
- Index.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (282 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged in numbered chapters. There is a contents page and an alphabetically arranged index.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the first folio and terminates at the last folio; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of the folio.
Pagination: The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Armenian, Kurdish and Syriac in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/41/2
- Title
- 'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1:556, ii-r:ii-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence