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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [161] (170/568)
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.
IEEIGATION OF IRAK 161
closing of the Saqlawiyeh) until this branch took the larger portion
of the Euphrates water. This process continued until the Hilla
branch was left dry in the low season, and the land in its neigh
bourhood, one of the most productive areas in the country, was
threatened with ruin. A French engineer was employed by the
Turkish Government to devise a remedy. He constructed a weir at
the head of the Hindiyeh, about f mile below the site of the present
4 New Barrage But this weir (the ' Old Barrage') burst in 1903
and failed to check the drying of the Hilla branch, though it has
continued to be an obstacle to navigation. Sir William Willcocks
was commissioned in 1909 to design another barrage, and the work
was carried out by the firm of Sir John Jackson, Ltd. The New
Barrage, completed in 1913, lies about 8 miles below Museyib. The
old head of the Hilla branch, situated about 600 yards farther down,
has been blocked by an earthen dam, and a new head, with a regulator,
has been made about ^ mile above the barrage.
The Old Hindiyeh Barrage is a weir of stone rubble which in 1914
had a narrow breach near the centre and another near the left bank.
On its character as an obstacle to navigation see p. 283. It had been
intended that the Old Barrage should be removed when the new had
been completed, but its demolition was prevented by the local Arabs.
The New Hindiyeh Barrage was built wholly on the left bank of
the Euphrates, which was then diverted to its present bed, across
which the barrage lies. The old bed of the river was blocked by an
earthen dam which is situated at the west end of the barrage. The
length of the barrage is 275 yds. It is provided with 36 gates,
each 164 ft. (5 metres) wide and fitted with regulating shutters. On
the east side is a lock, 26-24 ft. (8 metres) wide, 180 ft. long, and
spanned by a lift bridge. When the barrage is fully open it can pass
about 4,000 cubic metres of water per second.
The Hilla Begulator is 140 ft, long and contains six openings, each
9-84 ft. (3 metres) wide and fitted with regulating shutters. It has
a capacity of about 150 cubic metres per second.
When the New Barrage was constructed the Hilla branch was
cleared of silt as far as Hilla town, and the larger canals in the
neighbourhood were also cleaned out.
The Hdbhdniyeh
,,, The work needed to convert the Habbaniyeh basin into an escape
and storage reservoir had not been completed at the outbreak of the
jji; 1 present war. An escape-canal, about 6i miles (10 km.) long and
ieIlCt (|l 56 yds. (50 metres) wide, had been cut between the Euphrates
mes. i l
\m
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