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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917' [160] (169/432)
The record is made up of 1 volume (214 folios). It was created in 1917. It was written in English. 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.
LAND ROUTES
of the Hasa Su, the road passes the large village of
Shatarli (200 houses, with leaning minaret), proceeds
through cultivation for 2 m. in a WNW. direction
It then crosses low stony downs.
Baba Gurgur Pass. This place, which lies a little to the
r. of the road, is a slight hollow in some high ground
about 50 yds. by 20 yds., and there are some twenty
vents of natural gas in it. These are generally alight
unless artificially extinguished. If one of the vents be
stopped with earth, the gas usually escapes at some other
place near by, where it can be lighted with a match.
There is a strong smell of sulphur in the air.
A little farther on beyond the gas-vents in the same
direction from Kirkuk, but quite near the road, are four
to five oil-pits called Diar (wells). (These wells are
marked 6^-7 miles from Kirkuk in a recent map of the
road, but they have been reached in 1 hr. 10 minutes
from Kirkuk, and are described as 'just beyond' Baba
Gurgur). They are the property of Salih
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
, and
are said to yield eight donkey-loads (say thirty-two tins)
of crude oil daily. The pits are situated on a slight
hill, and are 12-15 ft. deep. The water is separated
from the oil at the wells, and the oil is afterwards
refined at Kirkuk. There is a sulphurous spring in the
hills, a little farther on than the oil-pits.
The road to Khan en-Neft, as described below, may
be somewhat NE. of the main road. Another track,
followed in 1903, passed the ruins of Khan Hangia
over broken country by a stony track which required
improvement for wheels.
The Baba Gurgur sandstone hills are now entered (Qara-
chok mountain, with two peaks, lying WNW.) and the
top of the outer ridge followed for some distance.
After 23 min. ride, Bajiwan (30 Kurdish houses) lies 1| m.
SW. by S. ; Bataweh (150 houses of Turkomans) 3 m.
SW. ; Qumbatlar (120 houses of Turkomans) about
4 m. SW. by W.; and Choprijeh (100 houses of Turko
mans) 2-J m. W. The Jebel Makhul, on the other side
of the Tigris, can be seen to SSW. at a great distance.
Road continues along outermost ridge for 8 min.
Eoad bears N. by W., crossing the strata diagonally and
making for an inner ridge of hills.
About this item
- Content
This volume is A Handbook of Mesopotamia, Volume III, Central Mesopotamia with Sourthern Kurdistan and the Syrian Desert (Admiralty War Staff Intelligence Division, January, 1917), covering the Tigris and Euphrates from Baghdad and Fellūjeh [Fallujah] to Mosul and Meskeneh [Maskanah], the Lesser Zāb, the country east of the Tigris towards the Persian frontier, and the routes running westward from the Euphrates valley across the Syrian Desert. The volume was prepared on behalf of the Admiralty and War Office, and appears to be based on official and unofficial publications and maps which are cited in a bibliographical section in the volume. This volume was supplemented with corrections and additions in June 1918 (see IOR/L/MIL/17/15/41/5).
The volume includes a note on confidentiality, a title page, 'Note', 'Abbreviations'. There is a page of 'Contents' which includes the following sections:
- Introduction;
- River Routes (The Tigris and the Lesser Zāb, The Euphrates);
- Land Routes (The Tigris Valley with Region to East, The Euphrates Valley, Connexions between Tigris and Euphrates Valleys, The Syrian Desert);
- Gazetteer of Towns;
- Bibliographical Note;
- Transliteration of Names;
- Glossary;
- Appendix;
- Index;
- 'Sketch Map of Routes', which includes 'City Map of Baghdad' (f. 212) and 'Mesopotamia: Outline Map Showing Routes, Volume III' contained in a pocket.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (214 folios)
- Arrangement
This volume is arranged according to numbered routes. There is a page of contents and an alphabetical index. There are two maps housed in a pocket.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover and terminates at the inside back cover; 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'. side of each folio (except for the front cover, where the folio number is located on the verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. ).
Pagination: The volume also has an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/41/4
- Title
- 'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1:422, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence