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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917' [‎354] (363/432)

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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. .

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854
GAZETTEER OF TOWNS
m. 192. The town stands on rising ground above the river opposite an
island. It is said to be comparatively European in appearance, having
macadamized roads, public gardens, and street-lamps. It has one
fairly broad straight street in which are the bazaar, three khans, and
the government buildings. There were two Turkish barracks, and
a civil and a military hospital here before the war. There is said to
be good camping-ground W. of the town.
Supplies and Commerce. —In peace time all necessary supplies for
caravans (including sheep, grain, fruit, and vegetables) could be
purchased at Deir, but these seem to have been largely imported
from other districts. It was stated in 1903 that there was no grain
available for export grown in the country between Deir and Sabkhah.
About 5,500 tons were imported from Birijik and about 1,600 tons
from Najib and Sheikh Arud. Vegetables and fruit were also
imported. Cultivation, however, has recently been increasing in the
neighbourhood. Sheep and other live stock might be obtained from
nomads in neighbourhood. Good blood-horses. Water-supply from
wells and river.
Deir is now a prosperous town, having revived with the increase
of security in the Euphrates Valley. It is a meeting-place of
trade routes: here the direct route from Damascus or Homs to
Mosul crosses the Baghdad—Aleppo caravan route. The route
Aleppo—Deir—Mosul has lately been more and more frequented.
Here too the down-stream river-traffic from Birijik has its entrepot,
the merchants of Deir buying up the cargoes of the Birijik boats
and re-exporting them to places further down the river. It was
stated in 1903 that 150 boats annually left Deir for towns down
stream. They mainly carried grain (about 700 tons). The same
boatmen are not accustomed to navigate the river above and below
Deir. There was a horse-market here in which good thoroughbreds
were bought and sold. Manchester cottons, tinned food, fresh pro
visions, &c., were found in the bazaar before the war.
Inhabitants. —These are mostly town Arabs (Sunnis), and are said
to be a very low class. There is a colony of Christians, mainly
Syrian Catholics (Jacobite Uniates). There also are some Jews, some
Armenians, and a Circassian settlement NW. of the town. A large
number of deported Armenians were kept here in 1915. It was said
that they were to be made to work on (he Baghdad road.
Administration and Authorities. —Deir is the head-quarters of
the Deir ez-Zor Mutessariflik, and is under the administration of
the Mutessarif. In peace time there was a garrison here of one
battalion of infantry and some mounted infantry on mules.

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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
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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917' [‎354] (363/432), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/41/4, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023493070.0x0000a4> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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