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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917' [376] (385/432)
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.
376
GrAZETTEEE OF TOWNS
and Turkish stock. There are said to be 100 houses of Jews and 20
of Christians who live in a separate quarter outside the town.
Kurdish is the chief language spoken, though nearly everybody
understands Persian. The dress is partly that of the Kurds, but
in costume and other matters the natives are said to be extremely
conservative. They are also suspicious and inquisitorial in their
bearing towards strangers.
Administration and Authorities. —The place is the seat of a Mutes-
sarif under Mosul. There is also a Persian consul. The usual
garrison is 4 battalions of about 400 men each (report of 1904).
See also under History.
History. —The importance of the place in modern times dates
from the time of Suleiman
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
of Baghdad. In 1779, during his
tenure of office, the government of the district, which was then ruled
by chiefs descended from a Kurdish priest called Mullah Ahmed,
was transferred to the site of the present town. A government
house and other buildings were built and the new town called
Suleimani. In 1851 Kurdish rule in Suleimaniyeh (the more modern
name of the town) came to an end with the seizure of Abdallah
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
and his brother Ahmed. Ismail
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
, a Turk, was appointed
kaimmakam, and a garrison sent to the town.
Prom now onward the priests, free of the restraints imposed by
the Kurdish pashas, gradually acquired for themselves a position
which kept both governor and governed in awe. Up till 1876,
however, under Sultan Abdul Aziz, they contented themselves with
gaining a reputation for sanctity. After the Sultan's death and
the accession of Abdul Hamid, Sheikh Sa'id, the leader of the
priestly family, began a system of self-aggrandizement and enrich
ment. This led to revolts on the part of the people who summoned
the Hamawands to expel the governor and sheikhs. The arrival of
a battalion from Kirkuk drove off the Hamawands and Sheikh Sa'id
began a campaign of open robbery,- assisted by a very effective
spy-system. The merchants were the chief sufferers, many of whom
moved into Persia, as did also the fruit and vegetable cultivators
in consequence of a 300 per cent, special entry duty imposed on
every load entering the town. The ultimate object of the Sheikhs
seems to have been to make themselves practically independent.
Matters at last reached such a pass that Sheikh Sa'id was summoned,
or rather induced, to come to Mosul with some members of his
family, where he was murdered by the mob in 1909, at the age of 85.
Thereupon fresh revolts broke out in Suleimaniyeh, fomented by the
family of the sheikh who had influence both there and in Constanti
nople, and in August 1909 the sheikhs were still predominant.
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