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'Arabia. Handbooks prepared under the direction of the Historical Section of the Foreign Office - no 90' [54] (69/148)
The record is made up of 1 volume (69 folios). It was created in 1919. 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
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54
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS [No. GO
hands of Turks, and reliable statistics of cost are not
available. As the building of the line progressed, the
Government employed more and more soldiers in the
work of construction, and these received their ordinary
pay from the War Office, although extra pay, contract
premiums, &c., were^ disbursed from the Hejaz fund.
No separate statistics are available for the Arabian
section of the Hejaz Railway. For the total length of
the line (1,523 miles) the gross receipts in 1911-12 were
£254,581, and in 1912-13 £268,178. The greatest profits
were obtained in the Haifa-Deraa section, and any
estimate based on the total receipts would be very mis
leading for the Arabian portion, where conditions are
abnormal, and profits could hardly be expected.
Pilgrims' ticket cost only 365. for the five days
journey from Damascus to Medina, whereas by caravan
the journey would cost about £45 and take two months.
Voluntary contributions fell off after 1908, and the
European engineers and other employees were gradu
ally dismissed, whereupon the locomotives rapidly
deteriorated.
A narrow-gauge railway has recently been con
structed from Aden to Sheikh Othman for military
purposes; the cost is given as nearly £8,500, and re
ceipts in 1916-17 were £2,000.
Possibilities of Extension. —Three extensions of the
Hejaz Railway have been projected :—
(1) Medina—Mecca. This formed part of the
original plan. The distance covered would be about
280 miles, and the cost was estimated at about £950,000.
Two routes were considered, one to the south following
meridian 40, which was the shorter, but was considered
to be impracticable on account of the engineering diffi
culties outside Medina, and the other to the south
west, via Rabuk, in which the chief obstacle was
shifting sand. Construction was begun at both Rabuk
and Medina, but was abandoned.
(2) Ma'an—Akaba. This extension would enable
Egyptian pilgrims to profit by the Hejaz line, but would
About this item
- Content
This volume contains information on the geography, political history and economic conditions of Arabia and was published by the Historical Section of the Foreign Office in April 1919.
It is divided into four sections: 'Geography Physical and Political'; 'Political History'; 'Political Conditions' and 'Economic Conditions'. There is an Appendix, containing tables regarding trade in Aden, Muscat and Bahrein, 1909-1917.
There is a map 'Sketch Map of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Arabia', compiled by the War Office on June 1914.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (69 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the first folio with text, on number 1, and ends on the map on a sleeve on the inside back cover, on number 70.
Pagination: There is also an original pagination, iv-vi, 2-127.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'Arabia. Handbooks prepared under the direction of the Historical Section of the Foreign Office - no 90' [54] (69/148), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/E85, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023512781.0x000046> [accessed 16 April 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/E85
- Title
- 'Arabia. Handbooks prepared under the direction of the Historical Section of the Foreign Office - no 90'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1:6, 1:130, 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