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The record is made up of 1 volume (76 folios). It was created in Feb 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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
4
GEOGRAPHY
[No. 92
gravel, clothed with grass in spring. The country in
the region of the Zabs has a fertile soil.
The lower hill-country, east of Kifri, Kirkuk, Altun
Keupri, and Erbil, consists either of rolling downs or
of lines of rocky heights in which sandstone pre
dominates. In spring the downs and valleys have much
grass on them. Between this region and the higher
ranges are the well-watered upland plains of Sulei
manie and Rania.
Along the Persian frontier is the high mountain
country of southern Kurdistan. It is well watered by
numerous streams flowing through deep valleys or
gorges into the Lesser Zab. Central Kurdistan is the
most difficult section of the mountain barrier that
divides Mesopotamia from Armenia and north-western
Persia. The mountains rise to heights of 11,000 to
14,000 ft., their sides are generally barren and sparsely
wooded; the valleys and lower slopes contain patches
of cultivable ground.
The plain of the Jezireh is bounded on the north by
the Jebel Tur or Tur Abdin plateau (east of Mardin),
and by the hill-country which has its centre and highest
point in the Karaja (Qarajeh) Dagh. On the western
side of the plateau there is a depression, which affords
an important line of communication between Diarbekr
on the north and the great Mesopotamian plain. The
soil of the Jebel Tur, though much overlaid with
stones, is often fertile; but water is scarce in summer.
The least stony and best-watered part of the plateau
is the north-western, towards Diarbekr.
The country bordering the middle Euphrates valley
on the west is arid desert in its southern part, and
becomes gradually less arid towards the north.
Coast
Mesopotamia touches the sea only on a narrow front
at the head of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
. Desert, marsh, and
inundation make the coast difficult of access from the
land, Shallows and mud-banks obstruct approach
About this item
- Content
This volume is a confidential handbook on Mesopotamia prepared under the direction of the Historical Section of the Foreign Office, dated February 1919. There is a table of contents which includes the following chapters:
- I: 'Geography Physical and Political', including 'Position and Frontiers', 'Surface, Coast and River Systems', 'Climate', 'Sanitary Conditions', 'Race and Language' and 'Population';
- II: 'Political History', including 'Chronological Summary', 'Introduction', 'Early period of Turkish Occupation, 1638-1834', 'Later period of Turkish Occupation, 1834-1914', and 'Commercial Developments';
- III: 'Social and Political Conditions', including 'Religious', 'Political', 'Public Education' and 'General Observations';
- IV: 'Economic Conditions', including 'Means of Communication', 'Industry', 'Commerce', 'Finance' and 'General Remarks'.
There is also an appendix which includes tables of 'Exports to Principal Countries from Baghdad', 'Imports from Principal Countries to Baghdad', 'Principal Exports from Basra' and 'Principal Imports to Basra'. This is followed by a section entitled 'Authorities' which is a bibliography of references used for the preparation of the volume. This section is divided into 'Historical' (including 'Confidential Sources'), 'Economic' ('Official' and 'General') and 'Maps'. There is a pocket at the back of the volume to house maps, but there are no maps present.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (76 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Pagination: The volume contains an original printed pagination sequence.
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the 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.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'Mesopotamia' [7v] (14/152), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C190, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023514036.0x00000f> [accessed 2 August 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/C190
- Title
- 'Mesopotamia'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:75v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence