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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.
Mesopotamiaj
COAST
O
trom the Gulf. The bar at the mouth of the Shatt el-
Arab needs dredging to make it passable at all tides
by large ocean-going steamers. West of the Shatt el-
Arab the Khor Zobeir, which runs up into the desert
towards Basra, has fairly deep water for a part of its
length; but its approaches from land and sea, its con
figuration and dimensions, appear to make it unsuit
able for regular use as a harbour.
Hiver System
The Euphrates and Tigris drain the Armenian table
land, the western side of the Persian plateau, the hill
country of northern Mesopotamia, and the Mesopo-
tamian plains. Lhe two rivers unite at Kurna into a
single stream, which reaches the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
under
the name of the Shatt el-Arab.
The volume of water in the Euphrates and Tigris
varies considerably at different periods of the year
The great increase during certain months is caused by
rainfall and melting snow in the highlands of Armenia,
Kurdistan, and Persia. I he low-water se&son may be
said to last from July to November, the high-water
season from December to June. Both rivers, and
especially the Tigris, are liable to rise in sudden and
violent spates, ajid bring down a great quantity of
sediment in the high-water season.
The Euphrates between Feluja and Diwaniya
flows at a higher level than the Tigris between Bagh
dad and Kut el-Amara, and the country between the
rivers in north-western Irak is therefore flooded
mainly from the Euphrates. Just below Museyib (70
miles by river below Eeluja) the Euphrates divides
into two large branches, called the Shatt Hindie and
the Shatt Hilla, which join again 110 miles further
down near Samawa: Between 1865 and 1890 the main
stream shifted from the eastern (Hilla) branch to the
western (Hindie). After several unsuccessful at
tempts to check the process, which was threatening to
dry up the Hilla branch altogether, the new Hindie
barrage and the Hilla regulator were constructed
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' [8r] (15/152), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C190, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023514036.0x000010> [accessed 3 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