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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
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14
GEOGRAPHY
[No. 92
the Kurdish foothills from Altun Keupri down to
Kifri.
Both in the plains and the hill-country of upper
Mesopotamia nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes cir
culate on their yearly rounds.
Towns
The position of the chief town of Irak, Baghdad
(200,000), 1 is eminently favourable to the existence ot
a great city. On Baghdad converge naturally, in con
formity with physical features, all the lines of com
munication which enter Irak from the north-west, the
north, and the north-east; to the south there is easy
communication with the thickly-populated Kerbela
Hilla region; and lastly there is the waterway of the
Tigris leading from the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, and navigable
up to Baghdad by river steamers. For its food sup
plies Baghdad can draw easily both on the Euphrates
to the south and on the Bakuba—Khalis canal area to
the north.
Basra (80,000) is the port at the southern gate ol
Mesopotamia; ocean-going steamers can ascend to it
by the Shatt el-Arab. Kerbela and Nejef (50,000 and
40,000) are pilgrim-centres which attract Shiahs from
all parts of the Mohammedan world, but chiefly from
Persia and India : Nejef is also the starting-point of
a pilgrim-route to Mecca, and both Kerbela and Nejef,
situated on the edge of the Arabian desert, are markets
for the Bedouin. Samarra (3,000) is a place of
pilgrimage for Shiahs, but much less important than
Kerbela and Nejef. Of the other towns, some are
markets along the Euphrates, Tigris, or Shatt el-Hai,
the centres of fertile districts, or situated at the junc
tion or diverging-point of waterways; others are
strung along the great Baghdad—Kermanshah road ;
and others are in oases.
1 The figures given for the population of towns must be taken
as guesses, giving perhaps some rough indication of their size;
they may often be wide of the truth by some thousands.
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' [12v] (24/152), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C190, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023514036.0x000019> [accessed 25 July 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