'Mesopotamia' [‎20r] (39/152)

MeBopotamia ]
NAVIGATION
20
tamia was begun by the ships of the East India
Company in the early part of the seventeenth century;
the continued navigation by British vessels of Meso
potamia n waters has been responsible for the develop
ment of British trade and influence, for the measure of
improvement eft'ected in the economic condition oi the
country, and, in a large degree, for whatever has been
accomplished in the way of the suppression of lawless
ness and the establishment of security of traffic.
In 1639 the East India Company made their lirst
attempt to trade with Basra; and Bntish ships navi
gated the Tigris and Euphrates throughout the
eighteenth century. No opposition on the part of the
local authorities is recorded; on the contrary, the assist
ance of the Company's warships was frequently sought
and obtained by the Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. of Baghdad in his opera
tions against Arabs and Persians. From 1820 or
earlier Government vessels, under the British flag, were
attached to the British Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. at Baghdad; and in
1840, after Colonel Chesney's expedition' to Mesopo
tamia, a British armed flotilla of four vessels was
formed for use on the Tigris and Euphrates. Under
the command of Lieutenant Lynch, of the Indian Navy,
this flotilla navigated and surveyed the rivers, assisted
in maintaining order, and regularly carried the British
mails up the Tigris to Baghdad. 2
For many years previously. British merchant
vessels, under the British flag, had plied be
tween Basra and Baghdad; and an agreement exe
cuted by the Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. in 1823 3 indicates that the usage
1 1835-37. This expedition was undertaken for the purpose
of surveying the route, in order to test whether steam navigation
could be established via the Euphrates for the conveyance of the
Indian mails from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
2 Three of the vessels were withdrawn in 1842, but the remain
ing steamer continued to carry on its duties as before without
restrictions.
3 This agreement stated that " no tax, except one previously
well defined and arranged, should be levied on boats the property
of British subjects or prot^g^s; such, for instance, as pass between
Basra and Baghdad."