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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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[No. 92
IV. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
(A) MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
(1) Internal
(a) Roads, Paths, avd Tracks
Mesopotamia abounds in tracks, but before the war
had very few roads, and those of an indifferent kind,
metalled only in small sections. Only upon the trade
routes radiating from Mosul and Baghdad was wheeled
traffic general, and even upon these much of the trans
port was carried on by means of camels, mules, donkeys,
and, to some extent, baggage ponies.
In Irak or Lower Mesopotamia, when the Tigris and
Euphrates are in flood, the roads and tracks are, gener
ally speaking, impassable, but this condition of affairs
is less serious than might be supposed, because it is at
the time of flood that navigation on the rivers and
canals is at its best. During the low-water season
wheeled traffic can use the roads between Baghdad and
Kut, Hilla, Kerbela, and Nejef.
Away from the rivers, the main difficulties of move
ment are due to the desert and waterless character of
most of the country. Though the going is often rough
and (after rain) heavy, the ground is usually more or
less passable for wheels in the plains and rolling
country of the Jezireh, the Syrian Desert, and the area
between the Tigris and the mountains on the east.
The main routes of Mesopotamia are those used
either for trade or by pilgrims visiting the different
shrines situated in the Delta, of which the most impor
tant are those at Kerbela, Nejef, and Baghdad. The
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' [29v] (58/152), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C190, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023514036.0x00003b> [accessed 26 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