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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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74
ECONOMIC CON 1)1 T IONS
[No. 92
the year 1258. Under the Turks both irrigation and
river conservancy have been neglected, and tract after
tract of once fertile land has fallen out of use, until
to-day only about l/25th of the country is cultivated.
The richest soil is found in the alluvial plains of Irak,
but only 5 per cent, of the cultivable area of Basra
vilayet is now tilled. Great permanent swamps have
been formed, and, even where the swamps are not per
manent, the evaporation of flood-waters has left in the
soil deposits of salt, which are detrimental to agricul
ture, whilst the lack of irrigation has turned thousands
of acres of fertile land into desert. German writers
have variously estimated the sabad, or rich alluvial soil
of Mesopotamia, at from 2.3 to 60 million acres in
extent; but these are probably over-estimates; in any
case, from 2^ to nearly 5 million acres are continually
flooded.
Of the other causes which have contributed to the
decay of the country the following are the most im
portant :—
(a) In the days of her"prosperity Mesopotamia was
the centre of trade between the East and the
West. The course of trade, however, was
altered by the discovery of the route by the Cape
of Good Hope, and subsequently by the construc
tion of the Suez Canal, and Mesopotamia is
to-day in a backwater.
(b) No attempt has been made until quite recently to
develop adequate internal communications.
Turkey has been quite apathetic about the needs -
of the country in this respect, and even as late
as 1912 was placing every possible difficulty in
the way of an adequate steam transport service
on the Tigris.
(c) The absence of a Government strong enough to
prevent the feuds between neighbouring tribes,
and incursions of Kurds from the hills, has
created a sense of insecurity fatal to the develop
ment of agriculture. The vagaries of the rivers
also contributed to this feeling, because districts
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' [42v] (84/152), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C190, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023514036.0x000055> [accessed 15 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