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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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78
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
[No. 92
miles of date groves; north of the town they
become less continuous until at Beled only
isolated palms are met with.
(3) On the Euphrates Kufa, Kefl, and Kerbela
are centres of date-growing, and so is the coun
try watered by the Dujeil Canal. Groves alsu
occur in patches as far north as Rawa, opposite
Ana. The date groves of the Euphrates have
suffered from the drying-up of the Hilla branch
of the river.
The Mesopotamian date is inferior in quality to
those of Egypt and Algiers, but varieties from these
countries could he introduced into Mesopotamia. The
finest are said to come from Mendali, near the Persian
frontier, where satisfactory irrigation is obtained by a
canal taking off from the Ab-i-Gunjir. Dates are not
only the staple diet of the Arab, but are used as fodder
for cattle and for the manufacture of a native spirit
called " araq. "
The packing is done by women and desert Arabs in
temporary huts built along the river banks. The fruit
is packed damp, and evaporation causes the crystal
lization of the sugar present ; none is added. Wood
for date-boxes is imported.
The total crop in 1913, if we estimate it as being
twice the export, would be nearly 128,000 tons. The
average crop is probably about 91,500 tons; much
higher figures have been given, but these are probably
over-estimates.
The date palm supplies timber for building and fur
niture, but it is difficult to fell, and too valuable to be
freely cut. The foot stumps furnish fuel and fibre
from which cordage is made, while the leaves are used
for matting, beds, and thatch. Dry branches are also
used as firewood.
Rice of coarse quality is grown in large and increas
ing quantities in Irak, where its importance is second
only to that of the date palm. It is also grown, but to
a considerably smaller extent, in Upper Mesopotamia.
As has already been said 1 , rice is grown on the lowest
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' [44v] (88/152), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C190, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023514036.0x000059> [accessed 23 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