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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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
Mesopotamia]
MANUFACTURE
91
tamia has no manufacturing industries in which steam
is used; indeed the only other steam machinery devoted
to industry is that used in the Government flour-mill,
the ice
factory
An East India Company trading post.
at Baghdad, and the wool presses at
Baghdad, Basra, Kut, and Amara. The chief manu
factures and handicrafts are as follows:—
Boat-building is carried on at many places on the
two rivers, notably at Kale Sale, Shatra el-Muntifik,
Nasrie, Suk esh-Sheyukh, and Hit ; at Hit a branch of
the bitumen industry is the caulking of boats.
Distilling is done on a small scale at Qarareh, on the
Tigris near Baghdad. The spirit produced is called
araq, and is obtained from dates, other ingredients
being aniseed, mastic, cardamoms, and orange-peel.
Some distilling is also done at Hilla, but the produce is
said to be inferior.
Metal-workin.g in gold, silver, and copper is carried
on in all the principal towns of Mesopotamia, the
Sabian gold and silversmiths of Suk esh-Sheyukh,
Amara, and Shatra el-Muntifik being the best. At
Amara a speciality is made of inlaying silver with
antimony, while Kerbela is chiefly engaged in filigree
work and the engraving of mother-of-pearl.
Pottery and brick-waking. —Earthenware drinking
vessels and water coolers are made at Baghdad,
and tiles at Baghdad, Kerbela, and Kasimain. Rough
bricks are made all over Mesopotamia, and are either
used unburnt or burnt in rough wooden kilns. Sir
John Jackson found the native method of making
bricks to be the best and cheapest when his firm was
constructing the Hindie barrage.
Silk and other textiles. —Seventy years ago the culti
vation of the silkworm was one of the most important
industries in Irak, but the industry suffered from a
long period of depression, and only in recent years has
a revival taken place. The most important centre of
the cultivation of silkworms is Bakuba, and before
the war broke out the cultivation of mulberry trees in
that district was extending. The quality of the eggs
and cocoons produced is very high.
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' [51r] (101/152), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C190, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023514036.0x000066> [accessed 9 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