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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.
MesopotamiaJ
CURRENCY 123
sterling was 110 lurkish lira=£100 steiling. Banking
accounts were kept in liras (100 piastres = 1 lira), but
for business transactions the number ot piastres m tiie
lira varied, 1031 being usually reckoned m wholesale
transactions and 108 in retail.
Small coins were very scarce, and were practically
confined to revenue purposes, so that it was absolutely
necessary to employ the silver and copper coinage ot
other countries in giving change m bazaar purchaset,,
although such coins were nominally prohibited. re
foreign coins chiefly used were the 1 ersian kran,
Indian rupee, and the sovereign, the rates ol which
were fixed weekly according to supply and demand.
\t Basra the Persian coinage was even more in ube
than at Baghdad, and Indian silver was also current,
though occasionally impounded under the regulations.
Certain fictitious coins were also used as units ot com
putation in particular classes ol transactions, with a
view to lessening the inconvenience caused by tluctua-
tions in the value of actual coins.
Since the British occupation Indian currency has
been established in the country, the exchange o e
lira being provisionally fixed at Rs. 13-8, the rurkiy 1
coinage being accepted in payment ol revenue.
Hras received were kept in deposit, as there were o -
vious objections to permitting Turkish coins to circu
late; and at the present time the circulation ot Indian
coins and notes is on much the same footing in the occu
pied part of Mesopotamia as in India. Indian notes
have been absorbed in large quantities the rate ot ex
change is maintained at a regular level, and merchants
are thereby enabled to work on a narrower margin ot
profit. New notes are put into circulation as tre-
quently as possible, and every effort is made to meet
promptly a demand for notes or cash when it arises.
Merchants are in the habit of sending their remittances
by means of notes, and at one time notes were at 1 per
cent, premium at Amara. Every effort is made o pro
vide sufficient quantities of small change by issuing
packets of mixed change as part ot rupee payments.
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' [67r] (133/152), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C190, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023514036.0x000086> [accessed 25 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