'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. IV. 1917' [‎231r] (466/530)

VAN—VEIRAN SHEHR—ZAKHO 457
(iv) To Amadiyeh. (See lloute 90 c.)
(v) To Shernakh. Eough hill-track by Hazil valley.
(vi) To Awrakh. Eough hill-track by Hazil valley.
(The Khabur Su is navigable for rafts below Zakho in high water
until the end of June.)
General Description. —Zakho is built on a rocky island measuring
some 800 by 400 yds. in the Khabur Su, which above the town is a
mountain stream, and below it spreads out through several cbannels
in a shingle bed 400 yds. broad. The island is connected with the 1.
(southern) bank by a stone bridge with a 10-ft. roadway (see further,
p. 234), but this is said to be sometimes covered by the river in flood,
and the western part of the island is also subject to inundation. The
northern arm of the river was not bridged before the war, and is
unfordable until the end of June. For the stone bridge with 15-tt.
roadway some 2 m. up-stream of Zakho, see 90 a, m. t At
the E. end of the town, on a low cliff, is an old Kurdish castle, now
used as Government offices. It is an irregularly shaped building
of about 60 by 40 yds. The climate is good. , „ .,
It is reported that the spurs of the Jebel Abyadh, S. ot Zakho,
afford good positions for the defence of the Mosul road which crosses
the range by the Zakho pass. The range appears to be impassable
between this pass and its western end in the neighbourhood of
Derebun.
Supplies, —The soil of the Khabur valley is naturally fertile, and
there is said to be good cultivation in the neighbouring valleys,
where wheat, barley, rice, tobacco, and many kinds of fruit are
grown. But in the years preceding the war the district had sufferec
much from Kurdish depredations. There is fair grazing and abundant
water in the Khabur valley, where also good open camping grounds
are to be found. Coal mines, which in 1903 were unworked, are
reported in the hills N. of Zakho at Marsis, at Harbol, and near
Sheranis. The quality of coal is believed to be good.
Inhabitants. —The population of Zakho includes Kurds, Chaldaeans,
Jews, and a few Arabs. The Christians in the neighbouring villages
have suffered much of late from the Kurds.
Administration and Authorities. —Zakho is the head-quarters of
a Kam under Mosul. Before the war the Turks maintained here a
post of military police mounted on mules. The piincipa person
at Zakho, who may discharge the functions of the Kaimmakam, is
apparently the hereditary Kurdish Agha, belonging o e >. mam
tribe.