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'Turkish Arabia: Being an Account of an Official Tour in Babylonia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia, 1886-87' [‎23v] (46/72)

The record is made up of 1 volume (35 folios). It was created in 1888. It was written in English and Persian. 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. .

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30
along with the then Governor of Mosul. On that occasion no reassurances could prevent
its inhabitants from standing on the defensive. Two of the Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. 's foremost horsemen
were shot dead, and several others wounded. Naturally this roused the old Turkish spirit
of massacre; but the Yazidi marksmen, taking to the mountain side, and checking every
attempt to close with them, ultimately made good their retreat. On revisiting Mih-ri-k&n
three years later the same distinguished traveller found it partly rebuilt, but, though glad
to welcome the Englishman, as rebellious as ever against the Government. In December
1886 circumstances had greatly altered. At the slightest alarm, said the Kaim Makam, its
people would set fire to it, and flee with their valuables to the clefts of the mountain. But
happily all cause for this is absent. Nearly the whole community, essentially Yazidi with
a mere sprinkling of Muslim, came out to meet the Osmanli governor, the headman, Hassu
or Esau, kissing his hand, and entering familiarly into conversation with him. Numbers of
children did the same. One of these 9 little Hassu, on a leather purse with money in it
being given to him, took out a few pieces and handed back the purse—a test not to
be safely tried everywhere with lads of his age. While breakfast was being cooked
elsewhere by the women, Hassu's house attracted by dozens at a time the male population.
The neatness and scrupulous cleanliness of the abode were pleasant to see; and as in all
Yazidi houses, the clay walls, instead of being whitewashed, were cut out into quaint reces
ses, something between dovecots and Japanese cupboards. Tables and chairs were as un
known as knives and forks. Among the natives present, strange to say, was one who
is to be seen in Bombay every winter as regularly as the Government, an old jambdz, or
horsedealer, not Yazidi, but Muslim, who even then was thinking of the Lucknow Civil
Service Cup, and that he might get R 1,500 in India for a pony bought the other day
for 20, if it would pass the standard. Thus does trade not alone go round the world,
but penetrate to its inmost places. Frugal, hardy, and hospitable the Yazidis evidently
are, as their wives seem modest, laborious, and obedient; but no one can say that they
are truthful—a virtue everywhere late in coming. With a Christian guest on one side o£
the room, and a Muslim one on the other, one-half their talk went to show that they
esteemed the New Testament, the other that they possessed a modified Kuran, which, a&
they failed to see, could not be a Kuran at all. Of the brazen image of a bird* which
they honour in their secret assemblies, and on certain occasions send out as a kind of
mystical token or insignia, nothing would induce them to speak. In order to go into
matters of this kind with them, one would need to be a master of their Kurdi patois, and
live long among them. After all, such topics belong, it may be hoped, merely to the past.
The question is, what is to be their future ? That their condition has greatly improved
under the modern policy of the Ottoman Government the facts just mentioned show.
Forty years ago, on the ground that, being of no recognised non-Muslim sect, they must
necessarily be included, like the Druses and Ansyri of Lebanon, among the Porte's Mu-
hammadan subjects, the conscription regulations were enforced among them in the severest
and most unbending manner, while at the same time they lay at the mercy of persecutr
ing or tyrannical local Pashas; and their children, as those of " infidels," formed lawful
objects of public sale. All this is now changed—thanks very much to British influence at
Constantinople, What remains is, not their ignorance only, but their prejudice against
receiving knowledge. Some of those having had good opportunities of judging have
taken but a gloomy view of their capabilities in this respect. Not to dispute with experts ;
it has certainly to be admitted that the Yazidis are still too rude and backward for it to
strike them that if a rivalry as regards the cure of their souls were to be set up between,
say, Lambeth and the Vatican, mundane advantages might therefrom accrue to them. But
it is less clear that if teachers were to visit them who knew how to relieve their bodily
pains, and could also teach them to irrigate new spots, and breed better cattle, the seeds of
other knowledge might not gradually be sown among them. At all events the field is
open. Rome has hardly afe yet done more than survey it. Islam in general contents
itself with contemning them, and the Osmanli with taxing them. How many Yazidis
could now be mustered is uncertain. They are met with, it is said, in the north of Syria,
and eastward as far as Persia, In several of the villages round Mosul, notably Bahzani,
and Bahshika, they are numerous. In all the hamlets of the Sinjir range, there may be
* This they call " Malik Taus," literally, the " Lord Peacock.' Layard and one or two other Europeans have,
as a favour, been allowed to interview it. Its resemblance to any known bird is but slight; and it is described as
more like an Indian or Mexican idol. In the theological nomenclature of the Yazidis the power from which all evil
proceeds is called " Malik T4us," and of this principle they would appear to have "made unto themselves " a brazen
image, which if they do not actually worship, they go very near it. Not only are figures of birds among the most
ancient of religious symbols, but they seem to die the hardest. Long after the images of calves and serpents have
been eliminated, those of birds have survived.

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Content

This volume is a printed account of the official winter tour of 1886-87 in Babylonia, Assyria and Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) undertaken by Colonel William Tweedie, Bengal Staff Corps, Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. (Iraq) and His Majesty's Consul-General at Baghdad. The purpose of the tour was to visit the Vice-Consulate of Mosul in Upper Mesopotamia and the Consulate at Bussorah [Basra], as well as Indian subjects residing in Karbala and Najaf, the two centres of Shiah pilgrimage. In addition, the author identifies it as an opportunity to see the inhabitants and features of Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. more generally (folio 7). The report was published by the British Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. Baghdad on 24 May 1887, and printed by the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta, India in 1888. This copy was presented by the author to George Curzon (see inscription on folio 2v).

The volume contains a table of contents (folio 5), list of maps and illustations (folio 6), and note on Arabic and Persian transliteration and names (folio 6v). The volume includes the following sections: 'Section I.- Marching in Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. '; 'Section II.- Transport'; 'Section III.- Equipment'; 'Section IV.- From Tigris to Euphrates'; 'Section V.- Across Al Jazîrah [al-Jazīrah]'; 'Section VI.- Localised Bedouins east of Tigris'; 'Section VII.- Through Al Hawîja [al-Ḥawījah] to Kirkûk'; 'Section VIII.- Kirkûk to Sulimânîa [Sulaymānīyah]'; 'Section IX.- Sulimânîa to Mosul'; 'Section X.- Mosul to Sinjâr Hills', including details about the Yazîdîs [Yazidis]; 'Section XI.- Sinjâr to Der on the Euphrates'; 'Section XII.- Right bank of Euphrates, from Der to Rumâdi [al-Ramādī]'; 'Section XIII.- Southern Shâmîya'; 'Section XIV.- Karbalâ and Najaf'; and 'Section XV.- Baghdad to Bussorah and back, by steamer', including details on Arab coast of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Muhamarah.

Illustrations include: 'Resident's Camp, Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. , 1886' (folio 7v); 'Mule gear equally for draught and pack' (folio 8); 'Arab pâlân [ pālān , pack-saddle]' and 'Persian pâlân' (folio 9); 'Arab Camel-rider: and Saddle' and 'Horseshoe of Arabs, Persians, Turkomans, Afghans, and others' (folio 9v); 'Picqueting chain and peg (forefront)' and 'Arab and Persian paiwand' (folio 10); 'Arab rashma [ rashmah ]: including (1) rashma proper, or (iron) nose-band: (2) idhâr [ ‘idhār ] , or headstall: and (3) rasn [ rasan ] (lit. rope) or rein' (folio 10v); and 'Flying camp: Sinjâr to Karbala (all three tents Baghdad-made)' (folio 24).

Maps include: 'Map Accompanying Account by Resident, Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. , of his Winter-Tour, 1886-87' (folio 4v); 'Sketch of Map of Route from Hît to Tikrît crossing lower portion of Al-Jazîra' (folio 14v); 'Mosul Pashâlik, 1887' and 'Plan of Mosul Town (After Capt. F. Jones), 1852' (folio 18v); and 'Straightest route (across Syrian desert) for camel riders only, between Baghdad and Mediterranean, as followed by late (Consular) dromedary post' (folio 27).

Extent and format
1 volume (35 folios)
Arrangement

This volume contains a page of contents (folio 5) which references page numbers.

Physical characteristics

Condition: Folio 34 includes annotation (likely by Curzon) and a section of text has been cut out and removed.

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. Pagination: The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English and Persian in Latin and Arabic script
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'Turkish Arabia: Being an Account of an Official Tour in Babylonia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia, 1886-87' [‎23v] (46/72), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/384, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023643185.0x000030> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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