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'Turkish Arabia: Being an Account of an Official Tour in Babylonia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia, 1886-87' [‎34v] (66/72)

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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m
■supposition—the corresponding department at Baghdad is interested in conniving at,
rather than checking,its malpractices, there is no official in all Asiatic Turkey vested with
powers of inspection or interference.
The lately appointed Wali of Bussorah is an official of the antique type, whose
experiences are mostly of the Hijaz. The functionary on whom chiefly perhaps depend
the commercial interests of the town is, as has been seen, the Superintendent of Customs,
There is also at Bussorah, as at Baghdad, a semi-religious (Sunnite) functionary of some
importance styled Nakib,* in origin at least questor and registrar of the pedigrees of all
claiming to be Saiyids, or descendants of the Prophet. The Baghdad and Bussorah
Nakibs respectively hold hereditarily the far more lucrative situations of "custodier"
[mutawalli] of the tomb of two famous awlia (pi. of wali) or saints.
The Baghdad stationaire Comet being suited for rivers only, an attempt was made
to obtain from Bushire a sea-going steamer for the purpose
Arab Coast. 0 £ skirting the Arab littoral of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. from
Bussorah, past the harbour of Kuwait,t island of Bahrain, and districts of Hasa and
A1 Katr (seaports A1 Katif and Ujair or Ukair) to Cape Mussendom, places either
directly or indirectly subject to the Porte, or else held by independent Arab chiefs. But
as it happened, no such vessel was just then available and this purpose too has had to
stand over for another time.
As far as Muhamrah only, on the eastern or Persian bank of the Shattu'l Arab, about
twenty-two miles from Bussorah, the Comet was taken
before her head was turned towards Baghdad again.
Here was tapped territory owning the sovereignty of the Shah of Persia, but administered
in the main by native, or more strictly speaking immigrant Arab,Chiefs. Shekh Mizal,
son of the late well known Hajji Jabir Khan, and head at the present time of the K^b
Arabs, a nation rather than a tribe, partly settled in villages, partly nomadic, and fast
becoming Persianised, did the honours of Muhamrah, a rising town commercially, lying
close to where the navigable Karun, after bisecting the so-called " Arabistan," falls by one
mouth into the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , by another into the great Bussorah shatt, or river.
The return trip from Muhamrah to Baghdad in Her Majesty's Indian Marine
Steamer Comet having formed subject of separate reports, these too voluminous notes
here come to an end. ^
* Ab = excavating; whence prying into, or scrutinizing.
I Diminutive (formed, by the Arabs) ab kot, or kut — z. building, especially fort; a waif, as fat as can be traced
from India ; and perhaps our cot. Kuwait is also called Grane t corruption of Arabic kirn = cornu ; the bay being
horn -shaped. In all the gulf there is no port having a more thriving commerce, hardier sailors, or better craft
than Kuwait. As a rule the best Arab horses taken to India are those brought from the interior for shipment at
Kuwait. Its horse-dealers., if any at all, buy from the Bedouin, instead of making up their strings in towns.

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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' [‎34v] (66/72), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/384, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023643185.0x000044> [accessed 25 August 2026]

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