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'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. I' [‎323] (342/1050)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (523 folios). It was created in 1917. 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. .

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BAGHDAD
323
about 1^200, the Catholic Armenians 1,000, Protestants 200 but these numbers have
probably increased during the interval, especially as Christians from northern Meso
potamia have recently been moving into Iraq to escape the Kurds. The Roman Catho*
lies, Syrian Catholics, and Catholic Armenians are closely connected and are under
a single bishop (Bishop of Babylon, who resides at Baghdad). These Catholics are said to
have increased in numbers in recent .years, and may considerably exceed the totals given
above. The Christians are mostly Christians by descent: there are few recent converts.
The followers of the different religions and sects are distinguished by characteristic
clothes.
Posts and Telegraphs.—Vj) till 1912, the European mails were sent via Damascus,
a distance of rather more than 500 miles. This journey was generally completed by
the camel post riders in 9| or 10 days. The route was then changed and the .mails were
sent via Aleppo. A letter from Baghdad usually took about 18 days'to reach London by
this route. Mails for India came via the Tigris, Shatt-al- 'Arab, and the Persain Gulf.
Baghdad was connected by telegraph with Constantinople and with the submarine
cable at Fao. There was also a line which ran waFallujahand Dair-az-Zor, to Aleppo.
The telegraph service was unreliable and often interrupted.
Bridges. —There is only one bridge connecting the eastern and western portions of the
city. It is 240 yards long and consists of 24 wooden pontoons, moored both to the bank
and to buoys in mid-stream. The roadway is fit for any use and is protected by a parapet
or rail, but the steep slopes at each end make it difficult for horses and (especially at low
water) for wheeled vehicles heavily laden. A section of three boats near the right bank
can be swung downstream to let steamers or masted vessels through : the bridge can
also be opened at the other end. In particularly high floods the whole bridge is removed.
Flood?. —Heavy floods bring the water close round the city. Attention to the various
hands prevents any serious flooding of the surrounding country, but failing such atten
tion all the country in the vicinity of the city is liable to flood after the beginuing of
March. To avoid country subject to flooding it is necessary to go upstream as far ai
Sindiyah on the left bank and as far as Bal d on the right bank. From Baiad the edge
of the higher ground swings in a rough curve to the head of the Saqlawiyah canal on the
Euphrates, passing about 15 miles westward of Lake 5 Aqar Kuf.
Baghdad Railway. —The line is single and has a gauge of 4' 8J''. The Baghdad-Mosul
section runs along the right or western bank of the Tigris and as long ago as 1914 was
completed as far as Samarrah, a distance of 73| miles. From Baghdad to Samaichah
the line is good and a speed of 30 mil s an hour can be attained with safety; between
here and Balad the line is only medium and. thereafter, bad. From Is tabu I at onwards
it is very bad. The stations are as follows :—•
A Turkish troop train took 5 hours to do the Journey from Baghdad to Samarrah in
1916. The Baghdad station is situated of a mile from the right bank of the river
below the boat bridge and south-east of the house that, under Turkish rule, was 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. . The l.'ne runs out of Baghdad on an embankment about 20 feet
high, over many culverts which are too low for cavalry to pass under. There is a level
crossing to the west of the station. At Samarrah there is a small station with a platform
of two or three trucks' length. At the intervening stations there are small cabins, but
no platforms as yet. The rolling stock on this section was reported, in 1915, to consist
of 7 passenger and 4 shunting engines, 60 ballast trucks, 40 horse boxes,' and 160
trucks. There are two telegraph lines between Baghdad and Samarrah one by the
railway and the other distant.
Miles from Baghdad.
0
Kame of Station.
Baghdad
Kadhimain
Tajiyah
Mashahidah
Samaichah
Balad
Istabulat
Samarrah
51
m
251-
38
49|
61
73f
2t2
r

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Content

Volume I of III of the Gazetteer of Arabia. The Gazetteer is alphabetically-arranged and this volume contains entries A through to J.

The Gazetteer is an alphabetically-arranged compendium of the tribes, clans and geographical features (including towns, villages, lakes, mountains and wells) of Arabia that is contained within three seperate bound volumes. The entries range from short descriptions of one or two sentences to longer entries of several pages for places such as Iraq and Yemen.

A brief introduction states that the gazetteer was originally intended to deal with the whole of Arabia, "south of a line drawn from the head of the Gulf of 'Aqabah, through Ma'an, to Abu Kamal on the Euphrates, and to include Baghdad and Basrah Wilayats" and notes that before the gazetteer could be completed its publication was postponed and that therefore the three volumes that now form this file simply contain "as much of the MSS. [manuscript] as was ready at the time". It further notes that the contents have not been checked.

Extent and format
1 volume (523 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: This volume's foliation system is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. I' [‎323] (342/1050), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/16/2/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023909212.0x00008f> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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