'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. I' [‎868] (929/1050)

868
IRAQ
The true nomads whose homes are in 'Iraq are far from numerous*; and they mostly
belong to tribes of which the bulk is fixed or only semi-nomadic.
On full consideration of all the acts the population of 'Iraq may be placed at 1,500,000
souls or slightly more, of whom only a very small proportion are wandering Bedouins.
" Urban" population and " mhan" life. —In approaching the 4 subject of races and
tribes among the people of 'Iraq, we may discard the distinction adopted above for
purposes of numerical calculation and adopt another more suitable to our new topic
one, namely, between "urban" and "rural" population. By "urban" population
are meant here not only the residents of towns, properly so called, but also those of per
manent villages ; the " rural " population is taken to consist of the semi-nomads already
mentioned, whose dwellings are huts or even tents, and of Bedouins pure and simple.
The urban population, in what follows below, is thus very far from being identical
with the " fixed " population above ; and similarly there is no correspondence between
the " nomadic " and " rural " populations.
The inhabitants of the towns and permanent villages, who thus form by themselves
a natural division of the people, may be subdivided according to race into Arabs, Persians,
Jews, Kurds, Chald scans, Armenians and Sabians, besides Asiatic and European
foreigners.
Arabs form the bulk of all the urban communities in 'Iraq with the two important
exceptions of Baghdad City and the towns of Karbala and Kadhimain : in the first of
these they are outnumbered by Jews, and in the other two by Persians. The distinc
tions of the urban Arabs among themselves are mainly religious and will be noticed
further on ; but a large proportion of them are descended from the rural tribes, dealt
with in a later paragraph, and to some extent preserve their characteristics. The Arab
of Iraq is not fanatical, but he is grasping in money matters and frequently overreaches
himself by the extravagance of his own demands; he labours also under a rooted disin
clination for hard work.
At Karbala Town, and at Kadhimain Town as well, Persians predominate in numbers
over all other races. There is a considerable Persian colony in Baghdad City and one-
eighth of the population of Basrah Town and a considerable proportion of that of Tawairij
are believed to be Persian ; Persians engaged in retail trade are found even in such minor
places as Rumaithah, 'Ali-al-Gharbi and Qal'at Salih.
The Jews are from every point of view an extremely important element in the
population, and in the city of Baghdad they are believed to outnumber the
Arabs. In 'Iraq, which contains the tombs of Ezra and Ezekiel and reaches to with
in a short distance of the tomb of Daniel, the Jews are surrounded by monuments
of the Captivity, and this may account for the exceptional bigotry and devotion to the
minutiae of their law which they here display. They are almost entirely engaged in trade
and money-lending, and many of them are altogether absorbed in these pursuits ; but
some of them are men of high and honourable character, in every way worthy of the
distinguished and responsible positions to which they not infrequently attain. Many
of them begin life as hawkers of stockings and such wares ; all marry young
and receive some capital at marriage from their fathers-in-law ; when the latter
are too poor to pay, the dowry or Mahr is subscribed by their neighbours. The trade
of Baghdad is passing every year more under Jewish control; and many Jews
now visit England, and some of them even reside there as business agents for partners
or relations. The native Christian merchants of Baghdad have mostly disappeared
during the last 15 years in consequence of Jewish competition, and already
Muhammadan merchants are taking Jews into partnership as a measure of self-
defence ; the Muhammadans, however, are still able to hold their own to some extent
in the up-country trade carried on from Baghdad. The leading native firms at Basrah
are Jewish also. Jews are found at various other places throughout the country such as
Amarah Town, where they have a synagogue and two rabbis ; Kut-al-Amarah, where
they have a synagogue; Nasiriyah, Saq-ash-Shuytikh, Hai, 'Ali-al-Gharbi and Qal'at
Salih. They venerate the tomb of Ezekiel at Kifl and manv of them are buried there.
. n <.1 - Ba fnn)y ay Conimission, already quoted, estimated the " nomads and semi-nomads "
t ^ ^ a i I ' an ? S 1036 1T 1 W^ayat of Basrah at over 1,000,000. In the case of Basrah
obsprwll haw h^pn I ?vf n ^Vi s of'Iraq; and in both Wilayats the semi-nomads, it will be
SnmiilSn Tn nn!? o f• y f ^mission) with the nomads and not (as in our estimate) with the fixed
CT?ess of the wohahlfnnmhprf C^missmn for fixed and nomadic population together are much in
exaggerated e^pt by the St SuU^bseTve^' the StrCnKths 0f BcdouiD tribe5 are a3 a rule 8rossl! '