'Gazetteer of Arabia Vol. I' [‎893] (954/1050)

'IKlQ
893 •
great demand at Baghdad and in the neighbourhood ; those of Qurnah, called kaclii-
yah or Batiyah, are famous for their lightness and can, it is said, be passed through
a finger-ring.
Jewellers are found in all the principal towns, and the Sabian gold and silver-smiths
of Suq-ash-Shuyukh, Shatrat-al-Muntafik and 'Amarah Towns are among the best;
the jewellers of 'Amarah have an art, possibly peculiar to themselves, of inalying silver
with antimony. Combs and small objects of ivory, wood and tortoise-shell are made
at Kadhimain, chiefly by Persians; and filigree work in the precious metals and
elaborate engraving on mother-of-pearl are executed at Karbala.
More solid industries are those of tanning and working leather, which have
their principal seat in Baghdad City and its suburbs. The tanneries are chiefly at
Mu'adhdham, where a large number of hands are employed in 40 establishments and
5,000 sheepskins and goatskins are turned out every week. At Kadhimain are similar
tanneries on a smaller scale. The leather, though only rough-tanned, finds a ready
sale in Europe. From local leather are made, at Baghdad and in Mu'adhdham, the
Yamanls or red and yellow shoes worn by Arabs and old fashioned Baghdadis of other
classes; also the slippers called Papush or Babuj and a kind of boot known as Masht,
the latter being a kind of yellow top-boot which is worn by old Muhammadan females.
The Baghdad coppersmiths are experts in their craft and make boilers, kettles, coffee
pots and large copper dishes.
House-building is understood in many places and the Juss or gypsum-mortar commonly
used is prepared in quantities at Mahmudlyah between Baghdad and Musaiyib and at
Zubair near Basrah. Encaustic or Kashi tiles are made by Persians, mostly at Karbala,
but also at Kadhimain and Baghdad. At Kadhimain are numerous good Persian painters
and decorators. The clay earthernware of Baghdad, very light-coloured and porous,
is exported to Basrah and other nearer places; the commonest articles are water-coolers
and filters called Hubbs often of large size, and Jarrahs or goblets.
Boats and canoes are built at Qal'at Salih, Shatrat-al-Muntafik, Suq-ash-Shuyukh and
other places.
Much of the' Araq or native spirit consumed in the Bahgdad and Basrah districts
is distilled at Qarah on the Tigris three miles from Baghdad; the basis of the spirit is
derived from Zahdi dates; aniseed, orange-peel, mastic and cardamoms are other
ingredients • there is also some distillation at Hillah, but the produce is said to be inferior.
Import trade hy land. —The import trade by land is chiefly on the Persian side, whence
gums, opium and carpets are brought in some quantity, also fruit including apples and
pears. Wheat also is obtained from Persia for local consumption in years of scarcity,
but not generally, except at Basrah, for exportation abroad. The most valuable of the
imported gums is gum tragacanth, which is handled in flake, not in powder, and is used
for the best varnishes; there is no gum Arabic, but a considerable trade is done in
anoher gum which exudes from the bitter-almond tree and was believed, until a few years
ago, to be insoluble. Samagh is the generic name in Arabic of all tree-gums. A
number of the articles, already enumerated in a previous paragraph, which reach
Baghdad from Musal are actually of Persian origin. Some imports which are received
partly by land and partly by sea are mentioned in the paragraph below on imports by sea.
External trade generally. —With the agricultural resources, local manufactures and
overland imports of the country before us, we are now in a position to approach the
subject of sea-borne imports and of all kinds of exports ; and, in view of the smallness of
the cultivated area and of the trivial character of the manufactured articles, we shall
not be surprised to find that the foreign trade of 'Iraq is of moderate dimensions and
that the land-borne traffic upon the Persian side is one of its most important items
in other words, that the trade of the country is largely a transit trade. Imports
and exports at the port of Basrah are the measure of the foreign trade, goods for
the interior being all included in the shipping returns of that place ; consular statistics,
however, in 'Iraq have to be compiled without access to reliable returns, and it is some
times impossible to reconcile the figures for Basrah with those for Baghdad which they
are supposed to include.
Import trade hy sea. —The trade in cottons is chiefly in the hands of the Jews, some of
whom have agents, generally near relations, in London or Manchester: at Baghdad
cottons probably amount to as much a-? three-fourths of the total imports in value.
The trade in white and grey shirtings is practically a Jewish monopoly, but about