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‘Cyprus.’ [‎15r] (29/184)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (91 folios). It was created in 1878. 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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HISTORY OF CYPRUS.
23
The completion of the subjugation of the island was carried on
by the Turks with frightful cruelty, although after the fall of
Famagusta no further opposition was here offered on the part of
the Venetians. A maritime league against the Turks was now
formed by Pope Pius V, and joined by the Spaniards, Vene
tians, and Knights of Malta, by whom hostilities were continued in
various places for some time ; the battle of Lepanto was fought
and gained by the confederate fleets, but at last Venice was com
pelled to sue for peace, and on the 7th March, 1573, a treaty was
signed; it was then agreed that not only should the Sultan
retain Cyprus, but that the Venetians should refund to the Porte
the expenses of the conquest of the island, which were rated at
300,000 ducats. Venice now, of course, was no longer required
to pay to Turkey the yearly tribute of 8,000 ducats for Cyprus.
Thus the island passed under Turkish rule.
The neglected state of Cyprus prior to the advent of the Turks
has been already alluded to, but the ill-fated island was now
doomed to fall into a far worse condition, and the mismanagement of
a Turkish administration was soon demonstrated by a rapid
decrease in the revenue. Proof of this is contained in an in
teresting document by Bernard Sangrado, contained in De Mas
Latrie’s Histoire de LTle de Chypre, vol. iii, page 560, which com
pares the annual revenue and expenditure under the Venetians,
with their amounts in the years 1575-85, during which period the
Turks were in possession, and it shows a marked falling off” under the
new rule.
There are scarcely any historical incidents of importance or
interest to relate concerning Cyprus, during the three centuries
that it has remained in the hands of the Turks, and almost the sole
noticeable fact regarding the island is the ruin which has resulted
from both neglect and oppressive despotism. We find that since
the days of the Lusignans, not only has the population dwindled
to less than half its former number, but that the baneful and
paralysing influence of the Porte has extended over agriculture,
commerce, and arts.
Districts which were once fertile and productive, are now either
marked by traces of sterility, or, for want of culture, are over
grown with thorny plants, and other useless or noxious weeds.
It need scarcely be said that the mineral wealth which, from all
accounts, the island contains, has been allowed to lie unworked
and unexplored. The forests, which in ancient days were famed
throughout the world, have been not only uncared for, but even
recklessly and wantonly cut down and destroyed, the result of
which has been an evident deterioration of climate and increased
frequency of droughts, causing both sanitary and agricultural mis
chief. With the decrease of the products of the island, trade also
naturally declined; one instance only need here be given in support
of this assertion ; under the Venetian rule, (according to Mariti), as
much as 6,600,000 lbs. of cotton were annually exported, but now
the amount has dwindled down to about 500,000 lbs. and perhaps
not more than a twentieth part of the cotton which the island is
capable of producing is at present grown. Industry and manufac
tures are inconsiderable, and public works are entirely neglected.
Cyprus fulls
under Turkish
rule.
Government
of Cyprus by
the Turks.

About this item

Content

Report compiled by Captain Albany Robert Savile of the 18th Royal Irish Regiment, in the Intelligence Branch, Quarter Master General’s Department, Horse Guards. The report was published and printed in London under the superintendence of HM’s Stationery Office in 1878. The report contains fourteen chapters, labelled I to XIV, as follows:

  • I: a history of Cyprus, from ancient times to the occuption of the island by Britain in 1878
  • II: geography and topography
  • III: towns, villages, and antiquities
  • IV: communications (inland, maritime, and telegraphic)
  • V: coast, harbours
  • VI: climate
  • VII: natural history
  • VIII: agricultural production
  • IX: geology and mineralogy
  • X: population and inhabitants, including their character, language, religion and education
  • XI: internal administration (civil, ecclesiastical, military)
  • XII: manufacture and industry
  • XIII: trade and revenue
  • XIV: currency, weights and measures, list of authorities on Cyprus, cartography of Cyprus

The volume includes a sketch map of Cyprus at the rear (f 91).

Extent and format
1 volume (91 folios)
Arrangement

A content page at the front of the volume (ff 4-5), and an alphabetically arranged index at the rear (ff 87-89) both refer to the volume’s original printed pagination sequence.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 92; 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 file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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‘Cyprus.’ [‎15r] (29/184), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/16/28, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100044522992.0x00001e> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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