"العراق والخليج الفارسي" [و‎‎٣‎٥‎٤] (٨٦٢/٧١٠)

PORTS AND INLAND TOWNS 551
water, with a reserve of 10,000 gallons. The ruins of old Samarra are
described on p. 636.
Communications
Rail: Samarra station, on the right bank, is on the Baghdad-Mosul
standard-gauge line (Rly. 4). There is a branch to the river ferry.
Road: Unmetalled road [5] on right bank north to Mosul, south to
Baghdad. A track follows the left bank north to Tikrit and south-east to
Diltawa. A desert track crosses the Jazira south-west to Ramadi. The
river is crossed by a boat and cable ferry which accommodates light cars.
Water: Large sailing-boats and shallow-draught steamers can ascend to
Samarra except in flood time.
Air: Landing-ground near the railway station.
Sulaimaniya. 35 0 33' N., 45 0 26' E.; alt. c. 2,750 feet. Pop. 20,000. Liwa
cap.
Sulaimaniya, lying on the lower slopes of the bare Azmar Dagh between
two spurs, is the centre of the rich and well-watered agricultural district of
the Av-i-Tanjero valley. It has a hinterland of wild mountains of which
Pir-i-Mukurun, 20 miles to the north-west, is a prominent landmark
reaching nearly 8,600 feet. The inhabitants are mainly Kurdish with some
Jews and Christians, but Persian is understood. Winters are very cold with
snow lying sometimes for two months; in summer the east wind is very
relaxing.
History
There was an earlier town of considerable antiquity on the site of Sulai
maniya, but the present town dates from 1781, when it was begun by the
Baban prince, Mahmud Pasha, who had in 1779 moved his headquarters
from the hill town of Qala Chulan. The town was named after Sulaiman
the Great, the Pasha of Baghdad when it was built. It lay on the marches
between the lands under full Turkish and Persian control, and its history
was enlivened by the intrigues and meddlings of the quarrelsome Babans
and their Persian and Turkish sponsors. One of the princes, Abd ar Rah
man Pasha Baban, kept up a running fight from 1789 to 1813 and was
ejected three times in favour of his relatives, but in 1813 he was in power
again at Sulaimaniya when he died. The power of the Babans decayed
from then on, though the family still exists, and in 1850 a Turkish governor
and a garrison were installed. Hitherto the commerce of Sulaimaniya had
flourished, especially through an agreement whereby it handled most of the
trade of the Jaf tribe, and by trade with Persia. But after 1850 a shaikhly
family gained influence until their leader Shaikh Said dominated the town
and by his exactions half ruined it. In 1881 the townsfolk called in the
Hamawand against him, but they were expelled by Turkish troops, and
Said remained in control until he became embroiled with the Turkish