"تقرير عسكري عن بلاد الرافدين (العراق)" [و‎‎١‎٢] (٢٢٦/٢٨)

11
( 11 ) Telegraphs. To Diarbekr. Formerly it was con
nected to Mosul, but this line is now unused.
There is a post and telegraph office.
Landing Grounds—A landing ground used by Turks
exists, but its location is unknown, believed north of the
station.
Gamping (\ rounds.- Unlimited round town. Billeting
accommodation for 1,000 men exists in railway buildings
north of town.
Administration.—Re&dqxjLajrtQYS of qadha in the vilayet
of Dial bekr. It is a military station with a normal
garrison of one regiment.
Baqqah. liaqqah is situated on left bank of the
Euphrates, 112 J miles by river above Dair al Zor.
Baqqah occupies the site of the ancient cities of Nice-
phorium and Callinicum, the latter of which was a stone
fortress and important market on the frontier of the
Roman empire. Raqqah is the Arabic term for l( swampy
land beside a river subject to periodical inundation ” and
the locality under survey was called Raqqah al Sawda—
the black in distinction to other places of the same
name. According to Le Strange “ When the Abbasides
succeeded to the Caliphate, Raqqah, as one of the chief
cities commanding the Syrian frontier, had to be secured,
and for this purpose the Caliph Mansur in a.d. 772 pro
ceeded to build some 300 wells from Raqqah, the town
of Ar-Rafiqah (the companion), which was garrisoned
Khurasan troops entirely devoted to the new dynasty.
Rafiqah is said to have been laid out on the plan of
Baghdad and was a round city. Harun-al-Rashid added
to the town and built himself a palace here called the
Kasr as Salam (the Palace of Peace), for he at times
resided in Raqqah when the climate of Baghdad was too
hot. By the fourteenth century the town was a mere
ruined field, the city probably having been destroyed by
the Mongols. About fifty years ago the site was nearly
unoccupied, but the place has been growing in size and
importance during the last few years.
The present town consists of an Arab settlement and
Circassian colony. The Arab settlement lies about one
mile from the river in the south-west corner of a large,
semicircular enclosure, formed by an old brick wall with
round bastions at intervals. In the middle of the enclosure
are the remains of a mosque. To the west of the Arab
village outside the enclosure and standing on high broken