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'Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. Vol. II. Geographical and Statistical. J G Lorimer. 1908' [‎1176] (1273/2084)

The record is made up of 1 volume (1952 pages). It was created in 1908. It was written in English and Arabic. 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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1176
MASlRAH
MASlRAH* The only large and important island nowmcluded in the Sultanate of
W 4 *' 'Oman; it is situated off the South-Eastern Coast of 'Oman and begins
about 140 miles below Eas-al-Hadd. Masirah is of irregular oblong
form, about 40 miles in length from north-north-east to south-south
west and lies parallel to the coast, from which it is distant about 10 miles.
Constricted in the middle to about 4 miles in breadth, the island widens
out above and below this point to 10 miles and again tapers towards each
extremity. The eastern or "outward^ side of the island is called
Dhahiriyah and the western or channel ^ side Khoriyah ^
The sound which divides Masirah from the mainland is so shallow that
the greater part of it is dry at low water; it is navigable only on the
side towards Masirah. The channel is used by native vessels of about
40 tons.
A chain of hills traverses Masirah longitudinally from end to
end sending ridges down to all the principal capes, while shorter spurs
protrude in different directions over the island. The highest summit,
Jabal Madhrub vj;** near the north-east corner, attains an altitude
of 620 feet; hardly any of the peaks in the southern half exceed
300 feet, and in the narrow waist of the island the hills are low
and undulating. Flat land is almost confined to the west side of the
island, where it occurs in the shape of sandy plains that extend from
the base of the hills to the sea and are raised only a few feet above
sea level. The rocks of Masirah are chiefly igneous, of euphotide and
diorite, with here and there small tracts of limestone raised upon them.
Copper is found in many places, mostly among green earthy diorites
and in low trap hills ; it occurs also as malachite, both disseminated
and in veins. Traces exist in some localities of ancient workings and
smelting furnaces. In the northern half of the island is a tabular bed
of limestone, 2 miles long by | a mile broad, which rests upon greenstone
and is elevated about 400 feet above the level of the sea ; both in horizon?
tality and in colour it forms a marked contrast with the dark, rugged
igneous rocks around and beneath it. On the inner side of the island,
about the middle, good water is obtainable throughout the year at a few
feet below the surface, t
Masirah is almost destitute of vegetation. On the mountains only a few
small herbs grow, and on the plains stunted Sidar and Samar trees, some
herbaceous shrubs, and grass in matted tufts. Dates are few and poor
# For Masirah Island see Chart No. 2369—10c.
t The geology of Masirah is discussed by Carter in the Bombay Asiatic Society's Jour*
iial for 1844-^, pages 400-403.

About this item

Content

This volume is Volume II of the Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , ’Omān and Central Arabia (Government of India: 1908) compiled by John Gordon Lorimer. The volume is a geographical dictionary with a series of alphabetically arranged articles relating to the physical and political conditions of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and its surrounding areas.

Pages i-iv are an 'Introduction' to the volume written by John Gordon Lorimer at Strathmartine, Dundee, on 24 December 1908. Details are given within the introduction concerning the content and arrangement of principal and subordinate articles and explanations of estimates of distance and time and other statistical information.

Lorimer's introduction identifies the principal articles as:

  • '’Omān Sultanate' (pages 1382-1425);
  • '’Omān (Trucial)' [ Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ] (pages 1425-1451);
  • 'Qatar' (pages 1505-1535);
  • 'Bahrain Principality' (pages 233-253);
  • 'Hasa Sanjāq' (pages 657-679);
  • 'Kuwait Principality' (pages 1058-1077);
  • 'Najd' (pages 1313-1351), supplemented by articles on 'Najd (Southern)' (pages 1351-1359), 'Qasīm' (pages 1485-1503) and 'Shammar (Jabal)' (pages 1732-1748);
  • '’Irāq (Turkish)' (pages 759-882);
  • '’Arabistān' (pages 115-151), suppplemented by articles on '’Arabistān (Northern)' (pages 151-157) and '’Arabistān (Southern)' (pages 157-165);
  • 'Persian Coast' (pages 1455-1468);
  • 'Makrān (Coast of Persian)' (pages 1130-1155).

All articles have a similar form. The English and Arabic place or tribe name appears in the right or left margin, followed by the text of the article split into sub-sections and with topographical information arranged in tables. Arabic words are given in the text next to their equivalent transliterated into Latin script, with the transliteration system employed appearing in 'Appendix S' in Volume I, Part II (IOR/L/PS/20/C91/2, pages 2737-2741).

Topics of information contained within the articles include: boundaries and sub-divisions; physical character and main features (for example, mountains and rivers); climate and seasons; natural products (vegetable, animal and mineral); agriculture and crops; livestock, including transport animals; inhabitants, with reference to racial and tribal distinctions, religious differences, mode of life, character, language, customs, dress and arms, and estimates of populations; trade (internal and external), with notice to currency, weights and measures, shipping, manufactures and industries, and miscellaneous occupations; communications by land and water, with descriptions of routes and estimates of transport; administration and government, especially police, justice, military resources, taxation and finance, and political constitution; and, international position and foreign interests, especially British and their representation in the country. Lorimer refers readers to the Appendices of Volume I, Part II (IOR/L/PS/20/C91/2, pages 2205-2741) for fuller details concerning: meteorology, health, date cultivation, transport animals and livestock, religions and sects, trade, sailing vessels, fisheries, pearl fisheries, and postal and telegraphic communications.

There are fifty-six folios lacking page numbers that contain illustrations. The images are labelled as follows:

  • 'Wādi Bani Habīb in Jabal Akhdar'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'A Creek near Basrah from the Shatt=al=’Arab'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Bridge of Boats, Baghdād'. Photographer: Major G Arbuthnot;
  • 'The Hanaini well, Bahrain Island'. Photographer: John Calcott Gaskin;
  • 'Ancient Tumuli, Bahrain Island'. Photographer: John Calcott Gaskin;
  • 'Village of Qatārah Baraimi Oasis'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'The ’Ashshār creek in Basrah Town'. Photographer: Mr Albert Charles Wratislaw;
  • 'The British Consulate. Basrah, from the Shatt=al=’Arab. (Consulate building on the right of picture)'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Parade of British and Persian troops at Rīshehr, 1905';
  • 'Part of the town of Būshehr';
  • 'The Sea Front, Būshehr Town';
  • 'The British Political Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. , Būshehr';
  • 'Bridge at Buziyeh'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'The Fort [Qasr al-Ḥuṣn] of the Shaikh at Abu Dhabi'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'The Shaikh of Sharjah's Fort at Dhaid, Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. '. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Dizfūl Town'. Photographer: Major G Arbuthnot;
  • 'Dohah in Qatar'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'A Canal in the Fallāhiyeh District'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'A Creek at Fāo'. Photographer: Mr W D Cumming;
  • 'Muti at the head of Wādi Halfain'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Near the village of Qārah in the Hasa Oasis'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'The village of Qārah in the Hasa Oasis'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'Desert bewteen the Hasa Oasis and Qatar'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'The Imāmzādeh of Haidar Karār at the place of formation of the Hindiyān River'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'The Hindyān River near Zaidān'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'General View of Hofūf'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'The Na’āthil Quarter, Hofūf'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'Hormuz - View from the old Fort'. Photographer: Raja King Deen Dayal & Sons;
  • 'Crowd at Rās=al-Khaimah'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Rās=al-Khaimah, looking towards Ruūs=al=Jibāl'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Kumzār'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'The foreshore Kuwait, showing boat harbour'. Photographer: John Calcott Gaskin;
  • 'Camel riders of the Shaikh of Kuwait'. Photographer: Raja King Deen Dayal & Sons;
  • 'Lingeh';
  • 'The Tīs Valley in Persian Makrān'. Photographer: Mr R H New;
  • 'Country between the Bīr and Kair Rivers in Persian Makrān'. Photographer: Mr R H New;
  • 'Mouth of the Tīs valley looking seawards'. Photographer: Mr R H New;
  • 'The British Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , Manāmah, Bahrain'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'An Arab of the Manāsīr tribe'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'The Cemetery, Maqlab. (From A Photograph in the Possession of H Gabler, Esq, I E T D)';
  • 'Eastern end of Masqat Town, British Consulate on the left, Sultan's palace on the right'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'West end of Masqat Town from Sultan's Palace. & Fort Mīrāni'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Centre and Western end of Masqat Town with part of the Harbour'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'View of Wādi Mi’aidin from Sharaijah'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'River Scene Muhammareh'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Two Views of Muhammareh Town'. Photographer: John Calcott Gaskin;
  • 'Persian Battery at Muhammareh'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'View at Haz’=Dhabi, Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. '. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • '’Oqair Port'. Photographer: Herr Hermann Burchardt;
  • 'Salt Rocks on Qishm Island near Namakdān'. Photographer: Raja King Deen Dayal & Sons;
  • 'The "Earl Canning" lying in Elphinstone inlet, Ruus=al=Jibal 1868. [Head of Inlet.] From A Photograph in the Possession of H Gabler, Esq, I E T D)';
  • ' Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Samail near Hisn Samail'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Eastern Face of Jabal=ash=Sham';
  • 'The port of Sur'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'Bilād=as=Sur'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox;
  • 'The Fort of Wakrah, Qatar'. Photographer: Major Percy Zachariah Cox.
Extent and format
1 volume (1952 pages)
Arrangement

Following the title pages and 'Introduction', entries are arranged in alphabetical order from '’Abādilah' to 'Zubair Town'.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation sequence is circled in pencil in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the first folio with text, on number 1, and ends on the last folio with text, on number 1034. It should be noted that f. 192 is followed by f. 192A.

Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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'Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf. Vol. II. Geographical and Statistical. J G Lorimer. 1908' [‎1176] (1273/2084), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C91/4, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023515717.0x00004b> [accessed 24 November 2024]

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