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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [100] (109/568)
The record is made up of 1 volume (282 folios). It was created in 1918. It was written in English, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Armenian, Kurdish and Syriac. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
100
INHABITANTS
sheikhs over their tribesmen will depend on a multitude of cir
cumstances, such as their capacity, their wealth, their relations with
other members of their family, the amount of prestige they have
inherited from their predecessors, or, again, the tribe's relations with
its neighbours or with the Government. Tribal groups may split
into two or more divisions, a small tribe may be absorbed into
a larger unit, or a section of a tribe may break away and become
independent. In general, tribal government depends on the free
consent ot the tribesmen, and that consent has to be obtained in
councils where the Arab love of diplomacy and argument produces
interminable and tortuous discussions.
Disputes between tribesmen are settled (if they are settled peace
ably at all) by the sheikhs and their councils, in accordance with
tribal custom, or by the arbitration ot holy men. The sanction ot
these decisions lies in this, that it they are not accepted the parties
are involved in the inconveniences of reprisals or the blood-feud.
But honour may demand that the blood-feud be taken up, and tribal
vendettas have been a terrible scourge of the country.
Tribal
The following are some of the more important Arab tribal groups
in Mesopotamia:
(a) InIralc (South
Muntefiq and Other Groups on Muntefiq
tribes are to be found in the country north of Nasirlyeh along the
southern part of the Shatt el-Hai, and in the neighbourhood of the
Euphrates from Duraji down to Suq esh-Shuyukh, and also (appar
ently) below Suq esh-Shuyukh. The Muntefiq are 'a large and loose
confederation of tribes of different origin, all of whom acknowledge
to a less or greater degree the overlordship of the Sa'dun clanThe
Sa'dun are Sunnis, the tribes under their overlordship Shiahs. Some
sections of the Muntefiq are nomadic, but most of them are settled
or semi-nomadic. They are well provided with modern rifles. The
authority of the Sa'dun has been weakened of late owing to dissen
sions between its members, and the confederation has lost much of
its former extent and cohesion. Before the war the Beni Malik on
the Tigris between Kurna and Ezra's Tomb, and several groups on
the Euphrates below Suq esh-Shuyukh seem to have broken or
loosened their connexion with the Muntefiq. The Arabs of the
Euphrates marshes were then completely out of hand ; neither the
Turkish Government, nor, in many instances, their own sheikhs,
could control them. In the Suq esh-Shuyukh and Hammar districts
About this item
- Content
This volume is A Handbook of Mesopotamia, Volume I, General (Naval Staff, Intelligence Department: November 1918). This is an updated and expanded edition of A Handbook of Mesopotamia, Volume I, General (Admiralty War Staff, Intelligence Department: August 1916) (IOR/L/MIL17/15/41/1). This is an introductory volume containing matter of a general nature giving an account of conditions in Mesopotamia, for the most part as they were before the First World War.
The volume includes a note on official use, a title page and 'Note'. There is a page of 'Contents' that includes the following chapters and sections:
- Chapter 1: Boundaries and Physical Features;
- Chapter 2: Climate;
- Chapter 3: Minerals;
- Chapter 4: Fauna and Flora;
- Chapter 5: Hygiene;
- Chapter 6: History;
- Chapter 7: Inhabitants;
- Chapter 8: Religions;
- Chapter 9: Administration;
- Chapter 10: Irrigation of Irak [Iraq];
- Chapter 11: Agriculture and Land Tenure;
- Chapter 12: Commerce and Industry;
- Chapter 13: Currency, Weights, and Measures;
- Chapter 14: Communications and Transport;
- Vocabularies;
- Index.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (282 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged in numbered chapters. There is a contents page and an alphabetically arranged index.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the first folio and terminates at the last folio; 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'. of the folio.
Pagination: The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Armenian, Kurdish and Syriac in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/41/2
- Title
- 'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1:556, ii-r:ii-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence