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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [165] (174/568)
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
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IRRIGATION OF IRAK
165
Treatment of Selected Area
Since the scheme of irrigation put forward by Sir William Will-
cocks in 1911 did not take storage into account, the total area to be
commanded by the works then proposed is only about 1,410,000
hectares (3,480,000 acres).
(a) The country between Fellujeh and Baghdad on the north and
Kufeh and Kut el-Amara on the south was to be irrigated from the
Euphrates as follows:
(i) The necessary head of water was to be obtained by means of
a barrage near Fellujeh (but see above, p. 163), as well as by the
Hindiyeh Barrage.
(ii) The Saqlawiyeh canal was to be restored and used as the
feeder of a canal-system along the right bank of the Tigris. The
Saqlawiyeh was to discharge into Lake 'Aqarquf, from the southern
end of which the ' right Tigris canal' was to start. This latter canal
was to be carried at first to the Tigris bend south of Ctesiphon (see
p. 164), and was later to be prolonged to Kut el-Amara.
(iii) A canal along the left bank of the Euphrates from above the
New Barrage to the head of the Iskanderiyeh was to feed a number
of large canals (the Abu Ghoreib, Ridhwaniyeh, upper Melcha,
Latifiyeh) which were to run westwards to the depression between
the Tigris and Euphrates. This depression was to serve as a drain.
(iv) The Kutha canal, taking off SSE. from the Latifiyeh, was to
water the interior of the country between the upper part of the
Hilla branch and the Tigris towards the Shaft en-Nil. From the
Kutha a western branch (the Babylon canal) was to run towards Hilla.
(v) The country along the Hindiyeh branch of the Euphrates
was to be irrigated by canals taking off from above the Hindiyeh
Barrage and carried along the right and left banks of the branch
to beyond Hindiyeh town (Tawarlj). 'Downstream of Tawarlj,
at the bifurcation of the Shamiyeh and Kufeh branches, barrages
will be needed in future, but the Hindiyeh branch is itself under
going such great changes that the time is not yet ripe for undertaking
them.'
The area commanded by these works is 650,000 hectares (1,605,500
acres), including 100,000 hectares commanded by the extension of
the ' right Tigris canal' beyond the Ctesiphon bend. The estimated
cost 1 of the irrigation works under pre-war conditions (the estimates
1 In calculating the cost of these projects. Sir William Willcocks added one-
third to the cost obtained from quantities and rates for ' contingencies, estab
lishment, tools and plant, and accommodation'. The total thus'obtained was
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