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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [171] (180/568)
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.
AGEICULTUEE AND LAND TENUEE 171
On some estates cultivators have been suffering from the extortions
of owners or State tenants. Elsewhere landlords whose titles have
been acquired by purchase from the Turkish Government have been
unable to collect their rents from the tribesmen who claim the land
as their own. (See further on this subject pp. 193- 4.)
{e) At present the Arab's methods of cultivation ate primitive
and wasteful. But he is intelligent, and it is probable that with
assistance, instruction, and control he would improve, and would
be able to make use of modern implements and machinery. He has
been accused of indolence; but it appears that, if he can feel that he
is working for himself, and can see that the amount of his profit will
depend on his industry, he can work hard enough.
(/*) The number of the inhabitants of Mesopotamia is very far
below what is needed for the exploitation of the cultivable soil.
The supply of labour for the land will increase, but it cannot be
expected that in the near future the increase will be great. Nomads
may settle down, and semi-nomads take to a more thorough tilling of
the soil. The cessation of tribal warfare may release sheikhs' retainers
for the fields. Women's labour may be employed more regularly.
Meanwhile with better political, economic, and hygienic conditions
the birth-rate would rise and the death-rate decline. On the whole it
seems that the population of the country should be able, with the
assistance of labour-saving machinery, to take advantage of a gradual
extension of the cultivable area by means of irrigation.
Principal Cultivated Areas
The principal areas of cultivation are the following:
(a) In Irak 1 :
(i) The banks of the Shatt el-Arab, which form one of the chief
date-producing areas of the world.
(ii) The neighbourhood of the lower Euphrates about Nasirlyeh
and Suq esh-Shuyukh. In this low-lying marshy region,
where the river water is widely distributed, the most
important crop is rice. Millet, maize, and on the higher
lands barley and wheat, are also grown.
(iii) The Amara district, including the lands along the Jehaleh
(Chahala), Michrlyeh, and Majarr el-Keblr canals. Here
# barley and wheat are grown on the higher ground near
the river, rice and millet on the lower slopes towards the
1 Before the war only about 5 per cent, of the cultivable area in Irak bore
crop.
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