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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [176] (185/568)
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.
176 AGrRICULTUEE AND LAND TENUEE
Principal Crops
There are two harvests in Mesopotamia—the spring and
the autumn {saifi). The crops harvested in spring ('spring' or
' winter ' crops) include wheat, barley, beans, and (a kitid
of oats); they are sown between October and March and are harvested
for the most part in April or May. Crops harvested in autumn
(' autumn ' or 1 summer' crops) are dates, rice, maize millet
(dukhn), lentils {mash), kidney pea sesame, cotton, and
tobacco. The summer field crops are sown in April, May, or June
and are harvested in August, September, or October.
Field Crops
(a) Winter
Wheat and hurley are by far the most important of the winter
crops. In Irak and Arabistan they are grown principally on the
higher and drier lands that are capable of irrigation, but they are
affected by the quantity of the rainfall and are even sometimes raised
on unirrigated land. In upper Mesopotamia they are usually
dependent on rainfall alone.
It appears that in Irak considerably more barley than wheat
is grown. Among the chief areas in Irak producing these grains
appear to be:
(i) The lands watered from the Euphrates between the Saqlawiyeh
canal and the Bahr-i-Shinafiyeh. Here Hilla has been the centre
of the grain trade. On the Hindiyeh branch of the Euphrates much
land formerly under rice has now come under wheat and barley.
(ii) The lands along the Euphrates between Samaweh and
Suq esh-Shuyukh.
(iii) The neighbourhood of the Shatt el-Hai (the Shatt el-Gharaf).
(iv) The land between the Diyaleh and Tigris watered by the
Khalis canal.
(v) The Amara district.
In Arabistan wheat and barley are grown on the drier cultivated
lands throughout the country. Ahwaz is the centre of the grain
trade. Wheat is the staple product of the Dizftil plain.
In upper Mesopotamia the principal corn-growing area is in the
plains east and south-east of Mosul in the neighbourhood of the Zabs.
It appears that in this region there is more wheat than barley. The
vilayet of Diarbekr (which includes besides the Diarbekr basin
the districts of Nisibin and Mardln) produces enough wheat and
barley to export to Mosul and Baghdad when there is a shortage
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