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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [188] (197/568)
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.
188 AGRICULTURE AND LAND TENURE
According to one authority tlii' og 1)ro* 1 !Is ;U'G found in. IrRk - Jicsldki,
Iraki, and JenuU—oi which the last-named is the finest. In the Mosul
vilayet a large and a small breed are distinguished, besides humped
oxen. These last are fairly common in the Euphrates valley.
Cattle are used for agriculture and transport. The cows are said
to be generally poor milkers and to remain in milk only for about
three months. Cow-hides are tanned and exported, and there is some
export of cattle to Syria and Egypt.
Buffaloes are most common in the marshes of southern Irak.
Here "the Ma dan (A1 Bu Mohammed) own very large buffalo herds
with which they roam over the country. In the daytime during
the hot weather the marsh-buffaloes remain completely submerged
in water, except for their muzzles and their long horns; at night
they are herded together by the Arabs who light fires in order to keep
off stinging insects. In winter the animals are kept in sheds warmed
by fires of rice-straw or reeds. The butter made from the milk of
buffaloes is inferior to that made from cows' milk, which it is some
times used to adulterate. The marsh-buffaloes are not employed in
agriculture.
Buffaloes are also found in upper Mesopotamia (where they are
used for agricultural and transport work) and in the damper parts of
Arabistan.
Land Tenure and Taxation op Agriculture : The Land
Question in Irak
Land
Under the law of the Turkish Empire, land is divided into the
following classes:
(a) MulJc: freehold property. There are four sub-classes of mulJc
in two of which the land reverts to the State on failure of heirs.
The tapu tenure in Irak (see p. 190) approximates closely to
[h] Miri: owned by the State and leased to individuals. The
tenant of miri land holds a deed [sanad) recognizing his possession.
[Sanlyeh lands, though now the property of the State, differ from
miri lands in their history and their management. They are the
estates which were acquired by Sultan Abdul Hamid as his private
property, and they were transferred to the State after Abdul Hamid's
deposition in 1909. They are managed by a special department.)
(c) Waqf: mortmain land which has been assigned to the endowment
of religious and charitable purposes. Moslem Turkey either
is managed by the Department for Religious Endowments or is in
the hands of an individual or family representing the institution
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