!['Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [‎198] (207/568)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100023043183.0x000001/IOR_L_MIL_17_15_41_2_0207.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [‎198] (207/568)")
'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [198] (207/568)
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.
198
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
and freight-charges on this main line of communication were high.
The pack-transport used on land was costly, especially on some routes
(for example that from Ahwaz to Isfahan) on which the supply of
mules was running short.
That the Arab, Lur, and Kurdish tribes are more or less dependent
on urban markets for the comforts and even (especially in the case of
the desert nomads) for some of the necessities of life, gives to the
internal trade of the country a considerable political importance. To
have control of these markets is to have a means of bringing powerful
pressure to bear on some of the most unruly and least accessible
elements in the population.
D istribution of F oreign T rade : G erman C ompetition
The following estimates of the shares held by different foreign
countries in the trade of Mesopotamia and Arabistan are based on
Consular Reports, and. for reasons given above, are not exact.
Port of
Tonnage or Steam Vessels Entered and Cleared
1911 1912 1913
Total Tonnage . . . 314,228 304,186 327,913
Percentage of Percentage of Percentage of
Total Tonnage, Total Tonnage, Total Tonnage,
1911 1912 1913
British .... 81-8 84-8 77-9
German .... 13-1 10-1 16.3
Russian .... 3-2 3.3 3.6
Ottoman .... 1.8 0.7 0-5
French .... — 0.8 —
Austro-Hnngarian . . — — 0-4
Siamese . . . v — — 0-6
Persian .... — — O-S
The total tonnage of sailing-vessels amounted to 18,579 in 1911
(8,094 British); 20,271 in 1912 (9,559 British); 19,026 in 1913
(11,595 British). The balance of the sailing-vessel tonnage was
made up by Ottoman, Persian, and a few French vessels, and by
dhows from Zanzibar.
In 1916-17, 110 steam-vessels carrying merchandise entered the
port of Basra. This tonnage amounted to 157,362. Of these vessels
95 were British, 8 Japanese, 5 Norwegian, and 2 Swedish. Sailing-
vessels have taken a greatly increased share in merchant traffic.
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [198] (207/568), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/41/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023472674.0x000008> [accessed 11 June 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023472674.0x000008
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023472674.0x000008">'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [‎198] (207/568)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023472674.0x000008"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100023043183.0x000001/IOR_L_MIL_17_15_41_2_0207.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100023043183.0x000001/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
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