'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [‎208] (217/568)

208
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
or about 24 per cent, of the foreign imports ; at Mosul it was about
<£30,000-40,000, or about 24-25 per cent, of the foreign imports.
Cotton fabrics were mostly from Manchester. The United King
dom had about 75 per cent, of the cotton import trade in the Bagh
dad market, about 60 per cent, in Arabistan, and the greater part of
the trade at Diarbekr and Mosul.
India came next with a considerable import of coarse, cheap piece-
goods. It supplied about 16-17 per cent, of the Baghdad cotton
imports and about a third of the cotton fabrics sent to Arabistan.
The Indian piece-goods trade has been greatly developed in Irak
since the British occupation.
Austria-Hungary sent about 6 or 7 per cent, of the Baghdad cotton
imports, mostly cheap coloured fabrics. Belgium, Italy, and Ger
many had each some small share in the market; a part of the
Austro-Hungarian imports were manufactured in Italy and shipped
from Trieste.
Recently cheap Japanese cottons have been imported in consider
able quantities into Irak.
At Diarbekr and Mosul Austrian, Italian, and German cotton goods
had fairly important shares in the market. The thicker kinds of
cotton goods, flannelettes, &c., seem to have been imported into
upper Mesopotamia chiefly from these countries.
Cotton Yarn. —India supplied all the cotton yarn imported into Irak
(£70,000-112,000) and Mosul (£17,000-20,000). Probably the yarn
importedintoArabistan(£21,000-26,000)wasalsolndian. TheUnited
Kingdom appears to have imported yarn to Diarbekr (about £60,000).
Woollens. —There had been remarkable fluctuations in the trade
in woollens in the last four years before the war. In 1910 woollens
rose suddenly to rank second on the list of imports to Baghdad, their
value being estimated at £315,508 and the United Kingdom's share
at £280,058. It seems that this rise was due to exaggerated expec
tations of a demand from Persia. The export consequently fell to
£27,521 in 1911. It rose again to £62,889 in 1912 and £115,007 in
1913, but in the latter year the value of the import from the United
Kingdom was only £21,582, while Italy's share was £23,680. The
imports of Austria-Hungary, Germany, France, and Belgium were
each week between £12,000 and £16,500 ; the import from India
was valued at £6,945.
There was no great sale for woollen fabrics in Irak, or in Arabi
stan (where the import has been about £9,000-10,000 in value). But
there was an increasing demand for woollen yarn at Baghdad to
supply the local manufactures of 'a
The Diarbekr market in woollens (£45,000-60,000) was shared in