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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [212] (221/568)
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.
212
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Almost all the tea imported to Irak and Arabistan came from
India ; a small quantity was sent to Baghdad from China. The tea
on the Diarbekr market was entered as coming from the United
Kingdom.
Petroleum. —The demand for oil in lower Mesopotamia was in
creasing before the war with the growing use of mechanical pumps
for irrigation. The need of petroleum for fuel and lighting may be
expected to increase greatly in the future.
The imports to Basra amounted in 1910 to 108,400 cases ; in 1911
to 50,070 cases ; in 1912 to 209,200 cases ; in 1913 to 332,670 cases.
Before 1911 Russian oil had dominated the market; in 1911 and
1912 American (Standard Oil Company's) oil was rapidly gaining
ground ; in 1913 the lead was taken by the produce of the Anglo-
Persian Oil Company's field in Arabistan. Of the 332,670 cases
imported in that year 179,294 came from Arabistan, 87,000 con
tained Russian oil, and 66,376 American. The value of the whole
import amounted to ,£91,484.
The value of the oil imported at Diarbekr was £30,000, three-
fourths being Russian, one-eighth Rumanian,and therest from Austria-
Hungary and the United States.
Indigo and Other Byes. —Up to 1913 Mesopotamia had been sup
plied with vegetable indigo from India, which sent yearly about
£20,000 worth to Basra. In 1913 German and Belgian synthetic
indigo was put on the Baghdad market with some success., In that
year the import of vegetable indigo from India to Baghdad was 566
cases valued at £16,922 (as compared with 631 cases in 1912 and 670
cases in 1913). The import of synthetic indigo in 1913 was 1,302
cases valued at £32,500.
Other natural dyes (henna, &c.) came from Persia, and there was
an import of aniline dyes, besides indigo, from the Continent.
Leather. —The value of the leather annually imported to Baghdad
in the five years 1909-13 varied considerably. In 1909 it was
£14,843; in 1910 £28,808; in 1911 £5,595; in 1912 £26,691; in
1913 £16,779. This import came chiefly from France. India sent
a cheap quality. Buffalo-hides from Hong-Kong were used for shoe-
leather.
Drugs and Medicines. —The annual import of drugs and medicines
at Basra amounted to about 7,000-8,000 packages, with an estimated
value of about £24,500-£28,000. The imports to Baghdad in the
years 1911-13 are given as follows: in 1911, 7,974 packages
(£43,190); in 1912, 3,375 packages (£30,785); in 1913, 1,390
packages (£43,475), In 1912-13 the import to Arabistan was
valued at £5,599.
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