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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [235] (244/568)
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.
m
CUEEENCY, WEIGHTS AND MEASUEES 235
Other Turkish coins, with their approximate pre-war English
values, are as follows :
1 Fulsain (5 Paras) i
2 Fulsain = 1 Qursh Eaij or Mitliq . , . =
2 Mitliqs = 1 Qamari = 1
4 Mitliqs = 1 Qursh Sagh . . , . . = 2
5 Mitliqs = 1 Euba Bashlik or Abu Khamseh. . = 2^
8 Mitliqs = 1 Qurshain Sagh or Abu Thamaniyeh . = 4
10 Mitliqs = 1 Nasf Bashlik or Abu Ashreh . . = 5
2 Nasf Bashliks = 1 Bashlik or Euba Mejidi . . = 10
2 Bashliks = 1 Nasf Mejidi = 18
2 Nasf Mejidis = 1 Mejidi = 34
Of these the fulsain and mitliq are nickel; the ruba bashlik,
and nasf bashlik alloy, and the rest silver. Before the war the ^ and
i bashUk were uncommon, and the others, except the by no
means plentiful.
Turkish coins of the same nominal value may differ considerably
in weight, &c. The distinction between ' good ' and ' bad ' money
varies locally: coins that would be considered ' bad' in some towns
or districts will pass in others. At Baghdad lirahs and were
assayed for local circulation by sarafs (see p. 206).
Foreign Coinage in Irak up to 1914. —The import of foreign silver
was legally forbidden, but in fact, the amount of Turkish coinage
being inadequate, the use of foreign currencies was inevitable.
Persian coinage was specially common, owing to the close com
mercial connexion between Irak and Persia and the great numbers of
Persian pilgrims who visited the country. There was little Persian
gold, but much Persian silver—the double (then about 8^6?.),
the (/ran (about 4^?.), the hnli-qran, the quarter-grcm, and the sittah
fulus (about ^d.). A Persian copper coin, erroneously called sJicihi
(worth about Tgd.), was also used.
There was a large quantity of Indian silver in Irak, especially in
Basra. Seizures of Indian coin were occasionally made by the Turk
ish authorities.
Some English, French, and Eussian gold was in circulation.
Foreign Currency since 1914. —The Expeditionary Force has been
financed with Indian
rupees
Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
(accompanied by proportionate amounts
of small copper and nickel coins) and with Indian currency notes.
These found immediate acceptance, the popularity of Indian notes
being specially marked, and the currency of Irak is now predomi
nantly Indian. By April 1917 not only Turkish but Persian
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