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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [264] (273/568)
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.
264 COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT
(ii) Basra — Nasinyeh (141 miles, the border of the desert south
of the Euphrates). Metre gauge.
(iii) In N. Irak (to Dec. 1918): Kut—Baghdad (metre); Baghdad—
Khanikin (metre); (Baghdad—25 miles N. of Tekrit, see p. 263);
Baghdad—Fellujeh—Dhiban near head of Saqlawiyeh canal (4 ft.
in.); Baghdad—Hilla (4 ft. 8-| in.); Hilla—Kifl (2 ft. 6 in.).
II. Hallways Projected
(а) Completion of the Baghdad Railway between Nisibin and
Samarra (about 287 miles).
The line is planned to run direct from Nisibin to Mosul Demir
Kapu Khan and Kesik Kopru, and from Mosul to Samarra down the
right bank of the Tigris via Tekrit.
Nisibin—Mosul, about 123 miles.
Mosul—Samarra, about 164 miles.
It appears that in the first half of 1918 work was in progress on
formation levels between Nisibin and Demir Kapu Khan, about
43 miles ESE. of Nisibin.
(б) Extension of the Baghdad Railway to Basra.
This extension was projected to run as follows :
El-Baj (Euphrates crossing upstream of Museyib); thence across
desert to
Kerbela ; thence along the edge of the desert to
Nejef; thence across the depression of the Bahr-i-Nejef (?) and along
the edge of the desert west and south of the lower Euphrates, passing
some miles south of Samaweh and Nasinyeh.
Basra, about 350-370 miles from Baghdad.
The line would be cheap and easy to construct. The only
engineering work of any magnitude that would be needed would be
the bridge over the Euphrates at El-Baj.
Between Baghdad and the Euphrates this line would pass through
country capable of agricultural development. It would carry the
great pilgrim traffic to and from Kerbela and Nejef. Branch lines
would be needed to bring it into connexion with ihe agricultural
areas on the lower Euphrates. The alignment along the desert was
chosen owing to difficulties of railway construction in the alluvial
plain ; and between Nasirlyeh and Basra it is the only possible trace. 1
1 Another route that was proposed for a railway from Baghdad, to Basra is as
follows: by the right bank of the Tigris to opposite Kut el-Amara ? thence by
the right (west) side of the Shatt el-Hai to Nasiriyeh, and thence by the edge of
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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- 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