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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [280] (289/568)
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.
280 COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT
W aterways and R iver T ransport
Principal Waterway
{a) The Shatt el-Arab and Tigris up to Baghdad.
(i) Persian Gulf— Basra. The Shatt el-Arab can be ascended as
far as Basra by ocean-going vessels, but its navigation is impeded
by a large bar at its mouth. It has been reported, however, that this
bar can probably be dredged so as to allow the passage of vessels of
25-26 ft. draught. So long as it remains undredged vessels of more
than 11 ft. draught have to wait for the flood, vessels of about 20 ft.
draught can cross at high-water springs, and vessels of about 17 ft.
at neaps. Vessels drawing more than 20 ft. are lightened outside
the bar, or complete their loading there, according as they are
inward or outward bound.
There is anchorage in 34-48 ft. of water in Basra reach. Since 1916
a number of wharves which can accommodate ocean-going steamers
have been built at Magil 5 miles upstream of the Ashar Creek.
Railway tracks are here run alongside the discharging berths, which
are so arranged that four or five steamers can unload at the same
time, and warehouses have been built immediately opposite.
Travelling cranes have also been provided.
Since 1916 one ocean-wharf has been built at Basra, besides various
departmental wharves; under a revised system of port organization
ocean-going vessels are to be dealt with at Magil (11 berths) and Nahr
Umar (2 berths).
A large repair workshop for river-steamers was erected on the
river front in 1916. The construction of a dry dock for river-
steamers was taken in hand. This was afterwards stopped, and
work was begun on two slipways, the larger of which would be
suitable for the biggest boats plying on the Tigris.
Before the war there was a small dock, with workshops, in Magil
Creek. Only small repairs on river-steamers could be done here.
(ii) Basra—Baghdad (500 miles). Practicable throughout the year
for suitable steamers (i. e. with independent engines, good ground
gear, and steam capstans fore and aft) drawing 4 ft., but at the worst
places all steamers stick frequently in low water and have to be
hauled through shallows. In high water depths of 20 ft. and more
can be found except on Kurna bar and in the worst stretches
between Ezra's Tomb and Qal'at Salih, where about 13 ft. of water
is to be expected.
Width of river 200-500 yds., except in the narrows between
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