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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917' [9] (18/432)
The record is made up of 1 volume (214 folios). It was created in 1917. It was written in English. 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
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INTRODUCTION
THE EOUTE SYSTEM OF CENTEAL MESOPOTAMIA,
WITH SOUTHERN KURDISTAN AND THE SYRIAN
DESERT.
General Remarks. [a] The Plains. —The conditions of movement
and transport in the country N. of Baghdad are on the whole very-
different from those prevailing in Lower Mesopotamia. The Tigris
and the Euphrates are still important as affording main lines of
advance, but as waterways they are far less useful, at least for
up-stream navigation, than in Irak, owing to the more rapid current,
shallower depths, and numerous rocks and small rapids which
characterize their middle courses. On the other hand, the surface
of the plains which extend from Syria on the W. to the hills of
Kurdistan on the E. is much better suited to movement by land
than that of the alluvial desert and marsh of Irak and Arabistan.
There had indeed been hardly any road-making in these plains
before the present war: a short stretch of the Baghdad—Aleppo
caravan-route north of Deir ez-Zor seems to have been the only
metalled carriage-road. But, in dry weather at least, tracks that
need little or no improvement to make them passable for wheels can
generally be found. In wet weather the region where the tracks
suffer most is the alluvial plain N. and NE. of Baghdad. The clay
that predominates in the plains E. of the Tigris and N. of Samarra
also makes bad going after rain. The Southern Jezlreh between the
Euphrates and the Tigris, and the Sy rian Desert W. of the Euphrates,
consist for the most part of hard ground which is comparatively
little affected by rain : though even here soft going may be found in
patches of deep sand, or along streams like the Belikh and Khabur
and the brooks that water the plain under the Sinjar Hills. In the
valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris are strips of alluvium.
The chief obstacles in the plains are, first, the two great rivers
and their large tributaries (Diyaleh, 'Adheim, the two Zabs, Khabur,
and Belikh), and, secondly, the numerous wadis. These latter appear
About this item
- Content
This volume is A Handbook of Mesopotamia, Volume III, Central Mesopotamia with Sourthern Kurdistan and the Syrian Desert (Admiralty War Staff Intelligence Division, January, 1917), covering the Tigris and Euphrates from Baghdad and Fellūjeh [Fallujah] to Mosul and Meskeneh [Maskanah], the Lesser Zāb, the country east of the Tigris towards the Persian frontier, and the routes running westward from the Euphrates valley across the Syrian Desert. The volume was prepared on behalf of the Admiralty and War Office, and appears to be based on official and unofficial publications and maps which are cited in a bibliographical section in the volume. This volume was supplemented with corrections and additions in June 1918 (see IOR/L/MIL/17/15/41/5).
The volume includes a note on confidentiality, a title page, 'Note', 'Abbreviations'. There is a page of 'Contents' which includes the following sections:
- Introduction;
- River Routes (The Tigris and the Lesser Zāb, The Euphrates);
- Land Routes (The Tigris Valley with Region to East, The Euphrates Valley, Connexions between Tigris and Euphrates Valleys, The Syrian Desert);
- Gazetteer of Towns;
- Bibliographical Note;
- Transliteration of Names;
- Glossary;
- Appendix;
- Index;
- 'Sketch Map of Routes', which includes 'City Map of Baghdad' (f. 212) and 'Mesopotamia: Outline Map Showing Routes, Volume III' contained in a pocket.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (214 folios)
- Arrangement
This volume is arranged according to numbered routes. There is a page of contents and an alphabetical index. There are two maps housed in a pocket.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover and terminates at the inside back cover; 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'. side of each folio (except for the front cover, where the folio number is located on the verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. ).
Pagination: The volume also has an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/41/4
- Title
- 'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1:422, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence