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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917' [152] (161/432)
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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
152
Miles from !
Baglidad
LAND ROUTES
in this neighbourhood. It seems possible that it follows
the valley of the Koru Su. It is said to lead in 5 hrs.
(? tl5 m.) to a settlement near the Aq Su of 1 000
households of Da udiyeh Kurds, whose chief is Samim
Bey. These people are apparently warlike semi-nomads.
Gharreh Hill on r., with white patch. Hereabouts the
floor of the valley apparently slopes to the NW., and
there is little or, no cultivation.
A branch track takes off to r., leading across hills to
Abu Sarkal oil-springs, situated in a maze of rugged
ridges and valleys, through which it is difficult to find
one's way. There are about seven borings altogether,
situated on both sides of a small ravine. Near them
stands a small fighting-tower. The springs are said
to yield about ten donkey-loads of oil daily, and tie
load sells for 2s. to 2s. 4d!. at Tuz Khurmatli. The
principal pit is 15 ft. in diameter, and 25-30 ft.
deep. The oil is brought up in goat-skins by men
who clamber down for it. The springs are the
property of the Da 'irat es- In the neighbour
hood are some rock dwellings cut in the face of the
cliffs, and near the springs is an open plain in the hills.
Here were in April 1910 two households of Na'aim
Seyyids, who had then been settled here for about
thirteen years.
From Abu Sarkal a beaten track, made by the oil
caravans, leads to Tuz Khurmatli, a distance of about
6 m.
Some cultivation.
In this neighbourhood a
wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
is crossed, at which
blasting would be necessary to enable guns to pass.
In this neighbourhood the tracks from the valley of the
Neft Dereh join the road on the 1. Head of the Neft
Dereh valley 2 or 3 m. to the S.
Khasradalah, village of Blyat Arabs (100 households),
_ 2 m. to the 1.
Aq Su (white water) (Av-i-Spi in Kurdish, ZTahr Abyadh
in Arabic). This river here fiows in a SW. direction
over a gravelly bed, f m. wide, usually containing
little or no water. Its banks are easy and about 15 ft.
high, the left being the higher. Usually the stream is
easily fordable, but it rises rapidly, and is dangerous
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