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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917' [197] (206/432)
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.
ROUTE 28 b
197
The main canal from the K, however, known as the
Beledruz Canal, is about 8 ft. deep and about 20 ft. wide,
and when full is a complete obstacle to all progress except
at the few places where it is bridged. There are only-
three such places in the neighbourhood of Beledruz,
and when they were last reported on one bridge only
consisted of two palm-trees thrown across with some
dust and mud spread over them. The other bridges
are one of brick and one of wood in the village of
Beledruz itself. The brick bridge is about 10 ft. wide
and strong enough for field artillery or ordinary carts.
It leads into the farm-yard of a farm which belonged
some years ago to a Constantinople Greek named Zarifi.
From the farm-yard there is an exit to r. and 1. on the
opposite side of the bridge. The farm-houses and
buildings are of brick and consist of four courtyards
leading by narrow passages one into another.
Beledruz (Baladoz). The place is thickly wooded and con
sists largely of date gardens and orchards. All these
gardens and orchards are enclosed by walls, about a foot
and a half thick and about 10 ft. high. Each enclosure has
one or two narrow doors. The bazaar consists of one street
and is insignificant. The lanes between the gardens are
about 12 ft. wide and very filthy; they are nearly all on a
rectangular plan. The wooden bridge over the canal in the
centre of the village has been described as a frail structure
of wood fit for loaded mules and perhaps camels, but hardly
for anything heavier. It was about 4 ft. wide and was sup
ported in the centre by a brick column. Water plentiful
and good. There are no trees or bushes between Baghdad
and Mandali except at Beledruz, and the country round,
with the exception of a few mounds and canal-banks, is
perfectly flat.
At Beledruz JRoute 30 joins the present route.
The general direction is now E. by N. Leaving the gardens,
the route starts over a broad clay track through grassy
fields skirting an irrigation-cut. For 2 m. the only road
leads through a reedy marsh with from 18 in. to 2 ft. of
water ; the bottom is fairly firm, but in places there are
deep muddy cuts into which the animals sink. The
track is cleared of reeds, and there is no chance of missing
it in the water. The marsh is said to be dry or nearly
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