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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917' [357] (366/432)
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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ERBIL—HIT—KHANIKIN
05)
357
steeply to the river. A tall leaning minaret near the river-bank is
a conspicuous landmark for miles. At the S. end of Hit are boat
building yards. There is a khan below the town. In the neighbour
hood of the mound on which the modern town stands are other,
somewhat lower, eminences which mark the sites of former settle
ments. To N. and S. are palm groves. To W. near some
are the chief bitumen springs, and beyond them a barren desolate
plain of sand, clay, and black-seamed rocks. There is a ferry at N.
end of the town. The Mesopotamian plain on the other side of the
river is here quite flat; a little farther down-stream it contains
naphtha springs, and beyond these salt lakes. The atmosphere of
Hit is smoky owing to the burning bitumen kilns, and the furnaces
of the boat-building yards. A strong smell of sulphur (from neigh
bouring sulphur springs) and of boiling bitumen pervades the air ;
it is said to have saved Hit from a cholera epidemic. The ground
round Hit is very dirty, owing to the bitumen and sulphur.
Supplies and Commerce. —No appreciable amount of supplies for
troops can be expected at Hit. The cultivated area near the town is
a very narrow strip, which does not produce a surplus for export.
Hit owes its existence to the bitumen springs around it, which are
said to have been worked here for 5,000 years. The bitumen has
a sale in Mesopotamia for caulking boats, binding bricks, &c. Boat
building is an important occupation. The boats are made with
branches of tamarisk and mulberry trees interlaced with basket-
work of reeds and straw, the whole covered with bitumen and
sand. They draw 22 in. when laden, and 6 in. when empty. They
are exported to other places in Irak. Earthen pottery is also
made at Hit.
Inhabitants. —The population consists of Sunni Arabs.
Administration. —Hit before the war was the head-quarters of a
Kaza and the seat of a Kaimmakam.
KHANIKIN, 94 m. NE. of Baghdad and 6-| m. from the Persian
frontier. Pop. 5,000 (1911). P.O., T. Bridge over the Alvand.
Routes—
(i) To Baghdad. (See 28 a.)
(ii) To Kirmanshah. (See 28 ft.)
(iii) To Mandali. (See 29.)
(iv) To Salahiyeb. (Kufri). (See 32 a, b.)
General Description. — The town lies among gardens on both
banks of a tributary of the Diyaleh, the rapid Alvand stream, which
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