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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. III. 1917' [365] (374/432)
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.
MOSUL 365
brought for re-export the abundant raw products and the textile
fabrics of Kurdistan and NW. Persia.
The following statistics (giving value in sterling) for 1912 show
that before the war trade was still on a fairly extensive scale :
Imports. Exports.
£ £
United Kingdom . . . 51,000 163,000
India 41,000 22,000
Other foreign countries . 56,000 53,000
Total 148,000 238,000
Other parts of Turkey . . 30,000 188,000
Grand total 178,000 426,000
The chief articles of import were cotton piece-goods, and yarn,
and the demand was increasing in spite of the superior durability of
locally woven articles. Iron and copper were always in large
demand, Swedish iron being much used. From France came tanned
leather and cigarette papers, from Austria broadcloths, from India
cotton goods, coffee, and gunnies, from Persia carpets. Petroleum
was also imported. The imports from other parts of Turkey included
piece-goods, soap (from Aleppo), dates (from Baghdad), dried fruits,
peas, and nuts. The main exports to other countries were wool,
hides and skins, boots and shoes ; and to other parts of Turkey
wheat, sheep and cattle, galls, hides, and fruits. In favourable
seasons exports of wheat were on a very large scale; in 1908 their
value amounted to £200,000.
There is a large local production of flour, the number of mills
being not less than 200, and there is a good opening for the intro
duction of Western methods of milling.
About 40 m. from Mosul, near the bank of the Tigris, are the
Kaiyara naphtha springs, which yield a thick black product. In
1908 the right of exploitation was leased to a native of Erbil, who
sold the refined product at his own village at 9 to 15 piastres for
4 gallons.
Inhabitants. —The population was estimated about 1904 at 40,000-
50,000, but more recent calculations raise it to double the former
figure. Fully three-quarters of the people are Mohammedans, and
practically all of these are Sunnis. The Mosulis are a race of mixed
origin, their language being Arabic. They have a bad reputation
for turbulence, cruelty, and viciousness. In normal times there is
a considerable floating population of Arabs and Kurds.
The Christians (perhaps about 16,000) are chiefly Syriac speaking,
and belong to various sects—the Chaldaeans, West Syrian Catholics,
and Jacobites are all represented; there are also some Nestorians.
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