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'Turkish Arabia: Being an Account of an Official Tour in Babylonia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia, 1886-87' [7v] (14/72)
The record is made up of 1 volume (35 folios). It was created in 1888. It was written in English and Persian. 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.
tainty to follow them up at a season when there is water for them everywhere. On the
present occasion there was no room for the balancing of such considerations. The question
of the necessity of any tour being undertaken at all had not been left unraised by the Sublime
Porte. On 6th September 1886, final orders on the subject reached Baghdad from Her
Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople. An^opportumty being nowhere more apt than
here to slip away, time was taken by the forelock. Here it may be worth noting (0 be
tween May and November, European troops could not easily move over
Turkish Arabia
A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire.
;
(2) in the other months, if properly equipped, they could march in every direction, with
the lightest of tents, and with the prospect of improving, instead of suffering in physique.
Unlike that of India, the population is here exceedingly sparse, and even near a town
or village the people, however friendly, are too apathetic^
Reasons for marching light. ^ perhaps too afraid of the exactions of officials^to come
forward with their labour or supplies. So unskilled at tent pitching are the local servants
that a couple of men, with any casual assistance available, will take two hours or more to
set up an ordinary Indian hill-tent. This renders it highly necessary to cut down the im
pedimenta. And the difficulty not so much of obtaining as of keeping right one's transport,
makes it of hardly secondary importance to reduce the number of camp-followers.
That the former point was fully considered will appear from the subjoined sketch of
Dimensions of camp. camp pitched the first march.out of Baghdad,
Office,
If the above modest scale (subsequently reduced by more than half) be compared with
that described in the following extract from the (published) " Narrative of an official
visit to the same parts in 1820, by Mr. Claudius James Rich, Bombay Civil Service, the H.
E. I. Co.'s Resident at Baghdad when the Indian empire was young, the change in the
times generally will be well illustrated;—
il I feel it to be my duty on this occasion to travel in my official character ; and there
fore Mrs. Rich is obliged to submit to the disagreeable restraint of * * * attended by
women-servants, and all the state of a Jtaram. On account of public business I am like
wise compelled to take with me many of the officers and servants of the
Residency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India.
, and
others have requested permission to accompany us, so that we shall form a very numerous
party; and instead of incurring the expense of native troops for our protection on the
road, I take the guard of twenty-five
sepoys
Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank.
and their Subehdar allowed the Resident as
a body-guard by the
Government of Bombay
From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions.
. They are a very respectable, brave set of
men and seem delighted at the prospect of marching.
" In the afternoon I went round the camp to see that all our party were assembled,
and were comfortable. * * * I had been obliged to take tents and we were accom
panied by a body of Arab tent-pitchers to pitch and raise the camp every night and
morning. It consisted of fourteen or fifteen tents, as small a number as we could possibly
do with, for a party of between fifty and sixty people, composed of Christians, Jews, lurks,
Armenians, Persians, and Indians."*
* Describing his following On another and shorter tour (1813), Mr. Rich says :—
" Our escort consisted of my own troop of Hussars (sic) : with a galloper gun, a
havildar
Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard.
and twelve
sepoys
Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank.
,
about seventy baggage mules," &c., &c.
About this item
- Content
This volume is a printed account of the official winter tour of 1886-87 in Babylonia, Assyria and Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) undertaken by Colonel William Tweedie, Bengal Staff Corps, Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. (Iraq) and His Majesty's Consul-General at Baghdad. The purpose of the tour was to visit the Vice-Consulate of Mosul in Upper Mesopotamia and the Consulate at Bussorah [Basra], as well as Indian subjects residing in Karbala and Najaf, the two centres of Shiah pilgrimage. In addition, the author identifies it as an opportunity to see the inhabitants and features of Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. more generally (folio 7). The report was published by the British Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. Baghdad on 24 May 1887, and printed by the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta, India in 1888. This copy was presented by the author to George Curzon (see inscription on folio 2v).
The volume contains a table of contents (folio 5), list of maps and illustations (folio 6), and note on Arabic and Persian transliteration and names (folio 6v). The volume includes the following sections: 'Section I.- Marching in Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. '; 'Section II.- Transport'; 'Section III.- Equipment'; 'Section IV.- From Tigris to Euphrates'; 'Section V.- Across Al Jazîrah [al-Jazīrah]'; 'Section VI.- Localised Bedouins east of Tigris'; 'Section VII.- Through Al Hawîja [al-Ḥawījah] to Kirkûk'; 'Section VIII.- Kirkûk to Sulimânîa [Sulaymānīyah]'; 'Section IX.- Sulimânîa to Mosul'; 'Section X.- Mosul to Sinjâr Hills', including details about the Yazîdîs [Yazidis]; 'Section XI.- Sinjâr to Der on the Euphrates'; 'Section XII.- Right bank of Euphrates, from Der to Rumâdi [al-Ramādī]'; 'Section XIII.- Southern Shâmîya'; 'Section XIV.- Karbalâ and Najaf'; and 'Section XV.- Baghdad to Bussorah and back, by steamer', including details on Arab coast of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Muhamarah.
Illustrations include: 'Resident's Camp, Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. , 1886' (folio 7v); 'Mule gear equally for draught and pack' (folio 8); 'Arab pâlân [ pālān , pack-saddle]' and 'Persian pâlân' (folio 9); 'Arab Camel-rider: and Saddle' and 'Horseshoe of Arabs, Persians, Turkomans, Afghans, and others' (folio 9v); 'Picqueting chain and peg (forefront)' and 'Arab and Persian paiwand' (folio 10); 'Arab rashma [ rashmah ]: including (1) rashma proper, or (iron) nose-band: (2) idhâr [ ‘idhār ] , or headstall: and (3) rasn [ rasan ] (lit. rope) or rein' (folio 10v); and 'Flying camp: Sinjâr to Karbala (all three tents Baghdad-made)' (folio 24).
Maps include: 'Map Accompanying Account by Resident, Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. , of his Winter-Tour, 1886-87' (folio 4v); 'Sketch of Map of Route from Hît to Tikrît crossing lower portion of Al-Jazîra' (folio 14v); 'Mosul Pashâlik, 1887' and 'Plan of Mosul Town (After Capt. F. Jones), 1852' (folio 18v); and 'Straightest route (across Syrian desert) for camel riders only, between Baghdad and Mediterranean, as followed by late (Consular) dromedary post' (folio 27).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (35 folios)
- Arrangement
This volume contains a page of contents (folio 5) which references page numbers.
- Physical characteristics
Condition: Folio 34 includes annotation (likely by Curzon) and a section of text has been cut out and removed.
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the 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. Pagination: The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English and Persian in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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'Turkish Arabia: Being an Account of an Official Tour in Babylonia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia, 1886-87' [7v] (14/72), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/384, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023643185.0x000010> [accessed 12 July 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/384
- Title
- 'Turkish Arabia: Being an Account of an Official Tour in Babylonia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia, 1886-87'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:29r, 30v:35v, i-r:i-v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence