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'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. II. 1917' [446] (457/542)
The record is made up of 1 volume (269 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.
446
APPENDIX B
Thus, (a) the river has not been properly trained, so that it
covers in low supply a width of bed which its water cannot scour
out, and in which much silt is deposited: hence the shifting sand
banks, which are especially numerous between Baghdad and Kut.
(&) The existing bunds are generally neither strong enough nor
extensive enough to give the needed protection against flood, nor
have they been kept in regular repair.
(c) The existing canals, unscientifically devised^ lacking barrages
and regulators to control the diversion of the water, and inadequately
maintained, are often the means of drowning the areas which they
were meant to benefit.
C onditions from S amarba to K ut
Introductory
The conditions from Samarra to Diyaleh and those from Diyaleh
to Kut will be dealt with separately. In each case some account
will be given of the general character of the river, of the lie of the
land on either side of the river, of the extent to which the land is
flooded under normal conditions, and of the possibilities of causing
floods by breaching or damming.
It must be premised, first, with regard to 'normal' flooding, that
the way in which the Tigris spills its surplus water, and the extent,
depth, &c., of the inundations, vary more or less from year to year,
and that exact details with regard to former inundations are wanting.
The information therefore on ' normal' flooding will be only very
general.
Secondly, there are a very great number of places on either bank
of the river where inundations could be caused in flood-time by
breaching the banks. In fact, it may be said that when the river is
in high flood this could be done with more or less effect almost
anywhere from Mansuriyeh to Kut, and, further, Euphrates water
could be used for flooding the country on the right bank of the
Tigris (see Appendix C). On this point, therefore, only general
indications will be given. Information as to details is very in
complete and might easily be misleading. A full report on the
possibilities of flooding could be based only on exhaustive surveys
and personal examination of the ground by a hydraulic engineer.
Thirdly, while mere ftMw^-cutting could cause an effective inunda
tion only if carried out during short periods when the river is in
high flood, a dam even in the low-water season would cause far
greater inundations than would result from a simple breaching of the
banks in flood -time.
About this item
- Content
This volume is A Handbook of Mesopotamia, Volume II, Irak, The Lower Kārūn, and Luristan (Admiralty War Staff Intelligence Division, May, 1917), covering the regions of the Shatt el-‘Arab [Shaṭṭ al-‘Arab], Kārūn, Luristan, and the Tigris and Euphrates up to Baghdad and Fellūjeh [Fallūjah]. 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.
The volume includes a note on confidentiality, a title page, 'Note', 'Abbreviations'. There is a 'Contents' which include the following sections:
- Introduction;
- River Routes (Shatt el-‘Arab, The Kārūn, The Tigris, The Euphrates, The Shatt el-Hai);
- Land Routes (The Region of the Shatt el-‘Arab, The Tigris Valley, The Region of the Lower Kārūn River of Luristan, The Euphrates Valley, Connexions between the Tigris and Euphrates Valley, The Arabian Desert);
- Railways;
- Gazetteer of Towns;
- Bibliographical Note and List of Maps;
- Transliteration of Names;
- Glossary;
- Appendices (A: Notes on Weather on the Tigris, B: The Control of the Tigris Water, C: The Control of the Euphrates Water, D: Oil-Fields of the Mesopotamia and Persian Frontier, E: Note on Mules);
- Index;
- Plates;
- Maps.
The volume includes eight plates that illustrate the volume. There are also three maps:
- 'Baghdad';
- 'City Map of Baghdad';
- 'Mesopotamia: Outline Map Showing Routes'.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (269 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged accourding to numbered routes. There is a table of contents at the front of the volume and an alphabetical index at the back. There is also a list of plates and two maps are house in a pocket and one is a foldout.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the first folio and terminates at the last folio; 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 the folio.
Pagination: The volume also contains 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/17/15/41/3
- Title
- 'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. II. 1917'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1:374, 374a:374b, 375:530, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence