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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919' [93v] (191/738)
The record is made up of 1 volume (365 folios). It was created in 1919. 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.
180
INHABITANTS
the Syrian desert. This is the half-yearly march of the
tribes, differing from the fortnightly change in the situation
of the camp. The Wuld ‘Ali take with them during then-
migrations many thousand head of camels ; the goats and
cattle are left behind in the Jaulan in the care of those mem
bers of the tribe who have elected to settle in the country.
The grazing grounds of the Wuld ‘Ali are becoming more and
more restricted, owing to the encroachments of the Circassians
and the immigration of peasants from Samaria.
As a rule the Bedouin make their raids on one another
rather than on the sedentary population, who are protected
by their villages. On long raids the plunderers will ride
three hundred or four hundred miles to the scene of opera
tions. May and June are the great seasons for raids ; earlier
than this the Arabs do not like to take away the mother
camels, whose milk is required for the horses. Moreover
the business of caring for young animals of all sorts is too
engrossing to permit of much raiding.
To a considerable extent it has recently been a part of
Turkish policy to assist the nomads to settle and substitute
agricultural for pastoral life. Sometimes the lands on which
it has been suggested that they should settle are too dry to
admit of profitable cultivation. In spite of this difficulty
all along the western edge of the desert (and especially from
Hama to Aleppo) the Bedouin are beginning to cultivate the
soil, and are therefore forced to establish themselves in some
fixed spot near their crops. In the initial stages these new-
made farmers continue to live in tents, but the tents are
stationary. In places the Bedouin have low buildings which
they use for storehouses. The sheikhs of the richer tribes
have town houses in Damascus.
Where the Bedouin own agricultural land, it is largely
their practice not to cultivate it themselves, but to employ
fellahin
Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour.
for the purpose, who while employed enjoy then-
protection, are provided by them with instruments, and are
allowed to appropriate a portion of the produce. The labour
thus hired is more often Christian than Moslem. This is, or
About this item
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Admiralty handbook regarding Syria (including Palestine) 'to as far north as the River Orontes and a line Antioch-Aleppo-Meskeneh. For details of the part of Syria beyond this line reference must be made to the Handbook of Asia Minor , Vol. iv, Part 2 (C.B. 847 C).'
'Contents. Chapters:
- I. Boundaries and Physical Survey, p 9 (folio 7)
- II. Climate, p 24 (folio 14v)
- III. Minerals, Flora and Fauna, p 93 (folio 50)
- IV. Military History, p 109 (folio 58)
- V. Inhabitants, p 175 (folio 91)
- VI. Turkish Administration, p 236 (folio 121v)
- VII. Agriculture, p 252 (folio 129v)
- VIII. Industry and Trade, p 276 (folio 141v)
- IX. Currency, Weights and Measures, p 318 (folio 162v)
- X. Jebel Ansarīyeh, p 325 (folio 166)
- XI. Country East of Jebel Ansarīyeh, p 344 (folio 175v)
- XII. Lebanon, Anti-Lebanon, and Damascus Plain, p 357 (folio 182)
- XIII. River Systems of Northern Syria, p 395 (folio 201)
- XIV. Judea and the Southern Desert, p 427 (folio 217)
- XV. Samaria (including Carmel), p 472 (folio 239v)
- XVI. Galilee, p 515 (folio 261)
- XVII. Haurān and Jaulān, p 556 (folio 281v)
- XVIII. 'Ajlūn and Northern Belqa, p 580 (folio 293v)
- XIX. Southern Belqa and Ardh el-Kerak, p 612 (folio 309v)
- XX. El-Jibāl and Esh-Shera, p 636 (folio 321v)
- XXI. The Ghōr (Jordan and the Dead Sea); and Wādi 'Arabah, p 645 (folio 326)
- Appendix: Conventional Spellings, p 668 (folio 337v)
- Index, p 669 (folio 338)
- Plates, p 725' [missing]
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (365 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume contains a contents page (folio 6) and an index (folios 338-365).
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 367; 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. The volume originally contained fourteen plates showing maps, bound into the back of the volume. These are now missing; details of the plates can be found at folio 5v.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919' [93v] (191/738), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/16/15, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100033282269.0x0000c0> [accessed 7 April 2025]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/16/15
- Title
- 'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:366v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence