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'A handbook of Syria (including Palestine). London: Naval Staff Intelligence Department, June 1919' [305r] (614/738)
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.
INDUSTRIES
603
Belqa and ‘Ajlun are rich in grass ; the former has indeed
always been famous for its pasture, its high altitude, regular
rains, and heavy morning mists assuring it sufficient moisture ;
the Circassians grow clover and other green fodder to augment
the natural supply. Cattle are kept by the people of almost
every village ; oxen are used everywhere for ploughing, and
by the Circassians for drawing their two-wheeled carts.
Goats are ubiquitous, to the great detriment of the young
trees ; sheep are largely owned both by the
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.
and the
Belqawlyeh Arabs. Horses, however, are seldom to be seen
except in large places like Salt and in the bigger Circassian
villages; donkeys are generally found, but are not as numerous
as might be expected. Bee-keeping is general, both among
Arabs and Circassians. Fowls are everywhere kept, but are
of small size and produce small eggs.
The wild life of the country is capable of yielding useful
supplementary resources. Boars are numerous in the cane-
brakes of various wadis. Partridges and pigeons are every
where common, and with shot-guns parties could without
difficulty augment their food supplies from this source. In
many perennial wadis fish are very plentiful; in W. ‘Amman,
Oliphant found them so numerous that ‘ he could have
scooped them out with his hat’. Similar statements have
been made as to other streams, e. g. W. el-‘Arab, W. Zahar,
the pools of Nahr ‘Allan, &c. According to Tristram, the
common species is Scaphiodon Capoeta ; trout are said to be
found in W. Zahar.
The suitability of the whole region for colonization was
pointed out by Oliphant some forty years ago. Under
Turkish rule there could be no satisfactory development of the
country ; but the example of the Circassians has shown what
might be done by colonists guaranteed from the exactions of
a bad government, able to protect themselves, and too
thrifty to fall into the moneylender’s hands. The absence of
rain between May and October reduces the necessity for farm
buildings ; threshing is done in the open ; straw is stored in
caves or ruins ; grain is kept in caves, or in pits, between
About this item
- Content
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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- 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