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'Field notes. Mesopotamia' [19v] (43/230)
The record is made up of 1 file (111 folios). It was created in 1915. 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.
28
^wawaA.—Samawah stands principally on the right bank of
e Euphrates, and is built of materials obtained from some
ancient ruins close by. There is a boat bridge.
It has a good bazaar, and is a special centre for the corn trade
of the adjoining districts of the Euphrates.
To the south the river bank is lined with extensive date gardens*
There is a ferry a short way down stream at A1 Khidhar.
Rumaithah. Rumaithah is a town of about 2,500 inhabit
ants, who are all Shrahs. There is a bazaar of some 180 shops
but many are now deserted. The houses, in number about 600,*
mostly low mud huts, are scattered among gardens and planta
tions. It was formerly a place of considerable prosperity, but
owing to the drying up of the branch of the Euphrates on
which it stands it is now half deserted. After the date harvest
a good deal of business is still transacted here with the Arabs of
the neighbourhood. The opening of the new Hindiyah Barrage
{see page 25) may favourably affect this place.
Diwaniyah is situated on the Hillah branch of the Euphrates
which, before the completion of the new Hindiyah Barrage (see
page 25) in 1913, had dried up. The population (in 1908) numbered
less than 4,000, mostly Shi’ahs, and was decreasing. The houses
are mostly of sundried brick. The town depends for supplies
on outlying places, and water is obtained from wells. The
trade is practically nil. It is the headquarters of the Diwani
yah Sanjaq, and its central position in the district is its only
recommendation as such. The nominal garrison was 1 bat
talion and 3 guns, but seldom more than 80 men were present.
The town is connected with Hillah by a double, and Samawah
by a single line of telegraph. Formerly there was a bridge of
boats across the river.
. Hittah. Hillah is the chief town of &qadha of the same name
in the sanjaq of Diwaniyah. The population, three-fourths of
whom are Shi’ah Arabs, number 30,000. Surrounded by gar
dens and fruit trees, Hillah is the centre of a district which pro
duces wheat and barley in abundance, though in 1908 its agri
cultural prosperity was on the decline owing to the drying up
of the branch of the Euphrates on which it stands. This may
have been stayed by the opening iff the new Hindiyah Barrage
at the junction of the two branches of the river near Musaiyib!
There were (in 1908) some 2,000 shops and 120 grain stores, and
About this item
- Content
The file consists of a publication of field notes concerning Mesopotamia. Produced by the General Staff, India, and published in Simla by the Government Monotype Press, 1915. Marked for official use only.
It is divided into the following chapters:
- history – an expedition to Muhammareh [Khorramshahr] (1857), the political situation, and the British position in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ;
- geography – boundaries and geographical features;
- population – inhabitants, particularly Arab tribes;
- resources – including water, supplies, transport, and trade;
- military - distribution, strength, qualities, and camping grounds;
- maritime - distribution, strength, navigation, and landing facilities;
- administration - territory divisions and the system of organisation;
- communication - including lines of advance, railways, roads, telegraphs, telephones, and a list of principal routes used in Mesopotamia and Arabistan.
Also included are four appendices: notes on Qatar Peninsula and Dohah [Doha]; details of important personages; a glossary of Arabic and Turkish terms; and information on weights, measures, currency, and chronology.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (111 folios)
- Arrangement
The file consists of a single publication. A list of contents at the front of the volume (ff 4-5) and index at the rear (ff 103-111) both reference the volume’s original printed pagination.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 113; 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 file 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/17/15/49
- Title
- 'Field notes. Mesopotamia'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:112v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence