'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [104r] (212/862)
The record is made up of 1 volume (430 folios). It was created in 1944. 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.
COASTS OF THE
PERSIAN GULF
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
133
experienced. Reefs extend for many miles off most of the coast and
bar access to it except at a few points. There are many small islands
on the reefs. The coast is only partly known by Europeans, and some
shoals are uncharted. The whole coast is exposed to north-west
winds and swell.
There are several small ports, notably Sharja and Dibai on the
Pirate Coast and Oqair 1 and Qatif on the coast of Hasa near Bahrein
island; Manama, the capital of Bahrein island, has a fair-sized trade.
Long stretches of the coast are inhabited only by scattered nomad
tribes, supported by meagre desert vegetation and some wells.
The only important industry until recently was pearl fishing on
the Great Pearl Bank in the south part of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, where the
best pearls in the world are found. Oil has been exploited in Bahrein
island since 1934 and at Jabal Dhahran on the mainland near by
since 1938; in the same year a large field was struck at Kuwait. There
are good prospects in the Qatar peninsula. Other industries are the
preparation of dates and fish for export.
There are no motor-roads along the coast, except in the Hasa
province of Nejd, where there is an irregular network of roads and
tracks. A camel-route runs along the Pirate Coast, and another along
the coast of Kuwait, but elsewhere routes keep inland. The only
important route into the interior is from Oqair through the Hasa
oasis to Riyadh. The flatness of the coast and the many stretches of
water sheltered by reefs make it suitable for aircraft and flying-boats,
and the Imperial Airways route to India was transferred from the
Persian side of the gulf for political reasons in 1932; there are air
ports at Bahrein and Sharja, and several emergency landing-grounds
along the coast.
Pirate Coast (fig. 34)
The coast of
Trucial Oman
A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates.
from Ras ash Sham to Abu Dhabi,
160 miles south-west, is known as the ‘Pirate Coast’ because it was
formerly the home of the notorious Jawasmi pirates. It is low, sandy,
and desolate, and has numerous narrow creeks and shallow lagoons
which protected the pirates from many attempts to suppress them.
In 1819 the British finally razed their headquarters at Ras al Khaima
(formerly Julfa) to the ground, destroyed their ships, and explored
the coast. A peace treaty was concluded in 1820, and the ‘Pirate
1 Oqair is the usual spelling. According to R. E. Cheesman the correct
pronunciation is Ojair.
About this item
- Content
The volume is titled Iraq and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (London: Naval Intelligence Division, 1944).
The report contains preliminary remarks by the Director of Naval Intelligence, 1942 (John Henry Godfrey) and the Director of Naval Intelligence, 1944 (E G N Rushbrook).
There then follows thirteen chapters:
- I. Introduction.
- II. Geology and description of the land.
- III. Coasts of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
- IV. Climate, vegetation and fauna.
- V. History.
- VI. People.
- VII. Distribution of the people.
- VIII. Administration and public life.
- IX. Public health and disease.
- X. Irrigation, agriculture, and minor industry.
- XI. Currency, finance, commerce and oil.
- XII. Ports and inland towns.
- XIII. Communications.
- Appendices: stratigraphy; meteorological tables; ten historical sites, chronological table; weights and measures; authorship, authorities and maps.
There follows a section listing 105 text figures and maps and a section listing over 200 illustrations.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (430 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is divided into a number of chapters, sub-sections whose arrangement is detailed in the contents section (folios 7-13) which includes a section on text-figures and maps, and list of illustrations. The volume consists of front matter pages (xviii), and then a further 682 pages in the original pagination system.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 430; 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/17/15/64
- Title
- 'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:253r, 254r, 255r:429v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence