'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎252r] (508/862)

DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION 3-79
delta, both in the holy cities and in Basra and Baghdad, and also in
small numbers in the small towns of the Middle Euphrates region and
of the lower Tigris provinces; a community existed formerly in the
Shithatha oasis. Persians occur also at the border villages and small
towns of the Iraqi-Persian frontier, particularly on the road to Ker-
manshah. Lurish tribesmen appear in this neighbourhood, especially
Kalhurs, as also at Amara; and there are Faili Lurs at Kut al Imara.
The main provincial groups are:
Muntafiq . 1,500 | Amara . 8,500 Baghdad . 18,700
Basra . 4,500 | Kut . 5,000 Karbala . 22,000
There are some Persian Baluchis, some so-called ‘Barbaris’, Afghan
by origin, and some Indians, settled in the same localities as the
Persians, the majority being at Karbala and Najaf. In all they number
less than 2,400, of whom 1,100 are in Karbala province, 600 in Basra,
and 350 in Baghdad province.
Except for the Indians of Basra and perhaps some of those at
Baghdad, the Persians, Indians, and Afghans are Shia Moslems. Of
the Turkomans two-thirds are Sunni, one-third Shia.
The number of Europeans and Americans normally settled or
working in Iraq is remarkably small and did not total more than 800
in 1932. In 1942 there were 11,000 European civilians, perhaps
including war-time officials.
Distribution of Religions
In the table on p. 380 the figures for Sunnis and Shias are long out
of date (1932) but indicate the general distribution. Those for the
non-Moslem faiths are recent (1943). No separate figures exist for
the unorthodox Moslem sects.
Moslems. The northern limit of the Shia block is the Diyala river
and the canal system between Falluja and Baghdad (fig. 59). The
settled and semi-nomadic tribes south of these limits are almost
universally Shia, whereas the true beduin tribes are Sunni. But there
are exceptions and enclaves. Within the agricultural regions of the
Middle Euphrates and Shatt al Gharraf there are many Sunni land
lords and Sunni storekeepers and traders in the villages and small
towns, some, such as Hilla, having a sizeable Sunni community; the
Sadun family itself which provided the great Muntafiq leaders be
longed by origin to the Sunni aristocracy of Mecca. At Basra there is
a large Sunni element in the population, and the desert town of
Zubair is a Sunni community. The nomadic Muntafiq south of the
Euphrates marshes are Shias, but their conversion dates only from