'IRAQ AND THE PERSIAN GULF' [‎286v] (575/862)

442 IRRIGATION, AGRICULTURE, AND MINOR INDUSTRY
to water 125,000 acres in the Hawija district of the Kirkuk plain; but
considerable use is made, as has been already indicated, of lifting
machinery along the rivers, and in the mountain valleys of Kurdistan
considerable ingenuity is displayed in devising small systems of irriga
tion cuts and ditches to water the maximum area of the restricted
amount of cultivable land, particularly for the small-scale cultivation
of tobacco and rice (pp. 456, 460). One device, the karez, used prin
cipally in the Erbil and Kirkuk plains, calls for comment. The karez
consists of a series of wells sunk at gradually decreasing depths on
gently sloping ground and interconnected by underground channels,
so that the subsoil water of a relatively large area is collected in the
last and shallowest well, from which it is hoisted up for irrigation.
The karez has the special advantage of preventing losses from
evaporation. Certain families retain the traditional knowledge of the
art of karez digging, which is a dangerous occupation. In Abbasid
times there were said to be some 365 karezes in the Erbil plain, and
as many as 60 were still in use recently.
Land Tenure
The progress of agriculture in Iraq has for long been greatly
retarded by the obscure and confused condition of all forms of land
rights. Where security of ownership, possession, and tenure is
inadequate, neither tenant nor landlord will exploit their resources
and abilities to increase the yield or extend the area of cultivated
land. Hence the stabilization of land rights is a prime interest of
the Government. It was first attempted in 1868-1869 by Midhat
Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , who introduced into Iraq legislation enacted ten years before
at Istanbul.
At that time the vast bulk of land in Iraq was in no regular form
of private ownership or possession, and there was no means of regis
tering such titles and documents as existed. The Ottoman legislation
created a new legal form, Tapu, for the possession of state lands
{Miri) and encouraged applications for Tapu titles, and at the same
time established a Land Registry for documents. Titles were issued
for considerable areas, but unfortunately the scheme was not based
on a cadastral survey of any sort, so that the descriptions of boundaries
in the new titles were extremely ambiguous. The Land Registry was
not properly maintained and soon ceased to correspond with the
facts. The destruction and removal of the registers during the War
of 1914-1918 increased confusion. Hence by 1918 the Tapu lands