"العراق والخليج الفارسي" [ظ‎‎٣‎٣‎٦] (٨٦٢/٦٧٥)

524 PORTS AND INLAND TOWNS
adjacent village of Bebadi housed a station of the Anglican mission to the
Nestorians. In 1919 the murder by the local aghas of two British political
officers who had taken over the town with the support only of Levies, was
followed by a remarkable local campaign in which British authority was
first established among the Barwar tribes.
Communications
Land-. Tracks lead south-west over the Tang-i-Daria hills to Dohuk,
and Simel [110], north over the Ser Amadia to the Bekhlati valley, east
along the Sipna Nihail valley past its confluence with the Great Zab to
Zibar, south by devious routes over the Ghara Dagh to the headwaters in
the Rozah Shor valley of the Khazir Su, and eventually to Aqra.
Air : Landing-ground south of Bebadi village, 2 miles west of Amadia.
Amara. 31 0 51' N., 47 0 09' E.; alt. 30 feet. Pop. 18,000. Liwa cap.
Rainfall station (P. and T.).
Amara, on the left bank of the Tigris 90 miles by river above Qurna and
126 miles below Kut al Imara, lies among riverside date-plantations in the
midst of a wide cultivated area to the south of the Haurs Isawi, Halfawi,
Jazra, and Sanaf. The town, which stands on a strip of ground enclosed
on the west by the Tigris, on the north and east by the Mashara and Cha-
hala canals (fig. 10), is the most important town and river port on the
Tigris south of Baghdad, controlling a bridge across the Tigris, and being
the commercial centre of a fertile agricultural area. The population is
mostly Arab, with a sprinkling of Persian and Jewish merchants, a strong
colony of Sabians (p. 331), and a number of Christians. There is a large
influx of Lurs, most of whom are porters.
Amara has grown up since i860 largely as a result of the pacification and
agricultural development of the district. It was captured by the British
forces on 3 June 1915 (p. 276), and has remained quiet during the nationalist
troubles of 1919-1920 and throughout its recent history.
General Description
The town has a river frontage of about half a mile, faced by a brick
wharf, and is joined by a 70-yard steel pontoon bridge 20 feet wide, to the
suburb of Daffas. The northern quarter of Amara is the oldest; the southern
has well-built houses of recent date along the river which are occupied by
officials and local shaikhs. Most of the town roads, except that from the
bridge to its northern exit, are too narrow for wheeled traffic. The prin
cipal buildings are: the sarai, the Mutasarrif’s residence, a new Law Courts
building, a bank, three schools, a small Public Library, three hospitals
(civil 56 beds, leprosy 220 beds, American mission 34 beds), the police
barracks, and the jail. A large covered bazaar contains about 500 shops.