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IRAK
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IRAK , a See also:province of See also:Persia, situated W. of See also:Kum and See also:Kashan been taken by the See also:Turkish See also:government to See also:control the See also:Euphrates and E. of See also:Burujird, and paying a yearly See also:revenue of about £r6,000. The province has many flourishing villages which produce much See also:grain, but its greatest income is derived from the carpets made in many of its villages and mostly exported to See also:Europe, the value of which is estimated at about £See also:loo,000 per annum. An important See also:British See also:firm is established at Sultanabad, the See also:capital of the province, solely for this See also:trade. Sultanabad is situated 77 M. S.W. of Kum in 340 6' N. and 490 42' E. at an See also:elevation of 5925 ft. It has a See also:population of about 8000 and See also:post and See also:telegraph offices. It was founded in r8o8 and made a recruiting centre for some battalions of See also:infantry which were to See also:form See also:part of the reorganized See also:Persian See also:army as recommended by the See also:chief of the See also:French See also:mission, See also:General See also:Gardane. In consequence of its See also:recent See also:foundation it is still occasionally spoken of as Shahr-i-no, the " new See also:city." IRAK-ARABI (`Iraq-Arabi, " Arab Irak "), the name employed since the Arab See also:conquest to designate that portion of the valley of the See also:Tigris and Euphrates known in older literature as Babylonia. Irak is approximately the region below the Median See also:Wall, from Opis on the Tigris, at the mouth of Shatt-el-Adhem, to the neighbourhood of Ramadieh (Ramadiya) on the Euphrates; that is, from nearly See also:latitude 340 to the Persian Gulf, and from the Syrian See also:desert to the Persian mountains. It consists of two unequal portions, an extensive dry See also:steppe with a healthy desert See also:climate, and an unhealthy region of swamps. There is a See also:good See also:deal more See also:agriculture along the Euphrates than along the Tigris, but swamps are at the same See also:time much more extensive along the former. The See also:borders of both streams wherever there is habitation are lined with date-palms. This is especially true of the See also:lower part of Irak in the See also:Basra vilayet, where the date-See also:palm forms dense groves bordering the See also:banks for a distance of many days' See also:journey. A luxuriant vegetation of See also:water See also:plants is to be found in the swamps, which are the haunt of numerous See also:wild beasts—pigs, lions, different kinds of aquatic animals and birds. These swamps are inhabited by a wild See also:race of men, dark of See also:hue, with many negroes among them, who cultivate See also:rice and weave See also:straw mats. Their chiefs, with their wives and a very few retainers or members of their immediate families, live in mud castles; the tribesmen live in See also:rude huts of reeds and mats about these castles. In the See also:main these swamp-dwellers, who designate themselves Ma'-See also:dan, keep See also:pretty See also:free both of the Turkish government and of the semi-See also:Bedouins of Irak. Some of them arevery lawless, especially the inhabitants of the region below the Shatt-el-See also:Hal, between the two See also:rivers. Here the Turkish government exercises no authority, and the tribesmen of the swamps See also:play pirate on the merchandise passing up and down the Euphrates above Korna, where for some 8o m. the See also:river has been allowed to form an immense swamp. Some of the Bedouin tribes also engage in marauding expeditions and terrorize certain portions of the See also:country. Especially trouble-some are the edh-Dhafir, westward of the Euphrates, opposite the mouth of the See also:Shaft-el-See also:Hai, and the Beni Lam (7500 tents strong) who occupy the country See also:east of the Tigris to the See also:south of See also:Bagdad. Still more difficult of control is the See also:great tribe of Shammar, who descend every See also:year from the See also:north, pitching their tents in the Jezireh (i.e. the region between the two rivers) southward of Bagdad, and terrifying the whole country during their stay. The Turkish government is, however, gradually extending its authority over all Irak partly by force, partly by treachery. The Affech nation, Ma'-dan See also:Arabs, occupying the swamps behind See also:Diwanieh between the Tigris and Euphrates, and the great Montefich tribes, Bedouins who claimed the whole country southward of the Affech to the Shatt-el-Hal and beyond, have since 188o been deprived gradually of their See also:power and a considerable part of their See also:independence. In 1903 the Turkish government transferred the capital of the sanjak of See also:Hillah to Diwanieh opposite the Affech swamps, and there is now a See also:line of towns, centres of Turkish power and Turkish force, extending southward from See also:Ana to Nasrieh, at the mouth of the Shatt-el-Hai See also:canal, while similar stations are being established or strengthened along the Tigris. Some important steps have also floods, and to drain the swamps in some sections of the country, especially westward of the Euphrates. A See also:dam was built at the mouth of the Hindieh canal to prevent the See also:waters of the Euphrates from losing themselves as 1 eretofore in the swamps westward, and to assure a continual See also:supply of water in the main See also:bed of the Euphrates. It is, however, frequently carried away. The See also:ancient Assyrium Stagnum, or See also:Bahr See also:Nejef near the See also:town of that name, with other swamps formed by the overflow of the Hindieh, have been drained and turned into rice plantations. At the same time large sections of Irak have been converted into imperial domain, to the diminution of the revenues of the country but to the increase of the prosperity of the population which inhabits that domain. Something, though not very much, has thus been done to restore the See also:land to its ancient fertility. Ethnographically Irak is subject to a See also:double See also:influence. On the one See also:hand the connexion with See also:Nejd, the centre See also:plateau of See also:Arabia, continues uninterrupted, even the `Agel Bedouins from central Arabia having a See also:quarter of their own in Bagdad. Many of these Arabs come to Irak merely for a temporary See also:residence, returning later to their homes with the earnings acquired in that comparatively See also:rich country; but a considerable number remain permanently. Even stronger than the influence of Arabia is that of Persia. In general the inhabitants of Irak are See also:Shiites not See also:Sunnites, and their religious connexion and See also:allegiance is therefore toward Persia, not See also:Turkey. Persian customs are in See also:fashion, Persian coinage is used equally with the Turkish, and in some parts, more especially in Bagdad, there is an important Persian quarter, while See also:Kerbela and See also:Meshed `See also:Ali to the See also:west of the Euphrates are really Persian enclaves in Turkish territory. No traces remain of that rich intellectual development which was produced in the time of the caliphs through the reciprocal See also:action of Persian and Arabic elements. Still, the See also:quick-wittedness of the inhabitants of Irak makes a decided impression on the traveller passing through See also:Asiatic Turkey. Throughout Irak also See also:Indian influence is visible in not a few particulars. In the hot summer months, for instance, when the natives live in those underground apartments called serdab, the Indian See also:punkah is used in the houses of the rich. There are also small Indian colonies at most of the large towns and a considerable trade with See also:India is carried on, especially in horses. The trade of Irak is even now not unimportant. The See also:principal exports from Basra are See also:dates, various grains, See also:millet See also:seed, rice and See also:wool, while the imports consist chiefly of See also:Manchester goods, See also:lumber, See also:petroleum, See also:coal and See also:household necessities. Besides this there is a considerable land See also:commerce by See also:caravan, of which Bagdad is the centre. The See also:total value of the exports of Irak according to the See also:official figures of the Turkish government amounts to nearly £2,000,000, while the imports of every See also:kind reach the value of about £r,800,00o. If the ancient See also:system of See also:irrigation were restored and the land restored to cultivation, the country could support five See also:hundred times as many in-habitants as it usually contains. Steamboats navigate the Tigris only as far as Bagdad, and that with great difficulty. In general, communication by water is carried on by means of the most See also:primitive See also:craft. Goods are transported in the so-called turradas, moderately big high-built vessels, which also venture out into the Persian Gulf as far as See also:Kuwet. Passengers are conveyed, especially on the Euphrates, in the meshhu/, a very See also:long narrow See also:boat, mostly pushed along the river See also:bank with poles or towed by See also:ropes. The Mesopotamian kelleks, rafts laid gn See also:goat-skin bladders, come down the Tigris as far as Bagdad. At Bagdad See also:round boats made of plaited reeds pitched with See also:asphalt, the so-called kufas (qufas), are used. At Basra the hellems are in use, boats of large See also:size, having the See also:appearance of being hollowed out of See also:tree trunks and partly in fact so constructed. There are no roads, and the extensive swamps and periodic inundations which See also:lay large sections under water render land See also:traffic by caravan somewhat uncertain. Irak in general is an alluvial See also:plain, formed by the deposits of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, with a few scattered reaches of See also:sand appearing here and there. The See also:mass of solid See also:matter which the rivers See also:deposit is very considerable. The maximum proportion for the Euphrates in the See also:month of See also:January is and at other times -§a ; for 810 the Tigris the maximum is Th. In general, the See also:northern plains of the interior have a slight but well-defined southerly inclination, with See also:local depressions. The territory undulates in the central districts, and then sinks away into See also:mere marshes and lakes. The See also:clay, of a deep See also:blue See also:colour, abounds with marine shells, and shows a strong efflorescence of natron and See also:sea-See also:salt. When the See also:soil is parched the appearance of the See also:mirage (serab) is very See also:common. As extensive inundations in See also:spring are caused by both the rivers, especially the Tigris, great changes must have taken See also:place in this part of the country in the course of thousands of years. It has been asserted that in former times the alluvial See also:area at the mouth of the river in-creased 1 m. in the space of See also:thirty years; and from this it has been assumed that about the 6th See also:century B.C. the Persian Gulf must have stretched from 45 to 55 m. farther inland than at See also:present. The actual See also:rate of increase at the present time is about 72 ft. per annum. While we may be unable to determine accurately the former See also:physical configuration of See also:southern Babylonia, it is at least certain that in Babylonian times the Euphrates and Tigris reached the sea as See also:independent rivers, and See also:Ritter estimates that in the time of See also: Southward of Babylon the Daghara canal, which leaves the Euphrates a little below Hillah and empties into the Affech marshes, and the Shatt-el-Kehr, which, leaving that stream a little above Diwanieh, makes a great See also:curve through the interior of the Jezireh, finally losing itself in the Hosainieh (Hosainiya) marshes near the mouth of the Shatt-el-Hai, are the only navigable or partly navigable canals of the Euphrates in the Jezireh. The Tigris canals are not so numerous as those of the Euphrates and were not so famous in See also:history, but eastward of that river the great Nahrawan channel still exists in part, while the Tigris is connected with the Euphrates by a navigable stream, the Shaft-el-See also:Hat, which Leaves the former river at Kut-el-'Amara and enters the Euphrates at Nasrieh. Everywhere the country is intersected with ancient canals, some still deep dry beds, other so silted up that their course is represented only by parallel lines of hillocks. Some of these, of great antiquity, like the Shatt-en-Nil, which can be traced through its whole course from Babylon, through or past See also:Nippur, Udnun (See also:Bismya) Gishban (Gis-ukh), See also:Erech and See also:Larsa, to the Hosainieh marshes, were equally as important as the Euphrates itself; and indeed it may be said that in ancient times that stream after reaching the alluvial . plain was divided into a large number of channels, partly natural partly artificial, no single one of which, but all together, constituted the Euphrates. By the restoration of these old canals, traces of which are met with at every step, the country might be again raised to that See also:condition of high See also:civilization which it enjoyed not only in antiquity but even as See also:late as the time of the caliphs. The classical writers are unanimous in their admiration of Babylonia, and it is certain that nowhere else in the ancient See also:world was the applicati,a of canals to the exigencies of agriculture worked out so success-fully as here. The most luxuriant vegetation was diffused over the whole country and three crops were obtainable in the year. In the matter of civilization indeed no country of the ancient world surpassed Babylonia. How densely peopled this country once was may be gathered from the fact that about 794 B.C., 89 fortified towns and 82o smaller places in the Chaldaean region were captured during one military expedition. And even in the times of the caliphs there stood on the royal canal and its branches, north of Babylon, 36o villages, contributing in See also:gold 225,000 dirhems to the See also:state See also:treasury besides the tax in kind. To-day the whole region from the swamps about Basra northward is dotted with ruin mounds, and at places the plain itself is strewn for See also:miles with fragments of See also:glass and pottery, See also:evidence of earlier occupation, while, as stated, lines of canals of all possible sizes, from the great triple canals with four rows of parallel hillocks, down to the small canals for purposes of irrigation, intersect the country in every direction. There seem to have been almost from the outset two centres which strove with one another for See also:political supremacy in this region, the south and the north. In the north in the Babylonian time lay See also:Kish, See also:Akkad, Kutha (Tell-See also:Ibrahim), See also:Sippara (See also:Abu Habba), Babylon and See also:Borsippa (Birs-Nimrud). In the south were See also:Eridu and Ur (Mughair)—originally on the shores of the Persian Gulf, now 125 M. inland—Erech (Warka), Larsa (Senkereh), See also:Lagash (Tello) and Gishban (Yokha). Nearly in the centre lay .Nippur and Udnun (Bismya). Besides these there were numerous other cities, some of considerable importance, which are known to us at present only by name; and there are in Irak hundreds of ruin mounds, some of them of considerable size, covering ancient Babylonian cities, the greater part of which are still unexplored and unidentified. During the See also:period of See also:Greek domination a Greek city, See also:Seleucia (q.v.), which after-wards attained great prosperity, was founded by Seleucus I. in an extremely favourable situation on the right bank of the Tigris. Greek cities were founded also in the south, at the See also:head of the Persian Gulf, and some of the ancient Babylonian cities of the interior like Lagash, Erech and Nippur, were rebuilt on the old sites. After the conquest of Babylonia by the Parthians (130 B.C.) See also:Ctesiphon (q.v.) was built on the east bank of the Tigris opposite Seleucia, and became the See also:winter residence of the Persian See also:kings. Later this double city became the imperial capital of the Sassanids, and under the name Madain still continued to flourish after the Arabic conquest, to be finally superseded by the neighbouring Bagdad. That region was called in the time of the Sassanids, Suristan, a See also:translation of the Aramaean designation Beth-Aramaya, "country of the Syrians," for the land was mainly occupied by Aramaeans. By a notable substitution the Arabs afterwards gave the name Nabat, i.e. See also:Nabataeans, to these Aramaean tenantry, who it may be added were already found in these parts at the time of the Babylonian See also:empire. Indeed, some small portion of this old Syrian population of Irak still remains distinguished by a See also:special See also:religion (see See also:MANDAEANS), chiefly on the shores of the lower Euphrates in the neighbourhood of Suk-esh-Sheiukh. Another important city of the See also:Sassanian period was Perisabora, known in the Arabian period as See also:Anbar, the centre also of Babylonian Judaism after the destruction of Pombeditha in A.D. 588, situated on the east bank of the Euphrates in about the same latitude as Bagdad. During the Sassanian period flourished in the south-east the Arabic See also:kingdom of See also:Hira (q.v.).. There was also for a time a Jewish kingdom in Babylonia, and Nehardea and Pombeditha are mentioned as centres of Jewish religions and See also:national See also:life during this period. After the Arabian conquest in the 7th century A.D., Irak entered for a time on a new period of prosperity. Several important new cities were founded, among them See also:Kufa, Basra, Wasit on the Shatt-el-Hai, and Bagdad on the site of an old Babylonian city of the same name, which later became under the Abbasid caliphs not only the capital of Irak but for a time the See also:metropolis of the world (see See also:CALIPHATE). With the decay of the Abbasid power the system of irrigation began to fall into disrepair, the ancient sites were gradually deserted, and the country finally returned to a condition of semi-barbarism alternating between inundation and drought, which is its present state. See Ritter, See also:Die Erdkunde von Asien, 2nd ed., vol. vii., loth and 11th parts (See also:Berlin, 1843, 1844); W. F. See also:Ainsworth, Researches in See also:Assyria (See also:London, 1838) ; F. R. See also:Chesney, Expedition for the Survey of the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris (2 vols., London, 185o) ; W. K. See also:Loftus, See also:Chaldaea and Susiana (1857); F. See also:Delitzsch, Wo lag das Paradies? (See also:Leipzig, 1881) ; W. F. Ainsworth, The Euphrates Expedition (1888); J. P. See also:Peters, Nippur (1897); E. Sachau, Am Euphral and Tigris (119oo) ; F. Delitzsch, See also:Im Lande See also:des einstigen Paradieses (1903). Maps: Chesney (185o); See also:Selby, Bewsher and See also:Collingwood (1871); See also:Kiepert, Ruinenfelder (1883). (A. So.; J. P. PE.) IRAK-I-AJAMI (i.e. Persian Irak), the name (now obsolete) of the important Persian province which the Arab geographers called See also:Jebel (the mountainous region). It used to be the country bounded N. by See also:Azerbaijan and Gflan, E. by See also:Samnan and the central Persian desert, S. by See also:Kerman, See also:Fars and See also:Arabistan, W. by See also:Kermanshah and See also:Kurdistan. Its length, N.W.-S.E., was about 600 m. from the Kaftan Kuh on the Kizil Uzain, the frontier of Azerbaijan, to the frontier of Kerman beyond See also:Yezd, and its width, N.E.-S.W., about 300 M. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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