Arabs of Iraq and the Peninsula

This book is the harvest of a collection of research studies conducted during the years of the First World War, at the request of the British War Ministry, on topics related to Iraq and the surrounding regions, to help officers and soldiers participating in the British military campaign in Mesopotamia to identify the population, the nature of the country's geography, and its future potentials. The book was published in English by the Government Printing Office in Basra in 1917. The first part of the book, titled "Arabs of Mesopotamia," includes ten articles written in Basra during 1916, mostly by Miss Gertrude Bell. They provided a general description of the Iraqi population, the distribution of Iraqi tribes and clans, the harsh conditions under Ottoman rule, and the relations with Arab tribes in Al-Muhammarah, the Gulf, and Najd. It also included a report on Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud's visit to Basra in 1916. The second part is titled "Asian Turkey," and contains seven articles written by Gertrude Bell in Baghdad in 1917. These studies, as indicated by the title, focus on the Asian provinces of the Ottoman Empire. They describe the geographical nature, population distribution, and economic importance of the Arab provinces in Iraq and Syria, as well as the Turkish provinces in Asia Minor and Anatolia. Number of pages: 208 Year of publication: 2023 Publisher: Dar Al-Rafidain for Printing, Publishing, and Distribution