Iraq

The country of Iraq was previously part of the area known as Mesopotamia. It was also known as Turkish Arabia.

Iraq's modern borders were created in 1920 by a League of Nations mandate and Iraq was placed under British control, known as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. A monarchy was established in 1921 and the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from Britain in 1932.

The capital is Baghdad.

Also see

• Mesopotamia Campaign 1914-1918
• Indian Divisions in Mesopotamia

Records

• See General Register Office for births, marriages and deaths.
• The BACSA Archive at the British Library Mss F370 has item 825 Iraq
  • Baghdad, civil cemetery: 1886-1980
  • Abadan, St Christopher's
  • Habbaniya
  • Kut
• The FamilySearch Library catalogue has an entry for Baghdad Civil Cemetery, Iraq, a book by AG Peake. This appears to be only available at the Library in Salt Lake City. However as the book is only eight pages, it may be possible to request a photocopy.
• British Library catalogue entry Factory Records: Persia and the Persian Gulf IOR/G/29 1620-1822
• British Library catalogue entry Records of the British Residency and Agencies in the Persian Gulf IOR/R/15 1763-1951. Although there were Agencies at Basra ( Basrah) and Baghdad, there are no records in this series for these Agencies.

External links

• Mesopotamia Wikipedia
• Iraq Wikipedia
• British Mandate of Mesopotamia 1920-1932 Wikipedia
• "The Raj Reconsidered: British India’s Informal Empire and Spheres of Influence in Asia and Africa" by James Onley Asian Affairs Volume XL, no. I, March 2009 html version, original pdf
• This link is a table which shows the Persian Gulf Division of the Bombay Postal Circle (Bombay GPO) and the Sindh Postal Circle (Karachi GPO), in Basrah and Baghdad
• "Scientific Instrument with a Story to Tell" by John Packer Bulletin of the Scientific Instruments Society No. 92 (2007), pages 17-18. html version,original pdf

Briefly mentions the Indo-European Telegraph Department connecting India with Baghdad, in the early 1860’s, the route being Karachi, Gwadur (Baluchistan), Fao (now Fawr, Iraq), Basra, Baghdad, (then part of greater Turkey), and from there to Europe.

• This link (Sothebys) gives details of the papers of Sir Harford Jones. At the age of 19, Jones was posted to Basra in the service of the East India Company, to be assistant factor. He remained in the post for a decade (1783-1794). He was Resident in Baghdad from 1798 to 1804.
• This link gives details of the book Memoirs of Baghdad, Kurdistan & Turkish Arabia 1857 by J. F Jones , Indian Navy, a 1998 facsimile re-publication ,one of the volumes in a series of Bombay Government Records. It includes "Memoir on the Province of Baghdad, 1855" which gives much information about Baghdad at that time. Available at the British Library
• Iraq Britishempire.co.uk
• The British in Mesopotamia stanford.edu
• Old Magazine Articles: Iraq 1920s oldmagazinearticles.com
• The British in Mesopotamia/Iraq casahistoria.net
• "Tea and travellers - Baghdad's lost British past Recalling the heyday of the British Embassy" The Times February 28, 2003
• "Echoes of the Past", a Baghdad graveyard Guardian.co.uk 22 June 2004