BAGDAD, or, as it is sometimes called, ARABIAN IRAK, is also a Turkish pashalic or government of Asia, and is computed to extend 840 miles in length by 636 in breadth. It stretches, in a north-west direction, from the mouth of the Shat-ul-Arab at Bussora, to Merdin, situated near the source of the Tigris; and from the confines of Persia west to the banks of the Khabaur, which separates it from the pashalic of Orfa. Its general boundaries are the Euphrates and the Arabian desert of Nedjed to the west and south, Kustistan and Mount Zagros to the east, the pashalic of Diarbekir to the north-west, and Armenia with the territories of the Kurdish chief of Julamerick to the north. This great tract comprehends ancient Babylonia, and the greatest part of Assyria Proper. The first includes the space inclosed by the Tigris and the Euphrates, which is also known under the general appellation of Mesopotamia; and the second, that which is beyond the Tigris, commonly called the Lower Koordistan. This tract of country is an extensive plain, extremely fertile, and is watered by the Tigris and the Euphrates, which at Bagdad approach within 25 miles of each other, and afford an inexhaustible supply of the finest water. Only some parts of those fertile districts, however, are cultivated, as the population consists in many places of wandering Arabs, who are averse to agriculture, and who, in their vagrant life of idleness and rapine, neglect all the natural advantages of a fertile country. The most productive portion of the pashalic is on the banks of the Shat-ul-Arab, in the neighbourhood of Bussora. This tract, for upwards of 30 miles below that city, is well cultivated, and yields vast quantities of dates, wheat, barley, and various kinds of fruits. The banks of the Euphrates produce abundant crops of dry grain. Higher up the Euphrates, the country which
is possessed by the Arabs is a low marshy tract, formed by the expansion of the Euphrates, and is famed for plentiful crops of rice. Among the mountainous districts of the Upper Euphrates the country is highly picturesque and beautiful; it is watered by the river Mygdonius, and is in a tolerable state of cultivation. The finest fruits, such as grapes, olives, figs, pomegranates, which are esteemed the most delicious in the East; apples, pears, apricots of an inferior quality; and the finest dates, on which the inhabitants, as in other parts of Asia, depend in many cases for subsistence; are produced in abundance. The domestic animals are, the horse, for which the country has long been famed, the ass, camels, dromedaries, buffaloes, and mules. Of the wild animals, the jackal is the most destructive. The lion, the hyena, the wolf, and the wild boar, are also common; and antelopes are seen in great numbers. Hares are plentiful, but foxes are seldom seen. All sorts of poultry are bred excepting the turkey. On the cultivated lands, and on the borders of the rivers, the black partridge is met with in great numbers. Snipes and almost every species of wild fowl may be found in the marshes, and pelicans on the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris. In addition to these two rivers, the country is watered by the Khabaur or Chaboras, formed of a variety of little brooks about ten miles to the southwest of Merdin; by the Mygdonius, which joins the Khabaur; and also by the Hermes, a tributary of the Mygdonius.
In ancient times the plain of Mesopotamia was occupied by the great and wealthy cities of Nineveh, Babylon, Seleucia, Ctesiphon, &c. and was in a high state of cultivation. It was intersected by many well-constructed canals and other works, which, in dispersing over the country the superfluous waters of the Tigris and of the Euphrates, proved extremely useful to agriculture. These works are now all ruined, and not a vestige remains of many of the canals, while the course of others can only be faintly traced in their imperfect remains. One canal is still to be seen, which connects the Euphrates and the Tigris exactly half-way between Bussora and Bagdad, and is navigable in spring for large boats.
The pashalic of Bagdad is occupied by Arabian tribes, some of them very powerful. The sheik of Montefidge, whose tribe inhabits the banks of the Euphrates from Korna to Samavat, can bring into the field 4000 horse and a proportionate number of foot. The Beni Lam, who possess the western bank of the Tigris between Korna and Koote, can muster 1500 horse and 2000 foot. The Beni Hashem, between Samavat and Khuzil, are a small tribe. The Khuzil are more numerous, and possess the country near the marshes of Lemloon. The Gerbai is a powerful and licentious tribe, who have lately come from Nedjed, the central district of Arabia, and they are continually roving about from Kerkesia to Bagdad. There are about thirteen other smaller tribes, who wander about the province, plundering travellers, and rendering insecure the navigation of the Tigris and the Euphrates.