Evening star., 1921-08-15
KINGDOM Of |RAK
ON NATIONS ROLL

of Earth to Function Under
British Mandate.
The impending addition of a new
| member of the family Of nations-the
kingdom of Irak. to function under a
British mandate-is mentioned in re-
cent dispatches from London. How
this new" country is in reality one
OF the Oldest and most historic patches
or the earth's surface is told in the
following bulletin from the head
quarters Of the National Geographic
Society.
"Irak has existed as geographical
name for ages" says the bulletin.
put In recent centuries it has had
little more official sanction than
Manhattan for the American me-
tropolis or Frisco for a thriving
Pacific port. Yet it covers more or
less indefinitely region known, and
often famous. in every age of man
from the dawn of tradition to the
present-the fertile plain of the Tig-
rls and EuDhrates valleys, where the
Garden of Eden Is supposed by many
students to have been situated. and
wnere the first weak rootlets sprout-
ed that have grown into the world
wide civilization Of today. Strip Irak
of it's alias: call it Babylon-Ninevah
j-Mesopotamia. and it is known to
every school child.
| Includes Old Turkish Villayets.
THE country which it is proposed
TO erect into the practically inde-
pendent kingdom of Irak was placed
under the mandate of Great Britain
| on the breaking up of the Turkish
| empire following the world war, and
was generally spoken Of as the man
date for Mesopotamia.' 1t include
approximately the old Turkish viii
iayets of Basra, Bagdad and Mosul.
| and Euphrates and a considerable
part of the upper reaches of those
streams. lying between the Eyrian
desert on the one side and the hills
the other. TO the southeast, at the
| mouth of the rivers. is the navigable
| Persian gulf.
ut is difficult to exaggerate the
| agricultural paradise that might be
! built up in the lower valley Of the
| eral wealth taken from the regions
| farther north. If the country were
under a strong government. were
oeopled by alert. educated inhabi-
and modern machinery were availa-
| BILE. Even with the factors as they
| are, the British. who will continue
| to hold the mandate. and the Ara
bians. who will be in immediate
| charge of the government. are count
| ing on the rise of state which may
| be compared without disadvantage
with some Of the great governments
| that have occupied the land in the
| past.
Plain Was a Garden Spot.
ITO gain an idea of what wonder
l full development can be brought
| about in Mesopotamia one need only
4 IL sv&@
| ming of history the plain Of the Tigris
I and Euphrates was a garden spot.
teeming with a we'll fed and wealthy
| people. II there was a grandeur
that was Greece and a glory that was
Rome there was as truly a splendor
of Babylon was made possible 5000
years ago largely by the wealth that
sprang from the intensive cultivation
| of the river plain under a gigantic
most ambitious modern systems prob
| ably have failed in many ways to
| surpass.
Great canals crossed the region
| between the rivers and ran for miles
on the outer sides. while smaller
/ canals spread the water to every cor
ner of the country. Some of these
ancient canals were practically artt-
dcial rivers with two and three par
allel channels. the remains of which
| miles. Watered by these countless
streams, nearly every square foot of
| the country produced its crops of
dates, figs. grain and other products
| and the population was many times
that of today.
"Babylon's agricultural Utopia was
not a short-lived affair, but continued
! for nearly ten times as long as the
period which has passed since white
! men settled in America. The coun-
try throve with only minor inter-
ruptions under Babylonians, Assyr-
But always the settled civilization
of the agriculturists was threatened
by the turbulent hill people to the
north and east. Finally the Par
thians captured the country and were
followed by the Persians. Under
irrigation systems.E even then much
less efficient than during the golden
age of Babylon. rapidly deteriorated.
Splendid, Gay, Wicked BaEdad.
Under the Abbassid caliphs, with a
combination of Arabic and Persian
culture, Bagdad was founded on the
Tigris in the very center of the river
plain-the splendid, gay. wicked Bag
dad of the Arabian Nights Meso-
less. was still relatively great. and
Bagdad was for awhile the metropolis
of the world, it's Inhabitants at, one
time numbering 100000 souls.
when the Turks got possession of
| the caliphate and carried its seat on
to the west, Bagdad withered; and
! under Turkish rule the Tigris and
Euphrates valley entered its darkest
period. The few canals that had con-
| tinued to function properly Joined
[ those that long before had fallen into
| disrepair, becoming clogged or break
/ ing their banks and causing foods.
Much of the incomparably fertile soil
| became and has remained until today
f; bare plain or ooZy swamp. Only a
| small percentage of the rich valley
| has for generations produced any
| crops.
| Headway Made in Reclamation.
| after the Young Turks came into
power. in 1908. reclamation work was
| pirates plain and some headway was
made. Since the British occupied
Bagdad in 1917 this work has been
carried much farther. An apprecia-
BILE acreage has been drained, and
dams and canals have been con-
structed. A railroad has been built
from Bagdad to Basra, the port near
the Persian gulf. a distance of sew
eral hundred miles. and another line
| has been laid up the Tigris half way
to Mosul. Connection with the Con-
| stantinople-to-Bagd (once the 'Ber'
ilin-to-BagdadO railway will probably
be effected in the near future.
! TT is planned under the new Arat
state and the mandate to continue
! the work of rejuvenating the coun.
] try's ancient irrigation system. But
| there is a herculean task to be &C.
| complished before the Garden OF
| Eden blooms again. 1t was estimated