First edition of the first accurate Ottoman general map of Central and Southern Iraq, Kuwait, and Khuzestan (southwestern Iran); the authoritative map used by the Ottoman army for strategic planning during the "Mesopotamia Campaign", where Ottoman-German forces mounted a unexpectedly strong resistance to Britain's invasion of Iraq in World War I. Examples of the present map were used by Ottoman commanders who oversaw the successful Ottoman-German defence of Baghdad at the Battle of Ctesiphon (22-25 Nov. 1915), as well as the capture of the main British army at the Siege of Kut-al-Amara (7 Dec. 1915-29 April 1916). It shows the tip of the Gulf and the Tigris and Euphrates vallies, including, Kuwait, most of Iraq and Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran. Mountain ridges are rendered in brown, with rivers and marshes in blue, permanent bodies of water in green and parallels and meridians at every degree, ranging from about 43.5 to 49.5°E longitude and 29 to 34°N latitude.
With the text entirely in Ottoman Turkish, the map is based on the British War Office's "Lower Mesopotamia between Baghdad and the Persian Gulf" (1911), which was itself in part based on Ottoman sources. Both maps were dramatically superior in all respects to previous efforts, forming the culmination of over three generations of reconnaissance, capped by critical late-breaking discoveries.
Some light stains in the margins and the lower-right quadrant, but generally in good condition. Very rare.