Work on the sections in northern Mesopotamia does not present great difficulties. There is reason to believe that construction here proceeded with feverish haste during the European war. The main obstacles to rapid track-laying are found in the mountainous district which intervenes between the Anatolian plateau and the plains of Syria and Mesopotamia. According to reports the tunnels in the Amanus mountains were driven from end to end by the summer of 1915. It will probably take longer to complete construction through the mountainous wall which connects the Chakra valley to the Tarsus river in the Cilician Taurus. This section of the road is only 22 miles long. It crosses however an extremely rugged district and requires four separate tunnels which together measure some 10½ miles. In May, 1914, three tunnels had been started and the ground cleared at the approach of the fourth.
A number of branch lines are included in the concession of the Bagdad railroad. The products of some of Turkey’s most promising districts will pass over their tracks toward the trunk line, thence to be finally transported overland through the Balkan peninsula and Austria to German manufacturing centers. A side line projected to extend northeast of Aleppo will tap eventually an exceedingly rich mineral belt situated at the northern convergence of the Tigris and Euphrates. In this district the celebrated copper mines of Argana are found. They are worked in desultory fashion by the Turkish government. In spite of crude methods of extraction and long camel-back hauls the ore is of sufficiently high grade character to yield ample returns. Silver, lead, coal and iron also exist in the same zone of mineralization.
An important branch connecting the trunk line with the Mediterranean at Alexandretta has been in operation since 1913. The line is only about fifty miles in length and traverses the heart of a rich orange-growing district. The northern track of this branch crosses the plain of Issus where Alexander battled against Darius. At about six miles from its southern terminal the line hugs Mediterranean waters and crosses the spot where, according to statements of the natives, the whale relieved itself of the indigestible burden of the prophet Jonah.
In central Mesopotamia, branch lines extending in easterly directions will tap rich oil-fields and may eventually provide connection with future trans-Persian railroads. The history of this Mesopotamian region abounds in stirring chapters. The most favored section is found in the narrow neck of land extending for a short distance at the convergence of the courses of the Tigris and Euphrates. This site was marked by nature for the heart of great empires. After the fall of Babylon, the neighboring cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon became in turn the capitals of Greek emperors and of Parthian and Sassanid sovereigns. Here Bagdad, rich in human history, grew to world fame. The farms and palm groves surrounding the city spread on the east and west until they almost reached the banks of the rivers which carried life and fertility in their waters. At the time of Arab prosperity Bagdad was one of the most magnificent cities of the Mohammedan world. As a center of Mussulman art the city had no peer. The Turkish conquest, which swept light a blight over the land, put an end to the city’s prosperity.
In modern times, Persians and Turks have vied with each other to retain possession of the land. Bagdad then became the center of the struggles waged between Caliphs and Imams. The conflict which splits Islam into the two rival camps of Sunnis and Shiites revolved around the city. The mausoleums and mosques which annually attract thousands of pilgrims are the sanctuaries in which upholders of the divergent beliefs elbow each other oftener than in any other Mohammedan city.
Should the Bagdad railroad be destined to remain German property the line is bound to become the backbone of German supremacy in western Asia. Germania, helmeted and carrying sword and shield, will ride over its rails to conquer Palestine and to wrest the wealth of the Nile and Ganges from British grip. But the foreign interests of every European nation are affected by the construction of this celebrated railway. It is the most direct route to Asia for all of Europe. The question of its internationalization is therefore one of the problems of European diplomacy.
Fig. 57—One of the many shops in a Turkish bazaar. All commerce in Oriental cities was formerly centered under a single roof. This feature of Oriental commerce is gradually disappearing.
The extensive zone traversed by this railway comprises the fertile and well settled valleys of the Sakaria and the Pursak, practically the whole of the interior plateau to the foot of its surrounding mountains and the eastern section of the Mesopotamian valley. Within this belt the most populous inland towns of the peninsula succeed each other at regular intervals. This circumstance indicates their former importance as stages on the long journey between the Bosporus and the Persian Gulf. Casual inspection of their crowded bazars would dispel doubt on this score. Attention must be called here to the geographical significance of these bazars in the Orient. Every urban center is provided with one. It is usually a roofed inclosure within which the city’s business is carried on. Caravans proceeding from remote sections of the continent have their rendezvous outside their gates. The size of these bazars and the activity displayed in each is the measure of an eastern city’s intercourse with the rest of the world. In the geographer’s mind their significance is the same as that of railroad stations.