Description

Mehmet Emin (also known as Muhammad Amin Zaki and Mehmed Emin Zeki, 1880–1948).

سلمان پاك ميدان محاربه سى “قته سيفون” و زيلى
[Selman-ı Pak Meydan Muharebesi “Ktesifon” ve Zeyli / Battle of Salman Pak “Ctesiphon” and Appendix]

Istanbul: Matbaa-i Askeriye [Military Press], 1337 [1921].

8º, 15 maps, some printed in colour, and 5 black and white charts, all printed on 10 folding sheets of various sizes – same number as quoted on the title page – complete, 147 pp., contemporary black tan linen binding with embossed decoration, gold lettering on the spine, patterned endpapers (age toned with some foxing, especially to first and last pages, plates with sporadic tears and small holes in folds and margins, small tears in endpapers, binding little scuffed).

The book provides an account of events during the Mesopotamian campaign from November 27 to December 1, 1915, with particular emphasis on the Battle of Salman Pak, located approximately 24 km south of Baghdad and fought between November 22 and 25, 1915. This battle held significant strategic importance for the Ottoman forces, as it halted the British advance toward Baghdad and enabled the establishment of a defensive position at Kut Al Amara (the First Battle of Kut). The text is notable as the only extant first-hand Ottoman account of these events.

The text is supplemented by large-scale maps that illustrate various aspects of the siege and indicate troop numbers. In stark contrast to these detailed visual aids, the Ottoman forces conducted their operations entirely without the use of maps. As noted by Mehmet Emin, “There was not such a thing as a map in the whole Turkish force.” He recounts an incident in which Ottoman troops downed a British aircraft and derived greater satisfaction from acquiring a small map found on board—providing them with valuable information about the terrain and enemy positions—than from the aircraft itself.

The campaign marked the first occasion in military history where maps were created using photographs captured from aircraft.

The appendix, beginning on page 101, provides an account of the Battle of Delabiha (Umm at Tubul) near the outskirts of Baghdad, which took place on December 1, 1915.

Major Mehmet Emin (also known as Muhammad Amin Zaki and Mehmed Emin Zeki, 1880–1948) was a Kurdish historian, military history lecturer, and major in the Ottoman Army. He was born in Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and relocated to Baghdad in 1923, where he taught at the Military Academy.

We could trace examples in following institutions, listed on Worldcat (possibly there are more examples listed under different variations of the title): Library of Congress, Bavarian State Library, University of California Los Angeles, Universitätsbibliothek der Eberhard Karls Universität.