From 1798 until 1916, each British representative in Iraq (formerly Mesopotamia) held two appointments: agent, or resident, of the East India Company and consul, appointed by the British ambassador in Constantinople because Iraq was in Turkish Arabia. Since the Company, and later the government of India, met most of the costs of the Posts in Iraq, their successive buildings until the First World War were generally called residencies rather than consulates.

Note

These Iraq pages draw heavily on Sir Terence Clark’s chapter in British Missions Around the Gulf, 1575-2005: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Folkestone: Global Oriental, 2008. Sir Terence has also kindly supplied me with some of the photographs (as acknowledged in their captions).