American Medical Missionary Activities in Basra in the Late Ottoman Period: Lansing Memorial Hospital

Abstract

One of the most important cities of Iraq on the eastern border of the Ottoman Empire was the province of Basra, where international trade was active and which could also be considered as a gateway to India. Basra was also of high importance for the United States of America because it was the trade centre of the East and the gateway to the South Asian market, and because of the presence of oil in the neighbouring province of Khuzestan. In the vacuum created by the Ottoman Empire’s loss of power in the region in the 19th century, America, which wanted to create an area of dominance for itself, carried out activities here. Accordingly, the Arabian Mission, founded by American Protestant missionaries at the end of the 19th century, established a station in Basra, which was identified as its first target for education and health activities. In 1911, it opened a hospital in Basra under the name of Lansing Memorial, and Protestant doctors and nurses affiliated with the Arabian Mission started to serve there. This study focuses on the activities of the Arabian Mission in Basra starting from the end of the 19th century. The primary sources of this research are the documents of the Ottoman Archives and the publications of the Arabian Mission, while literature on the Arabian Mission has also been used.