"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٢‎١‎٥] (١٧٨٢/١٣٧٠)

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1215
Baghdad Pashaliq, he became a nominee of the Baghdad Pasha and his
authority was greatly curtailed. The abode of the Kapitan Pasha in
1765 appears to have been almost precisely at the spot occupied by the
Turkish Commodore at Basrah at the present day. At Basrah, as at
Baghdad, there was a considerable body of officials, including a Qadhi
sent annually from Constantinople; and the Mutasallim of Basrah,
like the Pasha of Baghdad, was required in serious questions to consult
his Council, on which the Kapitan Pasha, the Qadhi, the notables of the
country and others had seats. The notables, among whom was the
Naqib of Basrah, were collectively known as the* AjaUal-Balad; their
privileges included exemption from the land-tax, and rights of
private jurisdiction upon their own estates. The Janissaries at
Basrah, being removed from under the eye of their own principal officers,
who were stationed at Qurnah, were even more troublesome than at
Baghdad ; and on the death of Sulaiman Pasha in 1762 the Mutasallim,
with all his troops, was unable to prevent them from plundering in
broad daylight the houses of Armenians, Jews and Hindus, and even
those of such Muhammadans as had not enrolled themselves in a Janis
sary Corps. In the disorders which occurred, the Janissaries frequently
came to blows among themselves, and as many as eight to twelve of
them were often killed in a single day, besides an equal number of
ordinary peaceful citizens. It might be supposed that a Mutasallim,
surrounded by so many independent forces, must have been practically
powerless; but such was not the case; and it was observed that an
able man, skilled in playing off one faction against another, was able
not merely to maintain his authority at Basrah, but even to amass con
siderable wealth by extortion.
Two other important official centres besides Baghdad and Basrah Diwaniyah
were iwaniyah, generally known as Haskah, and Hillah, through both and
of which Dr. Ives and his party passed on their way up the Euphrates
finding in charge of the former 'Ali Agha, afterwards Pasha of Baghdad
w o struck them as a " generous, genteel, worthy man." The juris-
diction of the governor of Dlwaniyah at that time extended to Qurnah
on the one side and Hillah on the other.
ill
.
deputy
Internal tribal affairs, 1757—73.
Notwithstanding the severe punishment which Ahmad Pasha and
JHilaiman Jaeha had from time to ti me meted out to the Arah clans,
'So Nietmh,-, bat in the English official record, of the d. y they .eem to be generally
mentioned a. the " Ion.," by which, presumably, the lerm Ajin i, intended.