"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎١‎٤‎٣‎٤] (١٧٨٢/١٥٨٩)

Contumacy
and reduction
of the
KhazS'il,
1864—66.
1434
In May 1866 it was reported that Shaikh Mansur, who was living
among the Dhafir, would not come to Baghdad, the reason being that he
distrusted promises of pardon and good treatment that were held out to
him by the Turks, while Namiq Pasha on his part would "tolerate no
guarantee beyond his own words/' Shaikh Nasir, who had escaped
outlawry by timely submission, was then absent on a pilgrimage to
Makkah but was expected to return in time to compete for the farm of
the Muntafik districts on the expiry of its tenure by Shaikh Fahad
in September 1866. October came, but no new appointment was made to
the Shaikhship, and it was expected that Shaikh Fahad would be re-in
vested with it for another three years, though probably on less advan
tageous financial terms than before.
No sooner were the Muntafik disturbances at an end in 1 864 than
trouble arose with the Khaza'il of the Shamiyah district, whose Shaikh
was Mutlaq, and whose territory extended from Shinafiyah to Najaf on
the one side and to Abu Jawarir on the other. It was not alleged
against Shaikh Mutlaq that he had ever made default as farmer of the
revenue assessed on the lands of his tribe, which in fact he was .accus
tomed to pay with punctuality, adding to it presents for the Turkish
officials, or that he had shown active sympathy with the Muntafik in
their late revolt; but he was virtually independent, he would not appear
and do homage in person to the Pasha of Baghdad, and he was sus
pected of having harboured the guilty Al Bu Hasan and Dhawalim after
their attack on Shibli Pasha^s column.
Before resorting to military operations Namiq Pasha once more con
sulted the British Political Agent and received from him a sound
opinion, the whole of which is perfectly applicable to the situation in
Turkish Iraq at the present day.
I said that however patriotic His Excellency's desire to reduce the larger ti'ibes of
Turkish Arabia under complete control, I was of opinion that the force at his disposal
was unequal to ihe purpose, not, perhaps, to beat the Arabs wherever they should
encounter the main body of'the troops, but to maintain the positions which might be
successively occupied ; and that in consequence, and for a period probably very pro-
tracted, not only would the highways of communication he rendered impassable, but
the settled districts would be exposed to incursions, leading, of course to the usual
results, a desolated country, s'oppajje of trade, and loss of revenue, which, sooner or
later, must oblige the Government to compromise its aims and to restore matters to
their normal condition. I readily admitted that the dbminancy of the Arabs over the
most fertile portions of this province was a great evil; but it was an evil which
could not he overcome by isolated and convulsive efforts at coercion, and was assuredly
the lesser evil compared with the st tte of anarchy accruing upon failure- On my in*
stancing the more recent case of the Montefiq tribe, His Excel 'ency did not deny
that tne attempt to establish Turkish rule at Sukesh Shiookh had had this issue.