'Reports of administration for 1918 of divisions and districts of the occupied territories in Mesopotamia. Volume I' [‎201v] (407/470)

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worker and has much more influence than his father. He should eventually succeed
Husain al Ju'aiyin. This latter, whom I chose after great deliberation, is more like
Suwailim al Hawwash in character and bearing—thick set, heavy and extremely
cunning, but strong; and it is strong men we require. There is now every prospect
of the Albu Sa‘ad settling down quietly under Husain al JVaiyin, who is strong enough
to enforce law and order. Their previous unsettled state was that of internal unrest.
They did no harm to any one but themselves.
Bani Sa‘id (Bad‘ah elements).—Head Shaikh, ‘Ulaiwi al Marhij. The Bani
Sa‘id are a long way away and therefore difficult to control. They have caused a
great deal of trouble over the supply of labour, and have without doubt played on
the fact that they are away in the blue. There is a Mudir at Duwaiyah, but I am
convinced that until a British officer can be spared especially for the Bani Sa‘id,
difficulties will always arise. The Bani Sa‘id are to Shatrah what the Albu Salih
are to Suq. The situation among the Bani Sa‘id is made more acute, of course,
by the fact that they are practically next door to Badr al Rumaiyidh. With the
latter’s malign influence at work it is not to be wondered at that the Bani Sa‘id
are hard to control. Hasan al Badr visited ‘Ulaiwi al Marhij a short time ago,
and no doubt tried to convince him that the Turkish Government would be soon
returning to ‘Iraq and would reward all who had caused the British Government
trouble. ‘Ulaiwi has not been into Shatrah for some long while, his excuse being
that he is still very ill. This may or may not be true. Working hand in hand with
‘Ulaiwi is Naif al Mashai. The latter is more amenable to reason, but finds it difficult
to work against ‘Ulaiwi’s wishes. Naif has now gone out to the Bani Sa‘id to collect
labour for the completion of their work on the irrigation project, and the next few
days will show definitely whether he wishes to play up or play the fool.
The above applies generally to the whole of the Bani Sa‘id, but particularly
to A1 Shams, ‘Ulaiwi and Naif’s own section. The two other sections under the
jurisdiction of this district are Al Ma‘yuf and Al Ghashim. These are much more
under control and do not give one such an uneasy time.
With a British Officer at Duwaiyah the administration of the Bani Sa‘id would
be easy, but at present, with a Mudir of little strength of character, control is
difficult. There has not, of course, been any active hostility on the part of the Bani
Sa‘id, but with one’s fingers on their pulse one can not help feeling that they are
unsettled. I am expecting to collect revenue from them on this last summer crop,
and I think they will pay up without any trouble. One would, however, like to see
them playing up to one a little more. This may come as soon as they find that there
will be no further demand on them for labour at present.
2. Revenue : (a) Land Revenue. — Sanction for the collection of revenue on
the last summer crop came too late to admit of assessing the revenue in accordance
with the khars system. It has, therefore, only been possible to make up one’s
revenue demands by gathering together minute particles of information, such as old
Turkish demands and mallaks’ dhumans, &c. The result is that for this year
a nominal revenue only will be taken. This will, however, prepare the way for a full
collection of revenue on the coming winter crop. Attached, as Appendix C., is a list
of the demands on the past summer crop.
This district is at present being surveyed, but the maps will not, I fear, be large
enough to use as the basis on which the revenue is to be collected. The coming
winter crop revenue will, therefore, have to be assessed by khars. Much has been
said about the inadvisability of this method, but it is the only means one has until
a really good ground survey is available. Then one will be independent, and then
only will an absolutely correct revenue be collected.
Until the Khafajah and Albu Sa‘ad lands are once more put under cultivation
the greatest revenue of this district will be derived from the summer crop, and not
from wheat and barley as is the case in Qal‘at Sikar district. Attached, as Appendix
D., is a list of the muqata‘ahs of this district.
( 6 ) Kodak .—Orders have just been received from the Political Officer, Nasiriyah,
directing the collection of kodah on all sheep and buffaloes. It has not been possible
yet to make any arrangements for this collection, but I am gathering together
information. The Bani Sa‘id alone have very large flocks and the revenue from this
tribe alone should be considerable. There are not many buffaloes in this district,
and it is estimated that the income derived from buffalo kodah will not exceed a
thousand rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. .