'Personalities. 'Iràq (Exclusive of Baghdad and Kàdhimain), 1919' [‎12r] (28/318)

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‘ABDUL WAHID, ‘ABDUL QADIR CHALABI.
Of Basrah. A nephew of Ahmad Chalabi. Irresponsible to the point of weak-
mindedness. Was a friend of Saiyid Talib, who used to write to him from India. Hates
the Turks. Of bad moral character. He is a contractor by profession. The ‘Abdul
Wahid family are descended from the Bani Arab house, of' the Bani Khalid, and have
been in the ‘Iraq some 300 years.
‘ABDUL WAHID, AHMAD CHALABI.
Shaikh of Abul Khasib, the best of the family, generous and held in affectionate
esteem, but he has not much character. He was a friend of Saiyid Talib and hated the
Turks, but is now inclined to regard their failings leniently on account of their being
Mohammadans. In the absence of any more suitable candidate he was made Mudir of
Abul Khasib, but did not prove satisfactory in the discharge of those duties.
‘ABDUL WAHID, HAJI MAHMUD PASHA An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. .
The oldest of the family, which is the most numerous in Basrah. Brother of Ahmad
Chalabi. A man of 85, an enormously wealthy owner of date gardens. He was outwardly
on good terms with Saiyid Talib, mainly because he feared him, and is a convinced pan-
Arab, but he is also a good Mohammadan and on religious grounds regrets the Turks.
Virtuous but parsimonious; would sell his soul for official attention and recognition.
He was Mudir of the Sanniyah estates under the Turks. On any question except the
price of dates, and the relations between landlord and tenant, -his opinion is not worth
having. Terrible miser.
‘ABDUL WAHID, SALIH BEG IBN HAJI MAHMUD.
Was Rais al Baladiyah of Basrah, bad reputation, tyrannous, he wrung money out
of the people. A friend of Saiyid Talib, but out of fear ; his real leanings were towards
the C.U.P., and his sympathies are with the Turks on religious grounds. No politician.
He was asked to keep the municipality moving after the occupation, and showed a vast
incapacity. It was he who went down to Muhammarah and as Rais al Baladiyah offered
to hand over Basrah to us.
‘ABDUL WAHID AL HAJI SIKAR.
Shamiyah division. Son of the original paramount chief of the Fatlah, Haji Sikar,
who was famous as one of the most powerful and probably the richest shaikh on the
Euphrates. Cultivates a large area on the left bank of the Mishkhab from Abu Sukhair
to the Ibrahim. Very able and more far-seeing than the average. Emphatically the
most powerful of the Fatlah and next to Saiyid ‘Alwan, probably the greatest influence
in Miskhab. A man of strong personality, but at first sight appears weak and uninteresting.
Should be always carefully watched, but when he gets used to the new regime should be
of considerable use to Government.
‘ABDULLAH ‘AZIZ IBN ABU SALAM.
Of ‘Amarah. Arrested by order of G.H.Q., January, 1918.
‘ABDULLAH BEG BAJLAN.
Younger brother of Mustafa Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. Bajlan. An old man who owns some land in
Khaniqin. Of no importance, though respected.
‘ABDULLAH EFFENDI IBN DARWlSH EFFENDI.
Mudir mal of the Mandali district. An old man, Turkish in origin. He has a wide
knowledge of all revenue matters, and his assistance in the Political Office at Mandali
is invaluable.
‘ABDULLAH AL DULAIMI.
Lieut. Colonel in the .Sharif’s army ; of Dulaim origin ; aged 32 ; speaks Arabic,
Turkish, French. Very correct in tone ; lively, irregular ; eccentric. Too dashing for
solemn operations. Popular, intelligent, and very nationalist ; probably accessible to
money or women. M.C. 1917.
‘ABDULLAH EZRA OUBBAl.
Mutawalli of the tomb of Ezra. The shrine in Turkish times received a grant-in-aid
which exactly balanced with the fixed revenue assessment on the Sanniyah lands on the
left bank so that the one cancelled the other. On the river bank the land was ordinary
Miri and paid l-10th on Shitwi crops and l-6th on Saifi. The date palms round the
shrine are Mulk, i.e., private property held by right of Tapu Sanads. The collection of
Government dues bv a yearly assessment and the deduction from that sum of the annual
(1705) ~ c