'Personalities. 'Iràq (Exclusive of Baghdad and Kàdhimain), 1919' [‎27r] (58/318)

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‘ATIYAH, HAjI.
Member of the Hillah Majlis.
‘ATIYAH, SHAIKH.
Ran Qal'at Sikar before the appointment of an A.P.O. A strong man. He kept
the town clean and peaceful and levied taxes as he chose ; therefore unpopular. He has
a quarrel about land with the Mushlib, a section of the Toqiyah (Muntafiq, Ajwad,
Humaid). His son was appointed Mudir of Suwaij Shijar, on probation, but turned
out to be useless.
‘ATlYAH IBN ‘ABDULLAH.
Shaikh of Jubur, on right bank of Diyalah, Shahraban district; resides at Shirwan.
He has a strong personality and a firm control over his tribe. Intriguer.
‘ATIYAH ABU QULAL.
Head of the Zuqurt, one of the two Arab factions of Najaf, the other being the Shumurt.
Headman of the ‘Amarah quarter of Najaf. His ancestors were not Shaikhs, and until
1894 he earned his living by smuggling salt into the town. In the pursuit of this occupa
tion he came into collision with the Turkish excise men, killing and wounding some of the
party. This episode earned for him the wrath of the Government and considerable repute
among the townsmen. He was outlawed, a sentence which did little but enhance his
reputation. He built himself a strong fort known as Dar'iyah on the outskirts of the town,
and owned a cultivated plot round a spring in the sandy bottom of the Bahr Najaf, some
20 miles further west. At Dar'iyah he resisted all attempts to bring him to order. These
proceedings gave him considerable influence over the local population and the surrounding
tribes ; guests flocked to enjoy his hospitality, and the two factions of Najaf acknowledged
his authority. His position became so menacing that the Ottoman Government sent
troops and guns against him, destroyed his houses and drove him to seek refuge in Kir-
manshah. When Nazim Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. was appointed Wali of Baghdad in 1910, ‘Atiyah returned
secretly from Persia and cast himself on the clemency of that straightforward old soldier,
and obtained through him a pardon from the Government. When Nazim fell and
the country returned to the lawlessness from which he had partially delivered it, local
highwaymen marked the recovery of their independence by robbing the Government post
of a large sum of money on the Najaf-Karbala road. Jamal Beg, Nazim’s successor,
turned to ‘Atiyah for help, and the latter recovered the money (from a coffee shop in Najaf)
with such celerity that the Wali concluded that he must have been, at the very least, an
accomplice in the robbery, and committed him to gaol. He was removed to Baghdad and
submitted to various tortures, such as flogging and branding with hot irons, but at the
beginning of the war he was released, and returned to Najaf. Such being his antecedents,
it was not likely that he would prove a pillar of strength to the Ottoman Government.
He was the last man to obey the orders of the Turks to take an oath to oppose us, and he
lost no time in writing to the C.P.O. offering to come to terms with us. With the other
Shaikhs of Najaf, ‘Atiyah administered the town of Najaf after the Turks were turned out in
May, 1915, and he resumed control in the summer of 1916 when the Ottoman Government
was ousted for the second time. He entered into correspondence with us and received
financial support. His principal colleagues at Najaf were Haji Sa'ad, Saiyid Mahdi ibn
Saiyid Salman and Kadhim Subbi. He came into Baghdad immediately after the Occu
pation and, with the other town Shaikhs, was charged with the preservation of order in
the town. In October, 1917, he instigated disorders after the town had failed to pay up
an indemnity due to the ‘Anizah who had been looted when they came to Najaf to buy
provisions. On the intervention of Muhammad Kadhim Yazdi he was pardoned but
maintained a truculent attitude. In January, 1918, his men fired on our cavalry, killing a
man. ‘Atiyah fled into the desert and was outlawed. He was not in Najaf at the time of
the murder of Captain Marshall. In April, after the successful issue of the siege of Najaf,
he was raided by the ‘Anizah and gave himself up at Samawah. He was deported from
the ‘Iraq with the condition that he should never be allowed to return, and all his property
was forfeited to Government.
‘AUDAH, SAIYID.
Lives near Suq. One of the most important men in the place. Famous for his
sanctity and as a settler of disputes. All sacred oaths in Suq are taken before him and
often on his person.—" Wa hayyat Saiyid ‘Audah.’’ If the taker of the oath is forsworn
he will die within the year. A good man, not bigoted, he belongs to no tribe, is well to do,
a charming country gentleman. About 45. Has great influence among the Mujarrah
and to a lesser extent among the Bani Khaiqan. Always refuses money presents in return
for his services to us in settling disputes.