'Reports of administration for 1918 of divisions and districts of the occupied territories in Mesopotamia. Volume I' [‎31r] (66/470)

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SAMAWAH DIVISION.
Administration Report of the Samawah Division for the
Year 1918.
1. Charge.— The civil administration of the Samawah Division commenced
with the arrival of Capt. Goldsmith in Samawah in November 1917; this officer
remained in charge till 4th April 1918, when he was relieved by Capt. Fowle. I took
over from the latter officer on 14th July 1918, and continued in charge during the
remainder of the year.
The following Assistant Political Officers served in the Division at various periods
of the year :—Capt. Fletcher, Capt. Talbot, Lieut. Taunton. My present Assistants
are Capt. Ashton (A.P.O., Rumaithah), Capt. Phillips (A.P.O., Samawah), Lieut.
Woodward (A.P.O. in charge of Shabanahs, Rumaithah) and Mr. G. Georgius (P.A.
to P.O., acting as Government Agent, Shinafiyah).
2. Area.— The Samawah Division extends for about 120 miles along either bank
of the Euphrates River, from Darraji in the south-east to the rapids 8 miles above
* Shinafiyah in the north-west. Its maximum breadth is about 80 miles. On the
north-west it adjoins the Shamiyah Division; on the north-east, the Kut Division;
on the east, south and south-west the Nasiriyah Division; to the south-west the
boundary is a line some 50 miles from the Euphrates, passing through Jufah (Kafr).
The population of the Division has been estimated at 150,000, but this of course
can only be an approximate estimate, as no census has been taken, except in the
towns; and even there the Arab, with his inherent suspicion of new things, has
done his best to baffle the enumerators. The Division includes the districts of
Rumaithah, Samawah and Shinafiyah.
3. Political and Tribal.— There are in the Division 19 tribes, distributed as
follows :—Rumaithah district: Bani Zuraij, Bani ‘Ardh, Khazaffi, A1 ‘Ajib, A1
Dhawalim, Albu Jaiyash and Albu Hassan. Samawah district: A1 Zaiyad, A1
Sufran, Jawabir, A1 Muhsin, A1 ‘Abas, A1 Barkat, A1 Tobah. Shinafiyah district:
A1 ‘Ayyash, Bani Salamah, Khafajah, Albu Saqir, Albu Hulail, and a section of the
Dhafir tribe.
It will be more convenient to deal with the political and tribal affairs of the
Division according to the geographical distribution of the tribes.
Rumaithah .—The Albu Jaiyash is the strongest tribe numerically, while the
Bani Zuraij is the wealthiest; the chief of the latter tribe. Shaikh ‘Abdul ‘Abbas
al Farhud, owns most of the land on the left bank of the Hillah Canal from
Rumaithah to Saiyid Muhsin Abu Tabikh’s property at Hamzah. This Shaikh is
for various reasons on very bad terms with most of the surrounding tribes, and in
June of this year his enmity with the Albu Hassan tribe culminated in a pitched
battle, in which each side had over 40 men killed. As might be expected, this has
not tended to reduce the mutual hatred, and it is only the restraining influence of
the Political Officer which keeps the two parties from again flying at each other’s
throats. The other tribes are of lesser importance; but it is worth noting that the
relations between the Bani ‘Ardh and the Khaza‘il are always somewhat strained,
mainly owing to quarrels over land. In spite of these disturbing influences, the
state of the district is fairly satisfactory.
Samawah .—The Al Zaiyad is the largest and most important tribe of the
district. Its members were at one time mainly cultivators; but, owing to the
silting up of the Sahlawiyah Channel which used to water their lands, they have
been forced to become herdsmen, and during the winter practically the whole tribe
is out in the Shamiyah desert with the flocks and herds. Buraid al Jahil, the head
Shaikh, is well disposed to us and trustworthy; but, unfortunately, as is so often
the case in this part of the country, he does not control the whole tribe, and his
influence is confined to a very few sections. The only other tribe of importance in
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