Coll 17/10(1) 'Internal: political situation; relations with HMG' [‎346v] (697/982)

2
case with Shia Moslems, little aptitude for commerce; while, as consumers, they
have no preference for Indian products, having lost all touch with India and
having become, in the course of generations, indistinguishable in customs, as in
speech and appearance, from the Arab and Persian population.
(b) Indian pilgrims to the Holy Shrines and Cities number on an average
between 3,000 and 4,000 annually, the majority of whom are of the poorer classes.
Their influence on commerce is negligible.
(c) Pensioners of the Indian Government permanently resident in Iraq
number some sixty-nine persons, the amount of their monthly pensions varying
from 3 to 4 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. to 650 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. or more. Only those in receipt of comparatively
large pensions, who are few in number, maintain any sort of connexion with their
country of origin.
(d) The number of British Indian nationals employed by Iraqi Government
Departments was very considerable during the British occupation of Meso
potamia, and in the early stages of the mandatory regime in Iraq. At the
present time there are few British Indians so employed outside the Iraq Railways
Administration. That administration bears on its pay-rolls some 180 persons
of British Indian extraction, most of them being employed in subordinate
capacities. These individuals are domiciled in India and spend their periodical
leave in India; and their presence in Iraq operates to create a demand for Indian
products of various kinds. It is inevitable, however, that they should decrease
in number as Iraqi nationals become fitted to perform the duties at present
assigned to non-Iraqis.
(e) A number of Indian cooks, personal servants and laundrymen are
employed in Iraq, the idea of domestic service being essentially foreign to Arab
mentality. Indians are, nevertheless, being slowly displaced by Iraqis in this
sphere of occupation, a process to which the exorbitant wage demands of the
former contribute not a little.
(/) Commercial pursuits. There is no British Indian firm or individual
engaged in commerce on a large scale in Iraq. The qualifications of the native
of British India are not, in general, of a nature to enable him to compete in the
larger commercial fields with European firms, whilst in retail trading they are
no match for the Bagdad Jew.
There is one Indian shipping agent in Iraq, Haji Jethabthai Gokal, of
Basra (with head office at Joria Kathiawar, India, and a branch at Karachi),
holding the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. of the Swedish East Asiatic Company (Limited), of Gothen-
berg, and of the Eastern Steam Navigation Company, of Bombay.
In tailoring and outfitting, the Indian merchants are supreme, all the prin
cipal bespoke tailors being natives of India. They do not compete in the ready
made clothing trade, but a number of them are concerned with the importation
of second-hand clothes. Most of the Indian outfitting firms also deal in sports
goods.
The principal ice factory An East India Company trading post. , a commodity in increasing demand in Bagdad, is
nan by the Indian firm of K. S. Abdul Ali and Co., who are also large importers
or paints and varnishes.
A number of Indian firms deal in fancy goods, Indian silks and embroideries
and curios.
Foi the iest, Indians are engaged in a variety of forms of retail trade,
geneially of minor importance, of which some indication mav be obtained from
the list enclosed m this note.^)
It will be gathered from the contents of this memorandum that the prospects
rpn 1 e , a,se d commercial exchanges between India and Iraq are not encouraging.
e 11 1 j m population of Iraq, and, in particular, that section of it which serves
j o promo e the commercial relations between the two countries, must inevitably
vaecrease m size as the technical equipment of the Iraqi improves; whilst in the
■^ gei corn me i cial field the principal Indian products have to contend with
e ? Se , a P ane . se competition. The Iraqi Government have not hitherto made
i ^ j pnogiess m their attempts to secure increased importation of Iraqi products
Bin y 0 i°no? t° f a P idl y growing exports of Japanese textiles to Iraq.
arcil W1 ^ recover hor freedom of action, in the matter of
top vac ! ies ’ Japan, and there are indications that she mav then adopt
measuies to restrict the entry of Japanese goods. The Iraqi Government have
P) Not printed.