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Coll 17/10(1) 'Internal: political situation; relations with HMG' [433r] (870/982)
The record is made up of 1 volume (487 folios). It was created in 4 Nov 1932-14 Jan 1937. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
'
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S GOVERNMENT
? T7nr V
EASTERN (Iraq).
CONFIDENTIAL.
[E 1123/105/93]
Sir F. Humphrys to Sir John Sim on.—(Received February 27.)
(No. 114.)
SR, Bagdad. February 16. 1933.
WITH reference to my telegram No. 21 of the ilth February, I have the
honour to offer the following observations on the general election which concluded
on the 8 th February with the final polling for Deputies in all constituencies.
2 . The progress of the somewhat lengthy procedure of first and second
degree elections, which has to be carried out under the existing law, aroused
remarkably little public interest. The press confined itself in the main to
expressing pious hopes that able and honest men would be returned, and the
political parties showed little activity. The general secretary of the Nationalist
party, Jafar Chalabi-abu-Timman. repeating his tactics at the last election in
1930, made an abortive attempt to persuade the Executive Committee of the party
to declare a boycott of the elections, but this was the only ripple which disturbed
the placid surface of the electoral waters. The party of National Brotherhood,
of which Yasin
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
is the leading figure, made no pronouncement of policy,
and Nuri
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
's Ahd party maintained a similarly cryptic silence.
3. In the final polling the candidates nominated by the Government were
everywhere successful, but this does not necessarily mean that the new Chamber
will give constant support to the present Cabinet. It seems that the men now
elected have all been carefully chosen by the King, and it is as King’s men and
not party men that they have secured their seats. I anticipate, therefore, that the
new Chamber will only support the present Cabinet for so long as they continue
to enjoy the King's favour and that, when this favour is withdrawn, the Deputies
will readily give their support to another Cabinet of the King’s choice.
4. Yasin
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
and a number of his friends, such as Ali Jaudat, Jamil
Madfai and Muhammad Zaki. have been returned and it seems clear that he could
both form a Cabinet and find a majority in the Chamber, if the King should call
upon him to do so. The fact that the election was not conducted on the usual
party lines is probably explained by the King's desire to have a so-called National
Parliament, and by the promises which he lavishly gave for the nomination of the
principal leaders and publicists of the various political parties. The net result
is that the King has secured the election of a Parliament on which he can ring
any Cabinet changes he pleases without a dissolution or inconvenience to himself.
5. I do not think, however, that His Majesty intends at present to dismiss
Naji Beg Shauket and his colleagues, though it is impossible to be certain that
events may not occur to change his mind. King Feisal may still have leanings
towards Yasin
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
as a Prime Minister, but I do not think that His Majesty
would invite him to form a Cabinet, if he felt that this was likely to jeopardise
his relations with His Majesty’s Government. Nor do I believe that Yasin
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
would accept the premiership unless he was confident of obtaining a sufficiently
free hand to carry out the main principles of his own programme, which have
hitherto aimed at a drastic revision of the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1930.
6 . Thirty-two of the Deputies in the last Chamber have been re-elected, but
although Nuri Pasha’s newspaper claims that this is a mark of popular approval
of the work of Nuri Pasha’s Cabinet, I do not myself think that these Deputies
have this time returned as Nuri’s supporters. Of his Cabinet, only one has been
re-elected, Jamal Baban, the Minister for Justice, with whom he quarrelled last
year over the affair of the anonymous letters.
Three members of the Executive Committee of the Nationalist party have
been elected, including Abdul Ghafur-al-Badri, the editor of the Istiqlai news
paper; the previous knowledge of their nomination was no doubt the reason for
the refusal to boycott the elections to which I have referred above.
Other Deputies whose election is noteworthy are Hamid-al-
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
, brother
of the present Minister of Justice, and until recently aide-de-camp to the Amir
[711 dd—1]
About this item
- Content
The volume contains correspondence and memoranda regarding relations between HM Government ( HMG Her or His Majesty’s Government in London. ) and Iraq following independence, and private arrangements for the supply of information to HM Ambassador in Baghdad from British advisers to the Iraqi Government. The records also document the reaction of the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. and Foreign Office to political developments within Iraq, and their concerns over the possible impact on British and Indian commercial interests in Iraq.
The following events are documented in the file:
- 1932. Opening of the Iraqi parliament, formation (and change) of cabinets, arrangements for conservancy of the Shatt al-Arab.
- 1933. The death of King Faisal [Fayṣal bin 'Alī al-Hāshimī], the accession and policy of King Ghazi [Ghāzī bin Fayṣal al-Hāshimī], cabinet crises, and protests against the continued relationship between HMG Her or His Majesty’s Government in London. and the Government of Iraq.
- 1934. Political appointments and commercial development.
- 1935. Opposition group activities in Iraq, tribal revolts in the Middle Euphrates area, cabinet crises, Yezidi disturbances in Mosul, and discussion of the Assyrian question.
- 1936. The controversy surrounding the marriage of Princess Asa [Azza] to a Christian porter in Athens, and the proposals of the Iraqi cabinet that she be murdered, or the marriage annulled; suppression of tribal activity in the Rumaitha district; the coup d'état, and instigation of a new cabinet under Hikmat Suleiman.
The bulk of the volume consists of correspondence between the Foreign Secretary and HM Minister in Baghdad. A number of communications and official statements from the Government and King of Iraq are also present. The volume also contains the following items of particular interest:
- Record of a conversation between Sir Francis Humphrys and Yasin Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. Al Hashimi, ff 426-427.
- English translation of a letter of condolence from Amir Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, King of Jordan, to King Ghazi, ff 403-406.
- Notes on the economic benefits accruing to Britain in Iraq, ff 357-359, 367-369.
- Memorandum regarding the commercial interests of the British India in Iraq, with a list of commercial enterprises, ff 346-351.
- Letter from Humphrys to King Ghazi regarding the continuation of private arrangements to ensure the transfer of information between the Government of Iraq and HMG Her or His Majesty’s Government in London. , f 312; with corresponding letter from King Ghazi to Humphrys, f 298.
- Communication sent by Archibald Clark Kerr to the Foreign Secretary (Viscount Eden), on the coup and its aftermath, ff 26-30.
The volume includes dividers which give lists of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. These are placed at the end of the correspondence (folios 4-5).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (487 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in rough chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 489; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 4-486; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 17/10(1) 'Internal: political situation; relations with HMG' [433r] (870/982), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2860, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100049057339.0x000047> [accessed 24 March 2025]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2860
- Title
- Coll 17/10(1) 'Internal: political situation; relations with HMG'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:10r, 12r:17r, 19r:27r, 29r:34v, 36r:82v, 84r:100v, 103r:147v, 149r:208v, 210r:225v, 227r:249v, 251r:274v, 276r:287v, 289r:297v, 299r:306v, 308r:317v, 319r:331v, 333r:363r, 365r:379v, 381r:381v, 383r:387v, 389r:402v, 407r:421v, 423r:427v, 430r:462v, 464r:470v, 472r:482v, 487r:488v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence