File 705/1916 Pt 2 'Arab revolt: Arab reports; Sir M Sykes' reports' [‎140v] (278/450)

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The Jebel Sin jar is quite independent—no Turkish officials or soldiers at Balad
Sinjar. The carriage road from Dair to Mosul via Sinjar is impossible by reason of
Yazidi raids. Mahmud al Bajwal rules over the northern part of the Jebel Sinjar,
Khalil Qasim al Ghiran over the southern part, and Mata is the Shaykh of Samugah in f
the plain. The Yazidis are friends with the Shammar, but foes with the Anazeh. .
When we marched on Ctesiphon, the Turks summoned Shammar and Anazeh to
help them, but not a man came from either tribe. If we got to Baghdad, Nahya is of
opinion that they would all join us.
Of the Dulaim, Nijris ibn Qu’ud, paramount chief of the Al bu Nlmr, and the
Al bu ‘Ubaid, is the leader of the c^mel owners, while £ Ali Sulaiman is the leader of
the fellahin Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour. . The latter is the richer in goods, but Ibn Yu ud is the more powerful in
fighting men and arms. He is said to have 6,000 men.
This summer Abu Tayy (Huwaitat) raided the Sha’ up to near Aleppo and took
80 ra’iyahs of camels (a ra’Iyah is 80 to 100 camels).
Nahya is ready to take letters to Fahad Beg and to ‘Ali Sulaiman when he comes
back from Koweyt.
The ambassador at Madrid has forwarded a letter received by him from Habib
Lotfallah Bey, “ex-president de la Defense nationale en Syrie,” now residing in Madrid,
for transmission to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs [F.O. 179,473]. The
writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. suggests that the Syrians in Bgypt should be allowed to organise themselves,
forming a republic or principality, and march against the Turks in Syria. Further,
that Michel Bey Lotfallah, now residing in Egypt, should be invited to England and
given an interview; he is the son of H. Lotfallah Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , was born at Cairo in 1880, and
was nominated a member of the Egyptian Legislative Council by Earl Kitchener of
Khartoum, when High Commissioner, to officially represent the Syrians.
The £< Moustakbal ” reports from a reliable source that the Turkish Government
has entrusted the defence of the Eastern Mediterranean coast from Haifa to Gaza to
certain Arab chiefs who are at the head of armed groups of Arabs from Karak, Nablous,
Acca, and Djenin. These chiefs were lately decorated by Djemal Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , who bestowed
upon them the title of Shaykh-al-Mujorhidin.
The same paper states confidently that the regular Turkish army in Syria did not
exceed 14,000 men at the beginning of August. About two-thirds of these were lost
in killed, wounded, prisoners, and deserters during the last attack in the Canal zone.
Aden.
* Situation unchanged.
PABT III.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Syria.