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Papers on British policy and the Arab movement [169v] (344/380)
The record is made up of 1 file (187 folios). It was created in 1 Jul 1916-7 Dec 1918. It was written in English and French. 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
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4
notables of Basra with whom they are in close touch, and with the distant
co-operation of Bin Saud, could (if given certain assurances) either prepare the way
for our peaceful occupation of Basra, or, until we were in a position to take effective
action, arrange to keep the place quiet and isolated.
“ To the Sheikh of Mohammerah we should give the assurance already
sanctioned in connection with recent grant of decoration; undertaking to maintain
him in secure and untaxed possession of his date gardens on the Turkish side of
the river, and perhaps a promise to do our best vis-d-vis Persia to maintain him in
his present state of local autonomy.”
In accordance with this, the officiating Resident submitted to the Government of
India on the 14th September, 1914, the following draft of a special letter to the Sheikh
of Mohammerah, together with drafts of other notices (discussed in section (1) above),
to be despatched in the event of war between Great Britain and Turkey breaking
out (64214/14 : No. 1):—
“ I am authorised by my Government to request your Excellency to co-operate
with our honoured friends, their Excellencies the Amir of Nejd and the Sheikh of
Koweit, in the capture of Basra from the Turks ....
“ In return for this valuable co-operation, I am authorised by my Government
to assure your Excellency that in the event of our success—and succeed we shall,
insha Allah—Basra will never again be allowed to be subject to Turkish authority.
“ I am further to assure your Excellency personally, and do so by this writing,
that, whatever change may take place in the form of the Government of Persia,
and whether it be Royalist or Nationalist, His Majesty’s Government will be
prepared to afford you the support necessary for obtaining a satisfactory solution
in the event of any encroachment by the Persian Government on your jurisdiction
and recognised rights, or on your property in Persia. These assurances are given
for yourself and for your successors from among your male descendants, and shall
hold good so long as you and they do not fail to observe your and their obligations
towards the Central Government (provided always that the nomination of your
successors from among your descendants shall be subject to confidtential consultation
with and the approval of His Majesty’s Government), and so long as you and
they shall continue to be guided by the advice of His Majesty’s Government, and
to maintain an attitude satisfactory to that Government.
I is-a-vis the Persian Government, we shall do our best to maintain your
Excellency in your present state of local autonomy.
“ Further, your date gardens on the Turkish side of the Shatt-el-Arab shall
remain in full possession of you and your heirs, and for ever immune from
taxation.”
This draft was approved by the Government of India on the 26th September, 1914
(64214/14, No. 12), with the substitution of the words “ date gardens which you now
possess for “ your date gardens ” in the last paragraph, and the omission of the words
“ for ever.”
In this emended form the letter was eventually delivered to the Sheikh on the
3rd November, 1914.
Later, after the occupationof Basra, Sheikh Khazal asked that the wording of the
letter should be revised again.
“ These assurances, in the form originally sanctioned by Government, con
tained a reference to the co-operation expected from the Sheikh in the event of
its being needed in connection with the capture of Basra. The Sheikh urged that
as occasion did not arise for the fulfilment of this obligation, it seemed somewhat
inconvenient and superfluous for it to be mentioned in a communication which
would become an important permanent record ; he therefore begged for a revised
letter from which the passages relating to Basra should be omitted.”*
Accordingly Sir P. Cox, after obtaining the approval of the Viceroy, sent the
following document to Sheikh Khazal, dating it 22rd November, 1914, being the date
on which Basra was occupied by the British forces :—
With reference to the assurances conveyed to your Excellency in my letter
dated the 15th October, 1910 (= 11th Shawwal, 1328), and having regard to the
further valued services and co-operation which your Excellency has rendered to
Letter, dated Basra, 1st April, 1915, from Sir P. Cox to Government of India, in 62555/15.
About this item
- Content
This file contains correspondence, memoranda, maps, manuscript notes, and other papers relating to the political and territorial settlement of parts of the Middle East following the First World War. Many of the papers were collected for the attention of the Middle East Committee (later named the Eastern Committee, following the mergence of the Foreign Office's Russia Committee and the interdepartmental Persia Committee) of the War Cabinet. Contributors include officials from the War Office, Foreign Office, Admiralty, and 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. , as well as indivduals such as Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence. Correspondence comes from representatives of the French and Italian governments as well as British officials in Cairo and other parts of the Middle East.
The papers deal with plans for the region presuming and following an Allied victory in the First World War and take into consideration the imperial ambitions of the victorious European Powers (France, Italy, Russia, Britain, and the United States) and the multitudinous commitments made by the British to various groups. The plans are based on evolving agreements rooted in the Sykes-Picot, or Asia Minor, Agreement between the British and French of 1916. Regions under consideration include the Hejaz (sometimes written Hedjaz), Syria, Northern Iraq, Southern Iraq, Palestine, Armenia, Turkey, the Idrisi state, Yemen, Persia, and Afghanistan. Various matters are covered in the file, but particular focus is given to plans for the Sherifian family of the Hejaz, led by King Husein [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī], which impacted upon policy in Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and the Arabian Peninsula. Other matters include the situation between Jews and Arabs in Palestine, wartime commitments to ruling shaikhs in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , the French position in the region, and desiderata of the Government of India for any peace settlement.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (187 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged in chronological order from the front to the back.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front first page with 1, and terminates at the inside back last page with 187; 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.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Papers on British policy and the Arab movement [169v] (344/380), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/277, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100079857499.0x000091> [accessed 14 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/277
- Title
- Papers on British policy and the Arab movement
- Pages
- 1ar:1av, 1r:14r, 14r:14v, 14v, 22r:59v, 62r:98r, 99v:120v, 125r:133v, 136r:165r, 166r:167r, 167av, 168r:173r, 175r:176v, 178r:187v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence