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File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS' [5r] (20/586)
The record is made up of 1 volume (289 folios). It was created in 15 Nov 1920-31 Oct 1921. 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.
allotted to repairs on the Hmdiyah Barrage, moneys which it had been
X<?Zl lhle t0 rr cur . r ® llt financial year on account of the lateness of
season. A further provision was agreed to, namely that the Ks. 100 000
which the Irrigation Department proposed to employ m constructions should
be earmarked for the Yusufiyah canal. u
^ th + e 1 AugUSt 11 tlie Conncil ^reed to a proposal of
the Ministry of Public Works to protect the suburb of Karradah^ below
Baghdad, against the encroachments of the river by encasing the embank
ment on the Decanville system. The matter is one of some urgency as
during the past four years the river has eaten away the bank until the houses
of Karradah suburb are m danger of falling into the stream, and the neck
o a Peninsula, riCjh m fruit gardens, may be cut through, with destructive
i Rs - 100 ’ 00( ? t0 be P rovidfd by government
Jxs. 404, UUU by the persons whose properties are thus protected.
11. The Ministry of Finance proposed that Municipal budgets amount-
Ii 1 ® ann ual value of Ks. 50,000 or more should require the sanction of
the Minister of Finance, while those that fell below this sum should be
sanctioned by the Ministry of the Interior; following in principle the prac
tice which has obtained since the occupation. This was agreed to with the
proviso that budgets under Ks. 50,000 might be submitted or not submitted
at the discretion of the Ministry of the Interior.
12. The following letter from the High Commissioner was read to the
Council at the same meeting: —
To—The Secretary to the Council of State, Baghdad.
Sir,
I am directed to transmit to be laid before the Council of State copy of
the programme of a political party to be styled the Party of the Renaissance
of ‘ Iraq which it is proposed to form in Kadhimain.
This programme has been referred to the High Commissioner by the
Ministry of the Interior but before expressing an opinion thereon His
Excellency desires that the matter be examined by the Council of State.
In the opinion of His Excellency it is for very careful consideration firstly,
whether at the present juncture it would be politic to permit the formation
of Societies, the existence of which must result in a tendency to disintegrate
the people of ‘ Iraq into political factions; and further, should no objection
be seen on this head, whether the details of the programme now put forward
by the party “ of the Renaissance of ‘ Iraq ” should be approved.
His Excellency will be glad to be acquainted with the views of the
Council in due course.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
C. C. GARBETT,
Secretary to H.E. the High Commissioner
for Mesopotamia.
The party referred to is that which was alluded to in Report No. 18,
para. 20, the instigator of the project being Saiyid Muhammad Sadr.
The Council debated the matter at some length. H.H. the Naqib saw
no objection to the creation of political parties provided that laws regulating
them be carefully framed, which is not at present the case. Sasun Effendi
regarded political parties as inevitable; refusal to permit their formation
would result only in the growth of secret societies. But he thought it
essential that an adequate law should be drafted to regulate them. Ja‘far
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
, Saiyid Muhammad Mahdi Tabatabai and ‘Izzat
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
agreed with these
views. ‘ Abdul Majid Beg al Shawi was of opinions that the formation
of political parties at the present juncture would be harmful and that they
should not be permitted until after the Congress had drawn up a law to
regulate them. Mustafa Effendi Alusi, ‘Abdul Jaffar
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
Khaiyat and
‘ Abdul Rahman
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
Haidari seconded his proposal.
The Council resolved to submit the question to the High Commissioner
and await his views before coming to a decision.
PUBLIC OPINION AND THE AMIR FAISAL.
13. There has been a merciful decline in the number of receptions held in
honour of the Amir. Nearly all the communities and sects of Baghdad having
celebrated his presence, in’the fortnight under review there were only two
functions. The first was given on August 1 by the Armenian and Protestant
About this item
- Content
This volume contains the Intelligence Reports of Sir Percy Cox, High Commissioner for Mesopotamia [also written as Iraq in this volume], based in Baghdad, covering the period 15 November 1920 to 15 September 1921. They largely relate to: the political situation in Mesopotamia and the surrounding region; the formation and proceedings of the provisional government; the events leading up to the creation of Mandatory Iraq [also known as the Kingdom of Iraq under British Administration] and the election and appointment of Faisal [Fayṣal bin Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī] as the first King of Iraq [Fayṣal I].
The Intelligence Reports are numbered and appear to have been issued at two-week intervals. This volume contains the reports numbered 1-3, 9-19 and 21. There is no explanation in the volume regarding the reason for the absent reports. The format of the reports is a mixture of printed and copy typescript. Each report is preceded by a covering circular issued by the office of the High Commissioner indicating the British Government departments and the officers and departments in the Middle East to which the report was copied.
Report Nos. 1-3 are preceded by an assessment of the political situation described in the Intelligence Report, written by Major R Marrs.
The reports generally comprise the following sections:
- A summary of the report (from report No. 14 onwards only)
- An account of the proceedings of the Council of Ministers
- Analysis of current public opinion and allegiances, (notably an analysis of public opinion on the Amir [Emir] Faisal and his arrival in Mesopotamia, including a reference to his 'personal magnetism', f 88), in report Nos 16-19
- Notes on provincial affairs
- Notes on the situation at the frontiers
- Extracts of 'Iraq Police Abstracts of Intelligence' (reports No. 9-14 only).
Other subjects notably covered in various reports include:
- Assyrian, Armenian and Urumiyan [Urmian] refugees (report Nos. 2 and 19)
- Perceived foreign influences in Iraq (report Nos. 2 and 3)
- The withdrawal of Saiyid [Sayyid] Talib Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. [Sayyid Ṭālib bin Rajab al-Naqīb] from the Government and Baghdad (report No. 12)
- Kurdistan (report Nos. 12-14)
- Turkish and Kurdish Frontiers (report No. 12)
- Dair al Zor [Deir ez-Zor] (report Nos. 1 and 12)
- Notes on 'Internal Affairs' (Nos. 18 and 19)
- Analysis of the referendum result which confirmed the election of Faisal as Iraq's first monarch (report No. 19)
- The formation of King Faisal's first cabinet (report No. 21).
Appendices are included with some reports, usually comprising copies of the High Commissioner's proclamations or communications 'to the people of Iraq' or documents relevant to the particular report (notably 'Provisional scheme for the re-organisation of the law courts' and 'Report of the committee constituted for studying the irrigation problem in Mesopotamia' in report No. 9).
Each report is concluded with a Supplement or Press Bureau Report, comprising extensive summaries and extracts of newspaper articles published in the local and 'foreign' (local region mainly) press. Notable publications cited are: Al 'Iraq , Al Fallah 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. , Al Dijlah , and (Syrian publication) Lissan al 'Arab.
The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence (front of the volume).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (289 folios)
- Arrangement
The reports are arranged mostly in numerical/chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume. Report No. 18 is followed by Report No. 21 and then Report No. 19 which is the last report in the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 284; 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. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the two leading and two ending flyleaves. The sequence contains one foliation anomaly: f 267a.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/962
- Title
- File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:ii-v, 1r:11r, 12v:13r, 20r:26v, 32v:34v, 35v:49v, 53v:57v, 59r:61r, 70v:74r, 75r:79r, 88r:94v, 99v:103v, 105r:112r, 113v:125v, 127v:128v, 129v:150v, 154v, 155v:171v, 178v:181v, 183v:190v, 192v:219v, 222v:246v, 249v:260r, 261r:264v, 265v, 267v, 267ar:267av, 268r:284v, iii-r:iv-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence