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File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS' [61v] (133/586)
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.
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40. Fahad Beg ibn Hadhdhal has also heard from Ibn Sa'ud. The letter
is dated April 29 and was therefore written before the receipt of the High Com
missioner’s communication. It runs as follows:—
From—‘Abdul ‘Aziz ibn ‘Abdul Rahman al Faisal.
To, —Fahad Beg al Hadhdhal.
Dated 20th Sha‘ban, 1339 (29-4-1^21).
A/c. Our affairs are, thanks to God, well. Your letter has reached us.
What you mentioned was known, particularly as regards Al Sa‘ud and Ahmad
ibn rhanayan. ^ ou know that as far as you and we are concerned, there is
nothing to be denied or ctonsidered excessive. Our relation with ‘Anizah is not
hid from you nor is the fact that they are our cousins and subjects. Firstly you
will excuse us on account of those who are standing between us and you These
are the Shammar and Ibn Rashid. Thank God, those of Shammar whom you
behold with your eyes are our subjects and within our reach while the rest ’(?)
we have caused to run away. I am your cousin and of your flesh. The people
as you behold are talking at random and we have arrived at a state where feet
have assumed the position of heads (means a state where nonentities have be
come notabdities, Fahad Beg understood this as a reference to Faisal) This is
a state winch we cannot agree to. Now my cousin Fahad! if you and the
Anizah your cousins, are aware that we are cousins and if you are aware of
my position among you and that honour, both worldly and religious is a 1 mine
mine ^and ^ -d Insider them as
minor r-1 A wJ 5'ou and you will be with me in all matters major and
fr endshir, w r t lTem Th™ / '“a 3,3 ar , e the Bl,glish > 1 wm strengthen your
»S wd 7 • lu Their friend 18 “y friend and their enemy is my enemy
as is stated m the agreement between me and them. You may fulfil your
^u o Toir paXf (ie - the Sh) »y Wa-e attached to
L- f your P art ies. I he engagements between me and you are however as
between man and man and the State (ie., the English) has nothing to do wit"
you arelwMeTcannot e 3 a,.e t e < tl h T dS ° f Si " y littIe fools a P in g Baglish wisdom,
an Arab other' than myself N(! m,? ‘i"'! 81118 and objects should be ruled by
W to entertain suchTn idea the L‘„d Z\t ** J™ nd]y ’ “ 1
entertain it. 1K an( P eo Pi e °f Najd would not
are my cousins and willing 1 Jo Support 7 me 1 * Tf WS ^ kn ° W whether y 00
Abdullah my representative in RaJuV.u / S °’ decJare y° u r views to
ation from me. Be qmi^the^ttm' 1 ^/^^^!! 111 ^ 1011 aild Carry back illform '
come to my support, this is what rArni - a / 0U are ni ^ cousins and willing to
is intended to be merely one of outwaiViV f ?T- y ° U ‘ i If ’ however , the matter
outwardly friends while the honour and namT?^^ an(1 i P ° llte phrase ’ we bein g
may be, the good among you ^Ani^h t0 li an0 ? er ’ or wha tever the case
and religious zeal may come' to’ J ho have m them worldly
his shaikh and‘cousin. Do not think von ^ ^^rstanding that I am
strengthen myself by adding your wealth 1 u had ’ that 111 saym S this I wish to
no purpose save that my boweN are moved W ^ t0 T ie; n °’. by God 1 have
over your sanctuaries and your families m i t l6 peo P le of Najd should sweep
had never been, as has happened to otPe ’y, 011 sb °nld vanish as though you
all from Tor ibn Mur‘ai to Jauf al ‘Tim/ 8 ' aS f ° r me God llas given me
fi n y f e( S le are like brothers and theTr IntoH f ? m the Hijaz to the sea and
loyalty to God. And by God thole of thoi^fN 0 me is onl y to their
or more th 80 o( th > Sh^ haye risen to-day, they are 80
Jabal and by God it is they who are to hf ? h ‘- d “d from the Ullages of the
A^bn ‘A,! in the dariiah Us^f^ ^^“^0^
Do not consider this mv renPr u .
and vo° U Wil1 - See tllat is a11 true It^vilf ^ 0r SS a P unishm ent (threat) to
and your cousins prove to be worthy of - e as ?ood tidi ngs to you if you
to you if „„ the other hand yon ,T a l ? ln “ y “ plnion °f you; and it is a warning
contrary to what I think. An urgent renh k eXpeetation °f people who think
afhril? “f ‘AniSh stolk d Falad B° bZedmte
days later to disefss theTiatteT with^tlu^T f^f ^Baghda^ two
“sal and the High Commissioner. It
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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File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS' [61v] (133/586), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/962, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100111165834.0x000086> [accessed 12 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/962
- Title
- File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS'
- Pages
- 61v:62r, 11v:12r
- Author
- Āl Sa‘ūd, ‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal (xx Ibn Saud)
- Usage terms
- Public Domain