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File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS' [82v] (175/586)
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.
Al Dijlah No. 13, July 9.
Every Day a Fresh Charge.
1. Editor complains that he is constantly being charged with wanting a
Republic. He hears that people say that he is like an obstacle to the wish of
the nation and is afraid that evil doers may vanquish him.
Turks and Greeks.
2. Troops being brought up, on both sides. Italian papers say that the
Bolshevists have sent reinforcements to the Kamalists. Turkish troops advanc
ing to Constantinople and Smyrna.
Al Dijlah No. 14, July 10.
Meeting at the Ja‘fariyah School.
1. Describes the crowd in the streets and in the court of the school and the
excellent arrangements made for the guests.
The Amir came in amidst great applause. Opening speech by Saiyid
Ja‘ far, one of the Committee which founded the school, saying that the hope of
‘Iraq lay in the Amir. The speeches by a pupil and by Ja‘far Shabibi and
poems by Kadhim Dujaili and Jamil Zahawi, speech by Muhammad Baqir
Shabibi and a speech by Ibrahim Naji Kazbur about referendum. “ It is not
hid from you that constitutional laws have no purpose but to show the free
will of the nation in connection with legal representatives in the councils of
legislation. Lawyers differ as to the better way. Some wish for an election in
2 degrees and some wish for direct election by the nation. The second is the
better especially in the election of H.H. the Amir now, because we need to move
quickly. A 1 editors of papers are in favour of this scheme. All these enter
tainments show that the people desire to give H.H. the throne of ‘Iraq I
invite the Amir to a meeting of lawyers in which they will decide the question
of swearing allegiance. Other classes, merchants, cultivators, etc., will do the
same. This is the way to go about the referendum/ 7
schoal UbSCriPtl<mS amoimted t0 £T 44 and Rs - 26,800 were collected for the
H.H. the Amir said he wished he could give some lessons in the school.
The Amir then made a fine speech on the present situation.
Ki lin Amir mvit f s a11 who wish to visit the Mustansariyah to asemble in the
Khaffafm mosque at noon on Saturday. H.H. hopes to visit tht Madrasah a
ssGond time when it is rebuilt. p e Maarasan a
Foreign News.
Greeks^ 0 ” ^ Chamberlain to assure ^ that England will not assist the
The Kamalists ask the French to evacuate Cilicia at once,
from MornfnPposL 111 A71g0ra refuse to hand over the British prisoners.—All
Al Dijlah No. 15, July 11.
To Whom is Authority.
his authority comes from The neonle^ mf ercised .tyrannous authority but n<
Without Consulting his minsters ? In Tn l “ ut °. nal king can do nothh
without showing tL lett/u/h/,,.?” ‘Z, ,o no o:
excess m political prineinles i • i, A; ST Y' 1 am foremost m opposn
tutional, the authorily rltiL in tL™ ^ Government to be Cons,
the officials of the people whmn the ?. eo ^ > e * lc and the ministers a
2. A poem b/Shamma? B^ nTtff ‘ Tb" ^ ServiceS *”
port is that the rights of the weak List be enforced' ^ & ^ PU
troubles. YuSTN^di^eLonLofTheTJ 0 Dardanelles J owing to Kamali
London, is spreading in his paper anti-Enrrm 618 delegation of Angora
ly the semi-official paper Hakimiyat Mtiliyah™ pnnciples in A ngora. Simila
4- The influence of Enver PtJhn ; •
Anatolia
Peninsula that forms most of modern-day Turkey.
.—From Jaridat al Hindu ' 8 increasing in the Caucasus an
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
- 98r:99r, 81r:83v, 67v:69r, 52r:53r, 17v:18v
- Author
- Al Dijlah
- Usage terms
- Public Domain