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File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS' [83r] (176/586)
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.
No disturbances in Cairo; merely agitations over elections
geration m the papers.
Angara refuses to sign the agreement with the French.
Much exag-
The Kamalists wish the Sultan
Elfendi but the latter has refused,
ibn ’Abdul Hamid.
to abdicate in favour of ’Abdul Majid
They are now turning to Salim Eifendi
Speech of H.H. the Amu* Faisal at the Ja‘fauiyah School.
, 4 - to'tiie speeches of Ibrahim Niaji and Baqir al Shabibi
he said : If I had known that they Were going to slay what they said 1
would have stepped them, for I want no one to praise me before my face and
I wish the nation to remain free to act. I and my family rose for national
ends^, we have no selfish ends. I do not wish for rule but mv desire is the
service of the people and the restoration of the glory of our" ancestors. It
would not have entered my mind to be a ruler or a king but for the repeated
demand for my coming here. Constitutional government takes authority
from 3 sources; the head of the government, and the government itself and
the two councils, Senate and Parliam,ent. The head of the government
may be king or President, but a republic does not suit present conditions.”
Then he spoke of the respective duties of the 3 above mentioned authorities
and said £ ‘ I wish the people to be free in their acts, I wish authority not to
be in the hand of a part of the nation, but the whole nation to express its
opinions directly and to agree on whom it wishes to install.” Great applause.
Shaikh Ahmad Hand then got up and cried to the people: “ L)o you
want any other than H.H. as King?” He then turned to H.H. and said
“ They are swearing 'allegiance to you.”
Syrian News.
Complaints about the mixed army and the tyranny it exercises. The
mandatory pewer admits men with forg-ed testimonials.
Al Dijlah No. 16, July 12.
A Further article on the will of the people.
The ’Iraq has reached the most important crisis. She will either gain
independence or sink into political annihilation. There is no way for her
but to make clear her view's. The British Government has declared that she
will net force the people into a path they do not wish to take except in cer
tain matters which were disallowed; we are sure that the Government of
Occupation will not oppose the people. H.H. the Amir Faisal, has said in
his speech of Saturday that he wished the electicns to be free and he agrees
with Mr. Churchill that a republic is not suitable. We cannot say that the
people have agreed on the way in which they want to make their wishes
known. There is difference of opinion about the referendum and electicns
The Dijlah will make known its views when the views of the majority arc
ascertained.
2. Opening of a representative assembly in Benghazi attended by Prince
Odabali whose speech is given. He said that this was the first time on which
the Arabs were called upon to Drainage their own affairs in European fashion.
Egyptian situation.
3. Interview with Sa'ad Zaghlul (from the Morning Post) in which he
said that he wished the Ministry to resign.
The Government of Angora.
Seeing themselves victorious the Kamalists refuse to come to terms with
Greeks or French. Baqir Sami resigned.
Turkish Kurdistan.
Kurds wish to detach themselves from Turkey.
5. Bolshevists urge the Kamalists to refuse all terms.
6. The Angora Assembly. Rejection of the London terms and -Baqir
Sami’s departure for Europe.
7. Article on the need of educaticn.
When shall we ha^ e peace?
8
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.
mentions that England is following in the East the path
that leads to peace. Only a wise policy can stop the Bolshevist movement.
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