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File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS' [259r] (528/586)
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.
1 Following on the assurance, given by the High Commissioner on
November 10th (see No. 1, para. 11) that he was willing to CQnsider the case
ot deportees whose return was desired by the Council, twelve names were put
forward, including Haji Mukhif of ‘Afaj who looms largest in the eyes both
of the Council and the. public. After two debates resolutions were passed in
the following sense.
(«) That Haji Mukhif should be allowed to return,\to Baghdad and
remain there under suitable guarantee till order had been restored
in Diwaniyah.
(6) lhat three Baghdadis, whose names had been put forward should
be allowed to return and a written pledge taken from them. They
include Shaikh Ahmad al Baud who was the least sigmtirant of
the five leaders of the agitation during Ramadhan and the only
one whose arrest was accomplished.
(c) That five men, concerning whom the High Commisisoner had
expressed his willingness to allow them to return, should be
brought back under written guarantees. The consideration of the
case of a sixth suggested by the High Commissioner was deferred.
2. The High Commissioner called the attention of the Council to the
urgent questions of the creation of a National Force and tribal disarmament
and suggested that a sub-committee should be formed to consider them. The
suggestion was adopted at the meeting of November 22nd. A military Com
mittee was appointed under the
presidency
The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent.
of Ja‘far
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
, composed of ‘Izzat
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
, ‘Abdul Rahman
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
al Haidari and Baud Effendi Yusufani.
NOTES FROM THE ADVISER TO THE MINISTER OF
THE INTERIOR.
3. Saiyid Talib
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
began work as Minister for the Interior at the
Sarai on Monday, the 15th November. Since then he has attended Office with
moderate regularity and a satisfactory modus operandi is being gradually de
vised. At present things are still a little chaotic and practically all correspond
ence being in English, it is only possible to discuss the more important cases
with him, leaving the rest to be disposed of as rapidly as possible as matters of
routine, but it should become increasingly possible to submit and explain all
matters to the Minister and leave him to issue orders, or issue them under his
instructions. It will also take some time to accustom him to ordinary office and
inter-departmental routine, especially in connection with Financial matters.
Subject to confirmation, several administrative appointments have been
made. Among these was the appointment of Mumtaz Beg al Daftari as Qaim-
maqam of Kadhimain, relieving a British A.P.O. and an Indian D.A.P.O. A
madhbatah signed by 43 residents of Kadhimain has beeni received asking for
the retention of the Indian D.A.P.O. The petition obviously cannot be con
sidered but it may be necessary in d ue course to appoint a Shi‘ah to the post
to satisfy local opinion.
4. The draft Electoral Law, framed by the Electoral Law Committee of
ez-Deputies and submitted by it to the High Commissioner has recently been
referred by the latter to the Council of State, but owing to the absence of the
Naqib, owing to illness, from the last meeting the matter was only discussed in
a desultory manner. The Minister of the Interior has since approached the
Naqib on the subject and the latter has sent the draft law to the Interior for
consideration by a small Committee, whoso recommendation will be submitted
to the Council. The Committee meets for the first time on November 30th
and consists of the Ministers of the Interior, Finance, and Defence, ‘Abdul
Jabbar
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
al Khayyat, Saiyid Husain al Afnan ahd the Adviser to the
Interior.
As regards the text of the Law the Minister has agreed in principle:
(1) to rectify the much criticised distribution of Deputies among the
three Wilayats—a distribution favouring his own Wilayat of
Basrah, and
(2) to making adequate provision for tribal representation.
5. The activities (extra departmental) of the Minister provoked a Cabi
net crisis at the end of last week. He had for some days been considering a
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