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'PAPERS RELATING TO THE MESOPOTAMIAN COMMISSION from SIR E. BARROW'S ROOM' [292r] (589/1386)
The record is made up of 1 file (687 folios). It was created in 1915-1918. 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.
I
INCHEASE OF THE EJEIM ARMY BY EEVERTHTGr TO/ THE OED
"IRREGULAR" SYSTEM.
This is am other subject on which the Secsetary of
Stat e asked me to note. I understand that certain
▼ague suggestions hafe been Bade that the want of trained
and experienced British Officers,which prevents any large
and iaaediate expansion of the Indian Army,might be cob- ~
\
pensated by reverting to a certain extent to what was known
in pre Mutiny days as the irregular* system.A system un-
whioh all the offioeis were Indians except the Commandant
the 2 nd in Command and the Adjutant. It is further claimed
for this proposal that it would afford a suitable opening
for Hie military employment of educated Indians as Com
missioned Officers, and it is pointed out that the Imperial
Service regiments are officered entirely by Indians, thougi
supervised by a Staff of British Inspectors.
In the first place let me point out that the old irregular
system depended for its success on fl) getting the pick
of British Officers from a huge Indian Army. ( 2 ) On the
class of men appointed as lative Officers,men of good so
cial standing or proved warlike aptitude.
As regards fl) Our sorely depleted ranks no longer enable
A
us to pick and choose officers for such a service, while
as to ( 2 ) the extended employment of such men will in no
way meet the demand for openings for the 'young India*
literati.
The conditions I have Jtated apply,even now, to a cer
tain extent to the Imperial Service troops. The British
of: icers attached thereto have been generally speaking
picked men while the officers appointed by the tfative
Chiefs approximate to those of the old irreguttr corps,
yet no one can pretend that the Imperial Service troops
arc at all equal to the units of the Regular Indian Army.
Except in the case of the Jodhpur Lancers we have not ven-
About this item
- Content
This file contains working drafts of confidential prints, correspondence and telegrams from the room of Sir Edmund Barrow, Military Secretary in the 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. , collected for the Mesopotamian Commission which was convened to examine the causes of the besieging and surrender of the Indian Expeditionary Force in Kut-el-Amara [Al Kūt].
The papers cover a range of topics and include the following: General Townshend's assessment of the situation after the Battle of Kut-el-Amara; a précis of correspondence relating to the origins and development of the Mesopotamia expedition; and a collection (ff 396-399) of private telegrams between the Secretary of State for India and the Viceroy, prior to the outbreak of war with Turkey.
The file also includes some tables showing the strength of General Townshend's force at Ctesiphon (folio 111) as well as the Indian Expeditionary Force 'D' (In Mesopotamia) Troops of the 6th Poona Division (folio 114).
Correspondents include: General Sir John Nixon; Major-General Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend; the Viceroy of India; officials of the Admiralty; officials of the War Office.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (687 folios)
- Arrangement
The entries are recorded in chronological order from the front to the rear of the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 686; 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. Multiple additional mixed foliation/pagination sequences are present in parallel; these numbers are written in crayon and pencil; where they are written in pencil and circled, they are crossed through.
The file has one foliation anomaly, f 374A.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'PAPERS RELATING TO THE MESOPOTAMIAN COMMISSION from SIR E. BARROW'S ROOM' [292r] (589/1386), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/5/768, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100116195930.0x0000c0> [accessed 7 February 2025]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/5/768
- Title
- 'PAPERS RELATING TO THE MESOPOTAMIAN COMMISSION from SIR E. BARROW'S ROOM'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:5v, 7r:89v, 91r:107v, 109r:130v, 131ar, 131r:134v, 135ar, 135ar, 135r:136v, 137ar, 137r:203v, 204ar, 204r:225r, 225ar, 225v:295v, 296ar, 296r:316v, 317ar, 317r:374v, 374ar:374av, 375r:405v, 406ar, 406r:562r, 562ar, 562v:623v, 624ar, 624r:686v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence