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File 4722/1918 Pt 8 'Mesopotamia: Situation' [‎14r] (36/995)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (491 folios). It was created in 28 Jun 1920-11 Feb 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. .

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»1
&
the
raiders sustained casualties• Further their camps were
homhed from the air and gradually their numbers dwindled.
Another camp sprung up on the Sadanawiyah under another
Najaf ! Alim Saiyid Murtadha bin Saiyid Ali Dammat in early
Hovember on the old camping ground of Ibrahim Beg al
Miza*l. This gathering consisting of Al Asachirah and the
Abu Adhim section of Al Husainat was in league with the
Butanijah concentration. About 27th ultimo all camps
dispersed and the leaders have almost without exception
come into Nasiriyah to bemoan their recent conduct and
promise reformation. It will be interesting to see what
the leapord can do with its spots. These Suq camps made
no religious pretences for the Suq tribes are notoriously
unsusceptible to the voice of Najaf: they were chiefly
out to share in the general excitement. Their dispersal
is the result of successful military operations in the
Samawah Bumaithah area,. Reduction in blockhouses along the
Basrah Hasiriyah railway is already in progress and it is
believed that before long the political situation will
admit of a reversion to the old methods of policing the
railway by locally raised shabanas.
The general Suq-al-Shuyukh situation, except for
inter-tribal fighting in El Hessan, is much improved and
it is hoped that as soon as a gunboat can be spared to
patrol the Lower Euphrates I may be able to proceed to
Suq-al-Shuyukh on a visit. Among the bigger figures of the
■:l District a triangular contest still goes on between Farhud
Sal Mughashghash, Salim al Khaiyun and Haji Hassan Hamdani.
: 'V
’ These men are irreconciliable rivals and each belittles the
influence and services of the other two.
GENERAL.
It is reliably estimated that since the withdrawal
of British Officers from Shatrah Suq-al-Shuyukh Q,alat Sikkar
Districts, I staqfla l in the Muntafiq tribes has cost not
less than 200 lives, the result of inter tribal fighting
and murders. This anarchic state of affairs can only be
ended
if,

About this item

Content

The volume consists of correspondence, memoranda, drafts, and departmental notes relating to rebellion against British mandatory rule in Mesopotamia [approximately corresponding to present-day Iraq], later known as the Iraqi Revolt of 1920.

The volume covers the period from the start of unrest in May 1920 to British imposition of control in October of the same year. The majority of the volume comprises reports from political officers across Mesopotamia on the situation in their respective divisions and districts.

Other matters discussed within the volume include:

  • The suspected causes of the uprising, including fears of ‘Bolshevik’ and pro-Turkish influence
  • Settlement of the border between Syria and Mesopotamia
  • Military strategy and operations, including the need for reinforcements
  • The severing of British lines of communication, particularly rail
  • The efficacy and principles of the use of armoured cars and air raids as means of control following numerous cases of misidentification and disproportionate force that resulted in the deaths and injuries of innocent people
  • Political and civil policy in the region
  • Identification and arrest of some of the leaders of the rebellion
  • The prominence of events in Mesopotamia in the British press
  • The question of disarming the tribes following the suppression of the rebellion.

Principal correspondents include officials at: 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. ; the Office of the Civil Commissioner in Mesopotamia (from November 1920, the High Commissioner); the War Office; General Headquarters of the military in Mesopotamia; and the Government of India, Foreign and Political and Army departments.

The volume contains cuttings from several publications, including: The Times , The Statesman , The Observer , The Daily Herald , The Daily Mail , The Baghdad Times , and The Near East .

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 back of the correspondence. A second divider is included, for File 4722/1918 Part 7, entitled ‘Mesopotamia: Sir A. Wilson’s invitation to Syrian Baghdadis’. This was transferred to File 5268/20 Parts 1 and 2 (see IOR/L/PS/10/913).

Extent and format
1 volume (491 folios)
Arrangement

The volume is arranged in approximate chronological order, from the rear to the front.

The subject 4722 (Mesopotamia) consists of ten volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/755-764. The volumes are divided into twelve parts, with parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 and 12 comprising one volume each. Part 10 is missing. Part 7, entitled ‘Mesopotamia: Sir A. Wilson’s invitation to Syrian Baghdadis’, was transferred to File 5268/20 Parts 1 and 2 (see IOR/L/PS/10/913).

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 489; 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 intermittent additional foliation sequences are also present. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves. The sequence contains one foliation anomaly, f 89a.

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English in Latin script
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File 4722/1918 Pt 8 'Mesopotamia: Situation' [‎14r] (36/995), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/761, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100137804985.0x000025> [accessed 7 June 2026]

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