File 4722/1918 Pt 8 'Mesopotamia: Situation' [‎52r] (112/995)

I
A list of the Shamiyah Shaikhs who have so far come in is attached to this
report. Credit is due to Major Norbury alike for the example set by him to all
ranks during the siege and for his handling of the political situation since his
release.
Nasiriyah-Division and Samawah (Euphrates).
There is a sharp break between the tribes of the Nasiriyah Division who are
Muntafiq, and those of Samawah, who belong to the Bani Huchchaim and are
connected with Rumaithah. The dividing line runs through Darraji, forty
miles upstream of Nasiriyah. Events in the two areas have of course been con
nected, but have followed a different sequence.
The period opened in Samawah with the small garrison steadily beleaguered
and at intervals heavily attacked. The town of Samawah and all the local tribes
were hostile, Saiyid Hadi Muqotar of Shinafiyah Sha‘ lan al Buchon, Ghathith
al Harkan of the Dhuwalim, Abdul Abbas al Farhud, Nasir al Husain, Robat
and Karim al Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. and Saiyid Taffar being the most prominent leaders. Al
Khidhr had been evacuated on the 13th August—on which occasion the Muntafiq
horse greatly distinguished themselves—communication with the outside world
was cut off and, as at Kufah, there could not be said to be any political situa
tion. With the advance of the relief column from Nasiriyah, which reached
Samawah on the 14th October, all the tribes east of that place except the
Jawabir, bethought them of surrender and accepted the terms stated in your
No. 0|2147|311 dated 23rd September, 1920. The Jawabir, who had been not
altogether unfriendly while Al Khidbr was held, had since put themselves
altogether beyond the pale.
After Al Khidhr was abandoned the D.V. “ Greenfly ”, which was stuck
on the mud near that place, had had to take its chance of picking up what food
the R.A.F. could drop to it. On the 22nd September a plane thus engaged was
shot down and its two occupants, on landing, were murdered by the Jawa bir
with every concomitant circumstance of brutality. A few days later the crew
of the “ Greenfly ” were forced to surrender for lack of food. The British
members of the crew were treated in the same way as the airman, but the
Indians, who are suspected of collusion in the murder, were sheltered by Haji
Sifr al Ajairib, Shaikh of the section. The Jawabir therefore knew themselves
to be marked for signal punishment and, it is to be hoped, have since got it.
After relieving Samawah the column has remained there and, the town
having submitted, some of the townspeople have returned. But the tribesmen
on the left bank and those section who live upstream towards Rumaithah remain
definitely hostile. They are under the impression that they are beyond our
reach and some serious military action will be required to demonstrate their
error. It is to be regretted that the privations of the siege prevented Captain
Shelswell from resuming charge of the District as A.P.O. He had been there
but! a short time, when the trouble began, but showed a remarkable grasp of
the situation from the first.
In concluding the record of events at Samawah it is pleasant to make men
tion of Shaikh Husain Agha, who saved the life of Captain Storey Cooper at
considerable risk to himself and has maintained the same attitude of loyalty
throughout the disturbances.
We now turn to events in the Muntafiq area. Of these an adequate sum
mary is given in my earlier report, and the rest of the tale is soon told.
Khaiyun al ‘ Ubaid, to the surprise of all who know him, has throughout main
tained his staunchness and such is the power that he yields in the Gharrat that
without his support no other man in that region can make himself dangerous.
The youthful Shaikh Mohan ibn Yusuf al Khairullah of the bhu-
wailat (Al Humaid), whose father in his time was the leading man
in the upper Gharraf, fired by the appeals of the outlawed_ Abdul
lah ibn Muhammad al Yasin, ^-Shaikh of the Maiyah {vide Kut
report below) and by the preachings of the altms sent from Najai
and Karbala to fan the religious fanaticism of the has f
stant in his efforts to give trouble. Twice he has visited Shattrah with a couple
of hundred horsemen at his back, and twice Khaiyun, taking his cue from
Muhammad al Saihud, Amir al Rabiah of the Kut Division, has sent him home
again discomforted. There has therefore been nothing more serious than inter
tribal bickering on the Gharraf, in which it is reported that Ataiya of Qalat
Sikar, a person of note, has perished.
In the Nasiriyah region an emissary from Najat named ba.iyid Miiza
Muhammad, who has been camped near Butainiyah, an ill-omenelxegiQn, has had
some success among the tribes. The malcontent leaders are Sulaiman al Shari
(Bani Zaid), Muhammad ibn Haji Shallal, Abbas al Ta imah (Khafaja i)
Hatab al Zonaizad, and Marzuq al Ruwasi, but their efforts have resulted m
little more than occasional sniping of Nasiriyah town.
In Suq Haji Hasan al Hamadani, the provisional Governor of the town,
who was convicted last April of forgery and heavily fined, seems to bear no
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