File 4722/1918 Pt 8 'Mesopotamia: Situation' [‎119v] (249/995)

14
I
I i
ship of Saiyid X ur and Saiyid ‘Alwan of the Mishkhab. £ Abdul Wahid and
and ‘Ibadi, Shaikhs of the h’atlali , and ‘Alwan, Shaikh of the Southern Bani
Ilasan. Tiiese with jSaiyids Muhsin abu Tabikh of Ghammas and Hadi
Muqotar of Shinafiyah had been mainly concerned in promoting disturbance
in Diwaniyak. The Khaza £ il Shaikhs under tJie restraining influence of the
A.P.O., Umm al BaTur, Captain Mann, had shown great unwillingness to
join the movement, but on July 14th, they warned Captain Mann that they
could no longer protect him and a day or two later, attempts on his life having
been made by the Fatlah, he withdrew to Kufah. The A.P.O. of Abu Sukhair
Captain Hopkins, and the small garrison were also attacked by the Fatlah
but hostilities were not vigorously conducted and with the help of some other
tribesmen Captain Hopkins brought the whole party safely to Kufah. There
the P.0, of the Division, Major Xorbury, had transferred his headquarters-
from Kajaf. Even now several of the leading men seemed to be undecided..
£ Fmran Shaikh of the Noil hern Bani Hasan and brother of Hlwan had not
yet gone out and if the resistance of the tribes' at Rumaithah oould have been
dealt with successfully there can be little doubt that disorder would not have
spread. On July 19th the A.P.O. of Tuwairij, Captain Hunt, accompanied
HImran. at the request of the latter to the camp of the insurgents at the Kufah
bridgehead, but the terms there agreed to were thrown over by the Shamiyah
Shaikhs on the following day. The reverse suffered by the Manrhesters on
July 24th, in an attempt to re-establish control between Hillah and Kifl
turned the scale against us on the Hindiyah. Tuwairij had been evacuated
before the news came in, but exaggerated reports of an Arab victory over the
British army produced so marked an effect on the temper of the tribes that
the Barrage and Musaiyib became untenable. The British representative in
Karbala, Khan Bahadur Mrrza Muhammad, got away with his staff on July
27th, and Kufah was definitely cut off from all sides. Major Horbury, who
had been placed in military command, was not only well fitted to conduct the
defence of the town but also enjoys great popularity in his division and the
siege of Kufah lias been conducted in a half-hearted manner. Valuable in
formation continued to be supplied from Xajaf by Major Norbury’s Personal
Assistant, Agha Hamid Khan, who was equally useful after he had been
forced by the animosity of the townsmen to move up to Karbala. Regardless
of danger to himself he held on till August 22nd, when £ Fmran removed him
from Karbala and confined him at Tuwairij.
8 . _ Idle main efforts of the insurgents were directed against the column
returning from Diwaniyah and against Hillah town. Two Shaikhs of the
Zubaid Confederation, c Abdai of the Albu Sultan section and Airman al
Zanbur of the Albu £ Aji.1.stood resolutely by us, but they were unable to com
mand their tribesmen. The behaviour of the Arab Levies at Hillah was a
satisfactory feature. They replied to invitations to desert their British Officers
by a war song in which they declared themselves to be the sons of the Levy
and to have divorced all other kindred. The attacks both on the column and
the town were repulsed with heavy losses ; the column reached Hillah on
August 8 th and occupied Musaiyib and the Barrage on the 12th. These
successes had a discouraging effect on -Karbala where the chief Mujtahid,
Mirza Muhammad Taqi, announced that it was time for hostilities to cease
But his death on August 17th gave the succession to the SharFat al Ispahani
who exhibited a fanatical desire to cohtinue resistance.
9. In the immediate vicinity of Baghdad anarchy increased. The
treacherous murder of Colonel Leachman on August 12th. dragged the Zoba £
tribe hostilities, but the Dulciim of Hunictdi under tAli Sulnimun mid the
Anizah under Fahad ibn Hadhdhal and his son Mahrut, who had guarded
the Euphrates under Colonel Leachman, remained true to the government
which he had represented. On the Diyalah nationalist propaganda had been
vigorously disseminated from Baghdad and the tribes urged to rise in revolt.
The first to respond were some unimportant groups on the Marut canal. A
nandful of tribesmen of the Kurkhiyah and Zuhainyah cut the railway at
Abu Hawa and, having scored a small success over troops sent to restore order
entered Batqubnh. The military situation did not admit of immediate action
and the evacuation of Balqubah on August 12th, gave the signal for compre
hensive rapine, in which the local Tews were among the chief sufferers.
Yusuf Suwaidi and Saiyid Muhammad Sadr, the former of whom had evaded
arrest in Baghdad, joined the insurgents and a nominal government was set
up m Bafqtibah. Immediate and unchecked anarchy ensued. Shahraban
was attacked n August 15th, by a rabble led by an ex-Shabanah dMemwKo
had been dismissed for corruption, aided by the Bani Wais, Bani RabiV ,
Bani Tamim, Tubur and Khazraj. The villagers took part with the tribes’
The A.P.O., Captain Wrigley, together with the Levy Officer, Captain Brad-
field,. Sargeant-Major Xewton and Instructor Nesbett were besieged in the
Sarai and shot. Mr. Buchanan, the Irrigation Officer, was dragged out by
the mob and killed in the presence of his wife. Mrs. Buchanan was taken to
a house in the village where she was not molested ; she remained in captivity
for 28 days when she was rescued by the relief column.. Captain Lloyd.
A.P.O. of Daltawah. was saved by the intervention of the Shaikhs of the