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File 4722/1918 Pt 1 'Mesopotamia: administration of policy and situation' [63r] (134/687)
The record is made up of 1 volume (326 folios). It was created in 23 Oct 1918-2 Nov 1919. It was written in English, French and Arabic. 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.
3Hfl
^Qugh,
y t 0
any
would
Ps mafee
!e. H e
imks it
govern
'asrak
large
;st of
from
rhole
scted
ill a
n to
' 8 .
mon
will
pro-
?ith
le ’3
hat
No. <f
QURNAH.
VVe, whose seals are appended below Shaikhs m.,L-i.+„ j i ,
all the tribes in the Qadha of Qurnah with fb ’ muk 1 lltar 1 s and , headmen of
the aforementioned Qadha hare as’k known f. P ° P I e W } 08e homes . are “
troops of Great Britain occupied’ ‘Iraq up to this ol <lay °ti Wll , 1C j tUe
kindness of this Government for the good treatment'we i, wa . vs thanked the
the just Government by freeing us frorf the “^f The fftrTnl 7“
the war ended with the success of this empire andlier D1 ® ifr And . w >en
greatly and we continue praying to God for the long Ufe Tf’this^/eTand
just empire because an it is security for the future of ill \t l S J* n,
reclamation of our lauds and the iLreLe of 0^^ and theTrld 0 /
our commerce; and we do not choose any except her onfall If free /? om
the world. And we understand that “L George V God sid ? •“ a “‘l 8 ° £
for his good intentions towards the Arab! and for Ms ^rese^tlo^of'fhT 7
countries, will set up for them a settled government for the CO nC
their religion and the dissemination of knowledge and ilic fv!,,,T T !
schools and the reclamation of their lands/anTfor this reason we and aHth!
tribes of the Arabs have become pleased and thankful for these nood inten
f ^ nd T T e a o k God t 1 liat he y 11 8’ ran t us success in obtaining-^he Kinn’s
Wish to r|;?n f 7nd7r MS. ^
re7n h 7sr7r^
rom tlie hand of the tyrants ; and to show tins we have written this declaration.
[Signed by thirty Tribal Shaikhs, headmen of villages and other Notables.]
Oadh^^oTtf^ 0 CL ^ EA p TI / 0 Q^ : ~^ Ild since a11 we > inhabitants of this
yadiia, are of the Ja fariyah (Shi ah) persuasion, we desire the transference
of aL our Sliara cases which cannot be settled bv an ‘alim in this Qadha to
be made to Basrah to the cleverest of the ‘Ulama of the J^fari^aA persul-
»ion, such as Hujjat al Islam Saiyid ‘Adnan, who is now there. ^ Similarly
theVaTb^ C l Vl1 CaSeS 71 ask 1 tllat ] tllree members of inhabitants of
•md tbG lW 7 ''e aPBo^fed uniler 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 the Political Officer
PoKBra/nffl/ f u >e elected 1 by th ® vote of the majority, and that the
1 ical Officer shall summon them when necessary to try cases. Also that
cases winch are not settled shall he transferred by the Political Officer to
the tlig-h ( ourts m Basrah and cases m which outsiders not belonging to
this Qadha are concerned shall be similarly referred, but that civil or
CaS f wblcb . arise ^ any of the tribes shall be settled as hitherto
since the entry of this great Government by the Shaikh according to the
ways of the tribes and the established ideas, and this is what we ask and beg.
[Seven signatures.]
he
le
)k
id
is
:e
1
About this item
- Content
The volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, telegrams and minutes regarding the administration of, and situation in, Mesopotamia [Iraq] following the Asia Minor Agreement of 1916, more commonly known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement, between the French and British governments, and the Anglo-French Declaration of November 1918. The volume also concerns the subject of self-determination in Persia [Iran].
The papers notably cover:
- Discussion of advance interpretations of the 1916 Agreement
- The Anglo-French Declaration of November 1918, which publicised their intentions and policy in the former Ottoman territories of Syria and Iraq
- Presentation of the 1918 Declaration to the President of the United States of America by the French Ambassador to the US, Jean Adrien Antoine Jules Jusserand
- Disagreement between the British and French visions of the future administration of Mesopotamia
- The situation in southern Kurdistan
- The 1919 Paris Peace Conference
- Apprehensions of the Baghdad Jewish community about the tenor of the Anglo-French Declaration, including a petition to the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, requesting to be made subjects of the British Crown
- Reaction to the Declaration from the across the Arab world
- Disagreement among the British over the form that Britain’s control in Mesopotamia should take
- The views of the principal sheikhs [shaikhs] of Mesopotamia on the 1918 Agreement
- Discussion among British officials of the benefits of control over Mesopotamia and the view of the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, Arnold Talbot Wilson, on the situation in Mesopotamia
- Discussion of the potential candidates for the head of the new state of Iraq
- Reports on consultations with political and religious leaders and inhabitants from across Iraq on the future Government of Iraq
- The views of Sir Percy Cox and Arnold Wilson on the situation in Mesopotamia
- The question of the future political status of Mesopotamia, including the views of British officers serving in Syria and the Hejaz
- Discussion of the question of Iraqi self-determination.
Notable documents in this volume include:
- Text by Sir Percy Cox regarding ‘The Future of Mesopotamia’ (ff 308-310 and ff 270-272)
- Extracts from The Times , 26 November 1819, including a series of articles under the title ‘The Arab Campaign’ (ff 230-232)
- The statutes for the independence of Iraq (ff 127-130)
- A memorandum by Major W H Young regarding the future of Mesopotamia (ff 99-112)
- Copies of ‘Self-determination in Iraq’ in Arabic (ff 75-97) and English (ff 57-73).
The principal correspondents are: 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. , Political Department; the Governor-General of India; the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; the Military Governor and Political Officer, Baghdad; Government of India, Military Department, the French Ambassador to the United States; and the British Embassy, Paris.
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.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (326 folios)
- Arrangement
The contents of the volume are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
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 334; 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 mixed foliation/pagination 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 two anomalies: f 181a and f 181b.
- Written in
- English, French and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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File 4722/1918 Pt 1 'Mesopotamia: administration of policy and situation' [63r] (134/687), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/755, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100188328443.0x000055> [accessed 10 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/755
- Title
- File 4722/1918 Pt 1 'Mesopotamia: administration of policy and situation'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1r:127v, 128ar, 128r:175v, 176ar, 176r:181v, 181ar:181av, 181cr, 181br:181bv, 182r:182v, 186r:229v, 232v:325v, 327r:334v, ii-r:ii-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence