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File 4722/1918 Pt 1 'Mesopotamia: administration of policy and situation' [209r] (433/687)
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
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(P 5619)
I 1 > om Political, Baghdad, 14th December 1918. I j
{Repeated to Foreign.) * ! ' '
(Received 8 a.m., 15th.)
I visited Hillah Nejaf and Kerbela by air on 11th December and
(R.) 11109.
12th December.
At Hdlali J met the principal Sheikhs and notables of the (? division') and
frankly asked heir views as to the future Government of Iraq. T ev Xcated a
single Iraq State, including Mosul, but definitively and unhesitatingly rejected idea of
he Amir and thaPinfs 0 " 11 ' ?° SUlt f, ble , candidate exists . that no Shiah could
tenths of the ^puktion tC XflL hav ?CePted wh ° fom lliue -
TW Xred no° aX 1°' or a -w form of AXtyranny
they desired no Aiab officials m positions of responsibility; they wished for
m ,1 1 oi present system of administration, but hoped it would be improved
and elaborated by addition of more British officials. Their verdict w H nd T
thought out beforehand as the result of conversations nth Political Office ZZ
unanimous and was delivered with an emphasis which it is diffiduh to convev hi
imce of arm" 6 PaFam ° Unt Sheikh ™ ade il cleai ' oppose any other by
Ihe same evening (? at) Nejaf I was received by the whole body of Committee of
Sheikhs and .y religious dignitaries and merchants of Nejaf. ‘ The verdict of
assembly which is being confirmed in writing shortly was pri ctically Went cal bf
emphasised as was to be expected, the deep-rooted objections of Shiahs in m ( and
predorSnanc°e. aDy Pr ° P0SalS WhlCh mi ^ ht minority ZZ r
Yard?"he°3 “sSTW t0 i Visit the a ? ed Sai -'' id Muhammad Nazim
j t e 1 ' h ' ln « blllal1 Mujtahid, whose reputation for piety and wisdom -ill
^unquestioned. MeS0P ° tamla “ °“ d whose “utiiorit) as'a religious l“,de.
To him also I put question prescribed by His Majesty’s Government • Mr Wingate
had informed him of their tenour two days before, and he had his reply read vmd
delivered it with solemnity of a “ Fatwa,” He prefaced it by remarking {hat. he i,ad
nverl all Ins life apart from the world and had no part in politics : & ' '
I speak, he said (unconsciously quoting John Bright) “ for those who cannot
speak for themselves. _ Whatever Government do let them consider well the interests
md 0 hef f‘ al ’ 8 Tl° bhiaiS , U1 partlCTlar ?, n(1 especially the masses (of) the inarticulate
and helpless. These people are not civilised ; the installation of Arab officials will
cause anarchy. They have not yet learnt honesty ; until they have done so they must
remain under the orders of Government. No man can be found who would be
accepted as Amir, ihe thing is not possible.”
IVlXinX 8a l n ? m T t0 I 116 ) but he , lms dise "^« d matter in greater detail with
i obtical Orhcei who lias turmshed me with a written record of his conversation
somewhLXcukfdeckraHon 611 ^ 0 " 8 ^ ° f YaZ<li ^ 8pecial to this
I visited Kerbela the same day and saw the local notables; their views
had already been ascertained by Political Officer and were substantially those
ot Nejaf, though they lacked fiery emphasis of the independent Sheikhs of the Neiaf
division. Ihe people volunteered statement that they had fought and turned out
lurks, not on religious grounds, but because they had proved their incapacity to
govern and their ill-will to governed ; and recalled fact that the Arab officials of the
IT/- ^ ~
old regime were not better than the Turks.
On Monday T am visiting Amarah, Gnrnah
ascertain views of the Sheikh of Mohammerah.
and Basra by air, and shall
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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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