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File 4722/1918 Pt 1 'Mesopotamia: administration of policy and situation' [20r] (48/687)
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.
f
It.
GLr
/v4 I/) ‘Lk^/ ^• MA[ /L^X/
Strictly Confidential
NOTE ON THE PLACE OF THE ARAB IN THE
ADMINISTRATION.
1. With the declaration of the armistipp -f + P
administration of this country becomes a^atS ^ ^ ^ of tlle
several questions, all of them difficult. Is there to hI g ™T C0 T mprises
to be anything m the shape of a consti+n+l™ * i 1 aU Amir? Is there
What share is the Arab to be o'i e , lec . ted legislative
shall confine myself in this note^lhXTt 1
I he alternatives before ns are either
or th ( eVdan^rTgovirned^oT ^ 8 British b ” ea “™<=y as British India.
Arab' executive™™®^BhamTshmen'tl 1 tll<! , n8: “?y s ? far «« possible of
and inspection. Englishmen to supply initiative, directing power
extent to which Egypt e is U governe f db”^the 1 F W<!l t 1 ' U ° Wn t0 ev “ r - V0ue - The
whole of the executive staff o^tsid^ 13 not w eU inown. The
Outside Cairo anrita^ndria ttrf is nt^rs is E^P^an.
executive functions in the Civil Administaation ° , ex '«' cls iag
from the Governor downwards in eonb nf firm t>, ' • ^^ le - w l 10 l e . 0 f tbe staff
divided is Egyptian. The head of the police^nTthe whole^^+lf^f- iS
force m each Province is Egyptian The PeTi+rnl n h l °, f • the P ollce
he most part Egyptian from the Ministers downwar^XTTer 18 ^
ofEn^sln bTilromest ^ali^^ ttTands
do what he is told by the High Commissioner"orm'ign.’ Mmister must
involves a greaT loss ^of q presrait *1'.«,>./" f 0YeI S tirough a native
agency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
efficiently compared with India or even liu^ Suffim Pt Publm^^Ji^^ 1 ' 6 ' 1
exists 6 Pr0 ™ Ce8 ,laS alw ^ s b -“ b ^- Sanlta^outsffit^eltnrhaTd";
is on^tU? t^Br^til^SnThrTnT^ *? tlle „ Utm0St P 0S3ible *rtent
least since the Indian Mutiny and eveif^’/ 10 m E8Tpt ’ have at
has been 1 gre9tly Strengthened fv P tne “ lder3t .ands. And belief in it
brought to the front by the pretent war sentiments have been
happ^r^efejll p°o f liIy at " f ° r the ^ ° f tbe ^ned race it also
culties 1 ffi'lndf^whf P ^ ^ ^ pp ° sit . e x t ^ at the solution of the political diffi-
cumes m India which commends itself to some of the more conserve Eva
meationofNatfve Stat Coun t tr y, of , tbe ‘JP 6 , of sir Bamfylde Fuller is the
British a.Jm im-straHnn 1 °“ of . cert am districts which are now under direct
set the clock back li’ f •, lmag> , iae that is now possible, because you cannot
when^hfdfstrtt we^&ttTcquitd : 6 be6n P ° S8ible “ h “ d beL ^“P^^
JEr may thought that the early decision of this question is not
V taL . Gai i start with a British bureaucracy and gradually water it
down with an infusion of Arab staff until it becomes Arab 7
insui)erobffi 11 ^fffh l7 l+^ XPerie A lC ^i S El a T s that method to be beset with almost
insuperable difficulties. A British bureaucracy will certainly, subiect to
macZe^f rr 8 be *“• * . will soo^ deyelop a 7 complicated
machinery of Goyernment, the adaptation of which to the varying needs of
such as n ftw Str ° n8 ‘ initaa tive and capacity to accept responsibility
^ almost Bn? xf 18 T ° re ? laCe efficieil t by less efficient workmen
* ^ P v ble ^tbout a recasting of the whole system. Besides yoiP
have against such a change the strong vested interests not only of the officials
\/
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' [20r] (48/687), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/755, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100188328445.0x000096> [accessed 13 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