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File 4722/1918 Pt 1 'Mesopotamia: administration of policy and situation' [309v] (634/687)
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.
6
Qaimaqams, such as would be filled in the Indian administration by gazetted
officers—Deputy Commissioners, Assistant Commissioners. The reason is
that under the Turkish regime almost all these posts were filled by pure
Turks ; these have been eliminated, and there is at present no one to fill their
place. Wherever we have tried ex-officers of the late Administration they
have almost invariably proved unsatisfactory ; they are in fact saturated with
the evil traditions of the regime in which they have been brought up and
trained. Until we can create this element, enlisting as far as we are able the
assistance of the Egyptian and Soudan Administrations, we must rely mainly
on young British officers. I may mention here that whereas I have done my
utmost to. employ experimentally any inhabitants of the country at all likely
to be suitable, this laudable endeavour finds no favour with the local
inhabitants concerned. I am continually appealed to bv them not to place
the conduct of their affairs in the hands of ex-officials^ of the late regime
even though I hey be Arabs of the country, on the ground that they have all
been born and bred in a vicious school of corruption, and caiyiot rise above
the evil traditions of the past. The population, from the cultivator to the
well-to-do merchant or landowner, infinitely prefers to be handled by a British
officer, who of course employs Arab subordinates.
Lo. I fully realise the impoitance of finding or creating a type suitable
for employment in the superior posts, but the fact is that it does not at
pie sent exist. In the moie suboidmate posts our personnel is almost entirelv
indigenous. Where other elements, Indian or English, are employed it is
almost entirely in the purely clerical or technical branches of the Headquarter
Administration, e.g., clerical and cypher branches, English branch of Govern
ment Press &c. The following is a rough analysis of employees in the
Baghdad Vilayet:—
Arab, Armenian, Christian, Jew, ex-employees of the late
Government taken over by us -
Newly sanctioned by us :—
Mohammedans of Iraq
1 lomiciled Persians of Iraq
Jews of Iraq - _ _
. Christians, Syrians, Chaldeans
Egyptians - _ _
Indian Christians - _ _
British-born Europeans
(Government offices, Government Press, &c.)
TT P'J! 18 hi ® hest Vpe Of official corresponding to those who function os
- 210
17
lb
60
132
3
19
35
15. 1 o what extent is the Administration based
rhat extent is British supervision indispensable 2
on
Indian models, and to
Except ill that the “ Iraq Occupied Territories ” Code of Law applied in
inGhPft jffifGAWPTy La VB st as % So^an Code is) the
Basi
administration is, not
over the structure of
ne^TnvV.i 3 ' 186 ! 1 0n . In ' dian inode]y - We have taken
substituting British officers for Miitessailffi s f stem 9 as v '" e loiind it,
present designating them Political Officers and Assistant PoliV^
while m the posts which under thp in G t 1 olitical Officers,
official of the Status of Muto, we tare Veen JiJ ^ ^ ^ ^ -
country subject to the exception that wherevp-r - Vu ' 0 em l^°y natives of the
located it is essential, owing to the difficultv onb 1 i garr,sons or tr00 P s are
rTVTT d e“ wf 01 , 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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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