"العراق والخليج الفارسي" [و‎‎١‎٨‎٩] (٨٦٢/٣٨٢)

THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE 267
the centralization and ottomanization of the provinces than their
predecessors. In reaction the first elements of Arab nationalism began
to stir. Secret societies were formed, mainly by young officers, only
to be severely repressed when discovered. In Basra vilayet Talib
Pasha, son of the Naqib, effectively organized Arab nationalist
opinion and secured the rejection of all the Young Turk nominees
at the parliamentary elections of 19 n in favour of himself and his
partisans. In 1913 he and other Iraqi notables attended an Arab
conference at Mohammerah where the future of Iraq was discussed.
Tribal Policy
The Mamluks had treated with the tribal suzerains, if not as equals,
yet as feudal vassals, so that tribal chiefs maintained order in their
own regions. The new Turkish Valis, treating the tribesmen as
fellahin, tried to compel them by force of arms to accept regular
taxation and conscription. Till 1869 campaign followed campaign
without any permanent success, and at times even Baghdad was
blockaded by the tribes. Midhat Pasha saw that the tribesmen could
only be brought within the framework of ordered civilization by
settling them on irrigated lands with security of tenure. To this end
the Tapu office was set up, which sold lands on easy terms to tribal
shaikhs and also to settled villagers (p.443). It was hoped by turning
the shaikhs into landlords, and their tribesmen into tenants, to make
them politically subservient, particularly as their water-supply would
depend upon the Government. There was also a policy of ottomaniz-
ing the shaikhs by the conferment of Turkish titles and administrative
positions and by encouraging them to adopt Turkish manners and
education. In general the shaikhs and their tribes refused the bait
of lands, distrusting the change of status and fearing conscription.
Also through the prevailing corruption the Tapu office sold much
land to city speculators instead of to tribesmen. But the policy had
several local successes with the Chaab, and the Shammar Toqa,
Dulaim, and Zubaid settled in their present localities. The unity of
the powerful Muntafiq confederation and the authority of the Sadun
family was broken by these means. The tribesmen, unwilling to
have their shaikh turn landlord and pasha at once, divided into
antagonistic sections. By 1914 the tribes still retained their nomadic
or semi-nomadic way of life, but except in the Syrian desert the days
of great tribal wars and great tribal confederacies were over. Indi
vidual tribes or sections were ever ready to exploit any weakness in
government, and the main effect of the breakdown of federal authority