"تقارير إدارة أقسام ومناطق الأراضي المحتلة في بلاد الرافدين لسنة ١٩١٨. المجلد I" [ظ‎‎١‎٦‎٨] (٤٧٠/٣٤١)

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morals of an almost professional criminal to the tune of £100, though he had himself
proclaimed the same criminal the worst of men before he accepted him as a sarkal.
Yet with all their defects of morality Arab Shaikhs can remain astonishingly
loyal. If Juwi’s muqata‘ah were divided into two parts, I think his loyalty would
still stand. As Shabib said, when I commented on Juwi’s latest delinquencies:
44 Juwi will remain loyal to your Government ‘ilat tali ”— 44 to the end.”
The following are extracts from the reports of the Assistant Political Officer,
‘Amarah, and Assistant Political Officer, 4 Ali Gharbi (For a report on the Qal 4 at
Salih District reference may be made to the Assistant Political Officer’s report for
the period ending 30th September 1918):—
Extract from Report by the Assistant Political Officer, District "Amarah.
The District has been quiet and the tribes seem to have settled down to peaceful
occupations and agriculture. There has been no violent crime, I know of, for the
time I have held the post of Assistant Political Officer, namely, from the 3rd of
September 1918, and there have not been any really hard cases to decide, from
the point of view of the judicial acumen of that official. During the period under
report, of which I have knowledge, there has only been one case of considerable
theft. This occurred on a Resources hay-baling barge near Kumait, and was
eventually settled by a fine of £T50, part of which went to compensate the people
from whom Government clothing had been stolen.
During September and October there were numerous petty thefts of Government
stores off moving trains. This epidemic died down, four Shabanahs having been
traced as the culprits. They were sentenced to five years each, but, unfortunately,
escaped while en route to Basrah jail, and, so far, no trace has been found of them.
The boundary dispute between Shaikh Shawwai of the Azairij tribe and Shaikh
Ziyarah of the same still continues, but there is a chance of settlement now that
things are on a more normal basis, and there is no present likelihood of a change
in Political Officers.
There was a strained period when the Majar Canal was dammed in September,
but things were eventually restored to a stable footing.
Nothing in the nature of a raid has occurred in the tribal districts, and caravans
of goods to Persia and elsewhere have been able to go their way unmolested by
robbers, and are a fruitful source of revenue to the Customs Department.
The news of the end of the war has been everywhere received with quiet
satisfaction, the peace parade in December being attended by almost every Shaikh
of the ‘Amarah Division. Another event which greatly attracted the Arab was the
agricultural show held at ‘Amarah in October.
The proclamation of the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief on the conclusion
of the armistice with Turkey, and the world-shaking changes it foreshadowed, have
been received with acclamation, and there is a sense of security everywhere and
of better days in store. The visit of the Civil Commissioner by aeroplane in December
and the document it resulted in, which was signed by all the important Shaikhs
of this Division, is a token that they do not hunger after the old regime of the Turks
in ‘Iraq.
The institution of an oigamsed Shabanah force in the c Amarah Division is
being well received, and promises well for the future and many recruits have been
latterly coming in. The Police arrangements in the Baladiyahs are in good order,
and, though they are not imposing, they undoubtedly help in keeping law and order
in these places. The posts themselves are poorly-paid at present, and the cost
of living somewhat high. In June, Hatim al Saihud, a former outlaw, asked for
his “ safe conduct ” as he wanted to come in to the Government. This was granted,
and he has since been continually visiting the authorities, on the look-out for some
of his former power.
(a) Inter-Tribal Relations—There is a certain degree of enmity between Shaikh
Muhammad al ‘Araibi, Albu Muhammad, on the one hand, and Shaikhs Saihud
al ‘Ajil, Sudan, and Tahir al Hatim, Albu Muhammad, on the other. Shaikh
Falih a! Bunaiyah was of the latter party at one time, but his views have since
changed. The origin of the enmity is, in my opinion, the fact that Muhammad al
‘Araibi will do nothing to help ‘Araibah, the mother of Tahir, financially. The reason