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File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS' [8v] (27/586)
The record is made up of 1 volume (289 folios). It was created in 15 Nov 1920-31 Oct 1921. It was written in English. 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.
dealt with quickly and effectively as was done, it is not improbable, when
taking into consideration the inflammatory state of the tribes, that the
conflagration would rapidly have spread, unless checked, from end to end
of this turbulent district.
(8) . Communication between aeroplanes and defence vessels, when in
action is a subject on which 1 am not competent to speak. (N.B.—'Difficul
ties occurred in this respect during the operations in question).
(9) . To sum up my appreciation of the results of these operations.
(a) The situation in Suq was rapidly getting out of control. In spite
of the many incidents that had occurred, from the murder of Shaikhs to
ugh way robbery on land and piracies on the river, no action had been taken
by (government, and the tribes were fast becoming imbued with the idea
that with the establishment of a Rational Government, the British had
handed over the suppression of internal trouble in this country to the Arab
Government to deal with. The idea has now been rudely dispelled in the
particular 0 * “ ®" d the Allm KluiKfiA and Albn Jasim tribes in
IP l,le ti-ibesmen of the marshes surrounding Suq as well as those in
the Hammar Late have nitherto considered themselves immune in their
fastnesses from attack. loving, as many of these tribes do a few inches
rkT('if 1 the ,r trfbe S is'i ge t’ , ™! T0nnd « d ^ marshes, military’operations by
problem But if "the i :in ^ a defence vessel) are a serious military
heavy^na^mlti’ra, 111 " 3 ° f AlbU IlIlahfah were gun range and suffered
in no^casualties,Evidently d^eto^lm fa‘t’th'ftr ° f W< f r
as ^aeroplanes were sighted. ZayJZZ, thf leaSHhis “iTage” ZZ
attae^but 11 therefue’manf tS h“ T ^ f<W a “mbined
Lake whose villages are out of Snq and the Hammar
can only operate in the main river. " 1 ence vesse L These vessels
live confederations Plamed U1 Paia ' 4 ’ Suq dlstl 'i c t is divided roughly into
but most ofthe’teikfoftlmMujaiTOhTmfBaf^ kT P ** 101 t,le ““in. river,
inland and only here and there would a favourildp 1 ? lqail 4- CWllfederacieS are
be within gun range. lavourable target present itself or
Rasiriyah to Bam^hT 0 tllbeS llVmg 011 botl1 sides of the river from
anain M river° f ^ A1 Kasaa tribes of MnjarraU confederacy are off the
Muminin tribisT'e'ln'tithin gmi'ranfe. 1 ' 1 *' 1 ’ ®"‘ i 8a ‘ id > luwaibir and
range, but ChabSsh which cM'b^Lnsider^the'h ^ 0ut of gun
lam Asad group, comprising Bani Hu tail Tl. • 'ai'" 0 , ° f be loader of the
mm Asad, are within gun range. Chabaish in 1 V^ llsbarra f’ ‘ ihadah and
. iway and could thus be very severely handled C ’ 18 ° n t 16 ed§e °f the
sl.ould be I k?pt D o{S" 1,Ve tilat " le ,iv " r0ute in lute from Qurnah to Suq
constantly formedfmfor 1 two milef Imlo^ffhe 0 ^ 1 ^!' 0118 “ 1919 a bar ha*
t'qi0 e J} e i riVei ‘ del)ollc Los into the Lake At m ore or less at a point
d’redoc fh wa s removed, and again in 1920 it^ of o tlle season in
hedge the channel which had silted un in ^ i found necessary to
12 2 a ^ d 3 feet. llea U P m P ar ts from an average depth of
t he bai has again formed <.t + i
' 0 y; ^ s:r;3;::; d ’
etdLSf 68 “ the neterfd^hicTtfl 2
11 ra^o some time to
(*) Levies cannot operate in i
oXZZst^ ilewpoYiee!™ t0 ^
About this item
- Content
This volume contains the Intelligence Reports of Sir Percy Cox, High Commissioner for Mesopotamia [also written as Iraq in this volume], based in Baghdad, covering the period 15 November 1920 to 15 September 1921. They largely relate to: the political situation in Mesopotamia and the surrounding region; the formation and proceedings of the provisional government; the events leading up to the creation of Mandatory Iraq [also known as the Kingdom of Iraq under British Administration] and the election and appointment of Faisal [Fayṣal bin Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī] as the first King of Iraq [Fayṣal I].
The Intelligence Reports are numbered and appear to have been issued at two-week intervals. This volume contains the reports numbered 1-3, 9-19 and 21. There is no explanation in the volume regarding the reason for the absent reports. The format of the reports is a mixture of printed and copy typescript. Each report is preceded by a covering circular issued by the office of the High Commissioner indicating the British Government departments and the officers and departments in the Middle East to which the report was copied.
Report Nos. 1-3 are preceded by an assessment of the political situation described in the Intelligence Report, written by Major R Marrs.
The reports generally comprise the following sections:
- A summary of the report (from report No. 14 onwards only)
- An account of the proceedings of the Council of Ministers
- Analysis of current public opinion and allegiances, (notably an analysis of public opinion on the Amir [Emir] Faisal and his arrival in Mesopotamia, including a reference to his 'personal magnetism', f 88), in report Nos 16-19
- Notes on provincial affairs
- Notes on the situation at the frontiers
- Extracts of 'Iraq Police Abstracts of Intelligence' (reports No. 9-14 only).
Other subjects notably covered in various reports include:
- Assyrian, Armenian and Urumiyan [Urmian] refugees (report Nos. 2 and 19)
- Perceived foreign influences in Iraq (report Nos. 2 and 3)
- The withdrawal of Saiyid [Sayyid] Talib Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. [Sayyid Ṭālib bin Rajab al-Naqīb] from the Government and Baghdad (report No. 12)
- Kurdistan (report Nos. 12-14)
- Turkish and Kurdish Frontiers (report No. 12)
- Dair al Zor [Deir ez-Zor] (report Nos. 1 and 12)
- Notes on 'Internal Affairs' (Nos. 18 and 19)
- Analysis of the referendum result which confirmed the election of Faisal as Iraq's first monarch (report No. 19)
- The formation of King Faisal's first cabinet (report No. 21).
Appendices are included with some reports, usually comprising copies of the High Commissioner's proclamations or communications 'to the people of Iraq' or documents relevant to the particular report (notably 'Provisional scheme for the re-organisation of the law courts' and 'Report of the committee constituted for studying the irrigation problem in Mesopotamia' in report No. 9).
Each report is concluded with a Supplement or Press Bureau Report, comprising extensive summaries and extracts of newspaper articles published in the local and 'foreign' (local region mainly) press. Notable publications cited are: Al 'Iraq , Al Fallah Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour. , Al Dijlah , and (Syrian publication) Lissan al 'Arab.
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 end of the correspondence (front of the volume).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (289 folios)
- Arrangement
The reports are arranged mostly in numerical/chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume. Report No. 18 is followed by Report No. 21 and then Report No. 19 which is the last report in the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 284; 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. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the two leading and two ending flyleaves. The sequence contains one foliation anomaly: f 267a.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/962
- Title
- File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:ii-v, 1r:11r, 12v:13r, 20r:26v, 32v:34v, 35v:49v, 53v:57v, 59r:61r, 70v:74r, 75r:79r, 88r:94v, 99v:103v, 105r:112r, 113v:125v, 127v:128v, 129v:150v, 154v, 155v:171v, 178v:181v, 183v:190v, 192v:219v, 222v:246v, 249v:260r, 261r:264v, 265v, 267v, 267ar:267av, 268r:284v, iii-r:iv-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence