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File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS' [51r] (112/586)
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.
10 appoint more teachers.
promise that he will open a school for girls in Muadh-
had delayed so long that the townsfolk had subscribed to
.e to them, saying they were willing to help them and send
te Mudir to pay the salaries of the teachers and promised
(Sd.) N. Y.
Editor Hopes that the Auqaf will follow the good example of Education.
Where is the Orphanage ?
Sti yi n 8t that people talk ia great deal about schools and
Syria.
the enemy by trench Government to people sentenced to death for participation with
Not a true amnesty-merely a postponment of the sentence.
thC Pe ° ple Wh ° were sent enced to death when the French
entered Damascus. Most of them
escaped to Egypt.
Liscni al Arab No. 51, September 1.
The Arab delegation at Geneva.
xc vvrri me cuch ul xvi. oouue wnom we knew personally
m Damascus. He was deceived by those Syrians who wished to be a colony of France. The
^3T' ■* 4- <•> vV J 1 J r O • • • -r . ... . . __
entertainments given him were not of free will. It will aid Mons, Bartaux and Cashan (?) and
Victor Berard and support the speeches which they delivered in Parliament.
„ . .^f 0 c | ou ^ delegation will also defend the unhappy and subjected Palestine and will aid
British - Liberals to cancel the declaration of Mr. Balfour, Further confidence is induced by the
fact that France wall benefit by the experience which Britain has gained in ‘Iraq and will leave
the Syrians free to establish an independent kingdom like ‘Iraq. This will prove the ancient
character of the French and show that France on the Seine is not different from France on the
banks of the Bardi.
Wealth of ‘Iraq.
2. i he late Naqib of Basrah left £ 100,000 in gold and a property valued at more than
million pounds.
Complaints of the Landlords of Muntafiq.
o. They submitted a complaint to the Cabinet asking for their legal rights which axe injured
by new regulations enforced in the Muntafiq. No doubt their case will be considered.
4. Committees are at work in Europe to facilitate the repatriation of Jews to Palestine.
5. The Lisan al Arab of Jerusalem says that the French High Commissioner in Beyrout
threatens anyone who wishes to participate in the delegation to Geneva. The Moslems of Beyrout
determined to send two Moslems, Dr. Bashir al Oassar and ‘Abdul Rahman Eff Baiham. Both
refused on account of the pressure of the Government. Ahmad Da'uq and Salah al Din Eff.
Baiham were then chosen. The Government refused them passports. They were also refused
passports to Paris. Gouraud told the Mayor that he would punish any Syrian who asked to go.
If Palestine allows a delegation to go why does Syria refuse ?
Editor comments that he cannot understand why France was angry with Turkey, when Turkey
forbade the Arab Congress in Paris. France then protested against Turkey and now does the
same thing itself.
Lisan al Arab, No. 53, September 7.
1. Our article on the employment of foreigners has received universal approval. Many
native officials have been to us and said that it would be far better to employ them than to leave
them sitting in the coffee-shops. What is the meaning of a Native Government while its officials
are full of Indians, Persians and others? They are not only clerks and technical men, but they
enter into the administration and justice. There may have been necessity for their employment
in the past, but what is now the reason ? We ask the new Cabinet to solve this question and give
‘Iraqis their rights. We are in need of the experience of the British, but we can dispense
with others.
2. We hear that the office of Minister without portfolio has been abolished for the sake
of economy.
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
- 155r, 154r, 129r, 97v:98r, 85v:87v, 65r:67v, 50v:52r, 14r:16r
- Author
- Lissan Al-Arab xx Lissan al Arab xx Lisan al Arab
- Usage terms
- Public Domain