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File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS' [92r] (194/586)
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.
ings prevail, though they may be cloaked under adherence to the Naqib.
13. The somewhat tactless urgency exhibited in Basrah by Young Arabs of the Sharifian
party had alijnjgated the sympathies of many people in Basrah who regard this group with the
utmost suspicion; the arrival of the Baghdad deputation, largely Young Arab and extremist in
colour, did not improve matters, but a rapproachment 'was engineered between them and the
responsible Basrah leaders which saved the situation. The reception was good but not
enthusiastic, though Faisal’s bearing and appearance met with general approbation.
14. The Amir arrived on the Northbrook on June 23. The Adviser representing the High
Commissioner, and the Adviser to the Ministry of the Interior, on behalf of that Ministry, had
boarded the ship lower down the river. The Amir was given a guard of honour and lodged in
the house of the Mutasarrif which had been placed at his disposal by the latter. On the follow
ing morning he received notables and guilds and attended the midday prayers in the principal
Sunni mosque. In the afternoon he was entertained by the Baghdad deputation in the
Mutasarrif’s house. On this occasion he delivered an eloquent and judicious speech in which
he described himself as standing before them as a simple individual, as Faisal, and assuured his
audience that he would be the first to pay allegiance to whomsoever the people of the ‘ Iraq chose
as their ruler (reported in the ‘Iraq of June 27). These words produced an admirable effect.
15. On the journey from Basrah to Hillah the Amir was variously received. At Ur
Junction (Nasiriyah) the gathering at the station was small and cold; at Samawah a large
number of shaikhs and tribesmen came to greet him; at Diwaniyah the audience was fair but
unenthusiastic. His train reached Hillah some time before the appointed hour and the official
reception took place when he returned from Najaf. Najaf and Karbala, from which
much had been expected by his supporters, were somewhat of a disappointment.
The Mutasarrif, Hamid Khan, whose belief in Arab Government is slender, had left Najaf the
day before the Amir’s arrival without giving any indication to the people as to the attitude of
the authorities towards Faisal’s visit. At Najaf the people in the streets are reported to have
been urged by curiosity rather than by sympathy, and the ‘ Ulama' were reserved if not definitely
adverse. A speech made in the house of the Naqib of Najaf by Muhammad Baqir Shabibi
(brother of a well-known man of letters, Muhammad Kidha, who has recently returned Horn
Syria) is described as having been dangerously double-edged to the verge,of hostility. At
Karbala things were rather more satisfactory. Hamid Khan, who had meantime seen the High
Commissioner did his best at the last hour to make suitable preparations, but there was little
spontaneity and the ‘Ulama stood rather marked aloof.
16. On his way back to Hillah, the Amir was very cordially received at Tuwairij by Saiyid
Hadi Qazwini, the leading man of the district, well-known for his pro-British sentiments. His
cousin, Saiyid Muhammad ‘Ali, took a prominent part in the reception given to the Amir at
Hillah and in spite of the unavoidable absence of the Adviser, the Amir was well satisfied by
his entertainment there.
17. Nevertheless it was not till he reached Baghdad that Faisal met with the popular
demonstration which he had anticipated. His arrival, which had been arranged for the morning,
was postponed till the evening by a breakdown on the railway, but the delay only enhanced the
excitement of the town. All the notables, including the family of the Naqib, came to the
station to welcome him. The Amir was received by the High Commissioner and the
Commander-in-Chief, and given a royal salute. After he had inspected the guard of honour, the
ministers and officials of the Arab Government were introduced to him and he passed to his
motor through a dense and cheering crowd. The streets, decorated and packed with people,
echoed with cheers and with the shrill cries of the women from the housetops. The Amir’s
personality produced an instant impression; “ the face of a king ” was the comment which
followed him. The town was taken by storm.
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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- 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