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File 4722/1918 Pt 8 'Mesopotamia: Situation' [470r] (953/995)
The record is made up of 1 volume (491 folios). It was created in 28 Jun 1920-11 Feb 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
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( a )* NARRATIVE of KECBNT EVEHTS IN »™^POTAlgA.
On 8.5.2o, as the result of an agreement made with the
Arabs, the British force at Abu Kemal was withdrawn to Anah
leaving a detachment temporarily at A1 Qaim . A i m0 g t immediately,
unrest among the Arabs became visible, detachments and convoys
were sniped and looted, and one of the detachments retiring to
Anah was somewhat heavily attacked and had to fight its way
through. owing to this unrest, and in order to prevent the
disorder spreading, the detachment at A1 Qaim, which was to have
been withdrawn, wa s left there, and has been carding out punitive
operations in the district.
On the 3rd June the village of Tel Afar (40 miles west of
Mosul) was attacked by Shammar Jarba Arabs under the leadership
of Sherifian Officers - The A.P.O., Levy Officer, Gendamerie
Instructor, and a private soldier were murdered, and the Government
offices looted. On the 4th of June two cars of a L.A.M.B. which
had gone to Tel Afar were captured and the crews (presumably)
killed. Between that date and the present there have been out
breaks of trouble at several places to the North and North-East
ox Mosul, and the L.of 0. between Sanarra and Mosul has been
subjected to several determined raids, a train being derailed and
road convoys attacked.
A punitive Column from Mosul has been operating in the Tel
Afar district since June 8th, and, as a result of these operations,
it is reported that the Sherifian party has moved away i n a s>w#
direction and the main body of Arabs northwards from Tel Afar.
A punitive Column has also been operating from A1 Qaim, destroying
hostile villages and crops and removing live stock, and both in
this area and the Mosul area aeroplanes have been operating daily,
bombing and machine-gunning hostile concentrations.
Reports from every source prove conclusively that the attacks
at Mosul and on the Tigris L.of C., as well as those on the Upper
Euphrates, all spring from the game source viz. the Arab Independ
ence movement, and are planned and led by Sherifian Officers
working
About this item
- Content
The volume consists of correspondence, memoranda, drafts, and departmental notes relating to rebellion against British mandatory rule in Mesopotamia [approximately corresponding to present-day Iraq], later known as the Iraqi Revolt of 1920.
The volume covers the period from the start of unrest in May 1920 to British imposition of control in October of the same year. The majority of the volume comprises reports from political officers across Mesopotamia on the situation in their respective divisions and districts.
Other matters discussed within the volume include:
- The suspected causes of the uprising, including fears of ‘Bolshevik’ and pro-Turkish influence
- Settlement of the border between Syria and Mesopotamia
- Military strategy and operations, including the need for reinforcements
- The severing of British lines of communication, particularly rail
- The efficacy and principles of the use of armoured cars and air raids as means of control following numerous cases of misidentification and disproportionate force that resulted in the deaths and injuries of innocent people
- Political and civil policy in the region
- Identification and arrest of some of the leaders of the rebellion
- The prominence of events in Mesopotamia in the British press
- The question of disarming the tribes following the suppression of the rebellion.
Principal correspondents include officials at: the 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. ; the Office of the Civil Commissioner in Mesopotamia (from November 1920, the High Commissioner); the War Office; General Headquarters of the military in Mesopotamia; and the Government of India, Foreign and Political and Army departments.
The volume contains cuttings from several publications, including: The Times , The Statesman , The Observer , The Daily Herald , The Daily Mail , The Baghdad Times , and The Near East .
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 back of the correspondence. A second divider is included, for File 4722/1918 Part 7, entitled ‘Mesopotamia: Sir A. Wilson’s invitation to Syrian Baghdadis’. This was transferred to File 5268/20 Parts 1 and 2 (see IOR/L/PS/10/913).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (491 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged in approximate chronological order, from the rear to the front.
The subject 4722 (Mesopotamia) consists of ten volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/755-764. The volumes are divided into twelve parts, with parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 and 12 comprising one volume each. Part 10 is missing. Part 7, entitled ‘Mesopotamia: Sir A. Wilson’s invitation to Syrian Baghdadis’, was transferred to File 5268/20 Parts 1 and 2 (see IOR/L/PS/10/913).
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 489; 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. Multiple intermittent additional foliation sequences are also present. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves. The sequence contains one foliation anomaly, f 89a.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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File 4722/1918 Pt 8 'Mesopotamia: Situation' [470r] (953/995), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/761, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100137804989.0x00009a> [accessed 9 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/761
- Title
- File 4722/1918 Pt 8 'Mesopotamia: Situation'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1r:89v, 89ar:89av, 90r:113r, 114v, 118v:120r, 121v, 127v:169v, 173r:192v, 194r:211v, 213r:223v, 225r:227r, 229r:261v, 262v:263v, 266r:279v, 280ar, 280r:293v, 294v, 295v:317v, 318ar, 318r:333v, 334v:341v, 342v:359v, 360v:400v, 404r:424v, 425ar, 425r:489v, ii-r:ii-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence