File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎29v] (67/834)

454 —
mandate to maintain order until such time as it was possible for
us to deal specifically with Kerbela affairs.
Short of the appointment of a, British officer with an adequate
personal guard, a course which at the time was not feasible on
military grounds, this was the only practicable alternative ; but
before many weeks had passed it became evident that the arrange
ment was not wholly satisfactory to the town. The Kamunah Zadah
were said to be using their privileged position to pursue their
own schemes, and a growing dissatisfaction was apparent among
the other town sheikhs, chief among them the Awwad family,
represented by Abdul Kerim el-Awwad, a man much more
typically Arab than the Kamunah. He would possibly have
more influence in the town than they, but for the disadvantage
that he is poor. Although the Kamunah were no doubt making
hay during a period of sunshine, there does not appear to have
been much justification for serious complaint, and on the whole
Mohammed Ah ran the administration well and kept the town
quiet. But from the point of view of the British authorities
there was a more serious grievance against the brothers. A brisk
traffic in supplies with the enemy was started from Kerbela.
Large caravans were reported to have come both from Damascus
and Aleppo to seek foodstuffs, and the Turkish force on the
Euphrates received constant supplies. The men of the Kubeisah
oasis took a lively part in these enterprises. While Fahad Bey
ibn Hadhdhal was at Baghdad in June, a large Syrian caravan
arrived on the outskirts of Kerbela and began openly to load up.
Fahad Bey at our request sent word to his son, Mali rut, to stop
these proceedings ; the goods which had already been purchased
were seized and brought in to his estate at Ghazazah. The
owners were finally obliged to sell them and depart empty.
After Fahad Bey’s agreement with us the transmission of goods
by way of the desert was to some extent stopped, but with the
connivance of the Kamunah the trade continued furtively along
the Euphrates, through Mas’ud and Jannabiyin country, where
Fahad Bey had not yet established control.
It was impossible that the Kamunah Zadah could be
ignorant of what was going on. There was indeed abundant
evidence to the contrary. Of Mohammed Ali the best that
could be said was that he passively connived in the traffic, while
Fakhn was an active participant. The town police, whom
Mohammed Ali, as representative of the Government, had in his
employment, were used to escort safely out of the town goods
destined for the enemy, and two retainers of the Kamunah
Zadah were accustomed to sign the necessary passes. Cloth,
rice, wheat and coffee were the favourite exports. While the large
profits to be derived from the levy of fees of £1 and even £2
on each loaded camel were probably sufficient in themselves to
explain the Kamunahs’ behaviour, it is also possible that they
had come to realise that under British rule their grandiose
personal ambitions stood small chance of materialising and