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File 978/1917 Pt 1 'Mesopotamia: administration; occupation of Baghdad; the proclamation; Sir P Cox's position' [‎39r] (82/402)

The record is made up of 1 volume (195 folios). It was created in 6 May 1917-8 Oct 1919. 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. .

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■ p ln - V 9F illion ’ |llie unav oidable exception of the military regime
o me Military Governors in the large towns, the administration as carried on
Li oasiah and Baghdad Vilayets is that to which the people, both urban
and rural, have been accustomed, except that the element of corruption is
greatly reduced.
^ 17. I he branches of the administration in which we are necessarily most
backward, and in regard to which our hands are in a great measure tied
during the military occupation by military considerations and exigencies are
the Civil Judicial and Civil Medical.
18. As regards the former, Mr. Bonham Carter, the Judicial Officer who
was lately appointed from Egypt, has only been with me a short time, but is
now getting into the saddle. 1 have submitted to 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. a copy of
proposals for a temporary judicial system for the Baghdad Vilayet formulated
by him in consultation with me. It seems to me just what is required.
Meanwhile, such local law and justice as has been essential has been
administered by my district Political Officers with simple civil and criminal
powers granted them by the General Officer Commanding-in-Ohief on my
recommendation. As a matter of fact, outside the large towns we have been
little troubled with civil and commercial suits, incapable of adjustment by
compromise through the good offices of the local Political Officer.
19. As regards the Civil Medical branch. We are almost ready for the
separation of the Civil. Medical work from that of the Army Medical, and just
before I left I raised the question with the Director of Medical Services as to
whether the time had not now come for creating a Civil Medical Department
with a separate personnel, though still to be under his general supervision.
It is under lively consideration. A similar separation has recently been
effected in the Department of Civil Posts, but in these matters we are so
dependent on the military organisation that we have to defer to their views to
a great extent as to when developments are feasible.
20. The extent and the 'period for which British and Indian droops will be
required after the War is a difficult question for me to answer without
discussion with the military authorities, and depends so much on the position
in which we are left at the end of the war. In peace times the Turks
employed about 20,000 regulars of all arms, and o,000 gendarmerie for the
maintenance of security and order in the Baghdad and. Basiah i ayets.
should.say that, for a peace establishment for internal security only, we should
require for some time after the war to keep a division m Mesopotamia with
one British regiment to a Brigade as at present constituted, and about the
same number'of gendarmerie, exclusive of 1,000 civil police for the towns.
In the course of time we should hope to replace the Indian tioops by Arabs,
the lines of the Egyptian Army, but it must necessarily take
o
organised on
some years. I am not of the opinion that any Indian police will be required
except small leavens to begin, with to form a nucleus for the tiammg o. the
bidieenous product I hope that in this field we shall be able to give employ-
men! toX Tab ex-officerhf the Turkish Army, otherwise tins class will be a
difficult and malcontent element to deal with. .
21. The direction* in which we can most usefully direct ™r™ er 9‘ es ™™
a clem to popularising our Administration are.Irn^BduW ^ p eedy
qr r i r-n oil tbpqp denartincnts we are alive to the importance oi spet; .y
“ s anVl dTng T utmost compatible with existing conditions and
with the material at our disposal. T • -u
22. The elements that we most need to. encourage a ™ ; ^
° . . T ) in fT-iia pnnuoctionl recommend that nr. weizmau.
community m Baghdad In - . . t seJld a reliable representative to
be induced, if possible, to ^ v iu favour of the British connection.
Baghdad to influence ‘ h pV Vjiolnhty tnong the townspeople of Baghdad
Secondly, the Arab notables and , n ° nl V d blcl ! wa rd element, but
and Basrah. They are a X into our counsels as far
np which it is very necessary to encourage
s possible. Thirdly, the wealthy landlord element,
one
as
both Arab and Jew, and

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Content

This volume contains correspondence, reports, telegrams and minutes regarding negotiations and administration, largely between 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. , Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Cox, and the Government of India, after the occupation of Baghdad (Fall of Baghdad) on 10 March 1917. The negotiations concern the administrative organisation and political control of Mesopotamia, as well as the external and internal boundaries of Iraq (also spelled Irak in the volume).

Related matters of discussion include the following: the text of the Baghdad proclamation; the future administration of the territory by the Foreign Office instead of the Government of India; the regulation of the new territory; the responsibilities of the Chief Political Officer in the new territory; the Turco-Persian frontiers. The correspondence in the volume is internal correspondence between British officials. The principal correspondents are as follows: Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Cox; Lieutenant-General Sir Stanley Maude; the War Office; the Secretary of State for India; the Political Department, 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 Under-Secretary of State for India; the Viceroy of India; the Government of India’s Foreign and Political Department; the Foreign Office; the Government of India.

In addition to this correspondence, the volume contains reports of the War Cabinet's Mesopotamia Administration Committee, as well as the following documents: memoranda on external frontiers and internal boundaries of Iraq (ff 17-18) (ff 20-25); a map of Arabia and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (f 28);

The file 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 front of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 volume (195 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

The subject 5320 (Mesopotamia Negotiations) consists of two volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/666-667. The volumes are divided into two parts, with each part comprising one volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 197; 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. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 3-195; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

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English in Latin script
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File 978/1917 Pt 1 'Mesopotamia: administration; occupation of Baghdad; the proclamation; Sir P Cox's position' [‎39r] (82/402), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/666, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100075826204.0x000053> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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