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Coll 17/16(1) 'Iraq. The Assyrian Crisis' [199r] (408/1036)
The record is made up of 1 volume (514 folios). It was created in 17 Jun 1933-31 Aug 1933. 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.
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government, and should be
returned to the For&§n OtSteeJi^not required for official use.]
Code telesrem to Mr. Ogilvie Forbes (Bagdad)
Foreign Office,13tft 1933. 2.45 p.m.
No.188«(R)»
SS33
■p
iiVJJ .1
$4
Your telegram No.J54Jof August 12th. Assyrian
crisis - Iraqi government's proclamations to rebels) 0
Time limit given in first proclamation for surrender
of rebels, even though extended beyond 48 hours
originally oontempla,ted in your telegram No ,259 (of Angust
10th), is much too snort. If proclamation is merely
being posted in Mosul and no steps are being taken to
bring it to immediate notice of rebels, e,g, by dropping
it from aircraft in reoel areas, it seems almost im
possible that it can reach rebels in time,
2, Second proclamation contains only vaguest offer
of amnesty and seems unlikely to strike rebels as
particularly generous. It amounts to little more than
offer to spare their lives, and nothing is said about
eventual return of arms for protection of villages
concerned or of guarantee of their safety meanv/hile. As
you mow question of protection of disarmed Assyrian
villages is one of most important factors in situation,
^ detailed arrangements for return of
tfU p/ot ^ 0l /^ m Pt^ted in paragraph 4 of your telegram
No° l£A(Jh -^cust 4th) and approved in my telegram
t ^ for^TiWna-i^th) v might be regarded as unsuitable
T)ro C i-mnt?pS n o;f proclamation at this stage, but
likeTv^+n 1 ?? maKin o no 4 mention at all of this point is
of^rpppF? y er y little weight, particularly in view
unprotected^ 18 * 1 a ^" t,acks on villages which have remained
reaiiol ^ $ an *iot help suspecting that Iraqis themselves
//- be -rpno A -J na ? eci1 i ac y o;f proclamations and that this may
rf 0 * (see were shov/n to you in advance
Pc.ragraph 4 of your telegram No ,259 of August 10th))
and r^ci* ee " se cons bilt AoO.C, and advisers concerned,
con hp tii er urscrtly whether and if so what measures
oe taken to remedy situation
rer)rpop- n+ t? u ~ :re o;f, course authorised to make
• cni,c.tions to Iraqi government on above lineso
About this item
- Content
The volume contains papers regarding the Assyrian Crisis in Iraq during 1933. It primarily consists of correspondence between HM Ambassador to Iraq (Sir Francis Humphrys), HM Chargé d’Affaires to Iraq (George Ogilvie-Forbes), and the Foreign Office.
The papers document the negotiations between Mar Shimun XXIII Eshai – the Patriarch of the Church of the East – and the Government of Iraq, regarding: the spiritual and temporal authority claimed by the Mar Shimun; the Assyrian Settlement Scheme; areas designated for settlement; and clashes between Assyrians, Iraqis and Kurds.
Ogilvie-Forbes and Humphrys reported on the movement of Assyrians into Syria, requests to the Syrian and French authorities that they be allowed to remain, proposals to disarm the group, and clashes with Iraqi troops when numbers of Assyrians returned to Iraq. The papers also document the proposed arrest or exile of the Mar Shimun by the Government of Iraq, and the volume also contains copies of letters exchanged by the Mar Shimun, the Iraqi Interior Ministry, and King Faisal.
The papers document the worsening crisis, including reports of looting and village burning at Dohuk [Dahūk], the murder of Assyrian prisoners by Iraqi armed forces led by Bakr Sidqi, and the Simele Massacre of August 1933. These papers include reports submitted by the Head of the British Military Mission in Iraq (Major General Rowan Robinson), the Administrative Inspector at Mosul (Colonel R S Stafford), and Major D B Thomson of the Assyrian Settlement Office. The file concludes with reports on the Simele Massacre, arrangements for the arrival of Mar Shimun and his family in Cyprus, the work of the Refugee Relief Commission in Mosul and Dohuk, and the establishment by the League of Nations of a Small Minorities Commission to investigate the crisis.
The volume includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence (folio 1).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (514 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in rough chronological order from the rear to the front of 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 510; 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 leading and ending flyleaves. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 1-510; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 17/16(1) 'Iraq. The Assyrian Crisis' [199r] (408/1036), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2872, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100086338448.0x000009> [accessed 8 August 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2872
- Title
- Coll 17/16(1) 'Iraq. The Assyrian Crisis'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:ii-v, 1r:16r, 19r:31v, 33r:38v, 41r:83v, 87r:88r, 91r:237v, 239r:240v, 243r:343v, 348r:351v, 353r:353v, 355r:420v, 422r:431v, 433r:435v, 437r:445r, 446v:489v, 492r:492v, 498r:503v, 506r:510v, 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