Turkish Arabia Affairs [‎640r] (5/20)

p Aslan Paslia’s hors 6 ^ with the Anezeh and Delaim Arabs being on the
turtber side, it is thus hoped to surround them and completely crush the
insurrection. 1 J
Abd-ool-Kureem is reported to have lost in the desert from want of water,
fatigue and deprivations, his wife and eldest son, and to have fled across the
Imp mates, over which, it is said, he swam his horse.
Many of the tribe accompanied him, and succeeded in crossing, but a large
number were drowned m the attempt, and Midhuc Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. informs me about 100
bodies have been found on the banks of the river.
. ^gards the statement of Sheikh Abd-ool-Kureem, that His Excellency
Midhut iasha wishes to induce the wandering Arabs (Bedouins), who are now
all professional robbers, to settle and cultivate the ground, and otherwise devote
themselves^to useful and profitable pursuits, there is no doubt that such is His
Excellency s natural and laudable desire, and he has expressed it openlv almost
ever since his arrival.
The wish is certainly one to be encouraged, but the means to be adopted
to carry it out demand the most careful consideration, and the utmost tact and
judgment in execution.
The task is one of so great difficulty that the Arabs of the towns speak of it
as absolutely impossible.
This, however, should not dishearten any brave, persevering, and well-in
tentioned man, for the Arabs are ever averse to change, and too ready to accept
as impossible any undertaking that is difficult and new to their minds.
But the great prejudices to be overcome,—the ingrained love of a roving
life and of plunder, the fixed idea that any other means of living than that of
bearing arms is unworthy of them, and dishonorable to them, and the strong
aversion to labor of any kind, which has complete possession of the mind of the
Bedouins, together with their extremely suspicious and excitable nature,—offer
obstacles that would discourage most men.
In a late conversation with His Excellency I ventured to observe that
the design presented great difficulties, and demanded the utmost judgment and
patience, and of this, he replied, he was fully aware.
His first design is to induce them to settle, for which purpose he has
offered terms both to those who will continue to pasture camels, sheep, &c., and
to those who will cultivate; he insists that they give up robbery and ghazoos
(forays), and that in the event of robberies taking place it be not sufficient that
the property be restored or the value of it paid, but that the culprits be appre
hended and made over to the authorities. He states his hope that if they be
induced to settle in one place, the cultivation will follow in due course.
His Excellency says that he hopes that Sheikh Abd-ool-Kureem will prove
to have done him a good service in raising this revolt, as those whom he has
led into trouble will probably be glad to escape the consequences of their mis
deeds by submitting to his terms and placing themselves under their proper
Sheikh,"Ferhan Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , on the land assigned to him for this purpose.
To Eerhan Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. he proposes to give the rank of Muteserif with a hand
some monthly salary, and he informs me that many members of the tribe,
about 900 families, have already come in to and been received by him under
his sanction.
3.
No. 43, dated Baghdad, the 30th August It’71.
p rom Bieut -Colonel C. Herbert, Consul-General at Baghdad,
p 0 fl er Britannic Majesty's Ambassador at Constantinople.
I HAVE the honor to report that His Excellency Midhut Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. has com-
municated to me the purport of a telegram he received on the 22nd instant
from Colonel Abd-oor-Behman Bey, and Mahmood Bey, Chief ol the Jaf tribe,
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