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File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS' [15v] (41/586)
The record is made up of 1 volume (289 folios). It was created in 15 Nov 1920-31 Oct 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
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
Iheie ^ a college called Imam al A’dham. He went there arid found it should be called the
o ege of the Blind not the College of knowledge. It is wanting in everything but
writer
The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping.
hears the
fn 0 d Ve r[,Tt?V?u' endS t0 mtrodu ^ e certain reforms. Some of the teachers in Baghdad are so stupid
dull thatthey are worse than stones. Some cannot even read the Fatihah well. Some are
^ u U t l iei J ! yst l e . m ^ unsatls
factory
An East India Company trading post.
. This is like what it was in Egypt in Turkish times. ‘Iran
is the heart of Arabia, Syria the head, and Egypt the wings. (To be continued ) ^
Further Complaints of the Post Office.
A letter took 20 days from Baghdad to Najaf. In Turkish times it took' 2 days.
, The Ja’fariyah School and the Committee of Founders.
5. Complains that no one knows what the committee does with th^ fnnHo to, a
Editor comments that
writer
The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping.
of letter is quite right in asking for accounts to be maSe public
o. Gieeks admit their failure in
Anatolia
Peninsula that forms most of modern-day Turkey.
.
admit^200 casualtles^a^Ad^Bazaar.^ 6 '^ con ^ rms the ittfortnation sent by the Italian Co. Greeks
theirT!’gl^riS^%tfd°rs?tr^ A1| ies such as will guarantee
against the Bolshevists who threaten Erzer um V ^ want to ^n all their forces
P^'o/FlatcelXlaly.™ 6 ” 3 ' 13 JeWS ' Many haVe bee " ta "^rred to Rhodes.
intervention 113 ’ 1 and FrenCh PreSS d ° 110t wish Help the Greeks because they refused
Capture of Ismid by the Turks.
The Greek 13th Division defeated by the Turks at Ushak.
Lisan al 'Arab, No. 38, August 11.
General amnesty in Syria.
1. We have read in the Syrian pao^rs lint i
amnesty in Syria which covers allhberal Svr,« T"',’ <ove, ; )imcnl have declared a genera
immediately after the occupation of Damascus Ttos ,0< * re ^« e in and other place
that France in Syria begins to follow closely the steos ofTT^u f '° U T gh 11 Comes late . fet it show
policy in Arab territories. V e itep! ’ of En R land ■« ’Iraq in connection with he
Sat fXw;d S T at rT eS r” Syrians unless Franc,
by good treatment of the Syrians and fuHiX theh ,el^n nRb, ,' d in ’ Ira T This can be achieved
can possibly befall France if she follow the rieps of p..,,, en V 11K S , :md natural rights. What harm
Syrians as regards, expression of their natioX des re. for Svr COm P ]ete Bberty to the
S,ian f Cong r order to draft useful
fcrnX 1 twe h eVtoeTountrLXhich e ^e a ' S f ***{** • ha ‘ tllere should be no
"r? -=Xh f X^eS 0?^^“ “ tX.r.f
to the relations bytX”^!td ^ = Wi * h »ho m 5 pSnc^fXn
will bTsofteneXhordvXhff, 0,6 f0, ', < ; e ° f “ncumstances prove that the -t n
of Syrian people. ' he has no alternative but to subLt soX or latef Xh" 6 " 8 0 ', France
or ,atei to ‘he just demands
Who
are you.
moved by envy”. ' 3 n peo P le w ho cause intrigues -ind } 01 ^ mous threaten
K ancl we believe that they
Bolshevist Russia
” art,C ' e deSCr ' bmg PUgh ‘ ° f — ^ the Italian ^
2 F xportation of Russian Women.
About this item
- Content
This volume contains the Intelligence Reports of Sir Percy Cox, High Commissioner for Mesopotamia [also written as Iraq in this volume], based in Baghdad, covering the period 15 November 1920 to 15 September 1921. They largely relate to: the political situation in Mesopotamia and the surrounding region; the formation and proceedings of the provisional government; the events leading up to the creation of Mandatory Iraq [also known as the Kingdom of Iraq under British Administration] and the election and appointment of Faisal [Fayṣal bin Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī] as the first King of Iraq [Fayṣal I].
The Intelligence Reports are numbered and appear to have been issued at two-week intervals. This volume contains the reports numbered 1-3, 9-19 and 21. There is no explanation in the volume regarding the reason for the absent reports. The format of the reports is a mixture of printed and copy typescript. Each report is preceded by a covering circular issued by the office of the High Commissioner indicating the British Government departments and the officers and departments in the Middle East to which the report was copied.
Report Nos. 1-3 are preceded by an assessment of the political situation described in the Intelligence Report, written by Major R Marrs.
The reports generally comprise the following sections:
- A summary of the report (from report No. 14 onwards only)
- An account of the proceedings of the Council of Ministers
- Analysis of current public opinion and allegiances, (notably an analysis of public opinion on the Amir [Emir] Faisal and his arrival in Mesopotamia, including a reference to his 'personal magnetism', f 88), in report Nos 16-19
- Notes on provincial affairs
- Notes on the situation at the frontiers
- Extracts of 'Iraq Police Abstracts of Intelligence' (reports No. 9-14 only).
Other subjects notably covered in various reports include:
- Assyrian, Armenian and Urumiyan [Urmian] refugees (report Nos. 2 and 19)
- Perceived foreign influences in Iraq (report Nos. 2 and 3)
- The withdrawal of Saiyid [Sayyid] Talib Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. [Sayyid Ṭālib bin Rajab al-Naqīb] from the Government and Baghdad (report No. 12)
- Kurdistan (report Nos. 12-14)
- Turkish and Kurdish Frontiers (report No. 12)
- Dair al Zor [Deir ez-Zor] (report Nos. 1 and 12)
- Notes on 'Internal Affairs' (Nos. 18 and 19)
- Analysis of the referendum result which confirmed the election of Faisal as Iraq's first monarch (report No. 19)
- The formation of King Faisal's first cabinet (report No. 21).
Appendices are included with some reports, usually comprising copies of the High Commissioner's proclamations or communications 'to the people of Iraq' or documents relevant to the particular report (notably 'Provisional scheme for the re-organisation of the law courts' and 'Report of the committee constituted for studying the irrigation problem in Mesopotamia' in report No. 9).
Each report is concluded with a Supplement or Press Bureau Report, comprising extensive summaries and extracts of newspaper articles published in the local and 'foreign' (local region mainly) press. Notable publications cited are: Al 'Iraq , Al Fallah Arabic for ‘peasant’. It was used by British officials to refer to agricultural workers or to members of a social class employed primarily in agricultural labour. , Al Dijlah , and (Syrian publication) Lissan al 'Arab.
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 end of the correspondence (front of the volume).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (289 folios)
- Arrangement
The reports are arranged mostly in numerical/chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume. Report No. 18 is followed by Report No. 21 and then Report No. 19 which is the last report in 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 284; 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 two leading and two ending flyleaves. The sequence contains one foliation anomaly: f 267a.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/962
- Title
- File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS'
- Pages
- 155r, 154r, 129r, 97v:98r, 85v:87v, 65r:67v, 50v:52r, 14r:16r
- Author
- Lissan Al-Arab xx Lissan al Arab xx Lisan al Arab
- Usage terms
- Public Domain