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File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS' [86r] (182/586)
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.
take- tlie second. Those learned in law prefer the second for the following
reasons:—^ ^ °
(a) It is free from political influence. If it had not been followed lately
in America the Democratic party would have persuaded the nation
to elect their candidates. '
(b) It has been proved that by the first way the desire of the nation is
lost because the persons elected may not express the wish of the
nation.
(c) Iteferendum is best in questions of the throne, crown or
presidency
The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent.
,
but in electing' delegates for the Majlis electoral laws must be
followed. The nation will be able to distinguish who is fit for the
throne because there are few candidates but this is otherwise with
the members of a majlis.
(d) Referendum is essential in territories occupied by foreign troops.
It is not surprising that an exceeding number of people see in the senti
ments of the nation towards the Amir Faisal sufficient cause for offering him
the crown. Moreover, the postponing of the question of the throne till the
holding of the Congress is not free from danger, lest the patience of the nation
should be exhausted.
W e therefore recommend a referendum. People who hold this view should
form parties to promulgate their opinion and show in what way he should be
chosen. But after the election of the king a time must be fixed for the holding
of the Congress, the members of which will be elected by the free will of the
nation. Its duty will be to formulate the rights of the people and the rights
of the king and the guarantee of political freedom.
2. Communique from the High Commissioner on Mr. Churchill’s speech.
France in Syria.
3. Explains the attack on Gouraud as being due to the hatred entertain
ed by the Syrians for the French, their bad administration and the fact that
they are guided by religious influences and appoint Maronites rather than
Moslems. Bitter criticism of the division of Syria. What the Syrians want is:
(a) Political union.
(&) The restoration of the throne.
(c) Withdrawal of French troops, at least from the four towns.
N.B .—Editor has been warned to keep off this subject.
Towards Bankruptcy.
4. An article on the economic position of Greece.
Lisan al Arab No. 12, July 7.
Beware op Fatuure.
1. Speech made by the editor, Ibrahim Hilmi, at a gathering in the Beau
Monde Hotel. He insisted on the need of union between Mosul, Baghdad and
Basrah.
Description op a party at the Royal Cinema.
2. Ibrahim Naji the advocate spol^e in favour of a referendum and
entered into details on the subject.
3. Poems in honour of Yusuf Effendi Suwuidi and Saiyid Muhammad
Sadr al Din. ...
4 The editor of the paper has decided to publish a book of biographies
of the leaders of the ‘Iraq rising, containing their photographs. He will
begin with Ring Husain and his sons, and he asks the leaders of the Iraq
rising, by name, to send him their photographs.
z y g The Editor has been persuaded that this publication would be premature
P.M ESTINE NEWS.
5. .Fines to the extent of £25,000 have been imposed on 12 villages con
nected with the disturbances, but the Jews ask for not less than half a million
compensation to be paid, some think, out of the Govemmem, budget, as hap
pened in the case of Jerusalem last year.
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