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File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS' [109v] (229/586)
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.
under which they can borrow money. This group is composed of young and ignorant
has little influence, (b) Thinking men who hold that a republic is contrary to the ^
Islam and favour the Sharif either from personal enthusiasm or because he stands for °
of a federation of Arab States, (c) Those who hold the same view with regard to a to
but dislike the Sharif and seek for a possible ruler in the ‘Iraq or Turkey without findiL PU ^
factory
An East India Company trading post.
solution, (d) Those who wish for the continuance of somethin- like S '
regime, a High Commissioner in Council, for the next seven years. & t le present
Hie Christians are wholly opposed to a National Government and think that uiifW •
experienced Sharifian administration they will be worse off than they were under tl e T
Ihey are preparing a petition asking for the postponement for a term of vears of fill T 5 k
of the Amirate, as has been done by the French in Syria, and it is possible that i
Moslems may co-operate with them. possible that Some of the
Pascal lan^d IT Ah ^
people of Basrah and ask for a purely b“govI^ X ° f t
under Bntash proteet.on and be considered as British subjects. (to No 11 pT ra 3) rmm
15.
Krtract from ‘Iraq Police Abstract of Intelligence No. 15 dated Wag
th, 1921.
Basrah, 23rd April, 1921.
SaiyW Mb pS ttXh^ltf ,ieo "; eek ‘he, deportation of
enemies are many and those that fear him are more “ P The'do * ■ t l i'' 0f ° r P ersoual
one telegram from Baghdad announcing his fall " IS <lead " ere ‘ he "ords of
his peIXf amtoS 'While some maintain that
majority incline to the belief ttobe was a friend of th.T^n 0n , ^ P ° ltical free< J om ' «■»
and now that he was gone no man of eciua! ahilitv will I'.l t l . who worli ed for the British,
the British and so the Independence of ‘Irao wilfhp h for J h coming to act as a figurehead for
ability to rule are all agamstexteriiaf inSeX^w^fihf’/”bf 6 ' >ther 0 " tStandi ”®
t A --f tt-i Basrah, 23rd April, 1921.
of A1 ShabibatTlVa’tXyahjVhLh haf bXlX.'B S 8 Tr** o.T'? 1 -'' (apparently a branch
larger towns, the object of which was te get ri / of n„, I !, h ' a - h ' a< ’ Mosnl and »«iei-o*the
If a representative Arab Government s fomed Ifh ’f su PP“ sed *» be hostile to their aims.
Mack list will be deported. If Self-Government Is tf^ S/Xtot
(Norn : Arif Hikmat was deported to Basrah i„ connection with the Istiola, case, see No. „. para. tOj
On tlm 14+], •, . Basrah, 23rd April, 1921.
O three men M X °bider H S D ' f lkl J Glirdowara hl which the lead-
Qadduri. The last named recited a poem anm'kt ! i! .^“^ Mathra Dass, and Pir Baklisli
the unjust British Government. The other two °f the wretehed state of India due to
audience not to trust in promises, taking L ^6x^1. the Same theme aild die
being present. ? dKlllg as an sample the Railway strike, many of the strikers
. A few weeks ago the tribe of th. < a i ^Qubah, 30th April, 1921.
Brttis^ r ,anted in rtrn, This eSeX d^eXrtlbl
NOTES FROM THE PROVINCES.
blbS ^ 4?TiSt, 0, “ ° f the Bani Tamim > the Alb ” H*
the mnrdcl by the “ nr , dCT of two men of thVformcr W PP ° S v te i the month of th e ‘Adhaim,
casualties fort" 61 '* i red u P on and the Albu Hishmah 2 ! be bdfer - Police sent to arr
the Hiwh ” a 7 me)uded * he original mnS P ar t0 attaek the A1 b« Hasan; I
theHtghCmmnmmoner, proposed to make th™e disorder .n Mntasarrif - with the approval
courage b oVI e demanded for May 27. on^hieh rift the 0 ? casion t»r the eolleetion of 1
courage acquiescence. ' ° n " I " eh da y an aerial display was arranged to <
r : aiyi :
half the nrofit inie 10 .^rt ran ‘ lapu rights to the lessee Th T'*' iw^elve years hut does not
the profit but ultimately gave a tap,, sanadTo the la "'. Government to,
The Mntasarrif and other An
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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File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS' [109v] (229/586), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/962, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100111165835.0x00001e> [accessed 13 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/962
- Title
- File 301/1921 'MESOPOTAMIA: INTELLIGENCE REPORTS'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:ii-v, 1r:11r, 12v:13r, 20r:26v, 32v:34v, 35v:49v, 53v:57v, 59r:61r, 70v:74r, 75r:79r, 88r:94v, 99v:103v, 105r:112r, 113v:125v, 127v:128v, 129v:150v, 154v, 155v:171v, 178v:181v, 183v:190v, 192v:219v, 222v:246v, 249v:260r, 261r:264v, 265v, 267v, 267ar:267av, 268r:284v, 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