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File 2879/1919 Pt 3 ‘MESOPOTAMIA KURDISTAN The AQRAH Incident: Murder of Messrs Bill & Scott’ [93r] (73/170)
The record is made up of 1 item (86 folios). It was created in 14 Aug 1919-10 Apr 1920. 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.
On receipt of above letter from the A.P.0, Aqra, Mr. Bill
on 24.10. notified Captain Scott, that ne would visit Aqra on
the 3lst, riding to Barzan on the ±st Novr. to interview Abdul
IVahab 4gha, returning to Aqra on the kind Hovember and to Mosul
on the 3rd.
Mr. Bill left Mosul for Aqra on the afternoon of the 30th,
by car as far as Ju^ar, irom thence to Aqra by pacA: transport.
Late on the evening of the kind telegraphic communication
with Aqra was interrupted, linesmen being sent out at dawn on
the following aay to investigate ana repair the line. i’he oar
which left Mosul for Ju^ar on the morning of the 3rd to bring
bach Mr. Bill, was met by 2 Cendames who stated that Mr. Bill
and Captain Scott had both been murdered, and that Lieut. Barlow
O.C. Gendarme Detachment, Aqra had sent by Gendarme a written
report. fhe car uriver at cnee returned to Mosul with uhe
news, arriving at midday.
I immediately inlurmea division, and at the same time I
received Barlow's report from Aqra timed b.30 p.m. 2.11.19 in
which he stated the P.0, and A.P.O. had been murdered that
morning just before reaching Bira Kupra (Zioax), that they had
been attached by 100 Irregulars, and that a Gendarme who had
just arrived, was with the party but had managed uo escape
and report. He requested orders, and said he was mowing into
the Kishla (Fort) in the morning (3rd) to guard against any
further attacK.
Telegraphic communication not having been reestablished,
2 planes were sent by the G.0.0. 18th Division with a message
to drop on Barlow in Aqra. The planes returned in the evening
and reported that they were heavily fired on from all round
Aqra town (estimated number 300 rifles) and that no movement
of any Kina could be seen in or around the Port.
Arrangements were made for Captain Gowp to leave Mosul
early this morning (4th ) and proceed to Ba Sbeihha and
neighbourhood in the endeavour to obtain information as to the
position in Aqra.
Shortly
About this item
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This item relates to a violent incident during which two individuals, J H Bill, Indian Civil Service, Political Officer, Mosul, and Captain K R Scott, 31st Punjabis, Indian Army, Assistant Political Officer, Aqrah [also spelled Akra and Aqra in this item], were killed ‘near Birza Kapra in Zab Valley north east of Aqrah’ (f 135), allegedly by members of the Zibar [Zebari] tribe. The papers notably cover and include:
- Drafting of the official communiqué regarding the incident, and the general coordination of communications regarding Kurdish affairs to the public in India
- Investigations into: the course of events and the political situation leading up to the deaths; possible Turkish nationalist influences; details of the murders; and locating of the bodies. Included are three reports, dated 4 November and 11 December 1919, to the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, by staff of the Office of the Political Officer, Mosul (ff 92-98 and 74-79), and a report of the funeral of Bill and Scott held on 20 December 1919 at Mosul (ff 70-71)
- The India Office’s correspondence with: Sir John Horner concerning the latter’s enquiries, on behalf of the relatives of J H Bill, into the circumstances of the deaths; and also with the father of J H Bill
- Details of the military operations and punitive measures undertaken by British forces in the Aqrah area in December 1919
- The connection of the incident with opposition to British negotiations and plans for repatriation of exiled Assyrian Christian refugees to the Amadia [Amadiya] Valley and the vicinity.
The primary correspondents are: the 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. and Secretary of State for India; Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; and Major C F Bill.
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- 1 item (86 folios)
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- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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File 2879/1919 Pt 3 ‘MESOPOTAMIA KURDISTAN The AQRAH Incident: Murder of Messrs Bill & Scott’ [93r] (73/170), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/833/3, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100126901398.0x0000c3> [accessed 26 July 2026]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/833/3
- Title
- File 2879/1919 Pt 3 ‘MESOPOTAMIA KURDISTAN The AQRAH Incident: Murder of Messrs Bill & Scott’
- Pages
- 57r:57v, 59r:59v, 60v:61v, 63r:79v, 80v:88v, 90r:105v, 107v:110v, 112r:137v, 138v:142v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
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- Open Government Licence