File 36/1919 Pt 3 ‘KURDISTAN POLICY & SITUATION’ [84r] (176/608)
The record is made up of 1 volume (295 folios). It was created in 23 Dec 1919-4 Dec 1922. It was written in English and French. 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.
COPY
w aphha.se
TELEGRAM. The High Commissioner for Mesopotamia theJjtecrstary
of State for the Colonies*
(Received, Colonial Office, 5.18 p.m., 21st June,1921)
Last autumn the active stimulation of kurdish ?revolt
was carefully considered• It was then decided that if it were
to he successful following conditions would have to he fulfilled
1. Jazirat Al Omar must he occupied temporarily.
2. Kurds must he provided with arms.
3. We must guarantee that the Kurds would not he handed
over to French after being liberated.
Condition 2 was negatived in Secretary of State for
India's telegram Eo.13 of January 18th and conditions one and
three appeared to he impossible diplomatically* Accordingly
the matter was dropped.
Possibly these difficulties could he overcome if
failure London Conference leads to outbreak open hostilities
with Kemaiists hut forward action here other than expression
general sympathy with Kurdish aspirations and organization
Kurdish area on national lines would with situation as
undeveloped as it is at present involve us in moral(?)
commitments which may hereafter become embarrassing. X Deg
tnat a programme of Kurdish liberation be not undertaken without
a full understanding by Kurds of expert help we oan afford
them and clear definition of our responsibilities. If such a
programme be adopted X would endeavour to work through
Shernarkh tribes and would ask for assistance of Koel (and)
(?one of) Bedr Khan family of the region 209
This refers to your telegram Wo.162 of the 15th
June and my telegram of even date 203 addressed to
Constantinople repeated to you
COX.
About this item
- Content
This volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, newspaper clippings, parliamentary notes, telegrams and minutes. It mainly covers conversations between British officials regarding the political situation in Kurdistan, but also contains correspondence from Kurdish representatives and various British organisations.
The volume covers and includes the following:
- A description of the political situation in Kurdistan by Philippe Berthelot of the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs
- Opinions expressed by British officials as to whether Turkish authorities should be excluded form Kurdistan, whether Kurdistan should be portioned, and whether its frontier should follow that of the ethnological frontier between Kurds and Arabs
- Opinions expressed by British officials on the growth of political and social movements related to Kurdish nationalism
- Descriptions of the political movement towards the establishment of an autonomous Kurdish state
- The views of Hamdi Bey Baban [Ḥamdī Beg Bābān] regarding the Kurdistan situation
- Minutes of monthly conferences on Middle Eastern affairs throughout 1920, giving views on Kurdistan from British and French officers and covering different subjects regarding the political situation in Kurdistan and Mesopotamia
- Aspects of the future administration of Sulaimaniyah [As Sulaymaniyah]
- Plans from British officers regarding the political situation in Mesopotamia and its possible future government
- Mentions of interest in Mesopotamia in ‘bolshevism’
- Reports on 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. recommendations regarding Kurdistan
- A memorandum on Kurdistan, with the following headings: ‘Kurdish political activity', ‘Aims of the Kurds’, ‘Turkish Scheme’, ‘Kurdish Objections’, ‘The immediate situation’, and ‘Suggested solution’ (ff 267-270)
- Opinions expressed by Kurdish people on Kurdistan and its politics
- Conflict in Mesopotamia and Kurdistan regarding: British refusal to allow visits to the tomb of Shaikh Kaka Ahmad [Ḥājjī Kākā Aḥmad al-Shaykh], including the imposition of heavy fines and prison sentences; arrests and deportations to Baghdad of unnamed ‘notables’; and the execution at Sakis [Saqqez] of Rusten Khan [Rustam Khān] by order of the Governor of Sineh [Sanandaj]
- Correspondence relating to Kurdistan, including: repatriation of Assyrian Christians; securing of borders; Kurdish districts in Persia [Iran;] Kurdish nationalism
- A letter from the Travellers Club regarding the situation in the Kurdistan.
The principal correspondents are: Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; High Commissioner, Constantinople [Istanbul]; Winston Churchill, Secretary of State for the Colonies; Political Officer at Sulaimaniyah; Hamdi Bey Baban.
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 back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (295 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
The subject 36 (Kurdistan) consists of 2 volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/781-782. The volumes are divided into three parts, with parts 1-2 comprising the first volume and part 3 comprising the second volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the inside last folio with 293; 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 volume has four foliation anomalies: f 106a, f 111a, f 172a and f 203a.
A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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File 36/1919 Pt 3 ‘KURDISTAN POLICY & SITUATION’ [84r] (176/608), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/782, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100136722015.0x0000b1> [accessed 21 August 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/782
- Title
- File 36/1919 Pt 3 ‘KURDISTAN POLICY & SITUATION’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1r:66v, 68r:106v, 106ar:106av, 107r:107v, 109r:111v, 111ar:111av, 112r:125v, 128r:129v, 131r:133v, 136r:138v, 142r:147v, 152r:168v, 168ar:168av, 169r:172v, 172ar:172av, 173r:176v, 178r:203v, 203ar:203av, 204r:285v, 289r:293v, ii-r:ii-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence
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