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File 36/1919 Pt 3 ‘KURDISTAN POLICY & SITUATION’ [182r] (380/608)
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.
NOT^S Oil TEE NORTHERN AMD EASTERN BOUNDARIES OF
MESOPOTAMIA.
April 2P
i. The factors appear to he
(1) There appears to he no true geographical "boundary to KURDISTAN
as a whole* This is particularly the case where it borders the
Arab country in the foothills.
i2) The Armistice line proposed cuts across the KURDISH speaking
peoples and therefore does not Include the whole of KURDISTAN.
(3) The boundaries between SOUTHERN & NORTHERN KURDISTAN are hard
to define.
(4) There Is no outstanding national feeling, or at least no one man
competent to represent that feeling. It is thus almost
impossible to form a Kurdish State at present.
(5) Hi thin the ’’armistice line’’ i.e. the divisions of MOSUL .ARBIL.
SULEIMAN I AH 5c KIKKOUK (which Includes the somewhat undefined
’’SOUTHERN KURDISTAN”) the people appear to be from Wilson's
report in favour of British administration but it is impossible
to believe they will submit to the Arab Government of
Mesopotamia - under the mandate of (Treat BrTFain
2, It is this last consideration vdiich Wilson appears to burk and
which Is the chief difficulty and, the only solution would appear to be
to reduce it to a minimum by taking in to our administration as few
Kurds as possible and draw our line as close as may be to the mixed
fringe in which MOSUL,ERBIL,KIRKOUK,& KIFRI may be said to be placed.
3. If this settles our frontier in Mesopotamia there remains the
question of the independence of the Kurds from Turkey to be settled.
Granted that we cannot afford to leave Southern Kurdistan to the Turks -
do we want a ’’buffer state” formed of a people who are likely to .
relapse Into anarchy ? If Mesopotamia were to be governed by the
British this would not effect us very adversely as we could gradually
extend our influence but we can hardly extend the influence of an &0ab
Government, There appears to be only one solution ,
Set up an independent Southern KURDISTAN under British advisors
but separated from the .Arab Government of BAGHDAD*
Leave Northern KURDISTAN to the Turks until such time as an. united
KURDISTAN IS POSSIBLE: a provision to be inserted in the Peace
Treaty to this effect.
This appears to be the only solution. It will have this,
advantage, that It will ease the peace terms for Turkey - a most
desirable factor in view of our difficulty in enforcing a hard peace.
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’ [182r] (380/608), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/782, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100136722016.0x0000b5> [accessed 23 July 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