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313. File 4722/1918 Pt 2 ‘MESOPOTAMIA: SITUATION’
- Description:
- Abstract: This volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, telegrams and minutes regarding the administration of and situation in Mesopotamia [Iraq] after the Agreement of 1916 between the French and British governments and the self-determination of Mesopotamia.The papers notably cover:The argument for establishing Mesopotamia as a British ProtectorateDescription of the general situation in MesopotamiaRelations between British officers and those in MesopotamiaResolution on Mesopotamia, Mosul, Baghdad and BasraThe statutes for the independence of Iraq (ff 127-130)Conversations regarding self-determination in MesopotamiaMention of British troops movements in MesopotamiaMilitary reports regarding disturbances around Mesopotamia.The principal correspondents are: Political Department, India Office, London; Viceroy and Governor-General of India in Council; Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; Military Governor, Baghdad; Military Department, India Office.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 256; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Two additional intermittent foliation sequences are also present between ff 15-256 and ff 32-57; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves. The sequence contains one foliation anomaly: f 196a.
314. File 4722/1918 Pt 4 'Mesopotamia: Constitution; Colonel Wilson's request for p[rivate]p[apers]'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume consists of correspondence (copies, drafts and originals), minutes, and memoranda relating to the future constitution and administration of Mesopotamia [Iraq]. The subject of the volume is a request made by Arnold Talbot Wilson, Acting Civil Commissioner in Baghdad, to the India Office for specific papers concerning constitutional matters in Mesopotamia. These papers were connected to a letter from the War Office (No. 0152/5184, 5 January 1920 – not present in this volume) and include correspondence between Percy Cox, Acting Minister in Teheran [Tehran], and Lord Curzon [George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston], Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, plus several India Office memoranda on the subject.The volume contains copies of the papers in question as well as correspondence between Wilson and officials at the India Office and Foreign Office regarding the matter. Further copies of correspondence from political officers across Mesopotamia are included as enclosures.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.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 25; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
315. File 4722/1918 Pt 5 'Mesopotamia: Administration - Future Constitution'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume comprises copies, drafts, and originals of correspondence, minutes, and memoranda relating to the administration of Mesopotamia [present-day Iraq, sometimes referred to as Irak in this volume] following the decision by the League of Nations to assign the territory as a British mandate.A number of matters are covered by the volume, including the following:The form, extent, and timing of self-government in IraqThe framing of a constitution and electoral lawDiscussion of potential candidates to lead any future governmentReaction to the British mandate among the people of Mesopotamia, including nationalist, pan-Arab, pan-Islamic, and pro-Turkey groups, and the outbreak of the Iraq Revolt of 1920, and British efforts to appease or suppress these groupsThe timing and wording of announcements made in Mesopotamia by the civil administration regarding British intentionsThe question of sufficient military and administrative presence in the countryDiscussion of how to respond to the subject of Mesopotamia being raised in the UK Parliament and the British and Iraqi pressBritish fears of French, American, and Italian influence in the region.Notable within the volume are the following:Drafts of the mandate for Mesopotamia, 26 May 1920 (ff 163-176)A summary of proposals on the Mesopotamian constitution by the Bonham-Carter Committee (ff 97-99) and a memorandum on the subject by Henry Robert Conway Dobbs, Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, 26 May 1920 (ff 94-95)Copy of a public proclamation (written in English and Arabic), made by the Civil Administration in Mesopotamia and regarding British troop withdrawals, dated 17 June 1920 (f 67)Translation of a ‘manifesto’ by leading men of Najaf, Abdul Muhsin Shalash [‘Abd al-Muḥsin Shalāsh], Saiyid Nur [Sayyid Nūr al-Yāsiri], Abdul Raza al Ibrahim Shaikh Razi [‘Abd al-Riḍā al-Ibrāhīmī, Shaikh Rāḍī], Abdul Karim Jazairli [‘Abd al-Karīm Jazā’irlī], and Jawad Sahib ul Jawahir [Jawād Ṣāḥib al-Jawāhir], 11 June 1920 (f 42).The principal correspondents are Arnold Talbot Wilson, Acting Civil Commissioner for Mesopotamia, and Edwin Samuel Montagu, Secretary of State for India. Other correspondents include: Nuri Said [Nūrī al-Sa‘īd, also written Noury Saïd in this volume], leading Arab Iraqi politician and officer; Major-General Percy Zachariah Cox, Acting Minister in Tehran and appointed High Commissioner of Iraq; General Headquarters, Iraq; the War Office; the Foreign Office; and Political Officers and Military Governors in Amarah, Baghdad, Samarra, Diwaniyah [Al Diwaniyah], Hillah [Al Hillah], Basra, and Shamiyah [Al Shamiyah].Some of the Arab and Iraqi leaders and officials discussed in the volume include: the Naqib of Baghdad [‘Abd al-Raḥmān Al-Kīlānī al-Naqīb al-Ashrāf]; Hasan Suhail [Ḥasan al-Suhayl, Shaikh of the Banī Tamīm]; Mirza Mahammed Taqi Shirazi [Mīrzā Muḥammad Taqi al-Shīrāzī], leading Mujtahid (Islamic legal authority) of Karbala; Sayed Talib [Sayyid Ṭālib bin Rajab al-Naqīb al-Refā‘ī], Arab nationalist, Feisal [Fayṣal bin Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī, also written Feisul in this volume], King of Syria; and Abdullah [‘Abdullāh bin Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī], Feisal’s brother and future Amir of Transjordan [present-day Jordan].The volume contains several cuttings and extracts from The Baghdad Times, The Times, The Morning Post, The Pioneerand Reuters.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.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 192; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Multiple intermittent additional pagination and foliation sequences are also present.The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
316. File 4722/1918 Pt 8 'Mesopotamia: Situation'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume consists of correspondence, memoranda, drafts, and departmental notes relating to rebellion against British mandatory rule in Mesopotamia [approximately corresponding to present-day Iraq], later known as the Iraqi Revolt of 1920.The volume covers the period from the start of unrest in May 1920 to British imposition of control in October of the same year. The majority of the volume comprises reports from political officers across Mesopotamia on the situation in their respective divisions and districts.Other matters discussed within the volume include:The suspected causes of the uprising, including fears of ‘Bolshevik’ and pro-Turkish influenceSettlement of the border between Syria and MesopotamiaMilitary strategy and operations, including the need for reinforcementsThe severing of British lines of communication, particularly railThe efficacy and principles of the use of armoured cars and air raids as means of control following numerous cases of misidentification and disproportionate force that resulted in the deaths and injuries of innocent peoplePolitical and civil policy in the regionIdentification and arrest of some of the leaders of the rebellionThe prominence of events in Mesopotamia in the British pressThe question of disarming the tribes following the suppression of the rebellion.Principal correspondents include officials at: the India Office; the Office of the Civil Commissioner in Mesopotamia (from November 1920, the High Commissioner); the War Office; General Headquarters of the military in Mesopotamia; and the Government of India, Foreign and Political and Army departments.The volume contains cuttings from several publications, including: The Times, The Statesman, The Observer, The Daily Herald, The Daily Mail, The Baghdad Times, and The Near East.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. A second divider is included, for File 4722/1918 Part 7, entitled ‘Mesopotamia: Sir A. Wilson’s invitation to Syrian Baghdadis’. This was transferred to File 5268/20 Parts 1 and 2 (see IOR/L/PS/10/913).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 489; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Multiple intermittent additional foliation sequences are also present. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves. The sequence contains one foliation anomaly, f 89a.
317. File 4722/1918 Pt 9 'Mesopotamia: Control of'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume consists of correspondence, memoranda, minutes, and notes relating to the question of responsibility for the administration of Mesopotamia [Iraq] and other former Ottoman territories under some form of British control following the First World War.The papers concern a number of matters, including:A proposal for a new government department to oversee British administration in the Middle EastThe need to retain civil service staff employed in the region and inform them of their futures at the earliest possible dateAdministrative and military expenditure in MesopotamiaThe question of troop numbers in Mesopotamia, Palestine, Egypt, and Persia [Iran].The correspondence is between officials at the India Office, Foreign Office, and War Office, and the High Commissioner in Bagdad [Baghdad], Sir Percy Cox.At the back of the volume (folios 26-37) is a copy, in French, of the organic and electoral laws of Egypt, as promulgated on 21 July 1918, with a memorandum by Viscount Kitchener [Herbert Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener], Consul-General at Cairo.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.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 38; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
318. File 5268/1920 PARTS 1 & 2 'IRAQ: RETURN OF BAGHDADIS FROM SYRIA.'
- Description:
- Abstract: The volume comprises two parts (IOR/L/PS/10/913/1 and IOR/L/PS/10/913/2) and contains correspondence in the form of memoranda, telegrams, notes, cypher telegrams, minutes, and reports. The correspondence is mainly concerned with the repatriation expenses of Mesopotamian [Iraqi] officers expelled from Syria, and their families [based in Damascus, Beirut and Jerusalem] who are unable to make their own arrangement to return to Iraq. It is also concerned with facilitating the return of leading Iraqi officers Gaafar Pasha el Askari [Jafar Pasha al-Askari, also written as Jaafar and Jafar] and Nury Said [Nuri Pasha al-Said, also written as Noury] to Iraq.The principal correspondents in the volume are: the High Commissioner of Iraq (also written as High Commissioner for Mesopotamia); the Under Secretary of State, Foreign Office; the British Consul, Egypt; the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Nury Said; the Colonial Office, Downing Street; the Secretary of State for the Colonies; the High Commissioner, Egypt; the Under Secretary of State, India Office; the War Office; the Army Council; the British Ambassador, Rome; the High Commissioner, Jerusalem; the Political Resident, Aden; the General Headquarters, Egypt; and the Treasury Chambers.Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, and the subject heading.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 213; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
319. File 5633/1918 'Iraq: medical officers for civil administration'
- Description:
- Abstract: This volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, telegrams and minutes regarding medical provision requirements for the civil administration in Mesopotamia [Iraq, also written as Irak].The papers notably cover and include:Descriptions of problems with medical service provision in the early days of the British occupation of MesopotamiaAssignment of medical personnel by the War Establishment for the troops in the field and civilian needsEfforts to obtain and disperse medical aid and resourcesReports by medical advisers and letters describing needs of doctors and volunteersThe civil administration and Civil Service Situation Scheme, including medical officer requirementsExtracts of reports from the Chief Sanitary Inspector and Conservancy Superintendent, including sanitary sections, officers, contracts, pharmaceutics, and doctorsThe situation in general hospitals and refugee campsThe role of the Regular Indian Medical ServiceUpdates on the recruitment of medical officers, chemists, nurses, sanitary inspectors, including salaries and medical specialismsRequirements for the Civil Health Service in Mesopotamia, compiled by Lieutenant-Colonel, Walter Rothney Battye, Secretary for Health to the Civil Services Commissioner in Mesopotamia.The principal correspondents are as follows: Lieutenant-Colonel Battye, Secretary for Health to the Civil Services Commissioner in Mesopotamia; John Evelyn Shuckburgh, Secretary, Political Department, India Office London; Viceroy and Governor-General of India in Council.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 193; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves. The sequence contains one anomaly: f 5a.
320. File 5646/1918 'Persia and Mesopotamia: future telegraphic arrangements'
- Description:
- Abstract: This volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, telegrams and minutes, regarding the importance of re-establishing telegraphic communication between India and England via the Persian Gulf and Mesopotamia [Iraq] to Mediterranean ports under British control.The papers notably cover the following: postwar reorganisation of the telegraph communication, including the rebuilding of lines, re-establishing of old routes, introducing new routes, and proposals submitted by the Indo-European Company; relations with and between the Indo-European Company, Indo-European Department and the Eastern Telegraph Company.Also included in the volume are the following documents:‘A collection of Conventions and Agreements relating to Telegraphs in Turkey in Asia, Persia, the Persian Gulf and Mekran, September 1916’ (ff 127-144)‘Indo-European Telegraph Department. Statement showing Amounts paid into and drawn out of the Indian Joint Purse by the Department to the year 1917-1918’ (f 122)‘War cabinet. Imperial Communications Committee's proposed diversion of the Indo-European Telegraph Company’s route of India’ (ff 58-65)Four maps in showing the lines of telegraphic communication between Europe and India passing through Persia [Iran] and Mesopotamia (ff 13, 14, 37 and 123).The volume comprises internal correspondence between British officials of different departments. The principal correspondents are: the Committee of Imperial Defence, Imperial Communications Committee; Sir Rayner Barker, Director-in-Chief of the Indo-European Department; the Civil Commissioner, Mesopotamia [also known as Civil Commissioner, Baghdad]; the Acting Civil Commissioner in Mesopotamia; the Viceroy and Governor-General of India in Council; and the General Post Office.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 144; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Multiple intermittent additional foliation sequences are also present. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
321. File 6665/1919 Pt 1 ‘MESOPOTAMIA: ADMINISTRATION. INCIDENCE OF COST; DISPOSAL OF SURPLUS REVENUES; CLAIMS OF THE OTTOMAN PUBLIC DEBT; STAMP DUTIES; CONTROL AND AUDIT OF EXPENDITURE’
- Description:
- Abstract: This volume contains correspondence, resolutions, memoranda, reports, telegrams and minutes regarding different aspects of the administration in Mesopotamia.The papers notably cover:The incidence of cost of the temporary administration of Basra [also written in the correspondence as Basrah Wilayat, or Vilayet], following the British military occupationDiscussion regarding the disposal of the surplus revenues of the British-occupied territory in Mesopotamia, including a suggestion that they should be handed over to the British GovernmentDefinitions of the financial powers of the Civil Officer in Mesopotamia and the difference of opinion between the Government of India and the authorities in Mesopotamia as to the allocation of military and civil fundsControl and audit of expenditure in the British administration of Mesopotamia.The volume also covers details such as the following:The Indo-European Telegraph Department, the development of new telegraph lines, and rates between Basra and London and Basra and IndiaContributions from Government of India revenues towards the cost of the various Indian Expeditionary ForcesThe liability for the Ottoman Empire’s public debt, following annexations of its territory.The principal correspondents include: John Bradbury, Treasury Chambers; Austen Chamberlain, Secretary of State for India; Percy Zachariah Cox, Chief Political Officer, Indian Expeditionary Force D; Viceroy of India, Finance Department; War Office; Assistant Secretary to the Government of India; Under-Secretary to the Government of India; Civil Commissioner, Baghdad.The volume includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 288; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
322. File 788/1919 Pt 3-4 ‘Mesopotamia: Disposal of Rivercraft (1920/21)’
- Description:
- Abstract: This volume contains material relating to the disposal of river craft in Mesopotamia from December 1919 to January 1921.The volume is separated into two parts:Part 3 ‘MESOPOTAMIA Disposal of River Craft’ (IOR/L/PS/10/805/1)Part 4 ‘MESOPOTAMIA DISPOSAL OF RIVERCRAFT’(IOR/L/PS/10/805/2).Each part 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.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 584; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. There are also multiple intermittent foliation and pagination sequences.
323. File 94/1915 Pt 1 ‘German War:- Turkey. Prisoners’
- Description:
- Abstract: Correspondence and papers relating to British prisoners of war in Baghdad, detained in the wake of the commencement of hostilities between Britain and Turkey in Mesopotamia [Iraq] in November 1914. The papers cover: the status of British subjects including British Indians in Baghdad; reports of Turkish troop movements in Mesopotamia; correspondence between the British and United States governments, the latter working as an intermediary between the British and Ottoman governments, to secure the good treatment and release of British prisoners in Baghdad; reports from the United States Consul at Baghdad (Charles Frederick Brissel) on conditions at Baghdad; a report on a journey made from Baghdad to Bombay [Mumbai] by British Indian employees of the Political Residency in Baghdad in November 1914 (ff 147-153); in June 1915, negotiations for the exchange of British subjects (including women and children) detained at Baghdad, with Turkish officials stranded at British-occupied Amara [Al ‘Amārah]. The file’s principal correspondents are: the Foreign Office, including the Assistant Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Algernon Law, Sir Ralph Spencer Paget; the Government of the USA, including the US Consul at Baghdad and the US Ambassador at Constantinople [Istanbul], Philip Hoffman.The volume contains two items in French; letters from the Ottoman Government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, forwarded by the US Ambassador at Constantinople (ff 32-33, ff 49-50).The part includes a divider (f 1) which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, subject heading, and list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 215; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
324. File 94/1915 Pt 3 ‘German War:- Turkey. Payments to British subjects in Turkish territory &c.’
- Description:
- Abstract: Papers concerning the advance of financial relief to British Indians stranded in Baghdad and elsewhere in Ottoman territory, in the wake of Britain’s invasion of Mesopotamia [Iraq] in November 1914. The papers cover: proposals for funds to be forwarded to and distributed by the United States Consul at Baghdad; the advance of funds to Britain’s Vice-Consul at Kerbala [Karbala] (Mohamad Hassan Mohsin), now in Constantinople [Istanbul]; the payment of relief and pensions to British Indians and their dependents in Baghdad; payments for accommodation for British Indians in Baghdad, made by the United States Consul at Baghdad; expenditure incurred by the withdrawal of British consular staff from Baghdad and Kerbala. A large portion of the file concerns arrangements for the continuation of pension payments to the widow and heirs (now resident in Constantinople and Smyrna [İzmir]) of the late Said Yacoub Khan (various spellings throughout the file) who had been awarded a pension prior to his death for ‘high services’ rendered to Queen Victoria (f 80). The file’s principal correspondents are: the Foreign Office, including the Assistant Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Algernon Law; the British High Commissioner in Constantinople, Horace George Montagu Rumbold; the Political Department of the Government of Bombay.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.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 217; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.