1. 'Reports from Lieutenant-General Sir P. H. N. Lake, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., Commanding I.E.F. "D", on Operations against Arab Tribesmen on the Euphrates Line, January and February 1916'

Description:

Abstract: This report, printed by the General Staff, India (Simla: Government Central Press, 1916), consists of a letter (No. 168-18-O) from Sir Percy Henry Noel Lake, General Officer Commanding, Indian Expeditionary Force D, to the Chief of the General Staff, Army Headquarters, India, dated 4 March 1916.It encloses three reports:Report A deals with an engagement during a reconnaissance between Butaniyah and Suwaij on 14 January 1916 (ff. 2v-3);Report B describes a rearguard action when the column was heavily attacked on 7 February 1916, on the occasion of the withdrawal from Nasiriyah [al-Nāṣirīyah] (ff. 5v-8);Report C gives an account of punitive operations undertaken by Brigadier-General H T Brooking on 9 February 1916 (f. 9).These reports give tables listing tribes, casualties and expenditure of small arm ammunition involved in various actions. The front cover is marked 'Confidential'. In addition, there are two maps (folios 10-11): 'Sketch Map of the Retirement from Butaniyeh Camp to Nasiriyah' and 'To Accompany Report on Operations Against Arab Tribesmen on Euphrates Line'.Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover, and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio (except for the front cover where the folio number is on the verso).Pagination: The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

2. 'Report from Lieut-General Sir P. H. N. Lake K.C.B., K.C.M.G. Commanding I.E.F. "D" on the Defence of Kut-Al-Amarah under Major-General C. V. F. Townshend, C.B., D.S.O., 3 December 1915-29 April 1916'

Description:

Abstract: This volume is a 'Report from Lieut-General Sir P. H. N. Lake K.C.B., K.C.M.G. Commanding I.E.F. "D" on the Defence of Kut-Al-Amarah under Major-General C. V. F. Townshend, C.B., D.S.O., 3 December 1915-29 April 1916' published by the General Staff, India (Government Central Branch Press, Simla: 1916). The report concerns the siege of Kūt and consists of a copy of a letter (No. 168-15-O), dated July 1916, from Lieutenant-General Sir Percy Henry Noel Lake, Commanding Indian Expeditionary Force D, to the Chief of the General Staff, Army Headquarters, Simla (folio 2r), submitting a despatch (No. 15-10-A), dated 10 March 1916, from Major-General Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend, Commanding, 6th Indian Division, to the General Officer Commanding, Indian Expenditionary Force D (folios 2v-8r), including appendices (folios 8v-21). The report is marked 'Confidential' on the front cover (folio 1).Physical description: Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

3. File 2879/1919 Pt 1 ‘MESOPOTAMIA Kurdistan: The Suleimanieh Outbreak’

Description:

Abstract: This item relates to the seizure of the ‘reins of government’ (f 283) in Suleimaniyeh [As Sulaymaniyah, also spelled Suleman Iyeh in this item], south Kurdistan, 25 May 1919, during an uprising led by Sheikh Mahmud [Shaikh Maḥmūd Barzanjī], and British military operations leading to the British Mesopotamian Army occupying the Suleimaniyeh Valley in June 1919. The papers notably cover:British concerns about the Kurdish independence movement, including the purported influence of the Turkish Committee of Union and Progress and Persian Kurdistan, and the potential of ‘unrest’ to spread to other parts of Kurdistan and into British controlled MesopotamiaThe capture and imprisonment of British officers and staff in Suleimaniyeh, including a list of the missing and interned officers and NCOs [Non-Commissioned Officers] (see ff 251 and 244)British intelligence, regarding the level of Mahmud’s personal as opposed to political ambitions, and casting doubt on the degree of local support for himThe concentration of British forces at Kerkouk [Kirkuk] and Chemchemal [Chamchamal] and the desire of the military and political authorities in Baghdad to ‘crush’ (f 255) Mahmud’s movement, recapture Suleimaniyeh, and occupy the Suleimaniyeh ValleyThe refusal to allow Sheikh Mahmud’s delegates in Aleppo to proceed to Paris to argue the cause of Kurdish independenceThe British forces’ capture of the Bazyan Pass, advance to Suleiman Iyeh, and collapse of the rising including the arrest of Sheikh MahmudDiscussions concerning the extension of the railway from Kizilrobat [Qizil Ribat, also spelled Kizil Robat in this item] northwards towards Suleimaniyah in order to facilitate the British advance and occupationRestoration of the civil administration in Suleimaniyah by the end of August 1919 and British hopes that Kurdish nationalism will dissipate following Sheikh Mahmud’s military trial and imprisonment in India serving a ten-year sentenceDiscussions in 1921 between the Colonial Office, India Office, High Commissioner for Iraq, and Viceroy of India, on the desirability of reducing the penal sanction against Sheikh Mahmud, and the eventual agreement by the High Commissioner of Iraq to arrange his relocation, under surveillance, in Kuwait [also spelled Koweit in this item].The primary correspondents are the: General Officer Commanding in Mesopotamia; War Office; India Office; Office of the High Commissioner for Mesopotamia (later Iraq); Secretary of State for the Colonies; Secretary to the Government of Bombay [Mumbai], Political Department; Secretary to the Government of India, Foreign and Political Department; Political [Agent?], Baghdad; and General [Consul?], Baghdad.Physical description: 1 item (78 folios)

4. File 2879/1919 Pt 2, ‘MESOPOTAMIA Kurdistan: The Amadia Incident’

Description:

Abstract: This item relates to a violent incident on 14 July 1919 in Amadia [Amadiya], central Kurdistan, during which Captain D Willey and Lieutenant Hamish MacDonald, both of the 13th Hussars, were killed by ‘local gendarmes’ (f 200) and other officers and civilians injured. The papers notably cover and include:The origins of, and course of events during the outbreak of ‘trouble’ (f 202) in Amadia, including a ‘Report on murders in Amadia’ (ff 175-178), by Lieutenant-Colonel Gerard E Leachman, Political Officer, Mosul, 25 August 1919Discussion of the possible anti-Christian as well as anti-British tone of the outbreak, following reports of the murder of Christians in the neighbourhood and pillaging of Christian villages (f 200)The military operations and punitive measures undertaken by British forces to suppress further ‘uprisings’ and to ‘restore peace’ (f 184), and discussion of possible future British presence in AmadiaA report to the Under Secretary of State for India, by Arnold Talbot Wilson, Civil Commissioner in Mesopotamia, dated 4 August 1919, detailing proposals for the repatriation to Kurdistan of Assyrian refugees (mostly Nestorian Christians) currently at Ba’qubah [Baqubah], involving the removal (with compensation) of Kurds in specified areas (ff 191-193)India Office correspondence with James F MacDonald, father of Hamish MacDonald, including the father’s virulent criticism of the policies of British authorities in Mesopotamia (ff 157-172)A report to the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, by J H Bill, Indian Civil Service, Political Officer, Mosul, entitled ‘Notes on Frontier affairs in the Amadia-Zakho area’, 21 October 1919, indicating the current situation and the way in which he proposes to deal with it (ff 144-153).The primary correspondents are the: India Office and Secretary of State for India; Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; General Officer Commanding in Mesopotamia; War Office; and the Political Officer, Mosul.Physical description: 1 item (64 folios)

5. File 4613/1919 Pt 1 'Mesopotamia: Land Policy (Tenure and Acquisition) (General file)'

Description:

Abstract: This item consists of part one of the subject file 4613/1919 Iraq: Land Tenure. It concerns British land policy in the occupied territories of Mesopotamia [Iraq] and particularly relates to the sale, leasing or granting of land to persons other than domiciled inhabitants of the territories (e.g. British, British Indian, and European subjects). The part mostly consists of correspondence but also includes notifications, minutes and proclamations, including a copy of the Land Settlement Proclamation (1920). The notifications relate to restrictions imposed by the British on the alienation of immoveable property within the occupied territories to persons other than Arabs of the occupied territories.The principal correspondents are the Acting Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, (Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson), the Secretary of State for India (Edwin Samuel Montagu), and officials of the India Office and the Foreign Office.Physical description: 1 item (48 folios)