Abstract: The volume contains correspondence, memoranda, reports, telegrams and minutes regarding the administration of, and situation in, Mesopotamia [Iraq] following the Asia Minor Agreement of 1916, more commonly known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement, between the French and British governments, and the Anglo-French Declaration of November 1918. The volume also concerns the subject of self-determination in Persia [Iran].The papers notably cover:Discussion of advance interpretations of the 1916 AgreementThe Anglo-French Declaration of November 1918, which publicised their intentions and policy in the former Ottoman territories of Syria and IraqPresentation of the 1918 Declaration to the President of the United States of America by the French Ambassador to the US, Jean Adrien Antoine Jules JusserandDisagreement between the British and French visions of the future administration of MesopotamiaThe situation in southern KurdistanThe 1919 Paris Peace ConferenceApprehensions of the Baghdad Jewish community about the tenor of the Anglo-French Declaration, including a petition to the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, requesting to be made subjects of the British CrownReaction to the Declaration from the across the Arab worldDisagreement among the British over the form that Britain’s control in Mesopotamia should takeThe views of the principal sheikhs [shaikhs] of Mesopotamia on the 1918 AgreementDiscussion among British officials of the benefits of control over Mesopotamia and the view of the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, Arnold Talbot Wilson, on the situation in MesopotamiaDiscussion of the potential candidates for the head of the new state of IraqReports on consultations with political and religious leaders and inhabitants from across Iraq on the future Government of IraqThe views of Sir Percy Cox and Arnold Wilson on the situation in MesopotamiaThe question of the future political status of Mesopotamia, including the views of British officers serving in Syria and the HejazDiscussion of the question of Iraqi self-determination.Notable documents in this volume include:Text by Sir Percy Cox regarding ‘The Future of Mesopotamia’ (ff 308-310 and ff 270-272)Extracts from
The Times, 26 November 1819, including a series of articles under the title ‘The Arab Campaign’ (ff 230-232)The statutes for the independence of Iraq (ff 127-130)A memorandum by Major W H Young regarding the future of Mesopotamia (ff 99-112)Copies of ‘Self-determination in Iraq’ in Arabic (ff 75-97) and English (ff 57-73).The principal correspondents are: the India Office, Political Department; the Governor-General of India; the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; the Military Governor and Political Officer, Baghdad; Government of India, Military Department, the French Ambassador to the United States; and the British Embassy, Paris.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 334; 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 mixed foliation/pagination 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 two anomalies: f 181a and f 181b.
Abstract: The volume consists of drafts and copies of correspondence, memoranda, and minutes relating to the appointment of Sir Percy Zachariah Cox as High Commissioner in Mesopotamia [Iraq].The following matters are covered within the volume:Discussion over the wording of a public announcement to be made about the appointmentDiscussion of the functions and authority of the post, particularly in relation to those of the General Officer Commanding in MesopotamiaThe military situation and future military policy in Mesopotamia.The correspondence is between the following: the India Office; the Foreign Office; the War Office; the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India; General James Aylmer Lowthorpe Haldane, General Officer Commanding, Mesopotamia; Arnold Talbot Wilson, Acting Civil Commissioner, Mesopotamia; and Sir Percy Cox.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 63; 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.
Abstract: The volume comprises copies and drafts of correspondence, memoranda, and minutes relating to the formation and proceedings of a provisional Council of State in Mesopotamia [Iraq].Several matters are covered by the volume, including:The arrival of the High Commissioner, Sir Percy Zachariah Cox, in Mesopotamia and his consultations with prominent sheikhs [shaikhs] and other Iraqi notables on a future national governmentThe political situation in the country following the Iraqi Revolt of 1920The formation of a Council of State under the presidency of Abdul Rahman [Sayyid ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Kīlānī], the Naqib [Naqīb al-Ashrāf] of Baghdad, and its proceedings and progress during the first two months of its existenceThe drafting of a public announcement regarding these political developmentsDiscussions in the UK Parliament regarding the situation in MesopotamiaThe proposal and drafting of a message of gratitude to be sent to the Naqib and whether this should come from the King, George V, or from the British Government.The correspondence is between the following: Sir Percy Cox, High Commissioner for Mesopotamia; the Foreign Office; the Government of India, Foreign and Political Department; Lord Stamfordham [Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur John Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham], Private Secretary to King George V; and Abdul Rahman, Naqib of Baghdad and President of the Council of State, Iraq.The volume also contains records of the proceedings of the Council of State throughout November and December 1920 and January 1921 (folios 4-40); Parliamentary Notices; and extracts from
Hansard.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 front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 119; 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.
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.
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.
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.