IOR/L/PS/10/618

This volume consists of printed reports, typed letters and other miscellaneous correspondence by British officials relating to the British occupation of Mesopotamia in the period September 1917 to March 1919 covering such topics as administration of justice, agriculture and land revenue, and tribes.

The papers notably cover the following:

• Arab labour in the Occupied Territories (ff 581-588)
• British relations with tribesmen of southern Kurdistan (ff 565-580)
• Violent actions of Russian troops at Khaniqin [Khanaqin]
• Administration of the Tribal Disputes Regulation in the Basra vilayet (f 452)
• The Euphrates Channels from Musaiyib [Musayyib] to Sammarah [Samarra]: physical features and position of tribes
• Desert reconnaissance undertaken by 31st Wing, RAF, Mesopotamia, August 1918 (ff 141-143)
• Revenue for Basra vilayet, May 1918 (ff 114-139).

Notable items include the following:

• Land revenue reports
• British relations with the Arab tribes in various regions of Mesopotamia
• British relations with the Kurdish tribes of the Kurdish areas of Mesopotamia
• Reports concerning the potential for mineral, agricultural and economic development
• Reports on trips of reconnaissance
• Reports on the administration of justice
• Statement of expenditure incurred by the civic hospital, Basra from 1916-17
• Report by Mr Bonham Carter, Senior Judicial Officer, Baghdad on Administration of Civil Justice in Baghdad vilayet (f 441)
• List of mineral specimens sent to Imperial Institute, London (ff 425-426)
• Revenue note on Karbala (f 368)
• Note on trip from Qal‘at Salih via the marshes and Beni Turuf [Banī Ṭurf] country to Ahwaz by Captain Stuart Edwin Hedgcock, Assistant Political Officer, ‘Amarah [Al ‘Amarah]
• Notes on the tribes of Southern Kurdistan by Major Ely Bannister Soane, Political Officer, Khaniqin [Khanaqin]
• Land revenue note on Qizil Rabat [Jabal Qizil Rabat] including a family tree of a branch of the Jaf [Jaff] tribe (f 254)
• Report on the administration of civil and criminal justice in the Basra vilayet by the courts established under the Iraq Occupied Territories Code during the year 1917
• Compilation of proclamations, notices relating to civil administration and inhabitants of the Baghdad vilayet issued 22 December 1916 to 1 July 1918 (ff 204-236)
• Proclamation issued by the General Officer Commanding in Chief (ff 171-203)
• Political Office Diaries, July-August 1918 for Badra, Hai [Al-Hay], Zobair [Az Zubayr], Suq-esh-Sheyukh [Suq Al-Shuyukh], Nasiriyeh [Nasiriyah], Shattra [Al-Shatrah], Qilat Sikar [Qalat Sukkar] (ff 145-167)
• Supplement number 5 (up to 1 July 1918). The Iraq Occupied Territories Code, 1915
• Handbook to ‘Amarah Agricultural Show (in Arabic) (ff 60-67)
• Memorandum on Shebanah (local Arab levies) in Mesopotamia (f 51)
• Half yearly report on the working of the Office of Superintendent, Government Press, Basra, for the half year ending 30 September 1918 (ff 44-49)
• Land revenue reports for Musaiyib, Qizil Rabat, Kadhimian [Kadhimiya], Diwaniyah [Al Diwaniyah], Ramadi, Shamiyah [Al-Shamiya] (ff 24-42)
• Report on a visit to Jabal Sinjar, Captain Archibald Campbell Munro, Indian Medical Service, July 1918.

Correspondents include: Civil Commissioner, Baghdad (Percy Zachariah Cox); Chief Political Officer in Charge, Iraq Section, Arab Bureau (Gertrude Lothian Bell); Director, Military Intelligence, Cairo; Officer-in-Charge, Arab Bureau; Chief Political Officer, Baghdad; Senior Judicial Officer, Baghdad; First Revenue Officer, Indian Civil Service; and the General Headquarters, Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force.