IOR/L/PS/10/764

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 government
• The political situation in the country following the Iraqi Revolt of 1920
• The 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 existence
• The drafting of a public announcement regarding these political developments
• Discussions in the UK Parliament regarding the situation in Mesopotamia
• The 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.