IOR/L/PS/18/B219

Printed copy of a secret memorandum, dated 1915; a report by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Mark Sykes, which is an overview of the human, religious and political dimensions of the Arab population in the Middle East. The report is divided into four sections, based on the four groups of Arab people identified by Sykes:

• The Arabs of Arabia, further subdivided into the Arabs of Hejaz, Nejd [Najd], the Gulf coast, Muscat, Yemen, and Hadhramaut [Ḥaḍramawt];
• The Arabs of Mesopotamia, further subdivided into five regions along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers;
• The Syrians, with brief explanation of the reasons underlying the complexity of the religious situation in Syria, including the historic interplay between Christians and Muslims, the French railways, Turkish influence;
• The Arabs of Northern Irak [Iraq] and Jazirah, divided into five main factors: Diarbekir-Urfa [Diyarbakır], North Jazirah, Mosul [Al-Mawṣil], Kerkuk [Kirkūk] and Baghdad.

In his conclusion, Sykes lists the chief characteristics of the ‘Arab movement’, and in a final note, he draws attention to the contempt which Indians hold towards Arabs. The original memorandum included a map, with the regions populated by the four Arab groups indicated in green, yellow, red and blue.