Mss Eur F112/256

File containing correspondence, memoranda and reports relating to the work of the Mesopotamia Administration Committee, collected by Lord Curzon of Kedleston, Lord President of the Council, who chaired the Committee.

The papers cover a variety of topics relating to the administration of British-occupied Mesopotamia [Iraq] during and after the First World War, and discussions over the future status and administration of the region, including:

• A proclamation to the people of Baghdad on the occasion of the British occupation
• Appointments of civil and political officers, primarily transferred from India, for the administration of Mesopotamia, with the intention of replacing them with ‘suitable Arab personnel’ as soon as practicable
• Considerations over whether Mesopotamia should be the responsibility of the Government of India or of the British Government, and how this decision might impact other British agencies in the Gulf
• Arrangements for the independent administration of Nejef [An-Najaf], Kerbela [Karbala], and other Shiah [Shia] holy places
• Problems caused by the civil administration in Mesopotamia being answerable to the military administration, and the creation of the post of Civil Commissioner after the end of the War
• Reports on events in Egypt, the Hejaz, Palestine and Syria, and considerations of how they affect events in Mesopotamia
• Proposals from industrialist Lord Inchcape to begin a steamer service on the Tigris that was agreed with the Ottoman Government immediately prior to the War, and to open a British bank in Baghdad.

The primary correspondents are: Lord Curzon; Sir Percy Cox, Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; Lieutenant-General Sir Stanley Maude, Commander of the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force; Arnold Wilson, Civil Commissioner in Mesopotamia; Sir Mark Sykes; Gertrude Bell; Lord Inchcape; the Chief of the Imperial General Staff; the Directorate of Military Intelligence; the India Office; the Foreign Office; and the Government of India.