Iraqi revolt of 1920
The Iraqi revolt against the British, also known as the 1920 Iraqi Revolt or Great Iraqi Revolution, started in Baghdad in the summer of 1920 with mass demonstrations by Iraqis, including protests by embittered officers from the old Ottoman army, against the British occupation of Iraq. The revolt gained momentum when it spread to the largely tribal Shia regions of the middle and lower Euphrates. Sheikh Mehdi Al-Khalissi was a prominent Shia leader of the revolt.
Sunni and Shia religious communities cooperated during the revolution as well as tribal communities, the urban masses, and many Iraqi officers in Syria. The objectives of the revolution were independence from British rule and the creation of an Arab government. The revolt achieved some initial success, but by the end of October 1920 the British had crushed the revolt, although elements of it dragged on until 1922.
During the 1920 revolt, another anti-British rebellion took place in the north of Iraq by the Kurds, who were trying to gain independence. One of the major Kurdish leaders of the Kurdish revolt was Sheikh Mahmoud Barzanji.
Background
After the Peace Treaty of Versailles in 1919 that officially ended World War I, the idea put forward by the League of Nations to create mandates for the territories formerly occupied by the defeated Central Powers, began to take shape. The idea was based on the principle that the territories should eventually become independent, albeit under the tutelage of one of the victorious Entente countries. People in Ottoman provinces began to fear the Mandate concept since "it seemed to suggest European imperial rule by another name."At the San Remo Conference in April 1920, Great Britain was awarded the Mandate for Mesopotamia as well as the A mandate for Palestine. In Iraq the British got rid of most of the former Ottoman officials and the new administration was composed of mainly British officials. Many Iraqis began to fear that Iraq would be incorporated into the British Empire. It was at this point that one of the most eminent Shia mujtahid, Ayatollah Muhammad Taqi al-Shirazi, issued a fatwa "declaring that service in the British administration was unlawful." There was growing resentment to new British policies such as new land ownership laws, which upset tribal leaders, and especially for the new tax which people had to pay to be buried in the Wadi-us-Salaam cemetery in Najaf, where Shia from all over the world came to be buried. Meetings between Shia ulema and tribal leaders discussed strategies for peaceful protests but they did consider violent action if the peaceful demonstrations failed to get results.
The Revolution
Discontent with British rule materialized in May 1920 with the onset of mass meetings and demonstrations in Baghdad. The start of the revolution was centered on peaceful protests against British rule. There were large gatherings at both Sunni and Shia mosques which showed that co-operation between the two main sects of Iraqi society was possible. At one of the larger meetings 15 representatives were nominated to present the case for Iraqi independence to the British officials. Acting Civil Commissioner, Arnold Wilson, dismissed their demands as impractical.Armed revolt broke out in late June 1920. Ayatollah al-Shirazi issued another fatwa which read, "It is the duty of the Iraqis to demand their rights. In demanding them they should maintain peace and order. But if the English prevent them from obtaining their rights it is permitted to make use of defensive force." This seemed to encourage armed revolt. The British authorities tried to counter this by arresting a sheikh of the Zawalim tribe. Later, an armed band of loyal tribal warriors stormed the prison and set him free. The revolt soon gained momentum as the British garrisons in the mid-Euphrates region were weak and the armed tribes much stronger. By late July, the armed tribal rebels controlled most of the mid-Euphrates region. The success of the tribes caused the revolt to spread to the lower Euphrates and all around Baghdad.
The British War Secretary, Winston Churchill, authorized immediate reinforcements from Iran that included two squadrons of the Royal Air Force. The use of aircraft shifted the advantage to the British and played a huge role in ending the revolt. There were also tribes that worked against the revolt since they were recognized by the British authorities and profited from this acknowledgement. Eventually the rebels began to run low on supplies and funding and could not support the revolt for much longer, while British forces were becoming more effective. The revolt ended in October 1920 when the rebels surrendered Najaf and Karbala to the British authorities.
The Beginning of the Revolution
Al Rumaitha incident
Declaration of revolution in al-Mashakheb
The Kufa Conference
Spread of the revolution to the Middle Euphrates
The Samawah Front
Battle of Al-Khodar
is a small village on the left bank of Euphrates River. On 30 July, Hadi al-Maqoutar arrived from the city of Najaf to incite the inhabitants of the village to join the revolt against the English. He had what he wanted as the tribes living in that area began to sabotage the railway and telegraph lines passing through the area. The commander of the British forces in Iraq, General Haldane, ordered the forces stationed at the Khadr train station to withdraw immediately to the city of Nasiriyah, where the tribes that joined the revolution then attacked the station. This was on 13 August, when they were shooting fire towards the station. The station had a normal train and two armored trains but soon an incident happened to the first armored vehicle, which led to a problem. The British troops went by regular train only, and the train arrived at Ur's station safely in the same evening.Battle of Al-Bawakher
The guards of the city of Samawah were divided into two sections, one of which was led by Colonel "Hai" and camped on the river in a place called Hsija coast near the city and the second was led by Captain "Rasel" and encamped around the city train station that was near the city wall. Both the sections became encircled after the British withdrew from the village of Al-Khoder and the rebels tightened the siege on them day after day. On 26 August, three warships and two regular ships moved from Nasiriyah to rescue the forces in Samawah. After fierce battles between the rebels and the ships, two warships and a regular ship reached the Samawah guards after the withdrawal of one of the warships on 27 August and returned to Nasiriyah. The rebels managed to seize one of the regular ships The station fell into the hands of the rebels after fierce battles between them and the British forces when the British forces tried to get out of the station camp by train, a large number of bodies fell from both sides during the confrontations. After this battle, the rebels besieged the main guards camp, which was led by Colonel Hai and asked him to surrender, but Colonel Hai rejected the request. the siege lasted for about two months until it they were rescued on 14 November.The Fall of Samawah to the British
The commander of the British forces in Iraq sent a telegram to General Kongham, who was busy cracking down the rebellion in the Diyala region, asking him to return to Baghdad on 16 September. On 1 October, General Kongham moved his forces from the city of Ur heading north. On the 6th of that month, he arrived at Al-Khoder where he was able to occupy it after he countered a resistance from the rebels. The British forces, while moving towards the city of Samawah, burned the villages on both sides of Euphrates River near the town of Al-Khoder. On the 12th of the same month, the British forces arrived near Samawah. The next day they moved towards the city and faced strong resistance from the rebels stationed around the city. After a fierce battle, the rebels withdrew from their fortified positions. On the 14th day the British troops entered the city and faced no Resistance, they broke the siege of the British forces, which was confined to the coast of Hassija near the city. As on 12 November, a battle took place between the British forces and the rebels of Bani Hajim clans at Sawir Bridge, which is also known as the Imam Abdullah Bridge, located 6 km north of the city of Samawah, in which 50 people were killed and more wounded. The number of British deaths is between 40 and 50. Due to this battle, General Kongham summoned a person named Mr. Mohamed to negotiate with Bani Hejim tribes. After negotiations between the two sides, an agreement on the conditions of extradition was finally signed in the city of Samawah between the parties on 20 November with the Bani Hajim and Fakhoudha tribes. Al-Rumaitha town was handed over after the signing of this agreement between the two parties. It should also be noted that the British did not arrest any of the elders of Bani Hajim.Revolution in Karbala
A radical Shia cleric by the name of al-Sadr led the revolt.Artillery rounds fell around the golden dome of the Imam Ali mosque in Najaf, while al-Sadr's black-masked militia battled occupation forces in the streets of Iraq's holy cities.
The year is 1920, and the radical Shia cleric terrorizing British occupying forces is Mohammad al-Sadr - whose great-grandson Moqtada al-Sadr is now leading a second revolt.
The 1920 revolt was eventually put down after four months when British forces bombarded the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, but only after 500 British troops and 6,000 Iraqis had lost their lives.
When the British expeditionary force captured Baghdad in March 1917, "liberated" Iraqis were baffled by the apparent lack of planning for what was to come next. The revolt began with rumors that Iraq, liberated from Ottoman rule, was not about to be handed over to the locals.
Sir Arnold Wilson, Iraq's civilian administrator from 1918, pushed ahead with his plan to incorporate the country into the British Empire, against the wishes of his oriental secretary, Gertrude Bell.
A brilliant, indefatigable man of the empire, Wilson was to be deeply humbled by the Shia rebellion.
Four months of fighting blamed on his insistence on direct rule left him convinced that autonomy should be granted to the Iraqis as quickly as possible.
Mohammad al-Sadr formed an "Independence Guard" from discontented Shi'ites, rapidly attracting Sunni dissidents from Baghdad and central Iraq.
When the 1920 San Remo conference duly handed the mandate for Iraq to Britain, the reaction was immediate.
In Karbala, a fatwa was issued declaring service in the British administration unlawful.
Units of the Independence Guard set up offices in the major southern cities while Shi'ite and Sunni leaders in Baghdad arranged massive demonstrations.
Britain at first ignored their protests and continued the policy of giving limited self-rule to the Iraqis.
In June, British authorities announced that elections would be held for a Constituent Assembly. But the armed revolt was breaking out in central Iraq, triggered by the arrest of one of Sadr's deputies - another foreshadowing of events last week. The arrest of two of Moqtada's clerics last weekend prompted the current uprising.
Fatwas declaring an all-out war were issued and British garrisons in Najaf and Karbala were quickly overwhelmed.
Rebellions sprang up in Basra, and Kurdistan in the north, but by September the revolt was beginning to flag.
British forces, finally realizing the danger, stepped into overdrive, arresting tribal leaders and flooding the country with troops.
In Baghdad, Sunni leaders began to express reservations at the wisdom of following a revolt led by Shi'ite clergy. Many southern Shi'ite Arab tribes in Iraq had yet to take up arms.
When British forces shelled Najaf and Karbala into submission in October, the fighting came to an end.
The Iraqi revolt of 1920, which began as a general protest against British rule, ultimately failed to unite the Shi'ite and Sunni communities against the occupation. Its leaders were exiled or kept under house arrest. Sadr himself kept a low profile, later to resurface as a prime minister in the country.
But the effects of the revolt were profound. Ultimately, it curtailed the British occupation in Iraq.
The mandate was scheduled to last 25 years but instead, the British pulled out after 12, retaining influence but diminishing control over the country.
Iraq's Shi'ite community, defeated but unbowed, was left out of government for the next 80 years. Its exclusion from power has provided a powerful source of resentment currently driving Moqtada's second revolt.
With American forces recapturing Sadr-controlled Kut, it appears that US military power, as with British before them, will eventually force the cleric to capitulate.
But it will then face the uphill struggle of involving Iraq's Shia majority - moderate or radical - in a future administration.
The US-led administration should also be warned that Shia clerics have drawn their own conclusion from the 1920s revolt - and are confident this uprising will last longer.
A key part of the revolt was with Karbala, the family’s from all backgrounds fought together such as the Al-Alawad and the koumouna family both fought ruthlessly and showed great strength against the British. The Al-Alawad family was referred to a lot by Miss Bell in her letters such as the letters from Baghdad. Karbala was carnage, lots of families were shipped off to prison camps on different islands. Some came back but some, unfortunately, did not survive. Women and their children were alone their men were missing, some ran away to seek refuge, some all gathered in their houses so if they died they all died at once. Some families and militiamen came to an agreement with the British they agreed that the British would give them land and beautiful houses if they fought with the British.
Revolution in Najaf
A force from the Bani Hassan clan took control of the Kifl region, south of Hilla, which called on the occupying authorities to send a large force called Bertil, and when the revolutionaries appeared, orders were issued to shoot at them, then the revolutionaries inferred the location of the force, they cried to crawl over them, after which orders were issued to the British forces to withdraw, after they suffered heavy losses.One of the results of that battle was the evacuation of the British from many regions in Musayyib and Hindi, as well as the joining of the clans of Daghara and Afaf and the liberation of the rest of the surrounding areas, so the rebel clans advanced towards the Tahmaziyya, and in the meantime the Bani Hassan tribe managed to liberate the region of Toureej, without resistance. The rebel tribes also headed, led by Umran hajsadon alabbasi, and the rebel attack was fierce, in which they displayed an amazing valor and made great sacrifices, as a result of the attack that the revolutionaries were subjected to by bombing British aircraft, and using all types of weapons, and the masses of the rebel clans headed to the Siddat al-Hindi, promised The British military commander considered this a threat to Baghdad, especially after the rebels attacked the Hilla - Baghdad railway.
and Bani Hassan drowned the British battleship Firefly in the Euphrates. The origins of Bani Hassan - Al Abbas belong to the Abbasid Caliphate and they ruled the region independently of the Ottoman Empire since the time of their grandfather Ghazi I
Revolution in Diyala
Revolution in Deltawa
Battles of the Assyrians
As the Assyrian manned force became more disciplined they rendered excellent service; during the Arab rebellion of the 1920s, they displayed, under conditions of the greatest trial, steadfast loyalty to their British officers.In 1920 the Assyrians had given proof of their great discipline and fighting qualities when the Assyrian camps at Mindan and Baquba were attacked by Arab forces, the Assyrians defeating and driving off the Arabs.
British officers claim the Assyrians were veterans and skilled against their enemies, most of the men who signed up to the British army were indeed veterans from the Assyrian war of independence. One officer believes the reason that the Assyrians displayed such excellence was due to the Assyrians believing that they would be given independence after the revolution by the British.
Revolution in Kurdistan
Revolution in Shahrban
It was announced in the town of Shahraban on 14 August, where Bani Tamim clan attacked the town, people of the town have cooperated with the clan as happened in the town of Khalis, but the governmental Sarai, where the British and the soldiers of the Shabana were staying didn’t surrender to the rebels, After hours of confrontation between the two sides, the rebels managed to take control of the Governmental Sarai, at the evening, five Britons serving in the Sarai were killed in the battle.After controlling the town, the rebels cut off the railway running through the town, In Shahraban after the rebels managed to control the town there was a big conflict between the town elders and Bani Tamim clan which resulted in battles between the two parties. On 7 September, the English troops led by General Kongham arrived near the town and after an unequal battle between clans and English troops, the latter managed to enter the town on 9 September.Revolution in Khanaqin and Qazelarbat
On 14 August, the Dalw clan, under the leadership of its leader Khesro Bek, attacked the city of Khanaqin. The city was occupied with little resistance. The rebels and those with them looted Dar al-Saray and all the governmental departments in the city. They took down the British flag and took up the Ottoman flag. The rebels appointed Khurshid Bek as the ruler of the city. The clans of Qazarbat also attacked the English and occupied the town and looted the building of the governmental Sarai in the town. On the morning of 16 August, the Khanaqin revolutionists, led by Karim Khurshid Bek, attacked the Bawa Mahmoud camp, where the British army was holed up after the arrival of the reinforcements. A battle ensued between the two teams, ending with the defeat of the rebels, leaving 15 dead. On 19 August, a British force led by Colonel Kaskel arrived in the vicinity of Khanaqin without any resistance. The latter, along with his forces, punished the villages that joined the revolution. The next day the colonel succeeded in conquering Khanaqin. On the evening of 24 August, the siege was lifted from the garrison of Qargan, where British soldiers were holed up, and the governor of Qarlzabat Ahmed Dara had taken refuge there. On 27 August, the English forces took control of the town of Qazelerbat.Revolution in Kafri
On 22 August, Ibrahim Khan, one of the leaders of the Dalw clan and his companions, ascended to the top of Jabal Baba Shah Sawar overlooking the city of Kafri and opened fire on the governmental Sarai in the town. The assistant of the political ruler of the town Captain Salmon to go out himself to the mountain to negotiate with Ibrahim Khan, and as soon as Captain Salmon arrived at the mountain, he was surprised by the rebels arresting him, Then the rebels attacked the town and occupied the governmental Sarai and took down the British flag. As soon as the news of the occupation of the town by the rebels has reached the political ruler of the city of Kirkuk Major Lunkerk, The latter moved with his army towards the town and after a bloody battle between the two sides the English forces have won and the town was conquered.Revolution of Zubaa mn Shamr
Revolution in the Muftaq Brigade
Revolution in the Souq al-Sheioukh
On 27 August, the governor of Nasiriyah, Mager Dijbren, who was a former political governor in 1918, visited the town of Suq al-Sheioukh.Where he met with the chiefs of the town and tried to convince them not to join the revolution. As soon as Magoger Digber has returned to the city of Nasiriyah, he wrote a report to the British governor in Baghdad, Arnold Wilson. The assistant of the political ruler of the town, Captain Platts and his British companions, managed to escape from the town on 1 September by a British steamer anchored there and the ship steered them safely towards Nasiriyah. There was no looting for the town of Souq al-Sheioukh, as the rest of the towns of lewaa Muntafiq suffered from looting and destruction of the governmental Sarai. Sheioukh Muhammad Hassan al-Haidar managed to preserve all these properties. On 4 September, two military ships left Nasiriyah and the two ships arrived at the Hawar, located south of Souq al-Sheioukh. Both were heavily armed by the rebels and a battle between the two sides lasted for approximately half an hour.Incidents of the city of Nasiriyah
Miscellaneous incidents
Incidents of Tal Afar
incidents of Samarra City
Incidents of anaa
Reasons of the failure of the 1920 revolution
Aftermath
6,000 to 10,000 Iraqis and around 1000 British and Indian soldiers died during the revolt. The RAF flew missions totaling 4,008 hours, dropped 97 tons of bombs and fired 183,861 rounds for the loss of nine men killed, seven wounded and 11 aircraft destroyed behind rebel lines. The revolt caused British officials to drastically reconsider their strategy in Iraq. The revolt cost the British government 40 million pounds, which was twice the amount of the annual budget allotted for Iraq and a huge factor in reconsidering their strategy in Iraq. It had cost more than the entire British-funded Arab rising against the Ottoman Empire in 1917–1918.The new Colonial Secretary, Winston Churchill, decided a new administration was needed in Iraq as well as the British colonies in the Middle East so-called for a large conference in Cairo. In March 1921 at the Cairo Conference, British officials discussed the future of Iraq. The British now wanted to control Iraq through more indirect means, mainly by installing former officials friendly to the British government. They eventually decided to install Faysal ibn Husayn as King of Iraq. Faysal had worked with the British before in the Arab Revolt during World War I and he enjoyed good relations with certain important officials. British officials also thought installing Faysal as king would prevent Faysal from fighting the French in Syria and damaging British-French relations.
For Iraqis, the revolt served as part of the founding of Iraqi nationalism although this conclusion is debated by scholars. It also showed unprecedented co-operation between Shia and Sunni Muslims, although this co-operation did not last much longer than the end of the revolt.