The second of two oblong duodecimo volumes containing abbreviated notes recorded by Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, during the course of a journey through Syria, Turkey and Iraq, from Damascus to Aleppo via Baghdad. The volume covers the period 19 April to 23 May 1911, covering the journey from the vicinity of Dara, in Turkey, to Bell’s arrival in Aleppo. The notes record: places passed or visited; times of arrival and departure; temperature and atmospheric pressure readings; some description of the topographic character of the places passed through; and copies of Greek, Syriac, and Nabatean tomb inscriptions.The volume also includes:drawings depicting two anthropomorphic figures, possibly of stone carvings from a tomb at Kermati [Kayabali], above a drawing of three arches. All three drawings have dimensions indicated (ff 3v-4)Folios 25-37 are blank.1 volume (37 folios)Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with i, and terminates at the inside back cover with 38; these numbers are written in pencil, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
The volume concerns events that happened in Persia and in the Eastern territories of the Ottoman Empire (Iraq), during the First World War. The main focus is the Turkish action in Persia, and the British intrigues to maintain control over Persia, preventing the country from entering the war and supporting Turkey in a Muslim coalition.The volume covers:Alleged plunder by the Turks of jewels and money for a value of two million sterling from the shrines of Nejef [Najaf, Iraq] and Karbala, in January 1915.Leave granted to British and Russian ministers.General situation in Persia, British interest in preserving its neutrality so that it would not enter the war in support of the Ottoman Empire.Rectification of Turco-Persian frontiers.Protest of Persian Government against actions taken by the British, and requests to respect the Persian neutrality.Political events at Tehran.Translation of appeal written by Muhammad Javid, Governor of the Province of Baghdad, inciting Jihad in Iraq and Persia against the Entente Powers (ff 264-267).Pro-Turkish feelings in Persia in early 1915; British fear of a holy war.Pro-Turkish activities of Isfahan Mullahs.Protests of Persian Government against the presence of British troops in Arabistan [Khuzestan, Iran], and British decision to ignore them.Participation of Swedish officers in German intrigues in Fars [Persia], by fetching weapons; British requesting the withdrawal of Swedish officers from Persia.Reported 'Turkish atrocities' against Christians in the district of Dilman [Azerbaijan], where the Russians found more than 200 corpses when entering the villages in March 1915.Proposed censoring of Persian mail.Deportation of German subject by British authorities in southern Persia, protest of Persian Government against.Landing of British troops near Ahwaz [Iran], on 20 February 1915.Weakening of Persian support of Turks, recorded in April 1915.Turkish occupation of Kasr-i-Shirin [Qasr-e Shirin, Iran].Telegraphic communications via Ahwaz, Persia, with sketch map of the telegraph line, by W Barker (f 89).The volume’s principal correspondents are: Thomas William Holderness and Arthur Hirtzel, India Office; Charles Hardinge, the Viceroy of India; Edward Grey, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Walter Beaupre Townley and Charles Marling, British Ministers at Tehran; Eyre Alexander Barby Wichart Crowe, Foreign Office; Percy Cox, Political Resident in Persian Gulf; Terence Humphrey Keyes, Political Agent in Bahrain; Alfred Hamilton, the Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign and Political Department, Delhi; the Persian Minister of Foreign Affairs.The volume contains newspaper cuttings from
The Times, and
Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung.There is a quote in Ancient Greek, from
Odyssey9.369.1 volume (333 folios)The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 335; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 3-333; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.