Chapter XXXV: Appendix: B

LAWRENCE’S LETTER TO THE LONDON _TIMES_:
_July 22nd_, 1920.

SIR,—

In this week’s debate in the Commons on the Middle East a veteran of the House expressed surprise that the Arabs of Mesopotamia were in arms against us despite our well-meant mandate. His surprise has been echoed here and there in the Press, and it seems to me based on such a misconception of the new Asia and the history of the last five years, that I would like to trespass at length on your space and give my interpretation of the situation.

The Arabs rebelled against the Turks during the war not because the Turk Government was notably bad, but because they wanted independence. They did not risk their lives in battle to change masters, to become British subjects or French citizens, but to win a show of their own.

Whether they are fit for independence or not remains to be tried. Merit is no qualification for freedom. Bulgars, Afghans, and Tahitans have it. Freedom is enjoyed when you are so well armed, or so turbulent, or inhabit a country so thorny that the expense of your neighbour’s occupying you is greater than the profit. Feisal’s Government in Syria has been completely independent for two years, and has maintained public security and public services in its area.

Mesopotamia has had less opportunity to prove its armament. It never fought the Turks, and only fought perfunctorily against us. Accordingly, we had to set up a war-time administration there. We had no choice; but that was two years ago, and we have not yet changed to peace conditions. Indeed there are yet no signs of change. ‘Large reinforcements, according to the official statement, are now being sent there, and our garrison will run into six figures next month. The expense curve will go up to 50 million pounds for this financial year, and yet greater efforts will be called for from us as the Mesopotamian desire for independence grows.

It is not astonishing that their patience has broken after two years. The Government we have set up is English in fashion, and is conducted in the English language. So it has 450 British executive officers running it, and not a single responsible Mesopotamian. In Turkish days 70 per cent, of the executive civil service was local. Our 80,000 troops there are occupied in police duties, not in guarding the frontiers. They are holding down the people. In Turkish days the two army corps in Mesopotamia were 60 per cent. Arab in officers, 95 per cent, in other ranks. This deprivation of the privilege of sharing the defence and administration of their country is galling to the educated Mesopotamians. It is true we have increased prosperity—but who cares for that when liberty is in the other scale? They waited and welcomed the news of our mandate, because they thought it meant Dominion self-government for themselves. They are now losing hope in our good intentions.

A remedy? I can see a cure only in immediate change of policy. The whole logic of the present thing looks wrong. Why should Englishmen (or Indians) have to be killed to make the Arab Government in Mesopotamia, which is the considered intention of His Majesty’s Government? I agree with the intention, but I would make the Arabs do the work. They can. My little experience in helping to set up Feisal showed me that the art of government wants more character than brains.

I would make Arabic the Government language. This would impose a reduction of the British staff, and a return to employment of the qualified Arabs. I would raise two divisions of local volunteer troops, all Arabs, from the senior divisional general to the junior private. (Trained officers and trained N.C.O.’s exist in thousands.) I would entrust these new units with the maintenance of order, and I would cause to leave the country every single British soldier, every single Indian soldier. These changes would take 12 months and we should then hold of Mesopotamia exactly as much (or as little) as we hold of South Africa or Canada. I believe the Arabs in these conditions would be as loyal as anyone in the Empire, and they would not cost us a cent.

I shall be told that the idea of brown Dominions in the British Empire is grotesque. Yet the Montagu scheme and the Milner scheme are approaches to it, and the only alternative seems to be conquest, which the ordinary Englishman does not want, and cannot afford.

Of course, there is oil in Mesopotamia, but we are no nearer that while the Middle East remains at war, and I think if it is so necessary for us, it could be made the subject of a bargain. The Arabs seem willing to shed their blood for freedom; how much more their oil!

T. E. LAWRENCE.

ALL SOULS COLLEGE, _July_ 22.

INDEX

Aba el Lissan (place), 195, 202, 208, 227, 228, 290, 293, 321, 323, 324, 330, 347, 350, 358, 413

Abd el Aziz (Sheikh), 366

Abd el Kader (the Algerian), 260–74, 287, 363, 375, 377, 378, 382, 384

Abd el Kerim (of the Juheina), 117–18, 126–7, 142

Abdul Hamid (Sultan), 63–7, 88

Abdulla (Machine-gun officer), 302–3

Abdulla el Zaagi (Captain of body-guard), 297, 308, 335, 342, 357, 358, 366, 369

Abdulla, Emir, 66, 79, 91–3, 116, 131, 136, 149–55, 169, 173, 177, 261, 294, 324, 398, 399–402, 413

Abdulla the Robber, 295–7, 357, 358

Abu Sawana (place), 275, 276, 279, 280

Abu Tayi (Howeitat clan), 147, 320 (etc., _see_ Auda)

Aden (place), 60

Adhub (Sheikh), 270, 271, 277, 284

Afuleh (place), 356, 359

Ageyl (class of), 109, 121, 133, 134, 138, 141, 145, 150, 163, 167, 201, 202, 225, 226, 262, 295, 296, 297, 302, 303, 305, 335

Ahmed (servant), 31

Aintab (place), 18

Akaba (place), 39, 143, 161–222, 226–9, 234, 249, 255, 257, 261, 288–90, 293, 294, 309, 314, 325–7, 335, 344, 347, 399, 401, 413, 415, 418

Aleppo, 27, 34, 36, 99, 129, 139, 183, 196, 223, 234, 257, 314, 351

Alexandretta, 36, 60, 72, 73, 116

Alexandria, 64

Ali (Emir), 60, 74, 78, 79, 92–4, 130, 294, 324

Ali ibn el Hussein (Sherif), 76, 97, 112, 259–88, 295, 355

Ali Riza Pasha (Governor of Damascus), 188, 266, 378, 385, 386, 399

Allenby, Lady, 246

Allenby, Field-Marshal Viscount, 24, 216–19, 223, 249, 254, 256, 258, 281, 290, 293, 313, 314, 320–7, 346, 348, 350, 358, 359, 362, 370, 373, 374, 387, 383, 411

Amman (place), 196, 300, 314, 316, 317, 321, 323, 324, 328, 344, 347, 348, 350, 359, 361, 373, 401, 407

Ammari (place), 270

Anatolia, 64, 85

Annad (Auda’s son), 194, 300

Apuleius, Marcus, 332

Arab Bureau, The, 90, 115, 219, 313

Arab Freedom Societies, 36, 69–74, 86, 106, 289, 374

Arfaja (place), 172, 176

Aristophanes, 160, 295

Armenians, 68, 77, 306

Atara (place), 316

Ateiba (tribe), 97, 109, 133, 152, 296, 309, 310

Athens, 84

Auda abu Tayi (Sheikh), 12, 147, 156–213, 220–2, 231, 233, 263, 299, 300, 318, 323, 348, 363–7, 371–2, 376–8, 399, 415

Australians, The, 72, 317, 359, 374, 380, 382–5

Austrians with Turks, 245, 364, 367

Ayesha, the Lady, 246

Aziz el Masri, 110, 117

Azrak (place), 190, 196–8, 224, 258, 259, 264, 273–80, 285–9, 341, 344, 347, 348, 358, 359, 371

Baalbek (place), 188, 189

Bagdad, 28, 36, 37, 108, 391, 393, 394, 396, 399

Baha (camel), 368, 369

Bair (place), 193, 194, 195, 201, 264, 265, 268, 288, 289, 290, 316, 335, 341, 347, 438–44

Baisan (place), 359

Baker, Sir Herbert, 420

Barrow, General, 369–74, 376

Basra, 187, 404

Batra (place), 250

Beersheba, 162, 256, 237, 264, 313, 335, 413

Bell, Miss Gertrude, 35, 171, 272

Bender (Emir Nuri’s nephew), 340

Beni Atiyeh (tribe), 146, 253, 265, 336

Beni Sakhr (tribe), 83, 190, 259, 265–85, 298, 320, 321, 341, 347, 373

Beyrout, 36, 183, 223, 385, 390, 391

Biasha (peasants), 261

Billi, The (tribe), 108, 117, 133, 135, 139, 142, 146, 147

Birejik (place), 19

Blenheim Palace, 53

Blunden, Edmund, 417

Blunts, The, 35, 171

Boanerges, _see_ Brough Superior

Bolsheviki, 186

Borneo, 20

Boyle, Admiral, 113, 125, 128, 135, 136

Brough Superior (motor-bicycle), 14, 424, 430

Buchan, Colonel J., 85

Bulgaria, 73, 314, 364

Burckhardt (traveller), 35

Buxton, Colonel, 317, 324, 325, 335–44, 438–445

Cairo, 36, 82–90, 95, 112, 113, 143, 144, 215, 329, 332, 393, 406

Carchemish, 20–38, 81, 165, 250

Carson, Lord, 315

Cecil, Lord Robert, 403

Chauvel, General, 371–7, 380, 383–7

Churchill, Right Hon. Winston, 51, 54, 394–8, 409, 437

Clausewitz, 151

Clemenceau, 389, 391, 393

Coleridge, S. T., 332

Constantinople, 36, 37, 72, 351

Contzen, Herr, 29–32

Cranwell, 407, 408, 426–37

Crusaders, The, 17, 18, 20, 21, 161, 311, 391

Cox, Sir Percy, 394

Curzon, Viscount, 394, 401, 402, 403

Dahoum (photographer at Carchemish), 34

Damascus, 36, 73, 76, 102, 129, 136, 137, 144, 178, 183, 184, 187–9, 196, 223, 224, 257–9, 298, 314, 326, 340, 345, 359, 362, 371–87, 390–9, 411

Dardanelles, The, 72, 227, 258, 356

Davenport, Colonel, 113, 245, 259

Dawnay, Colonel Alan, 315, 318, 319, 324, 325, 345, 406, 443–5

Dead Sea, The, 288, 293, 298, 312, 314

Deraa (place), 196, 201, 257, 286, 308, 322, 323–5, 344–73, 348, 350–73, 386, 411, 431

Desolate, The (desert), 170

Dinamit (Emir), 12

Distinguished Flying Cross, 328

Distinguished Service Order, 291, 307

Dizad (place), 169

Dorchester, 407, 421

Druse (Mountains and inhabitants), 183, 184, 188, 196, 273, 360, 362, 376, 382, 398

Doughty, C. M., 35, 295

Egyptian gunners, 79, 104, 120, 132

El Arish (place), 227

El Jedha (camel), 236

Enver Pasha, 68, 75, 85, 149, 356

Erzeroum (place); 85

Euphrates, River, 18, 27, 28, 38, 60, 86

Ezraa (place), 363

Fahad (Sheikh), 270, 271, 276–79, 284, 320, 355

Faiz, The (clan), 288, 289, 401

Fakhri, Pasha, 77, 154

Falkenhayn, General, 227

Faroun (island), 39

Farraj and Daud, 167, 169, 180–2, 212, 253, 261, 262, 270, 280, 295, 317, 329

Feisal, Emir, 59, 66, 71–80, etc., to 404

Foch, Marshal, 151, 305, 404

Fontana, Mrs., 27

Fowle, Mr., 26, 28

French Colonel, The, 88, 114, 128, 143, 144, 251

Gadara (place), 235, 259, 271, 274

Galilee, 235, 278, 364, 374

Garland, Major, 116, 117, 128, 154

Gasim, of Maan, 173–5

Gasim abu Dumeik, 233–4, 250, 253

Gaza, 162, 183, 216, 256, 257, 264, 268, 412

Geneva Convention, The, 404

George V., H.M. King, 93, 392, 393

German Detachments, 354, 356, 364, 367, 368, 374, 379, 412

Ghazala (camel), 221, 225, 236, 246, 338

Ghazale (place), 363

Goslett, Captain R., 327

Grey, Sir Edward, 37

Gurkhas, 348, 358

Guweira (place), 195, 209, 213, 220–2, 227, 231, 293, 294, 335, 341, 347

Haifa (town), 18, 359

Hama (town), 188, 223

Hamoudi (headman), 33–5

Hamra (place), 112

Handley-Page (aeroplane), 359–60, 393

Harb, The (tribe), 92, 94–6, 116, 119, 121, 130–3

_Hardinge_, H.M.S., 135–40

Hardy, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, 421, 423

Harith (clan), 97, 122, 232, 239

Hassan Shah, Jemadar, 260, 276

Hauran, The (district), 224, 237, 257, 286, 354, 359, 360, 364

Hedley, Colonel, 81

Herbert, Aubrey, Colonel, 87

Hermon, Mount, 277

Hesa (place), 323, 347

Hoffmann, Herr, 32–3

Hogarth, Dr. D. G., 18, 22, 23, 26, 28, 38, 81, 90, 313

Homs (town), 223

Hornby, Captain, 154, 168, 169, 320, 323, 348, 350

Howeimil (Sheikh), 240, 246, 247

Howeitat (tribe), _see also_ ‘Abu Tayi’ and ‘Jazi,’ 146, 161, 224, 310, 341, 342, 364

Huber (traveller), 94

Hussein (Sherif), 66, 70–80, 91–3, 107, 129, 185, 220, 221, 344–7, 375, 388–401

Ibn Saud, Emir of Nejd, 71, 146, 172, 296, 397, 400

Indians, Barrow’s, 359, 370, 374

Irak, _see_ Mesopotamia

Ismailia (place), 89, 216

Jaafar, Pasha, 145, 220, 226, 227, 298, 315, 318, 327, 328, 345, 350

Jaffa (port), 290, 321

Jane, Mr. Cecil, 16

Janissaries, The, 83

James, St., 235

Jauf (place), 176, 400

Jazi (clan), 194–95, 288

Jebel Rudhwa (mountain), 112

Jefer (place), 193, 201–3, 263, 289, 290, 299, 335, 338, 341, 440

Jemal, Pasha, 73–6, 158, 259, 287, 365, 375

Jerablus (place), 28

Jericho, 293, 312, 314, 324, 348

Jerusalem, 223, 290, 321, 351, 383, 403

Jiddah, 78, 88, 91–3, 102, 113, 125, 130, 220, 261, 324, 401

Jordan, The, 300, 351

Joyce, Colonel, 113, 291, 326, 327, 345–54, 361, 444

Juheina (tribe), 109, 112, 117, 118, 125–31, 133, 135, 138, 142, 153

Junor, Lieut., 352, 353, 358, 359

Jurf (place), 298, 329, 438, 439

Kaaba, The, 78

Kadesh Barnea, 39

Kemal, Pasha, 340

Kennington, Eric, 308, 408

Kerak (place), 293, 300, 306, 312, 328

Kethera (place), 209

Khartoum, 113

Kirkbride, Lieut., 384, 385

Kissir or Kissela (place), 335, 343, 438–9

Kiswe (place), 374

Kitchener, Earl, 36, 40, 81, 86

Kuneitra (place), 359

Kut, 73, 85–8

Kuweit, 60

Lawrence, Mr. (father), 12, 17

Lawrence, Mrs. (mother), 12, 16, 265, 331

Lebanon, 29, 188, 385, 390

Lenin, N., 52

‘Lewis’ Sergeant, 229–49

Lloyd George, Right Hon. D., 389, 390, 391, 396

Lloyd, Lord, 90, 262, 263

Lucian, 25

Maan (place), 39, 143, 147, 149, 152, 157, 177, 195, 201, 203, 204, 208, 210, 220, 221, 227, 231, 252, 254, 255, 293, 294, 310, 314–18, 320, 323, 344, 347, 401, 445

Mahmas (camel-boy), 308

Malory, Sir Thomas, 159, 160, 295

Marshall, Major, 442

Masturah (place), 95

Maulud, Pasha, 104, 119, 132, 136, 137, 164, 165, 255, 309, 310, 315, 318

Maxwell, General, 82

McMahon, Sir A. H. (High Commissioner of Egypt), 79, 87, 88, 185, 186, 389

Mecca, 61–80, 91–131, 151, 219, 220, 296, 324, 345, 346, 388, 394

Medina, 36, 61–80, 91–4, 105, 149–54, 162–3, 219, 254, 294, 296, 298, 299, 320, 324, 350

Mesopotamia, 60, 62, 69, 85–8, 97, 388–400, Appendix B

Mezerib (place), 352–4, 356, 365, 369, 370

Minifer (place), 197, 199, 281, 415, 419

Moahib (tribe), 146

Mohammed (peasant), 173

Mohammed el Dheilan (Sheikh), 165, 177, 191–3, 208, 220, 222, 263, 320, 348, 376

Mohammed Said (Algerian), 266, 375, 378

Moor, A, 150

Morris, W., 159, 437

Motalga (clan), 194, 300–04

Mozart, 437

Mudowwara (place), 228, 233, 237, 238, 240, 241, 243, 249, 263, 293, 294, 315, 318, 320, 324, 335, 341, 438–45

Nablus (place), 351, 359

Nakhl Nubarak (place), 118, 130, 304

Napoleon, 50

Nasir (Sherif), 139, 163–84, 188–213, 219–21, 259, 298, 299, 323, 337, 355, 356, 363, 364, 368–79, 415

Nazareth, 351, 354

Nebk (place), 182, 185, 190, 191, 201

Nefudh (district), 171

Nejd (province), 146, 397

Nesib (the Syrian), 163–87, 196, 362

Newcombe, Colonel, 39, 139, 144, 154, 168, 169, 196

New Zealanders, 359, 361

Niebuhr (traveller), 35

Nisib (place), 356, 358

Nuri Said (Arab regular officer), 298, 299, 318, 351, 352, 354, 356, 357, 362, 364, 365, 368, 369, 377–9

Nuri (the Emir of the Ruwalla), 146, 175–86, 195, 201, 338–41, 348, 360–4, 371, 372, 375, 377–9, 382

Oxford, 11–20, 44, 49, 81, 114, 137, 165, 319, 334, 393, 399

_Oxford Book of English Verse_, 160, 161, 295

Oxford Street, London, 292

Owen, Wilfred, 417

Palgrave, William Gifford, 35

Palmer, Pte., 423, 424

Peace Conference, The, 187, 388–94, 397, 404

Peake, Captain, 442

Petra (place), 39

Petrie, Sir Flinders, 23

Pichon, M„ 391

Pisani, Capitame, 250–3, 348, 350, 351, 353, 356, 362, 365

Poole, R. L., 16, 20

_Proverbs, Book of_, 409

Pugh, Sergeant, 426

Quarter-Master General, 322

Rabegh (port), 78, 91–116, 120, 129–31, 154, 224, 415

Rahail (of the bodyguard), 285, 288–90, 340

Rasim Bey (Gunner officer), 126, 132, 164, 304, 347

Rayak (place), 190

Read, Mr. Herbert, 226

Reading, 406

Remthe (place), 279, 368, 369

_Revolt in the Desert_, 153, 381, 408, 410, 413, 415

Rheims, 45

Richards, Mr. V. W., 15, 329

Riddell, Lord, 391

Rolls, Pte., 349

Ross, Major, 155

Royal Air Force (Lawrence’s service in), 25, 294, Chapters 2 and 31

Royal Tank Corps (Lawrence’s service in), 25, 294, Chapters 2 and 31

Rumm (place), 232–7, 249, 250, 262, 290, 335–7, 440, 443

Ruwalla (tribe), 86, 146, 182, 188, 350, 359, 364, 365, 368, 371, 374. _See also_ Nuri, Emir

Saladin, 391

Salem (negro), 240, 242, 248, 249

Salem (Sheikh), 253

Salmond, Air-Marshal Sir G., 51, 328

Salonica, 73

Salt (place), 325

Samuel, Sir H., 157, 158

Sassoon, Siegfried, 417

Scott-Higgins, Captain, 442

Semites, The, 60

Semna (hill), 318

Senussi, The, 84, 146, 328

Serahin (tribe), 259, 271–83

_Seven Pillars of Wisdom_, 36, 160, 185, 189, 219, 226, 381, 393, 406–15, 423

Shaalan (tribe), 183

Shakir (Sherif), 152

Shammar (tribe), 146, 169, 176, 342

Sharraf (Sherif), 119, 164, 167, 169, 296

Shaw, G. B., 53

Shedia (place), 262

Sheikh Saad (place), 362, 363, 365

Shelley, 44

Sherarat (tribe), 147, 199, 200, 243, 265, 269

Shobek (place), 350

Shukri Pasha, 374–9

Sinai, 38, 81, 95, 213, 321

Sirhan, 147, 175–83, 196, 201, 270

Sleaford, 435

Smith’s Crisps, 433

Smyrna, 36

Somali camels, 342

Stamfordham, Lord, 392

Stirling, Colonel, 442

Stokes (Sergeant), 229–49

Storrs, Sir R., 90, 91

Sudan, 107, 113

Suez (town and canal), 59, 63, 83, 84, 114, 143–5, 162, 214, 215, 219, 325

Swift, Jonathan, 47

_Sykes-Picot Treaty_, 129, 185, 339, 390

Tafas (place), 286, 365–8, 371, 412

Tafileh (group of villages), 298–308, 311–14, 335, 347, 348, 350, 384, 416, 417

Taif (place), 91, 93, 116

Tallal (Sheikh), 257, 286–7, 353, 354, 356, 359, 361, 363, 364, 366, 367

Taranto (place), 291

Taurus Mountains, 18

Tebuk (place), 149

Tell Arar (place), 350, 352

Tell el Shehab (place), 271, 274–9, 355, 356

Themed (place), 213, 328

Thomas, Mr. Lowell, 11, 21, 65, 102, 188, 189, 326, 403

Thompson, Mr. Campbell, 22, 35

Tigris (river), 60, 85–8

Tremadoc (place), 12

Trenchard, Sir Hugh, 395

Tripoli (port), 385

Trotsky, 52

Turki (boy), 268, 270, 283, 284

Umtaiye (place), 348, 349, 350, 356, 357, 358, 359

Urfa (place), 18

Uxbridge, 26, 419, 420

Vickery, Major, 136–7, 141

Victoria Cross, The, 291

Von Moltke, 151

Wadi Safra, 102

Wahabi, The (sect), 400, 401

Wahid (of Carchemish), 29–31

War Correspondents, 383

Wejh (port), 117, 129–50, 154, 156, 162, 183, 188, 191, 208, 211, 215, 253, 260, 296, 385

Wemyss, Admiral Sir Rosslyn, 113, 216

Wilde, Jimmy, 81

Wilson, Colonel C. E., 130, 220, 224

Wilson, Sir Henry, 395

Wilson, Woodrow, 389

Wodheiha (camel), 311, 312

Wood, Captain, 260, 276–80

Woolley, Mr. C. Leonard, 26, 27, 38–40

World’s End, The, 194, 331

Yarmuk (river), 190, 258, 259, 263, 277, 290, 343, 351, 352, 375

Yasin (patriot), 189

Yemen, 61, 62, 136

Yenbo (port), 79, 112, 116, 117, 120, 125–35, 138, 154, 155, 215, 224, 294

Young, Major, 325, 328, 352, 354, 355

Ypres, 416

Yusuf (Sheikh), 261–2

Zaal (Sheikh), 171, 191–205, 220, 233–48, 260, 263, 268, 323, 364, 376, 415

Zeid, Emir, 66, 78, 79, 94, 116, 119, 121, 122, 125, 130, 133, 300–5, 309–13, 345–50, 358, 399

Zeki (the Syrian), 163–87

Zerakiye (place), 373

Ziza (place), 190

Transcriber’s Notes

1. Misspelled words have been corrected. Obsolete and alternative
spellings have been left unchanged. Spelling and hyphenation have
otherwise not been standardised. Grammar has not been altered.

2. Punctuation has been silently corrected.

3. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.

4. “* * * * *” indicates a larger gap between paragraphs at that point.

5. Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to after the paragraph.

6. Illustrations are indicated by: . They have been moved to be outside of text
paragraphs.

7. New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the
public domain.

8. “Edit Distance” in Corrections table below refers to the
Levenshtein Distance.

9. “Lawrence and the Arabs” was released in the United States under
the title “Lawrence and the Arabian Adventure” in 1928. The
book incorporated the corrections listed below. The maps were not
included and some of the illustrations were different.

Corrections:

pg(s) Source Correction Edit
Distance

90 departmen department 1
97 shurbs shrubs 2
128 stand sand 1
141 comany company 1
376 pospone postpone 1
427 Sermous Sermons 1