Two Years in Kurdistan: Experiences of a Political Officer, 1918-1920 |
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Common terms and phrases
A. T. Wilson Abdulla Agha Agha's Ahmad Effendi Ahmad Pasha Ainkawa Altun Keupri amongst Aqra Arab Arbil Division Arbil plain arrived attack Badawa Baghdad Baladiyah Baqubah Batas Bawil Agha Beg's Bituin British brother Captain Kirk Captain Littledale Choq crops Dagh Darband Dasht i Harir Dizai chiefs gendarmes Gorge Government Greater Zab guest-house Hajji Nauras Hama Agha hills Ibrahim Agha Ismail Beg Jamil Agha Kani Wutman Khurshid Agha Khushnao Kifri Kirkuk Kurdish Kurdistan Kurds large number Lesser Zab Makhmur Mesopotamia miles morning Mosul Muhammadan murder Mushir Mustafa Agha nahiya night notables Nuri party passed Persian Piran Political Officer possess Qadir Beg Qara Choq Rania Rawanduz Chai Rawanduz district rifles river road round Saiyid Saleh Beg Sawar Agha sent Shaikh Muhammad Agha Shaikh Obaidullah Shaqlawah situation stream Suayid Sulaimaniyah Surchi Tigris town tribal chiefs tribes tribesmen Turkish usually village Yusuf Beg
Popular passages
Page 366 - In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness. . . . In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
Page 1 - TRAVEL, in the younger sort, is a part of education ; in the elder, a part of experience. He that travelleth into a country, before he hath some entrance into the language, goeth to school, and not to travel.
Page 5 - Science is not content with removal of a priori objections. She must also have positive proofs. The ground must not only be cleared, but a true inductive basis of facts, and especially of laws and methods, must be laid. This was the life-work of Agassiz. Yes, as strange as it may seem to some, it is nevertheless true that the whole inductive basis, upon which was afterward built the modern theory of evolution, was laid by Agassiz, although he himself persistently refused to build upon it any really...
Page xiv - I have always made a rule of conforming to the native customs, so far as my conscience and the honour of my country would admit.
Page 36 - They are a 35 collection of tribes without any cohesion, and showing little desire for cohesion. They prefer to live in their mountain fastnesses and pay homage to whatever Government may be in power, as long as it exercises little more than a nominal authority. The...
Page 359 - But foremost in my mind stands the slight elusive figure of Nuri, a man fired with a purpose other than the avarice which is characteristic of his race, a patriot and a hero whom one would far rather see honourably reconciled than brought to the gallows. Without money or tribal influence, solely by his personality he became a force with which the Government found it hard to cope.
Page 65 - Lower down he often belongs to an entirely separate caste, and comes from a different stock to the tribesmen. The large tribes are divided into sections, and in different tribes we find many sections with the same names. This points to the fact that the sections represent the original owners of the soil, while the present chiefs belong to powerful families who have invaded their domains and seized their lands.
Page 3 - chief " was a personal friend, and the author and begetter of our efforts and ambitions. There must be few men who can exact so much willing work from their subordinates, and it is doubtful if there is any man who could have borne such a burden of work and responsibility as he did, or have faced so many difficulties in the spirit of the motto on the wall of his office, " aequam memento rebus in arduis servare mentem.
Page 81 - Robat to Mandali, we find a line of towns with Turkish-speaking inhabitants. It is practically the same line which divides predominantly Kurdish from predominantly Arab territory. Kirkuk is the main centre of this Turkish population, and before the war possessed 30,000 inhabitants. Several villages in its vicinity are also Turkish speaking, whereas the other towns are isolated communities surrounded by Kurds and Arabs.
Page 71 - ... with the utmost secrecy. So as to prevent the occurrence of any legal hitch, even the consent of the Muslim judge of Arbil was obtained. However, as was to be expected, these plans could not for long remain secret, and Rahman Agha planned revenge. One night Fatima was sleeping with her mother and her maid in a booth of branches just outside their house, when suddenly two men appeared and stabbed the girl and her maid to death, the mother narrowly escaping with her life. The bloody deed horrified...