Siege of Najaf (1918)

Following the Ottoman defeat in the Battle of Shaiba in mid-April 1915, the Ottoman authority in the eyes of Mesopotamian Arabs had been discredited. In the city of Najaf, locals felt confident enough to begin directly challenging local Ottoman authority, and were ready for an open revolt. There are 2 different accounts as to how the revolt began: According to the first account, after Ottoman troops forced women to lower their veils while turning over every last rock in pursuit of the absent men, resentments finally boiled over on 22 May as rebels laid siege to government buildings and the army barracks, erected checkpoints, and even tore up the telegraph poles for several miles to prevent any relief from reaching the garrison. After a 3-day long gun battle, the Ottoman governor in Baghdad negotiated the safe withdrawal of the soldiers stationed in the city. According to the second account, a survivor of the Battle of Shaiba, Karim al Haji Sa'ad, entered the town, which was under martial law at the time, with 30 men through a hole in the wall and resisted Ottoman attempts to retake Najaf for 24 hours, before help allowed him to secure the city, leading the Ottoman troops present to withdraw. Charles R. H. Tripp notes that although the revolt was anti-Ottoman in a broad sense, the uprising was not in support of the British war effort and instead intended to grant the city higher administrative autonomy. In either case, the rebels had secured for themselves an independent city under the rule of 4 different sheikhs of the Zuqurt and Shumurt: Saiyid Mahdi al Saivid Salman, Haji 'Atiyah Abu Qulal, Kadhim Subhi and Haji Sa'ad ibn Haji Radhi. All sources agree that the British captured Najaf in 1917, but disagree on the details: According to Abbas Kadhim, Najaf's independence ended in July 1917 when the British appointed captain Francis Balfour as political officer for Shamiyya and Najaf. This was clear from the new taxation system and the appointment of political officers to each area. William R. Marshall, British commander-in-chief of Mesopotamia, stated in a report to London that the political officer in Najaf, William M. Marshall, was popular among the local inhabitants at the time of the uprising, and attributed the uprising to enemy agents. == Uprising and siege ==

In the morning of 19 March 1918, a number of Najafis led by Haji Najm al-Baqqal disguised as Shabanah, the British-employed Arab police, entered the citadel of Najaf where they assassinated Captain William M. Marshall, who had been stationed in the city since 1 February 1918. On 23 March, 4 days after the uprising began, the British began to besiege the city, surrounding the city with barbed wire. All supply lines to the city were cut off, leading to shortages in food and water. The Najafis took possession of a group of mounds, collectively known as Tel Huwaysh, and manned the city walls and bastions with troops armed mainly with abandoned Turkish rifles. The British put forth 4 demands: • The unconditional surrender of certain persons known to be the ringleaders and supposed to be among the attacking party. • A fine of 1,000 rifles • A fine of Rs. 50,000 • Deportation of 100 persons to India as prisoners of war • Until the above conditions are fulfilled the town will be blockaded and the food and water supply will be cut off Over the next 2 weeks, sporadic rifle fire was exchanged between the British and Najafi forces while the siege was increasingly tightened. The Najafis tried to seek help from the tribes, but their messenger was caught crossing British lines, and executed. On 7 April, the British launched a large artillery barrage and captured the Huwaish mounds dominating the town with 2 Indian battalions and evacuated officials. Unable to endure the siege, the rebels finally surrendered on 4 May and the blockade was declared at an end. Rebel leaders were sentenced to death on 25 May. == Aftermath ==

After the failure of the revolt, one of the uprising's ringleaders wrote the following poem prior to facing execution: A new uprising in 1920 would be much larger in scope and duration, but would nonetheless still be ultimately suppressed by the British. In 2015, a basic historical outline of the Najaf revolt entered the Iraqi educational curriculum, becoming part of the national history textbook for twelfth graders. == Leading figures ==

British army • Francis Cecil Campbell Balfour (8 December 1884 – 16 April 1965) was a British military officer and colonial administrator of Shamiyya. He organized the siege of the city. After the siege, he was thanked by the killidar of Najaf, suggesting that the rebels may have been attempting to curb the power of the clergy while in power. • William Macandrew Marshall (6 February 1889 – 19 March 1918) was a British Indian Army captain. He had performed military service since 1908. By 1915, during World War I, he served as the captain of the 37th Dogras regiment, serving in Mesopotamia. He fought in the Siege of Kut and partook in the conquest of Baghdad. Lieutenant General Sir William R. Marshall, British commander-in-chief of Mesopotamia, said he was popular among local inhabitants. In the morning of 19 March 1918, a number of Najafis led by Haji Najm al-Baqqal disguised as Shabanah, the British-employed Arab police, entered the citadel of Najaf where they assassinated Marshall. Rebels There were 12 ringleaders in total. • '''Mohammad Jawad al Jaza'iri''' (d. 25 May 1918) was a rebel ringleader and poet. == Historiography ==

Traditional Iraqi historiography sees the 1918 uprising in Najaf as a "test-run" of the later Iraqi revolt against the British. == Notes ==