Southern Asia 1922: Uqair Protocol

Uqair Conference: The southern borders between Iraq, Kuwait, and Nejd have been defined. Two neutral zones - between Iraq and Nejd, and between Kuwait and Nejd - have been set up for the free passage of nomads from neighboring countries.

Turkish War of Independence: The Turks have captured Smyrna from the Greeks and gone on to threaten British positions in the Turkish Straits (the Chanak Crisis). This has led to the signing of the Armistice of Mudanya, whereby Greece has renounced its claim to Smyrna and Eastern Thrace, bringing the war to an end.

Persia: Simko Shikak's Kurdish Republic has fallen to the forces of the Persian government.

British Protectorates in the Persian Gulf

The British Residency of the Persian Gulf maintains British India influence in a number of Gulf states. These states are nominally independent - and shown as such in most atlases from the period - but have all signed treaties guaranteeing British control over their foreign affairs.

The Sultanate of Muscat and Oman is the only one of these states with significant international relations, having obtained trade agreements with the US and France before it signed its treaty with Britain. Maps of the time often show Trucial Oman and even Qatar as regions of Oman.

Trucial Oman is the region to the west of Oman which collectively signed treaties with Britain. The sheikhdoms of this region are often called the Trucial States, and will become the United Arab Emirates. However at this time they have little unity, with no regional council until 1952.

Indian Empire

The British Indian Empire, also known as the British Raj, is comprised of a complex of presidencies, provinces, protectorates, and agencies. Only the top level subdivisions are shown here.

The area under direct British rule is known as British India and made up of presidencies and provinces - a presidency simply being the name for an older province.

Outside British India, but often included within the sphere of the presidencies/provinces, are the hundreds of protectorates or 'princely states'. These are indirectly ruled states, the largest being Hyderabad, Kashmir, and Mysore. The others are either collected into agencies - which may in turn contain other smaller agencies - or fall under the sway of the provinces.

Main Events

9 Sep 1922 Capture of Smyrna ▲

After the evacuation of the last Greek troops from Smyrna on the evening of Friday 8 September, the first Turkish forces arrive in the city the next morning. Order and discipline among the troops soon breaks down, with Turkish soldiers targeting the Armenian and Greek population. Four days later fire will break out in the Armenian quarter, the start of a conflagration which will engulf the city. in wikipedia

11 Oct 1922 Armistice of Mudanya ▲

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey signs the Armistice of Mudanya with the United Kingdom, France, and Italy at the Mudanya, western Anatolia, bringing an end to the Turkish War of Independence. The three powers agree that the Greeks will evacuate eastern Thrace as far as the Maritsa River and Adrianople. The Kingdom of Greece will accede to the armistice on 14 October. in wikipedia

1 Nov 1922 Abolition of the Ottoman Sultanate ▲

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey abolishes the Ottoman Sultanate, ending the Ottoman Empire—which was founded in 1299. The last sultan, Mehmed VI, departs Constantinople, the Ottoman capital, on 17 November, taking passage aboard the British battleship HMS Malaya for exile in Malta. in wikipedia

2 Dec 1922 Uqair Protocol ▲

Percy Cox, the British High Commissioner to Iraq, meets with Sultan ibn Saud of Nejd and Major John More, the Political Agent to Kuwait, at Uqair in the Sultanate of Nejd, to find a solution to Ikhwan raids into Iraq and Kuwait from Nejd. They agree on the Uqair Protocol, whereby Kuwait surrenders 2/3rds of its territory and clear boundaries between the three countries—including a Saudi-Iraqi neutral zone and a Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone—are defined. in wikipedia