Late for Tea at the Deer Palace: The Lost Dreams of My Iraqi Family

by Tamara Chalabi

  Tenta: convertible car

  Trammai: Iraqi colloquial term for tramway

  Acknowledgments

  THIS BOOK WOULD not have come to life without the help of many people, books, articles, photographs, letters and songs. It is simply not possible to thank you all, but I would like to give particular thanks to the following. Where I have quoted directly from a source I have included the page numbers on which the citation appears.

  Verse 71 in Ali, A. Y. (tr.), The Holy Qu’ran (New York, 1987) appears on p. 196; Allaf, A. K., Baghdd al-Qadimah (Baghdad, 1960); Allaf, A. K., Qian Baghdad (Baghdad, 1969); Allawi, A.A., Tajjarub wa Dhikrayat (London, 1999); Jawahiri, ‘My Brother Jaafar’ in Badawi, M. M., A Critical Introduction to Arabic Poetry (Cambridge, 1975) appears on p. 231; Baghdadi, A., Baghdad fi al-‘Ishriniyat (Beirut, 1999); Barker, A. J., The Neglected War: Mesopotamia 1914–1918 (London, 1967); ‘1958 Revolution Proclamation No. 1’ in Battatu, H., The old social classes and the revolutionary movements of Iraq: a study of Iraq’s old landed and commercial classes and of its Communists, Ba’thists, and Free Officers (Princeton, 1978) appears on p. 265; Bell, G., The Letters of Gertrude Bell, 2 v. (London, 1927), p. 802; Bell, G., letters dated 8/7/1921 and 4/12/1922 reproduced on http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk appear on p. 115; Caractacus, Revolution in Iraq (London, 1959); Chicago Daily Tribune newspaper (15 July 1958); Chiha, H. K., La province de Bagdad: son passé, son présent, son avenir (Cairo, 1908); Cooper, A., Cairo during the War 1939–1945 (London, 1989); Christian Science Monitor (14 July 1958); Dakkash, Laure, ‘Amantu Billah’ (song) on YouTube apperas on p. 167; Dijlah newspaper (1921–1925); Falle, S., My Lucky Life (Sussex, 1996); Verses 42 & 84 in Fitzgerald, E., The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (Oxford, 1981); Gailani al Werr, L., ‘A Museum is Born’ in Polk, M., and Schuster, A. (eds), The Looting of the Iraq Museum (New York, 2005); Geniesse, J. F., Passionate Nomad: The Life of Freya Stark (London, 2000); British Colonial Office, ‘Report on Iraq administration’ (London, 1922); British Naval Intelligence Division, A Handbook of Mesopotamia 1916–1917, 4 v. (London, 1917); Haidar, R., Mudhakkirt Rustum Haidar (Beirut, 1988) appears on p. 9; Hassani, A. R., Tarikh al Wuzarat al Iraqiyya, 10 v. (Baghdad, 1988); Ireland, P., Iraq: A Politcal Study (London, 1937); Khalili, J., Mawsuat al-Atabat al-Muqadasah, vols 9–10 (Beirut, 1987); Kojaman, Y., The Contemporary Art Music of Iraq (London, 1978); LA Times newspaper (14 July 1958); Layla women’s monthly magazine (Baghdad, 1925); MacMillan, M., Peacemakers: The Paris Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War (London, 2001); al-Mada newspaper (2003–2007); Madfa’i, Ilham, ‘Chalchal Alaya al-Rumana’ (song) on Ilham Madfa’i (2004) appears on p. 62; ‘Mali Shughul Bil Soug’ (Iraqi folk song), reproduced on http://www.ilhamalmadfai.com/lyrics.htm, appears on p. 69; Litvak, M., ‘Money, Religion, And Politics: The Oudh Bequest In Najaf And Karbala, 1850–1903’ in International Journal of Middle East Studies, 33:1:1–21 (Cambridge, 2001); Murrays’ Handbook for Travellers in Turkey and Asia (London, 1878); PRO BW 39/1; PRO E2515/1090/93; PRO E 6899/78/79; PRO FO 317/E6899/78/93; PRO FO 371/40014; PRO FO 371/34/98; PRO FO 371/5071, 5072, 5073, 5076, 5078, 5079, 6350, 6351, 6352, appears on p.p. 88–9; Faisal’s Coronation Speech recorded in Iraq Intelligence Report No. 19, 1 September 1921, in PRO 371/6353-W10532/100/93 p. 71, 6355, 133067, 133069, 133090, 134256; PRO FO 930/278; PRO FO481/1; PRO FO 624/1; PRO 624/30 appears on p. 107; ‘Proclamation of Lieutenant-General Sir Stanley Maude at Baghdad’, reproduced in http://www.harpers.org/archive/2003/05/0079593, appears on p. 65; MR97-269.5, US State Department; Qattan, A. R., Mudhakarat min Janub al-Iraq (London, 2005); National Geographic Magazine (December 1914, February 1916, April 1922); Qazwini, A. J., Tarikh al-Qazwini fi a’lam al musinin wal ma’rufin min a’lam al-Iraq wa ghayrahum, 1900–2000, 4 v. (Beirut); Rizk Khoury, D., The Ambiguities of the Modern: The Great War in the Memoirs and Poetry of the Iraqis (forthcoming); Rusafi, M., Al-Armalah al-Murdhi’a reproduced on http://www.aliraqi.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-55932.html appears on p. 34; al-Sabah newspaper (2004–2008); ‘Allahu Akbar’ (Sawt al-Arab song) reproduced on http://www.ebnmasr.net/forum/t90788.html appears on pp. 263–4; Qazzaz, Said, speech reproduced in al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper (17 March 2001) appears on pp. 312–3; Shahbandar, M., Dhikrayat Baghdadiya (London, 1993); Sheikh Ali, F., Mudhakarat Warithat al ‘Arsh (London, 2002); Lionel Smith Papers, GB165-0266 ALF Smith (St Antony’s College, Oxford); Stark, F., Dust in the Lion’s Paw (London, 1961); Stillman, N., The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times (Philadelphia, 1991); New York Times (14 & 17 July, 19 November 1958); Storrs, R., Orientations (London, 1945); Ta’i, J., Al-Zorkhana al-Baghdadiya (Baghdad, 1986); Time Magazine (17 June 1957); The Times newspaper (14, 15, 16 & 30 July 1958); Tripp, C., A History of Iraq (Cambridge, 2005); ‘Imnahu al Jad la al’abaya’ in Al-Uzri, A. H., Diwan al-Hajj Abdul Hussein al-Uzri (Beirut), p. 52 appears on p. 104; Wallach, J., Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia (London, 1997); al-Wardi, A., Lamhat Ijtima’yah min Tarikh al-Iraq, 6 v. (Beirut, 2005); Wall Street Journal newspaper (17 & 18 July 1958); Washington Post and Times Herald newspapers (16 June, 16, 17 & 30 July 1958); Wilson, J., Lawrence of Arabia (London, 1988); al-Yasin, M. H., Tarikh al-Kazimiya (Baghdad, 1970); Azzaman newspaper (2003–2007); Zubaida, S., ‘Entertainers in Baghdad 1900–1950’ in Rogan, E. (ed.), Outside In, On the Margins of the Modern Middle East (London, 2002); Zubaidi, F. (ed.), Baghdad min 1900–1934 (Baghdad, 1990).

  I am grateful to many individuals in different parts of the world who gave me their time, knowledge and friendship. In no particular order, thank you to Lamia Gailani al-Werr, Abbas Kelidar, Sami Zubaida, Hala Fattah, Haitham Hadid, Abdul Razzaq al Safi, Tamara Daghistani, Nasser Saadoun, Louay Suwaidi, Salwa Suwaidi, Nibras Kazimi, Dina Risk Khoury, Betjullah Destani, Safa Killidar, the staff of the London Library, Ms. Debbie Usher of St. Antony's College archives, Lamys Araktingi, Muhammad Biyara, Silvia Kedourie, Fatima Mudamgha, Houchang Chehabi, Kevin Conroy-Scott, Muhammad Hassan al-Musawi, the archivist at Downing College, Cambridge, Ali Bahruluum, the late Hussein Ali Mahfouz, Fadhil Chalabi, Yiorgos Borovas, Jonathan Foreman, Assaad Eskandar and the staff of the Iraq National Library and Archives in Baghdad, Rima Osseiran, Megan Ring, Issam Ibrahim, Lauren Rizzo, Alex Selim. Special thanks to Hassan Mneimneh, Fabio D’Andrea, Amr Shalakany, Elif Uras, Michael Soussan, Terence Coleman, Joumane Chahine. A big thank you to Justine Hardy for her infinite wisdom and kindness and to Fouad Ajami for his unstinting support and encouragement. I would like to thank my sister Mariam for her unswerving encouragement, my father Ahmad, and my cousin Nadia Chalabi in particular, who indulged my idea for a book long before it became one and helped me in its early stages and shared with me her many insights and her memories.

  At HarperCollins, I would like to thank Arabella Pike and Tim Duggan for commissioning the book, Annabel Wright, Robert Lacey and Sophie Goulden. I would like to thank Sue Lascelles for her wonderful support, Andrew Wille, Richard Kelly and Sarah O’Reilly. I would also like to thank my agent Elizabeth Sheinkman, and Jonny Geller and Felicity Blunt at Curtis Brown.

  To several characters in this book who kindly recalled their histories in Iraq and elsewhere, I thank them for trusting me: my cousins Ghazi, Ali and Zina, Leila, Mahdi, Issam, Mohammad, Ali and Sarah, my great uncle Saleh, my uncles Jawad, Talal and Hazem. A special thank you to my aunts Thamina and Raifa, who walked me through their lives with enthusiasm, drawing on all details of their childhoods in the Deer Palace and their time in Iraq, from the furniture to the flowers, and answering every query I had, however farfetched. Finally, I would like to thank my uncle Hassan, who took this book very seriously and personally. He guided me through the labyrinth of Iraq’s history and the family’s with passion, patience and dedication. He held my hand every step of the way. It is to him that I dedicate this book, with love.

  Searchable Terms

  The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate
a specific passage, please use the search feature of your e-book reader.

  9/11 375 Abbas, Sheikh 133

  Abdiya, Princess 268

  Abdul Ilah, Prince Regent

  becomes Regent 191

  flees to Transjordan 202–3

  returns to Baghdad 205, 206–7

  orders executions for treason 208, 234

  relationship with Nuri Pasha 220–1, 258–9

  dislike and unpopularity of 226–7, 247

  and Anglo-Iraqi Treaty 229, 230

  asks for money to be transferred offshore 259, 313

  murder of 262, 264, 266, 268–9, 322

  Abdul Wahab 166

  Abizaid, Lieutenant General 378

  Abu, Ahmad 186

  Abu Ghraib prison 273, 309

  Abu Hanifa shrine 197

  Abu Muhammad 372–3, 374, 378

  Abul Timman family 91

  ’Abussi, Abdul Sattar 268

  Afnan, Sayyid Hussein 106

  Agarguf 11

  Agha Jaafar, Abdul Latif 237, 313

  Agha Jaafar, Jaafar 295, 302

  Agha Jaafar, Najla Chalabi 130, 150, 159

  and the Eid festival 163, 165, 166

  dislike of modernising ways 194

  on holiday in Broumana 194

  and death of Rumia 219–20

  unwitting visit to the kallachiya 223, 225

  and the military coup 277

  children sent to London 295

  arranges for food to be sent to Ahmad at school 304

  attempted escape from Baghdad 309–11

  difficult marriage of 343–4

  exile in Britain 343–4

  and death of Bibi 363–4

  Agha Jaafar, Zeinab 295, 302

  Akbar, Ali 130, 151–2, 205

  Akhuwat-i-Iran 82–3

  al Tai, Yunis 321–2

  al-Abidin, Zein 115, 116, 151

  al-Anfal campaign 361–2

  al-Arab, Nabih al-Din 328–9

  al-Arab, Shehab al-Din 328

  al-Askari, Jaafar Pasha 139, 60

  al-Bakr, Ahmed Hassan 346

  al-Bassam, Aminah 55

  al-Bassam, Fahima 42–3, 55, 61

  al-Bassam, Kuku 235, 276, 295, 296, 326

  al-Bassam, Leila 220, 252, 274, 295, 351, 352, 364, 385

  al-Bassam, Mahdi 220, 252, 262, 264, 276, 302, 303

  al-Bassam, Murtada 266, 274

  al-Bassam, Rumia Kazimi (Postforoush)

  family background 36

  and choosing a husband for her daughter 37

  description of 37, 62

  meets her daughter’s future in-laws 40–4

  arranges her daughter’s wedding day 44–5

  and the mahir 46–50

  and her daughter’s trousseau 50–2

  and her daughter’s wedding 54, 55

  worries about the Chalabis’ lifestyle 59–60

  and British occupation of Baghdad 82, 83, 91

  preparations for King Faisal’s visit 100–1, 103, 105

  reassures Bibi on her fertility problems 108

  and blindness of her grandson Hassan 123

  visited by her grandchildren 161

  known by the telephone operator 162

  death of 219–20

  makes pact with her friend Amira 361

  al-Bassam, Saleh 195, 197–8, 201, 218, 247, 261–3, 273–4, 276

  al-Bassam, Sayyid Hassan 36, 38–40

  al-Duwayh, Rahim 126–7

  al-Duwayh, Zahra 126–7, 131, 134, 244

  al-Falaki, Adawiyah ‘Girl of the Bridge’ 230–1

  al-Farun–Imad 185–6

  al-Hakim, Sayyid Muhsin 362

  al-Hashemi, Yassin 152–3

  al-Hassani, Sayyid Muhammad Jawa al-Tag 179

  al-Hayat 331

  al-Husri, Sati’ 113–14, 116, 157, 183–4

  al-Jawahiri, Jaafar 231

  al-Jawahiri, Muhammad Mahdi 231

  al-Karkhi, Mulla Abboud 141, 167, 224–5

  al-Karmali, Pere Anastate 29

  al-Kazim, Imam Musa 14, 155

  al-Khalisi, Abdul Rasul (see also Khalisi, Sheik Mahdi) 290, 307

  al-Lampachi, Dawud 224

  al-Madfa’i, Ilham 69–70

  al-Madfa’i, Jamil 152–3, 208

  al-Majali, Abdul Wahab 367

  al-Malaika, Nazik 251

  al-Nayif, Abdel Razzaq 335

  Al-Qotob, ‘the Pivot’ 40, 52, 269

  al-Rashid, Haroun 14, 314

  al-Sadr, Bint al-Hudda 351–2

  al-Sadr, Sayyid Muhammad 84, 87, 91, 94, 231, 232, 333–4

  al-Sadr, Sayyid Muhammad Baqir 351–2

  al-Sadr, Sayyid Musa 335–7

  al-Said, Nuri Pasha

  relationship with Hadi 156

  as Prime Minister 199, 200, 220–1

  untenable position of 200–1

  replaced by Rashid ’Ali 202–3

  relationship with Prince Regent 220–1, 258

  Communist vendetta 221, 253

  rapport with Rushdi 226, 249

  replaced by Saleh Jabr 229

  and Arab–Israeli war 233

  policies and plans 253–4

  as official face of Iraqi politics 255

  and the Suez crisis 257

  takes refuge in Thamina’s house 264–6

  and murder of his son 269

  murder of 269–70

  al-Said, Sabbah 269

  al-Thawra 322

  al-Tikriti, Barzan 348, 351

  al-Uzri, Abdul Hussein 24–5, 29, 83, 104

  al-Uzri, Amira 25, 30

  al-Uzri, Issam 270, 271, 272, 286, 287

  Ali (clerk) 133

  Alia, Queen Mother 210

  Allawi, Abdul Amir 219, 257, 266–7

  Allawi, Ali 252, 276, 294–5

  Allawi, Ghazi 220, 252, 276, 292, 293–4, 302, 303

  Allawi, Jaafar 241

  Allawi, Raifa Chalabi

  memories of her mother 74–5

  and the Baghdad markets 75–6

  birth of 123, 124

  fascinated by chandelier in the dining room 131

  childhood of 149–50

  and the Eid festival 163, 165

  witnesses parental argument 173

  shopping in Beirut 194

  visits Cairo 218

  marriage of 219

  birth of children 220

  and her mother’s charity-giving 244

  and murder of Prince Regent 266

  exile in London 313

  dreams of Bibi 369

  Allawi, Zina 73, 326–7

  Alto, Alvaar 250

  American University (Beirut) 122, 178, 337

  Amir Abdullah 87

  Amir, Umm Abdul (see also Istrabadi, Bibi) 300

  Amira (friend of Rumia) 361

  Amman 344, 366, 367

  Anglo-Iraqi Treaty (1930) 147–8, 182, 202, 203, 229, 275

  Anglo-Persian Oil Company 235

  Arab Legion 232–3

  Arab Revolt (1916) 87, 89

  Arab–Israeli war (1967) 329

  Arab–Israeli war (1948) 232–3

  Arafat, Yassir 338

  Arbil 373, 374, 376, 378

  Arif, Abdul Salam 263, 265, 267, 278, 305, 322, 323

  Arif Agha family 91

  Arthur Andersen 368

  Ashura festival xxviii, 78–9, 243, 279–80

  Aswân Dam 257

  Ayubi, Ali Jawdat 323

  A’zamiya 197, 235–6, 241, 263, 277, 299, 320

  Azerbaijan 36

  Aziz (brother of Khalil the doorman) 341–2

  Bab al-Mua’dham (Baghdad) 154

  Bab al-Murad 4

  Baban, Ahmad Mukhtar 323

  Baban, Jamil 156

  Babylon 380

  Badiya, Princess 211, 261, 268

  Baghdad

  history of xxx–xxxi

  attempts at modernization of 10–11

  morale in 28

  arrival of German military in 31–2
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br />   treatment of army deserters in 32

  military casualties in 33

  British occupation of 63–7, 77–84

  beautiful memories of 74

  markets in 75–6, 120, 161, 206

  café culture in 79–80, 81–2

  opposition to British rule 88, 91–2

  King Faisal’s arrival at 102, 106–7

  education in 113, 114

  bustling streets of 142–4

  unrest in 151–2, 154, 160, 191, 202–10

  life and culture in 161, 166–7, 168, 169–72

  nightlife 173–4

  severe flooding of region 196

  seized by Iraqi Army 202–3

  Jews in 205–8

  great uprising in 230–2

  modernizing of 236–7, 245, 250–3

  military coups in 260–9, 276–8, 300, 309–10, 312–13

  and murder of the royal family 268–9

  British Embassy attacked 274