Exhibits
Our Exhibits are short collections of documents (typically > 10) from our digital archive, curated by the WFTA team, to provide a quick overview of a particular theme. These would be particularly useful for students who are new to the topic or archival research. We have also included research notes and reading lists for students and researchers alongside each document within an Exhibit to highlight why these documents are important.
Harm to Indian Troops and Officers during the Mesopotamia Campaign
Focusing on Sir Stanley Maude’s victory address to the people of Baghdad, this exhibit highlights the difference between how the sacrifice of Indian troops and officers was acknowledged in the Mesopotamian Commission compared with Maude’s speech.
The first source clarifies the Indian contribution to the war effort according to data collected by the War Office. The second source – Maude’s address to the people of Baghdad – highlights Maude’s ignorance towards the sacrifice of Indian troops and officers during the advance. The final three sources study the Commission’s scrutiny of British treatment of Indian troops and officers; it also investigates how the Commission’s data was collected, and when did this data become readily available to high-ranking British officials.
Indian Involvement in the Mesopotamia Campaign
This exhibit contains reports speaking of the Indian contribution to Britain’s army, in specific numbers both in terms of manpower and material support.
This collection of documents would be a useful source for those trying to understand the various aspects of the Indian involvement in the Mesopotamia campaign of the First World War. However, our project focuses on collecting documents collated/produced by the Mesopotamia Commission and these documents do not include Indian voices. For understanding this side of the story, we have listed below some additional resources that might be useful. These include helpful secondary literature as well as letters, diaries, songs, and other primary sources.