Abdullah Al Damluji

Abdullah Al Damluji (Arabic: عبد الله الدملوجي; 1890–1970), also known as Abdullah Beg Al Damluji, was an Iraqi physician who served as one of Ibn Saud's advisers. He held several government positions, including the minister of foreign affairs of Najd and Hejaz and of Iraq.

Abdullah Al Damluji
Foreign Minister of Iraq
In office February 1942 – June 1942
In office 1934–1934
Prime Minister	Jamil Al Midfai
In office 1930 – October 1931
Prime Minister	Nuri Pasha Said
Preceded by	Office established
Foreign Minister of Najd and Hejaz
In office 1926–1928
Preceded by	Office established
Personal details
Born	Abdullah Said Damluji[1] 1890 Mosul, Ottoman Empire
Died	1970 (aged 79–80)
Alma mater	Military College of Medicine Haidar Pasha Medical College

Early life and education

Damluji was born in Mosul, Iraq, in 1890.^[2][3] He was a graduate of the Military College of Medicine and Haidar Pasha Medical College, both in Constantinople.^[2] He had a good command of French.^[4]

Career and activities

Damluji was one of the physicians who served in the Ottoman army during the Balkan War in the period 1912–1913.^[2] He was part of an Arab nationalist Ottoman military club led by Aziz Al Misri in Constantinople.^[3] Members of the club including Damluji had to leave the city because of their nationalist affairs and settled in Cairo in Spring 1914.^[2][3] After a while Damluji went to Basra and then to Riyadh where he joined the entourage of Ibn Saud as a physician in 1915.^[3][5][6] He was made a member of the royal court accompanying the foreign visitors^[5] and also, joined the Saudi delegations to foreign visits. In one of such visits Damluji accompanied Ahmed Al Thunayan, Saudi foreign affairs advisor, in Baghdad in February 1920.^[7] Damluji along with Hafiz Wahba also acted as a tutor to Prince Saud, son of Ibn Saud.^[8] As of 1922 Damluji was serving as the representative of Ibn Saud, Sultan of Najd^[1] and replaced Ahmed Al Thunayan as his chief foreign affairs advisor.^[9]

In 1924 Damluji was sent to Mecca together with Hafiz Wahba and Abdullah Suleiman following the capture of the city to monitor the social, cultural, political and economic conditions.^[10] In 1926 he became Ibn Saud's personal representative in Hejaz.^[5] In the same year Damluji was appointed the deputy minister of foreign affairs which he held until 1928 when he was replaced by Fuad Hamza in the post.^[4][5] In fact, Damluji was the foreign minister of Najd and Hejaz.^[11]

Damluji represented the Court of Nejd, the Hejaz and its dependencies at the Medina Railway Conference held in Haifa in August 1928.^[12] The conference was a failure which led to a border crisis between Saudi and Iraqi authorities.^[12][13] Due to this incident he resigned from office and did not returned to Arabia.^[12] He first went to Syria and then to Lebanon.^[13] He eventually returned to his native Iraq in September 1928^[14] where he became the consul-general of Iraq in Cairo.^[2] He was appointed minister of foreign affairs of Iraq in the cabinet led by Nuri Pasha Said in 1930.^[2][15] Damluji's tenure ended in October 1932 when Nuri Pasha Said resigned from the post.^[16] Immediately after this incident Damluji was named as the ambassador of Iraq to Turkey.^[16]

Damluji was elected as the deputy for Mosul and was appointed director general of public health in 1932.^[2] He was made the chief chamberlain to the King in 1933 and was again appointed minister of foreign affairs in February 1934 which he held for one year.^[2][17] The cabinet was led by Prime Minister Jamil Al Midfai.^[17] From 1934 to 1936 Damluji was director general of public health.^[2]

Damluji was named as the Iraqi minister of foreign affairs for a third time in February 1942, but his term lasted only until June 1942 when he resigned from office.^[12]

Death

Damluji died in 1970.^[3]

References

1. "Sovereignty of Umm al Maradin and Qaru". Arabian Gulf Digital Archive. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
2. "The Who's Who of Iraq" (PDF). Imara wa Tijara. 1936. p. 568. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
3. Adam Mestyan (2023). Modern Arab Kingship: Remaking the Ottoman Political Order in the Interwar Middle East. Princeton, NJ; Oxford: Princeton University Press. pp. 189–190. doi:10.1353/book.113384. ISBN 9780691249353. S2CID 260307818.
4. Leslie McLoughlin (1993). Ibn Saud: Founder of A Kingdom. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-349-22578-1.
5. Alexei Vassiliev (1998). The History of Saudi Arabia (PDF). London: Saqi Books. p. 299. ISBN 978-0863569357.
6. Mohammad A. Al-Harthi (2000). The political economy of labor in Saudi Arabia: The causes of labor shortage (PhD thesis). Binghamton University. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-493-00991-9. ProQuest 304665978.
7. Noel Walter Spencer Jr. (1979). The Diplomatic History of Iraq, 1920-1932 (Ph.D. thesis). University of Utah. pp. 213–214. ISBN 9798403473699. ProQuest 302993855.
8. "File 11/44 Leading Personalities in Iraq, Iran & Saudi Arabia". Qatar Digital Library. 13 January 1948. Retrieved 18 August 2023. Citing from the British India Office Records and Private Papers
9. Joseph Kostiner (1993). The Making of Saudi Arabia, 1916-1936: From Chieftaincy to Monarchical State. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-19-536070-7.
10. Mansour Alsharidah (July 2020). Merchants without Borders: Qusman Traders in the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean, c. 1850-1950 (PhD thesis). University of Arkansas. p. 230.
11. Daniel Silverfarb (May 1982). "Great Britain, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia: The Revolt of the Ikhwan, 1927-1930". The International History Review. 4 (2): 233. doi:10.1080/07075332.1982.9640276.
12. "File 11/44 Leading Personalities in Iraq, Iran & Saudi Arabia". Qatar Digital Library. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2023. Citing the British India Office Records and Private Papers
13. William R. Frye (15 February 1959). "The World in Focus". Lansing State Journal. p. 10. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
14. Muzaffar Iqbal (Summer 2016). "The Making of a Free Thinker of Islam (Part I) Muhammad Asad: The Pakistan Years". Islamic Sciences. 14 (1).
15. "Frontiers between Arabia and Saudi Arabia". Arabian Gulf Digital Archive. p. 70. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
16. "Cabinet of Iraq Falls". The New York Times. Baghdad. 20 October 1931. ProQuest 99256110. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
17. "New Iraqi Cabinet". The Times. No. 46685. Baghdad. 22 February 1934. Retrieved 13 August 2023.