Shaalan Abu al-Jun

Abu al-Jun was the head of Al-Zawalem tribe, one of the tribes of the city of Al-Rumaitha in southern Iraq. On 25 June 1920, Lieutenant P. T. Hyatt reported to the governor of Al Diwaniyah, Major Clive Kirkpatrick Daly, that Abu al-Jun was inciting the public to rebel against the British rule. Hence, Daly ordered his arrest and to be transported by rail to Al Diwaniyah.[1]

On 30 June, he was summoned by deputy Hyatt in al-Rumaitha while having a meeting with his tribe members. Hyatt confronted Abu al-Jun who criticized the British treatment of the natives, and arrested him,[2] based on allegations of refusing to pay an agricultural loan debt.[3] Later that day at 4 pm, 1,200 men of the Zawalim tribe, under the leadership of Sheikh Ghathith al-Harjan from Hajim tribe, managed to revolt and rescue him from captivity at a train depot in Al-Rumaitha before extradition, killing a local Arab guard in the process, then they sabotaged the railway and telegraph communications in the town.[4][5] This event marked the beginning of the Iraqi revolt of 1920.[6]

He held multiple positions in the Iraqi government that was created in the aftermath of the revolt. He was elected as a representative of Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate in the Iraqi Parliament between 1930–1932, and was re-elected in February 1937.[7]

Abu al-Jun died in November 1941.[7] His son Abdel Ameer also became a member of the parliament in 1943 and 1947.

• Muhammad Hasan Abi al-Mahasin
• Ja'far Abu al-Timman
• Muhsin Abu-Tabikh

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• Al-Haydari, Ibrahim (2017). The tragedy of Karbala (in Arabic). Dar al Saqi. ISBN 9786144253144.
• Basri, Mir (2004). Political figures in modern Iraq (in Arabic) (1st ed.). Dar Al-Hikmah. ISBN 9781904923114.
• Kadhim, Abbas (2012). Reclaiming Iraq: The 1920 Revolution and the Founding of the Modern State. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-73924-6.
• Rutledge, Ian (2015). Enemy on the Euphrates: The Battle for Iraq, 1914–1921. Saqi. ISBN 9780863567674.
• Tauber, Eliezer (1995). The Formation of Modern Syria and Iraq. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781135201180.