Southern Asia 1918: Capture of Damascus

Changes to the map 16 August 1918–5 October 1918

The Allies have invaded Bulgaria, forcing that country to sign an armistice and exposing the Ottoman capital of Constantinople to attack by land.

In Palestine/Syria, the Allies have broken through at Megiddo, capturing Nablus and Amman. With British encouragement, the Sharifian Army of Emir Faisal has officially entered Damascus on 1 October - although British units had already passed through that city earlier that day. From here Faisal has declared the independence of Syria and, against British wishes and to French consternation, sent men to take the surrender of Beirut.

The British and Arab capture of Amman and Daraa have ended Ottoman control of the Hejaz Railway. Thus the Ottoman garrison in Medina is now completely isolated.

In Azerbaijan, Dunsterville has fled Baku in the face of the Ottoman offensive.

In Persia, the Ottomans have captured Mianeh, but this is their last offensive and they are now withdrawing to defend Mesopotamia, Syria, and Thrace. Near Bushehr, German-supported tribes are still causing some problems.

British Protectorates in the Persian Gulf

The British Residency of the Persian Gulf maintained British India's influence in a number of Gulf states from the 19th Century until 1947. These states were nominally independent - and shown as such in most atlases from the period - but all signed treaties guaranteeing British control over their foreign affairs.

The Sultanate of Muscat and Oman was 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 was the region to the west of Oman which collectively signed treaties with Britain. The sheikhdoms of this region were often called the Trucial States, and later became the United Arab Emirates. However at this time they had little unity, with no regional council until 1952.

Indian Empire

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

The area under direct British rule was 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, were the hundreds of protectorates or 'princely states'. These were indirectly ruled states, the largest being Hyderabad, Kashmir, and Mysore. The others were either collected into agencies - which might in turn contain other smaller agencies - or fell under the sway of the provinces.