After his defeat by Prince Bariatinsky, Sheikh Shamil himself was taken off to Russia, but Mahomet Fazil Daghistani and others escaped over the frontier and joined up in the Turkish Army.

He was put in command of die Irregular forces which were dealing with tribal affairs in Kurdistan and he is mentioned for his popularity and abilities in Mark Sykes' book The Caliph's Last Heritage.

When the 1914 war broke out General Mahomet Fazil Daghistani took the field with his Irregulars against the advancing British forces and was eventually killed at the head of his troops before the capture of Baghdad.

Ghazi's elder brother, Daoud Beg, was a well-known figure on the racecourse and had a large area of property in the neighbourhood of Baqubah where he entertained with princely hospitality; he was a very keen shot and falconer.

He was subsequently employed in several important posts in the Ministry of Defence before being appointed Chief of Staff to the Allied Arab Commander in the short-lived Palestine Campaign in 1948.

The following address was read at his funeral: " To all here, the sudden death of this highly gifted and lovable soldier, Major-General Ghazi Mohammed Daghistani, comes with a sense of shock.

Those of us who knew him twenty years ago, gay and young, with a fine brain and a tremendous interest in his profession, considered him to be the out- standing soldier of the younger generation of the Iraqi Army.