Shaalan Abu al-Jun

Sheikh Shaalan bin Inad Abu al-Jun (شعلان بن عناد أبو الجون; 1864 – November 1941), nicknamed Shaalan Al-Shahd (شعلان الشهد), was an Iraqi politician, and one of the leaders of the Iraqi revolt of 1920.

Biography
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.

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, based on allegations of refusing to pay an agricultural loan debt. 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. This event marked the beginning of the Iraqi revolt of 1920.

Government career
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.

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