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Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎284v] (573/1062)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (527 folios). It was created in 6 Jan 1929-15 Jan 1938. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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32
, T marlp oral representations to him had been rebuked bv
KeSov^t for rp^liag to the Legation he said that there
could be no connection because only he, the King, my interpreter and myself
had had knowledge of our conversation. It did not occur to the Sheikh to
include in bis list the Minister whose acting Under Secretary he theoretically
was at the time.
4. I am sending copies of this despatch to His Ma 3 esty s High Commis
sioners for Iraq and Trans- Jordan, the Hon’ble the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and to the Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign
and Political Department.
( 26 )
{Received on 10th May 1931, with Political Secretary s letter No. 17, dated
the 23rd April 1931.)
No. 1.
Despatch from His Majesty's Minister, Jedda, to the Foreign Office,
No. 81, DATED THE OtH MaRCH 1931.
In my despatch No. 80 of to-day’s date I have had occasion to mention
the visit of Mr. Charles R. Crane to Jedda. As this event has attracted a
good deal of attention, it may be worth while to make it the subject of
a report.
2. It will be remembered that Mr. Crane visited Jedda at the end of
1926, as recorded in the Jedda report for December of that year. He did
not then meet Ibn Sand, but they exchanged presents. His recent visit
would appear to have been arranged by Mr. Antonins, who was formerly
employed in the Palestine Administration, and who assisted Sir G. Clayton
here at various times from 1925 to 1928. I first heard of it from Mr. Philby,
shortly before I received a telegram from Sir John Chancellor on the
subject.
3. Mr. Crane appears to have come specially from America to accomplish,
his personal visit to Ibn Sand. He arrived here on the 25th February and
left on the 3rd March. He was accompanied by Mr. Antonias. He stayed,
by his own request, at the house of a local notable who had entertained him
in 1926. He saw a great deal of the King in one way or another, both by
special arrangement and at functions.
4. In 1926-27 Mr. Crane was mal vu in French and British official circles
because of his association with Syiian revolutionaries. I have no lull
information on the subject, but my French colleague here tells me that, in
his opinion, the French authorities took a rather exaggerated view. He
seems to regard Mr. Crane as an amiable busybody, who makes oriental
peoples his hobby and who has money to burn, although he does not burn
it as fieely as he is sometimes expected to do. My own observation tends to
connim this. Mr. Crane called on me, and I entertained him a little during
his stay without going beyond the courtesy which it is natural to show in
this place to any distinguished visitor. He rode his hobby all the time,
caracoiing from Turkey to the Far East, and he seemed to be merely an
interested, though sympathetic, observer of experiments in uplift in the
df S ap;hr°~histoS” dWelt ° n th6 ma " y tHn S S he had ^
^„H 5 a Mr ' f Crail t iSint f eStedintheYemen > an<1 said to be building a
• en \ m0tiTeS - His Yisit t0 Jedda heralded by
ZZ i f ^ W f 8 ?? g t0 , gl T e ° r lend Ibn Sal «i a handsome sum of
the Kinff flr.rh P assed between them, except that, when
turnS o g n d hw a ,, Mr - P j 1 i by ?, 0n the 28th February, the conversation
the Yemen tn r' n ^ ^ r ' !; rane r, ® ere 'i to arrange for his engineer in
. -men to call m at Jedda on his next voyage up the Red Sea to size up

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Content

This volume compiles printed copies of letters, telegrams, memoranda and newspaper extracts relating to Britain's involvement across the Arabian Peninsula during the period 1929-1938. Whilst the correspondence encompasses all matters concerning British interests in the region, much of it relates to Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia). Matters discussed in the correspondence include the following:

  • Reports of unrest in the Hejaz.
  • Relations between Imam Yeha Hamid-Ud-Din [Yaḥyá Muḥammad Ḥamīd al-Dīn, Imam of Yemen] and Ibn Saud.
  • Reports of raids and arms trafficking on the Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan -Nejd frontier.
  • Reports of the proceedings of British naval ships in the Red Sea.
  • Details of the Akhwan [Ikhwan] revolt against Ibn Saud, including the movements of one of the revolt's leaders, Faisal Dawish [Fayṣal bin Sulṭān al-Dawīsh], and his surrender to the British in Kuwait.
  • Relations between Kuwait and Nejd.
  • Relations between Iraq and Nejd, including a proposed meeting between Ibn Saud and King Faisal [Fayṣal] of Iraq, and reports of a treaty of alliance between Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
  • Objections from the Hejaz Government to Royal Air Force aircraft flying over Nejd territory.
  • The purchase of arms by the Hejaz Government from Poland.
  • Ibn Saud's annexation of Asir.
  • The death of King Hussein [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī].
  • Harry St John Bridger Philby's conversion to Islam, his mapping of Rub-al-Khali, and his reported spreading of Saudi propaganda in the Aden Protectorate.
  • The currency exchange crisis in the Hejaz-Nejd and the financial situation in the kingdom generally.
  • Reports on a survey of the water and mineral content of the Hejaz coastal area.
  • Relations between Soviet Russia and Saudi Arabia.
  • The emigration of Jews from Yemen to Palestine, via Aden.
  • British fears that Italy might harbour ambitions to annex Yemen.
  • Saudi oil concessions.
  • Italian-Saudi relations.

Prominent correspondents include the following: the British Agent (later His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires) at Jeddah; His Majesty's Minister at Jeddah; the High Commissioner for Egypt; the High Commissioner for Iraq; the High Commissioner for Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan ; the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Kuwait; the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. (later Chief Commissioner, and later still, Governor), Aden; the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; His Majesty's Ambassador to Iraq; His Majesty's Ambassador to Italy; the Secretary of State for the Colonies; the Minister (and Acting Minister) for Foreign Affairs for the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia); Ibn Saud; King Feisal of Iraq; the Prime Minister of Iraq; various officials of the Colonial Office, the Foreign Office, the Air Ministry, and the Admiralty.

The French material in the volume consists of several items of correspondence and a copy of a treaty between France and Yemen, which was signed in April 1936.

The volume includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 volume (527 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

The items of correspondence are divided (roughly) into various sections. Each extract or item of correspondence within these sections has its own number, which is enclosed in brackets. These numbers proceed in ascending (and approximate chronological) order from left to right; however, the sections themselves proceed in reverse, from the rear to the front of the volume, in distinct groups (e.g. for 1929 numbers 1-23, which are located at folios 517-526, are followed by numbers 24-49 at folios 509-516, which are then followed by numbers 50-89 at folios 494-508, and so on).

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 529; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

Pagination: each section of correspondence within the volume (as described in the arrangement field) has its own pagination sequence.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎284v] (573/1062), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2071, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100061765165.0x0000ae> [accessed 13 June 2026]

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