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The Southern Boundary of Qatar and the Connected Problems. Report by J G Laithwaite dated 26 Jan 1934 and Appendix dated 27 Feb 1934 [‎4v] (8/10)

The record is made up of 1 volume (5 folios). It was created in 26 Jan 1934-27 Feb 1934. It was written in English. 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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8
alternative Hues is to be preferred ; the British Government have recognised
Khor-al-'Odaid as belonging to Abu Dhabi and the boundary consequently cannot
be placed nearer to Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , though the Al-Thani Sheikhs assert a right
to the whole coast as far as the Sabakhat Matti. It is said that three men
stationed at Dohat-as-Salwa, Sakak and Niqa-al-Maharah, respectively, can watch
the whole southern border of Qatar from sea to sea."
(ii) Khor-al- Odaid.
In Vol. II, on page 1367, Mr. Lorimer describes Khor-al-Odaid as "an inlet or
creek on the coast of the Abu Dhabi principality as its extreme western end: it lies
about 180 miles almost due west from the town of Abu Dhabi. The boundary of
Qatar is either at, or a short distance to the north of, the inlet."
(iii) , Aqal.
In Vol. II, pages 88-80, Mr. Lorimer describes 'Aqal as "a small littoral district
at the base of'the Qatar peninsula upon the east side ; it is bounded by Khor-al-Odaid
on the north-west and by Dohat-an-Nakharlah on the south-east, the distance between
which in a direct line is nearly 35 miles. Inland the depth of the district is on an
average about 20 miles." [N.B.—Nathil (Saudah) in 'Aqal is 20 to 25 miles inland,
Lor. II, 89. westward, from the foot of Khor-al-'Odaid.] " On the landward side 'Aqal is enclosed
by Mijan on the east, the Jafurah desert on the south and south-west, and by Qatar
on the north-west. . . . The Bedouins do not regard 'Aqal as geographically included
in Oman, wnich in their view is terminated on the west by the babakhat Matti; but
the district has been recognised by the British Government as forming part of the
territories of the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi, and must therefore be considered to belong,
in the political sense, to Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ."
(iv) Aim Dhahi.
In Vol. 11, page 405, under "Ahu Dhabi" Mr. Lorimer remarks: "Upon the
coast Abu Dhabi reaches from ... to Khor-al-'Odaid on the west—a distance of over
200 miles. The Sheikh of Abu Dhabi in 1895 claimed that his frontier extended to
the Bay of Umm-al-Hul, near Wakrah in Qatar, but his claim was not approved by
the Government of India; Bishairiyah has also been named as the limit of his State
in this direction, but no good reason has been adduced for supposing tiiat his
jurisdiction ever extended beyond Khor-al-'Odaid, though the northern shore of that
inlet should perhaps be reckoned as included with the inlet itself in his territories.
Inland the frontiers of Abu Dhabi are not defined, it is asserted that on the east
they reach to the Baraimi oasis, but without taking it in, and on the south they may
sumably be placed at the margin of the Kuba -al-Khali.
(v) Barr-al-Qarah.
Lorimer, II, 1482. " A coastal tract in Eastern Arabia which may perhaps be
reckoned as included in the Sanjaq of Ilasa [itself, for the puiposes^ of the Anglo-
Turkish Convention of 1913, included in the Ottoman Sandjak of Nejd]. It leaches
from Has-as-Sufairah on the north to the bottom of Dohat-as-Salwa on tho south, a
distance of about 36 miles ; and inland it extends to a depth of about 12 miles.
Upon the coast it meets Barr-al-'Oqair to the north and Qatar to the south of it, and
inland, in all directions, it merges in the Jafurah desert. Some authoiities would
even make Barr-al-"Qarah a part of Jafurah. . .
(vi) Jafurah.
Lorimer, II, 892, describes the Jafurah desert as extending " the whole way from
the Hasa Oasis to the confines of Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. . ... In shape it is roughly triangular,
with its apex on the north almost touching a line drawn between l lofuf and Oqair
port, and its other corners (to the south-west and south-east) ^ adjoining the Oasis of
Jabrin and the southern extremity of Sabakhat Matti respectively. . . . On the east
it is separated from the sea" from north to south " by Barr-al-'Qarah, Qatar, 'Aqal and
Mijan ; on the south it is bounded by the Ruba-al-Khali. It may be added here that
Jafurah encloses Jabrin upon the north and east and that, in the opinion of some,
Barr -al-'Qarah is a portion of Jafurah desert and not a separate tract.

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Content

A report concerning the demarcation of Qatar's southern boundary written by 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. representative, J G Laithwaite. The report (folios 1-4) is divided up into the following short sections:

  • The Boundary on the South-East;
  • The Boundary on the South-West;
  • The Position Prior to the Anglo-Turkish Convention of 1913;
  • The Anglo-Turkish Convention of 1913;
  • Line Indicated in 1922 by Sir Percy Cox to Ibn Saud and Major Holmes as the Eastern Limit of any Oil Concession in Respect of Hasa [Al Hasa];
  • I.P.C Map of February-March 1933;
  • Conclusions as to the Southern Boundary of Qatar;
  • Position of Area lying between Base of Qatar Peninsula and Blue Line of Anglo-Turkish Convention of 1913;
  • Importance of Maintaining the Blue Line;
  • Disadvantages of Maintenance of the Blue Line while Fixing Southern Boundary of Qatar at the Base of the Qatar Peninsula;
  • Nature and Political Conditions of the Indeterminate Area;
  • The Barr-Al-Qarah District;
  • Conclusions.

An appendix entitled Boundaries of Qatar follows the report on folios 4-5. The appendix is divided up as follows:

I) Extracts from Lorimer's Gazetteer.

II) Anglo-Turkish Convention of 1913 (Unratified).

III) Mr. Philby's Journey of 1932.

IV) Note of Discussion with Sir Percy Cox on 20th February 1934 on Question of Boundaries of Qatar.

Extent and format
1 volume (5 folios)
Arrangement

The main body of the report is followed by an appendix.

Physical characteristics

Condition: One stapled booklet.

Foliation: The file's foliation sequence commences at the first folio and terminates at the last folio; 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. This is the sequence which has been used by this catalogue to reference items within the volume.

Pagination: An original typed pagination sequence is also present in the file.

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English in Latin script
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The Southern Boundary of Qatar and the Connected Problems. Report by J G Laithwaite dated 26 Jan 1934 and Appendix dated 27 Feb 1934 [‎4v] (8/10), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B430, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023252863.0x000009> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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