'Relations with Ibn Sa'ud: note prepared by Arab Bureau, Irak Section' [‎1r] (1/10)

B. 251.
RELATIONS WITH IBN SA'CJD.
Note prepared In Aral) Bureau, Irak Section.
1. 'Abdul 'Aziz Ibn Sa'ud, the present Hakim of Kajd, may be said to
have begun liis reign in 1901, when he was proclaimed Governor of Riyadh
by his father, Abdul liahman. The Sa'nd family were at that time in
exile, having been driven out of their dominions in 1891 by their hereditary
loe, Ibn Uashid. In 1902, 'Abdul 'Aziz, with'the help o[ Mubarak Ibn
Sabah, Shaikh of Kuwait, recovered Riyadh in a daring raid which he led
in person, and by 1906 he had so far re-established the old supremacy of
the hand as to carry hostilities to the gates of Hail. During the years
succeeding his return to Riyadh he acted in close alliance with the Shaikh
of Kuwait, who had every reason for desiring the curtailing of Rashifl
influence. For the Rashid were allies and, in a remote acceptation of the
term, vassals of the Ottoman Empire, subsidised and backed by Constanti
nople. and they represented in Arabia the Turkish policy of centralisation
which the Shaikh was covertly resisting in his own territories. His
geographical position on the shores of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. had placed him in
relations with the British Government; since 1899 wc had had a friendly
understanding with him, and had promised to support him against
Ottoman aggression. But the existence of this connection made us
unwilling to see him drawn into the confused and uncertain feuds of
the interior; and acting on the principle laid down in 1897 that we were
" not disposed to interfere more than was necessary for the maintenance
" ot general peace in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ," we had discouraged him from
embroiling himself in Central Arabian affairs. Ibn Sa'ud, in spite
of his growing importance, was outside the limits of our interest, thus
appointed, and it was not until 1911 that special attention wras drawn to him
in our official reports. In that year Captain Shakespear, 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.
at Kuwait, while on tour, met him by chance in ihe desert and was hospitably
entertained in his camp. Ibn Sa'ud expressed to him a desire to be received
into a recognised relationship with Great Britain ; he referred to Colonel
Pelly's visit to Riyadh in 18(35, and to the overtures made to us by his
father, 'Abdul Rahman, in 1904, when a British Agent was lirst appointed to
Kuwait, lie spoke in strong terms of the hatred which the Arabs entertained
for the Turjcs and of his own resentment of their occupation of the Hasa, a
province which he was particularly anxious to regain, not only because it
formed part of his ancestral dominions, but also because it would give him
access to the sea and control over the tribes from Riyadh to the coast. He
regarded with grave apprehension the aggressive policy of the new regime
in Turkey, and would welcome, if he recovered the Hasa, a British Agent in
one of his ports ; and he added that our trade would benefit from the increased
security which he would maintain on the caravan routes. Captain
Shakespear could make no other rejoinder than that the British Government
confined its interests to the coast, and had never challenged Turkish claims
to the ordering of affairs in Central Arabia, with which we had no concern ;
that we were, moreover, on amicable terms with Turkey and should be
averse from anything in the nature of intrigue against the Ottoman-Govern
ment ; but in his comments on the report of this interview, Sir Percy Cox
pointed out that as the Porte seemed disposed to be intractable in the
adjustment of matters relating to British interests in the Gulf, we could not
afford to ignore Ibn Sa'ud's attitude. His personal authority had greatly
increased and it would be well to entertain cordial if distant relations with
him. The Foreign Office, however, decided that it was impossible at that
time to swerve from our policy of strict non-interference.
2. Two years later Ibn Sa'ud, without the assistance which he had tried to
obtain from us, though he was credited throughout Arabia with having
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