'P G India Office Memorandum No B.437, P.Z.5620/1934, Historical Memorandum on the Relations of the Wahabi Amirs and Ibn Saud with Eastern Arabia and the British Government, 1800-1934' [‎14v] (39/82)

22
1865, Colonel Felly's Visit to the Wahabi Amir.
P.R. toBo., 110. In February 1865 Colonel Felly decided to visit the Wahabi Amir at his
14.2.65. ' capital. This visit is of some importance, as Ibn Sand has tended to suggest (both
Bo. to S. of reC ently, in 1911 (paragraph 148 below) and in 1913 (paragraph 152 below)
28365 14 ' that agreement (in 1911 alleged to have been oral) was reached between
para, s! Colonel Felly and his ancestor on this occasion. It may, therefore, be recorded
P.R. to Bo., that the Resident's visit, though subsequently formally approved by both the
No - 3 Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. and the Government of India, was undertaken on his own
8,i ' ()0 ' initiative and without any previous reference to or sanction of either Government;
and that the Resident had no instructions on the basis of which he could have
conducted negotiations. The Despatch reporting that he was proceeding to Riyadh
remarks : " I hope that I shall leave the Wahabi Provinces on polite terms with
Lor. 1,1118- the people, and with the prospect of more friendly relations with the Wahabi
20. Government. It is possible, also, 1 may find an opportunity for a casual and
friendly office towards smoothing the present differences between the Sultan of
Muscat and the Wahabis."
Bushire
Uesp. to Bo.
No. 57,
15.5.66
(published
Bombay
1866).
Para. 81.
Para. 82.
To Bo.,
14.2.65.
Para. 74.
No Agreement concluded with the Amir.
111. Colonel Felly's report on his visit makes it clear that there was no
discussion with the Amir regarding the conclusion of any treaty or understanding.
Towards the end of the visit, however, the Amir's Secretary (elsewhere described
as a " frivolous and vindictive mongrel") intimated that he (the Secretary) "was
very desirous that I should enter into some treaty whereby the Arabs of Oman,
Soor and the Fersian Gulf should be exempted from our slave piracy {sic) ; and
receive from us the same consideration which we had accorded to the Sultan of
Zanzibar in entering into a treaty with His Highness confirmatory of the slave
trade. The Secretary added that he was empowered by the Amir to offer an
exchange treaty binding him to prevent the Arabs of Oman and the Gulf from
committing depredations or injuring our telegraph establishments. The manner
of the Secretary became somewhat familiar and he stated that, as I was in their
capital it would be a convenient time to have a draft of the agreement made.
I rebuked his manner ; absolutely refused his request; and gave him his cong&"
There is no further reference in the report to the conclusion of any agreement, and
no reference was made to the point in the Resident's farewell interview with the
Amir, at which, however, the latter " expressed a wish that in regard to Qatif and
Oqair 1 would refer to him if piracy or wrecking happened and that he would
punish the aggressor to the utmost . . . begged me in like manner to protect his
maritime interest on the Fersian coast . . . concluded by expressing a wish that
I should write to him . . . and said that his curtness had been owing to his
previous relations with the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. , but that now he would turn over a new leaf
and had given instructions accordingly to his Governors on the coasts." There is
nothing to suggest that the Resident concluded any agreement with the Amir,
verbally or otherwise, that any understanding or agreement was reached during his
visit, or that the visit aimed at, or achieved, any object other than the establishment
of friendly personal relations, the dissipation of the view previously apparently
held that it was difficult if not impossible for a European to penetrate to Riyadh,
and some preliminary exploration of the ground in regard to the differences which
ad arisen between the \\ ahabi Amir and the Sultan of Muscat. Suggestions thai
Great Britain might assist the Amir in fighting the Turks or other tribes were not
encouraged by the Resident.
may •' :)e ac ^ ec ^ t ^ iat arnon g Lewis Felly's private papers Documents collected in a private capacity. in the India
e there exists a rough private journal of a fragmentary character, which
contains inter aha some notes of his conversations with the Wahabi Amir. Here
likewise there is no reference to or suggestion of any agreement, but the following
notes are of interest: "Assurance to niy interpreter after my departure that he
L tfnij was very pleased with the visit, that for the future he would open a new
9° o relations with me, and keep all his proceedings (? unveiled"* from and in
T h rae ," • ' • " Iraa '»'s remark that if more cat oft from
,, an 0 161 States, he was still an independent sovereign and feared:
no on©.