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'File 61/11 V (D 95) Hejaz - Nejd, Miscellaneous' [48r] (112/530)
The record is made up of 1 volume (261 folios). It was created in 12 May 1932-28 Dec 1933. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOYERNMHNT
EASTERN (Arabia). - ( r July 13, 1932.
CONFIDENTIAL, /j A I QmmiTF^ S ection 1.
^ J
[E 3505/76/25]
Sir A. Ryan to Sir John Simon.—(Received July 13.)
(No. 258.)
Sir, Jedda, June 21, 1932.
SINCE writing my despatch No. 234 of the 17th June, I have heard various
reports, most of which rank no higher than rumours, but which are worth
recording, in connexion with the Ibn Rifada affair and its repercussions or
possible repercussions elsewhere in the Hejaz. The principal sources are my
Indian vice-consul, who recently maHfe a short stay at Taif, and the French
Charge d J Affaires, with whom I had a most unusual amount of general
conversation on the 8th and 20th June.
2. There has undoubtedly been much malaise in Hejazi circles for some time
past. It was stimulated by the King's trenchant address to the notables at
Mecca on the 22nd May, which has formed the subject of a separate report. The
news of Ibn Itifada's adventure fell on a soil of public opinion prepared for
every kind of untoward eventuality. Fear of Ibn Saud, fear of war and doubts
as to the stability of the regime are among the characteristic symptoms of the
general uneasiness.
^3. Old friends fought shy of the Indian vice-consul at Taif. The King
received him, but confined himself to conventional conversation on topics like the
weather and my health. The Khan Bahadur saw, however, the president of the
Legislative Council and picked up various items of information, from which it
would appear that the King is perturbed not only by the situation in the north,
but by the state of feeling among the naturally unruly tribes round Taif. It was
said that many of the leading men had been imprisoned, and that some were
released 1 after a few days, while others were detained. The King was also said to
be looking suspiciously towards the Yemen, to suspect Hashimite activity in that
direction, and to be contemplating measures in Asir, including the despatch
thither of one of the family of the IJIrector-General of Finance.
4. It was reported that the King had summoned the well-known military
leader, Khalid-al-Lowai, from Turaba for consultation, and that a few days
later fifty lorry loads of soldiers, which had been standing by outside the palace,,
left Taif, possibly to be placed under Khalid's command. The vice-consul saw
personally a certain Sheikh Abdullah Jefali, who played a role in the last war in
the Hejaz, mainly, I gather, on the commissariat side. This person was expecting
to be sent to Medina. The Amir Neshmi, who has apparently been in these parts,,
is said to have been despatched with a force to Wejh. What with these
movements and the turn out of tribal forces from the regions of Hail, Jauf, &c.,
the vice-consul's informants estimated that Ibn Saud was mobilising at least
5,000 men, with the object of inflicting a crushing defeat on the present rebels
and giving a salutary lesson to all and sundry.
5. The arrest of Faudhi-al-Kawokji seems to have created no small
sensation. It is undoubtedly connected with the Ibn Rifada affair as an
immediate cause, but it has its own background of rumour. It is suggested
{a) that the Amir Feisal had incurred the King's displeasure before he left for
Europe (compare Mr. Hope Gill's telegram No. 56 of the 8th May); (h) that
there is a split among the influential Syrians, and notably a great enmity between
Fuad Bey Hamza and Sheikh Yusuf Yasin, owing to an intrigue between the
tormer and the wife of the latter; (c) that Faudhi is a prot^e of the Amir Feisal;;
and [d) that Yusuf Yasin took advantage of the absence of the Amir and Fuad to
procure Faudhi's arrest on receipt of the news about Ibn Rifada. There is said to
be yet another lady in the case in the person of the Amir's latest wife who is
described as being a woman of Nejdi and Turkish parentage, born and educated
m Oonstantmople, strong-minded, and determined to make a man of the Amir
who is alleged to be much under her influence and to have agreed to discard his
other wives m her favour. Finally, there was talk in Mecca and Taif of other
arrests besides that of Faudhi, but of these I have no particulars
1516 n—1]
About this item
- Content
The volume consists of letters, telegrams, and memoranda relating to the Hejaz and Najd. Much of the correspondence is from the British Legation in Jeddah, with regular reports on the situation in that region sent to Sir John Simon, the Foreign Secretary in London. The rest of the correspondence is mostly between the Political 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. in Bushire, the Political Agencies in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Muscat, the Colonial Office, and the Government of India.
The main subjects of the volume are:
- the change in name from 'The Kingdom of the Hejaz-Nejd and its Dependencies' to 'The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia';
- the announcement of Ibn Sa'ud's eldest son, Prince Sa'ud, as the heir apparent to the throne;
- the territorial dispute between Yemen and Saudi Arabia after the latter's absorption of the 'Asir region into its kingdom.
A copy of the 23 September 1932 issue of the newspaper Umm al-Qura is contained in the volume (folios 57-58). It features the Royal Order proclaiming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Other miscellaneous subjects covered in the volume include:
- relations between Italy and Saudi Arabia;
- a dispute between Ibn Sa'ud and his agent in Bahrain, al-Quasaibi [‘Abd al-‘Azīz al-Qusaibi], over a debt the former owes the latter;
- a revolt against Ibn Sa'ud by tribes loyal to ex-King Hussein coming from Sinai;
- a request for a loan made by Ibn Sa'ud to the British Government;
- relations between the Soviet Union and Saudi Arabia;
- relations between the USA and Saudi Arabia, including the visit of a Mr Gallant looking for oil concessions;
- concessions for the building of the railway between Mecca and Jeddah;
- the prospect of Saudi Arabia joining the League of Nations;
- the case of two slave girls seeking refuge at the British Legation in Jeddah.
Other documents of note contained in the volume are:
- a copy of a new customs tariff for Saudi Arabia (folios 122-134)
- a 'Who's Who' of Saudi Arabia, produced by the British Legation in Jeddah and covering all those deemed important to know by the British (folios 183-200);
- an envelope containing the torn-out pages of an article in the International Affairs journal (Vol. 12, No. 4, Jul., 1933, pp 518-534) entitled 'Ibn Sa'ud and the Future of Arabia.'
At the back of the volume (folios 245-251) are internal office notes.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (261 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arrranged chronologically.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The sequence starts on the first folio and continues to the inside back cover. The numbers are written in pencil, circled and 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. Note that following f 1 are folios 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D. The sequence then continues as normal from folio 2. There are two other foliation systems present but both are inconsistent and neither are circled.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/568
- Title
- 'File 61/11 V (D 95) Hejaz - Nejd, Miscellaneous'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 1r:1v, 1ar:1ev, 8v:11v, 15r:43v, 45v:56v, 59r:64r, 69v:118v, 120v:127v, 128v:133v, 134v:149v, 151v:161v, 162v:164v, 166r:166v, 168r:171v, 172v:174v, 175v:179v, 181r:201r, 202v:212v, 222r:225r, 226r:243v, 244v:256v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence