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'File 61/11 V (D 95) Hejaz - Nejd, Miscellaneous' [‎101v] (219/530)

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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. .

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in about September last, having either completely failed to make headway earlier
in the year, or having been forestalled and thrown out of gear by the untimely
opening of the Ibn Rifada show. I lean to the former view, supposing that had
they made any headway they might well have expedited their programme during
the two months for which Ibn Rifada lasted, but that internal conditions in Asir
were not sufficiently favourable then. However that may be, it is clear from the
various sources of information that the Dabbagh branch of the Hejazi Liberal
party has had a considerable hand in the present revolt. It may have been the
prime mover, but it is more likely only to have supplied opportune assistants who
were in a position to introduce a certain directive force, a few arms and a little
money (though it is said that Asir has no need of arms), the promise of much
more and encouragement to look for moral support and perhaps future freedom
from the Amir Abdullah; whether or not his name was taken in vain there is no
present means of judging. But it is to be noted that the Imam Yahya has, so
far, either had nothing to do with this revolt or has hidden his tracks very
cleverly. I suspect, the latter.
5. Turning to the attached papers, which are chiefly interesting for the
light they throw on Saudi methods and mentality, one finds that in the
" Introduction," pp. 1 and 2, the. writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. (who may be Sheikh Yussuf Yasin) is at
pains to convince that any revolt against Ibn Saud is a revolt against Islam and
the Arabs, but he was premature in stating that the Idrisi had already come to
his due end of cc destruction and annihilation." In the "Beginning of the
Affair," pp. 3 and 4, he stresses ad nauseam Ibn Saud's magnificent patience,
which might, however, from the evidence here given, be more properly qualified
as criminal negligence, a point to which I will recur later. Passing over for the
purposes of this despatch the writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. 's account of the " Conspirators' Objects and
Plan," pp. 4 to 6, we find at the bottom of p. 6 what was apparently the Saudi
Governor's first note of warning of trouble in Asir in a telegram to Ibn Saud
dated the 26th September. He makes here the only unfriendly reference to the
Imam Yahya which is made throughout the exchanges of telegrams which now
follow, reporting that he was said to be mobilising troops to send either against
Jizan or the Beni Hasan (one of his own tribes). " (But the Imam seems to have
been always mobilising troops these past three years; to have kept people
guessing.) The Governor is also suspicious of a change of heart in the Idrisi,
since before the Ibn Rifada rebellion," but this last may be an editorial
interpellation; the whole series of telegrams shows, to my mind, signs of having
been heavily edited for publicity. Ibn Saud's reply of the 29th September, for
instance, on p. 7, is much too good to be true. Down to " so I ask you to be kind
<ind gentle to the Idrisi was almost certainly written ex "post facto, but the final
If he has evil intention, God will cause him to be defeated, while if what is
said is false, it is in the nature of most rumour " rings true.
6. For a month after this,exchange of warning and precept there seems to
have been no further cause for alarm, so far as can be judged from the one-sided
evidence here given, but on the 27th October began a rapid exchange of telegrams,
pp. 8 to 13, comprising increasingly serious reports from Saudi officials at Jizan,
wnicn end on the 5th November with the words '' we have enough water for some
days and upon God we rely," when they were besieged, and uniformly placid
Saud, of which that of the 1st November is typical* ' £ Accept
the Idrisi s apologies and show him the greatest respect. Facts must become
known Be very careful to show him respect and regard." (On the 6th Jizan
capitulated to the Idrisi). It is difficult to understand Ibn Saud's attitude,
unless it was due to extreme caution bred of fear that anv warlike preparation
on his part might bring the Imam openly into the field against him. His
telegrams as published show him to have been pacifist to a degree which allowed
the initial stages of revolt to develop unchecked. If they Ire apocryphal, as
seems probable, the fact remains that he appears to have taken no action to
lorestall the trouble so clearly foreseen and reported by his officials. He had very
few troops m Asir, it is true. About the 25th October his armoured car detach
ment, which had been stationed m Asir since the Jabal Arwa trouble of last year,
had actually returned to Mecca. If as much attention was not paid as
prominence has been given to conspiratorial activities in Asir, Ibn Saud must be
accounted either as a very negligent commander or as fearful of rousing the
Imam or as mvitmg revolt for ulterior purposes of his own

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
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'File 61/11 V (D 95) Hejaz - Nejd, Miscellaneous' [‎101v] (219/530), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/568, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023520517.0x000014> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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