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'File 61/11 V (D 95) Hejaz - Nejd, Miscellaneous' [168r] (352/530)
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
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T HIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJEST Y'S GOVERNMENT
, v*\3
EASTERN (A rabia ). |V pj£ "■siptNG Y, j May 17, 1933.
CONFIDENTIAL. flH S ection 1.
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[E 2491/840/25] ^ ^
Sir John Simon to Sir A. Ryan (Jedda).
(No. 124.)
Sir, Foreign Office, May 17, 1933.
WITH reference to your despatch No. 289 of the 16th July, 1931, I have to
inform you that the question of the possible entry of Saudi Arabia into the League
of Nations has been under further consideration.
2. On the 3rd March the Saudi Arabian Minister referred to this subject
in a conversation with Sir L. Oliphant, and requested the views and advice of
His Majesty's Government. The following points were raised in the ensuing
discussion :—
(a) The Hejaz had originally come within the wording of article 1 of the
Covenant of the League, which runs as follows : " The original
members of the League of Nations shall be those of the signatories
which are named in the annex to this Covenant''; but the name had
completely disappeared from the title of Ibn Sand's present
dominions, and it therefore seemed that, if at any time Saudi Arabia
were to ask for admission to the League, this request would have to
come as from a new country. The Minister entirely agreed in this
view, and saw no objection to such a procedure.
(b) The League of Nations requires to be satisfied that an applicant State
has established and well-defined frontiers. Sir L. Oliphant referred
to the settlement which was reported to have been reached between
King Ibn Saud and the Imam of the Yemen as to the Asir-Yemen
frontier, but expressed some doubt whether this and the provisional
nature of the frontier with
Transjordan
Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan
would be adequate to satisfy
the League. Sheikh Hafiz Wahba replied that the Asir-Yemen
frontier was not entirely fixed, but the differences were of a very minor
character, and he did not anticipate trouble from them.
{c) Continuance of slavery might be severely criticised at Geneva. The
Minister at once appealed to the precedent of Abyssinia, and added
that he himself had raised this possible difficulty with King Ibn Saud,.
who felt that, if his country were a member of the League, the League
might help him in the matter of anti-slavery measures.
3. The Minister said that, above all, he wished to avoid a situation in
li, which, when Saudi Arabia had applied for membership of the League, her
request should be rejected. He was certain, however, that if His Majesty's
Government were to champion the Saudi cause, the candidate whom they
supported would be successful. It was explained to him that the result of any
application for League membership could never be regarded as certain before
hand, and that His Majesty's Government rarely, if ever, promised their support
to a candidate in advance.
4. On the 11th May Sir L. Oliphant received a further visit from Sheikh
Hafiz Wahba, who on this occasion stated that, while the Saudi Government did
not wish to ask for a definite promise of support from His Majesty's Government,
they would be glad to know whether an application by Saudi Arabia for member
ship of the League of Nations would be favourably viewed by His Majesty's
Government. He was again referred to the objections stated in (b) and (c) of the
preceding paragraph, and, as he had only raised the question in an entirely
informal manner, agreed not to press for an immediate answer.
5. In the light of these two interviews the arguments both in favour of
and against the admission of Saudi Arabia into the League have again been
considered. Two of the objections which were originally seen to the Saudi
candidature and which were set out in paragraphs 3 to 5 of Mr. Arthur
Henderson's despatch No. 137 of the 8th April, 1931, still remain valid. Saudi
[795 r —i]
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