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'File 61/11 VI (D 102) Hejaz-Nejd Miscellaneous' [‎95r] (210/522)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (259 folios). It was created in 2 Feb 1931-30 Aug 1934. It was written in English and Arabic. 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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^ occupation, and his forces were accompanied by Seyyid Abdul Wahhab al-Idrisi,
1111% despite the Imam's promise to relegate the Idrisis to Zebid. It was in consequence
fromj of these activities, which had created a storm of indignation in Saudi circles, that
11 arrangements had been made for the Amir Saud to go to the front and for his
1%; brother the Amir Feisal (for it was to him and not to Feisal-bin-Saud that the
ieftu Vmm-al-Qura referred), to go south also. War seemed inevitable, and it was
'rein necessary that a person of the heir apparent's authority should be on the spot to
verlj,,' take decisions. He had gone off on a date of which Fuad Bey said he was himself
ignorant, taking one of Sir F. Humphrys's wireless sets on which he could receive
messages, but which could not transmit more than 200 miles. His objective was
Bisha, but up to last evening there was no news of his arrival there. He would
0 1| probably get there about now. Meanwhile, reassuring telegrams had come from
the Imam and the Abha meeting had now been arranged. The trouble was that,
when he sent his messages, the Imam had not discontinued his activities in the
Beni Malik and Abadil country. The King, showing amazing patience, had fallen
back there in order to avoid a conflict. Military preparations were still in
progress on the Saudi side owing to the ambiguousness of the Imam's attitude.
The troops embarked here on the 16th January were part of the forces, which the
Amir Feisal (Ibn Abdul-Aziz) was to have commanded. Ibn Rubaiyan, the
Atayba leader, had also moved south from Taif.
I observed that it was natural to suppose that the Amir Feisal mentioned by
Umm-al-Qura as having been ordered to march along the Tihama, was the
Commander-in-chief in Asir. I was glad to get the correction, but it would be
even graver if the King's son, Feisal, had also been despatched. For the rest, I
accepted Fuad Bey's explanations without much criticism and with sympathy, but
said I had one complaint. I had been left to infer the importance of the Beni
Malik and Abadil area in the recent stages. I looked for greater confidence than
this showed. We had really done our utmost, more than he perhaps realised, to
avert a conflict. We had used influence to restrain the Imam, indirectly—he knew
what I meant—and then directly when the presence of Colonel Reilly at Sana gave
us the opportunity. It was a condition of using influence with the Imam that we
should use influence with Ibn Saud. We could only work with the Italians in
^ ^ friendly understanding, all the more so as the European situation required close
collaboration with them. I had been really alarmed just after the 16th January
lte lest war should be imminent and my Government had shared my alarm. Hence
e ' the letter I had sent to him yesterday under instructions. Mr. Calvert, I said, had
foreshadowed a written communication in the event of the issue of an ultimatum
' when it was thought that an ultimatum might be issued at any moment. The
'M E situation after the 16th January had presented an appearance so comparable in
its dangerousness that the written communication had now been made.
^ Fuad Bey assured me of the King's pacific intentions. The King could not
1 put up with anything and everything, but he had astonished Fuad and others by
ipF lis patience, e.g., by falling back in the Beni Malik and Abadil area. He himself,
to; Fuad, was strongly desirous of peace. What the King held he must hold, but the
country needed repose. They could not put their house in order if there were
gefj always troubles. He would go to Abha full of the most sincere desire to arrive at
was'- a settlement. I said that for my part I had been firm in the belief that there
dm would be no war if the King could avoid it, and that all His Majesty's efforts were
beii? 5 directed towards an honourable settlement. I admitted that the Imam was a very
difficult person to negotiate with. I expressed confidence that every effort would
be made on the Saudi side to reach a satisfactory conclusion at Abha and wished
jet, I Fuad every success in his mission.
loapf In the course of the conversation Fuad Bey showed me roughly on a map the
sirT'- lie of the land. He traced the boundary between Asir Tihama and the Yemen in
ar ticlf : a sort of S shape, starting eastward from the sea, then running northward so as
jfos^ to leave the Jebel Razih on the Yemeni side and Jebel Faifa on the Saudi side
j further north; then bending round again to the east. He placed the Abadil and
the Beni Malik along this last bend, that is to say north of the Jebel Faifa. He
# ™\f promised to send me a sketch map on the lines of the attached very rough
P^cil sketch( 1 ) which he made to illustrate his explanation. ^ ^
^:i ; | January 24,1934.
" (*) Not reproduced.
>1

About this item

Content

The volume contains two original files bound together. The first file (folios 1A-207) has the original reference 61/11 VI (D 102) and covers the period 7 November 1933 to 30 August 1934 and relates to Hejaz-Najd affairs. The second file (folios 208-243) has the original reference 61/6 VII (D 95) and covers the period 2 February 1931 to 5 August 1932 and relates to Najd affairs. Both contain letters, telegrams, memoranda, and reports sent between the British Legation in Jeddah, the Foreign Office in London, the Political Residencies in Bushire and Aden, the Political Agencies in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Muscat, the High Commissioner in Trans-Jordan, the High Commissioner in Baghdad (later the British Embassy following Iraqi independence in 1932), the Colonial Office in London, the Government of India, and Ibn Sa'ud.

The main subject of the first file is the territorial dispute between Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Contained in the volume are papers concerning Saudi Arabian advances into the territories of 'Asir and Yemen and the subsequent Treaty of Taif that largely settled the dispute. There is also coverage of diplomatic conversations between Italy and Britain regarding the dispute, including secret talks in Rome. Included is the full Arabic text of the Treaty (folios 143-150A) and an English translation (folios 156-177).

Other subjects covered in the first file are:

Notable documents contained in the volume are a report on the heads of foreign missions in Jeddah, and a revised (June 1934) report on the leading personalities in Saudi Arabia.

The subjects covered by the second file are:

  • details and significance of a resurgence in war dancing by the Saudis;
  • the visit of Charles Crane to see Ibn Sa'ud;
  • a request for military assistance made by Saudi Arabia to Turkey;
  • the conditions of entry into Hasa for Hindu merchants.

At the end of each file are several pages of internal office notes.

Extent and format
1 volume (259 folios)
Arrangement

Each of the two separate files which make up the volume is arranged chronologically.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The sequence starts on the first folio and continues through 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. There are the following anomalies: 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D; 11A and 11B; 24A; 30A; 132A; 143A; 150A; and 236A. There are two other sequences, both uncircled and incomplete.

Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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'File 61/11 VI (D 102) Hejaz-Nejd Miscellaneous' [‎95r] (210/522), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/569, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023576505.0x00000b> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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