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'File 61/11 VI (D 102) Hejaz-Nejd Miscellaneous' [‎101r] (222/522)

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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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animated by the friendliest dispositions toward him, but they had never passed a
judgment the elements for which were lacking. The quarrel related to three areas.
Firstly, there was the littoral of Asir, where the position was pretty clear, i.e., the
King held it and the Imam had asserted a claim to it without having attempted
to enforce his claim. Secondly, there was the mountain area, which fell to be
subdivided into two parts, as part of it had belonged to the former Idrisi territory,
which the King claimed in virtue of a cession by its previous ruler, while part
of it belonged to what was called Asir Surat, where the King's claims rested on
some different basis. Thirdly, there was Najran.
9. I said that the message sent to me'by the Minister for Foreign Affairs
on the 22nd March had suggested to my own mind two questions, one of which I
could not put to a subordinate secretary, though I had asked him the other. They
were these: (1) If the objective were the recovery of territory which the King
considered to be his, why should it be contemplated as necessary to cross into
territory which was admittedly the Imam's? (2) Was it certain that the acts
complained of were those of the Imam and not merely those of Abdul Wahhab,
the most strenuous member of the'family which had ruled Asir ?
10. Sheikh Yusuf took the second question first. He said there was no doubt
whatsoever that the Imam had sent his forces, had installed his officials and had
collected taxes..
11. In reply to my first question. Sheikh Yusuf said that he had no
knowledge of military affairs. It might be necessary to enter Yemeni territory
to get the best access to the areas to be recovered.
12. This, I said, did not quite agree with the Amir Feisal's message. He
had spoken of an advance to the frontier and to the possible necessity for crossing
it, when it had been reached. I urged that any invasion of the Imam's territory
would mean war. Sheikh Yusuf asked whether the Imam had not been guilty of
aggression, when he entered Saudi territory. I said that, if the King were sure
of his title he could no doubt have regarded this as casus belli. He had prudently
preferred not to do so because it did not suit him. If he entered the Imam's
territory he would be putting the Imam in a position to treat his action as hostile
and to declare that he had provoked war. This might not suit him either. The
position to-day as I saw it was that no formal state of war existed. The position
would be very different if, in the immediate future, there were a definite war, the
outcome of which no one could foresee. It was generally thought that the King
intended to produce this state of affairs immediately after the impending festival,
and Sheikh Yusuf himself had just used the phrase, "when the war begins.'
13. To reinforce my argument that the King should not precipitate a definite
state of war by invading the Imam's territory, I reminded Sheikh Yusuf that the
King was a party to a pact, the Kellogg Pact, the renunciation clause of which did
not apply to the present case, but which condemned war. The King would have
a position to defend not only militarily but politically.
14. I made it clear throughout that I was speaking merely for myself.
Indeed, I observed, I was saying much more than my Government would ever say
probably. I was not criticising the King. I was thinking of two interests, that
of the King and that of peace.
15. The following further points of some importance came out during the
conversation :—
[a) Sheikh Yusuf said that the King was on perfectly sound ground as
regards Jebel Beni Malik and Jebel Faifa, which had been expressly
mentioned at the time of the Arwa settlement, I said this was new to
me. Sheikh Yusuf said that, when the Imam accepted the King's
award, the Imam had expressed disappointment at not getting more,
but had said that he would abide by the award and had instructed his
delegates not to pursue the question of the Jebels Malik ana Faifa.
This had always been taken to mean that he agreed to their being
regarded as Saudi. t ^
(5) When Sheikh Yusuf referred to a Saudi withdrawal from Najran, I said
we had understood that there were no Saudi forces in that aiea.
Sheikh Yusuf said that there had been forces from Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Duwasir at
the northern extremity of the valley. When the Yemeni forces got to
Habuna and saw Saudi forces in the neighbourhood, the Yemenis
retired.

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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' [‎101r] (222/522), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/569, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023576505.0x000017> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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