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'Memorandum on British Commitments to King Husein' [108v] (14/20)
The record is made up of 10 folios. It was created in 1918. 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.
14
On the 15th November, 1916, Lord Bertie telegraphed that the French Govern
ment had instructed Colonel Bremond not to address the Shenf as His Majesty. _
On the 27th November, 1916, the French Government suggested to His Majesty s
Government, through their Ambassador in London, that Shent Huseins title snould
be "Malik al Haramein" (King of the two Holy Cities) anu his style Siyadiya
( ^Onthe ^4 th "riecemberl'l 916, Sir R. Wingate telegraphed (No 531 that, in the reply
from His Majesty's Government to the Sherif, which by this time had been despatched,
he had styled him " Sahib al Siyada." But he criticised the proposed title of " Malik
al Haramein " on account of its possible religious connotation. It was also objected to
on the same grounds by Sir H. McMahon and by the I.idia Office," and both proposed
independently the title "King of the Hejiz," which had been Str H. McMahons
OTlg 'A tekgSm w" s accordingly sent to Sir R- Wingate instnicting him to .ddress the
Sherif as "His Lor<W>«p " (Siyada) "the King (Mahk)of Hejaz, ami this style and title
have been adhered to since. 42 ' At the same time Colonel Wilson was instructed, at the
^motion of the
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.
, to explain to the Sherif that the limitation of the title
Sot affeot tite Agreement between His Majesty's Government and him.'*
The Sherif did not question His Majesty's Government's decision (presumably
])ecause he knew himself to have been in the wrong in acting without their knowledge),
but it is evident th^t he considers that the wider title is properlv his.
For example, in January, 1917, he seems to have composed a second message to the
people of Irak in which he signed himself" King of the Arab country and Sherif and
Amir of Mecca." 44 Again, when he was asked by Commander Hogarth in January,
1918, 45 to compose a message for the Arabs of Jerusalem, he proposed to sign it as " King
of the Arabs " or " of the Arab nation " ; and even when he abandoned this signature,
he drafted the message in terms which implied this title so patently that he
had to be prevailed upon to draft it again.
" It is obvious," Commander Hogarth wrote, in his report to Sir R. Wingate
on this mission, "that the King regards Arab unity as synonomous with his
own kingship, and as a vain phrase unless so regarded. . . . . ^
" While the King accepted without demur His Majesty's Governments
declaration on this matter, as conveyed in Foreign Office telegram No. 6 of the
6th November, 19 1G, to yourself, he left me in little doubt that he secretly regards
this as a point to be reconsidered after the Peace, in spite of my assurance that it
was to be a definitive arrangement. He compared ourselves and himself (in his
habitual homely way) to two persons about to inhabit one house but not
agreed which should take which floor or rooms. Otten in the course of our
conversations he spoke with a. smile of accounts which he would settle after
the war, pending which settlement he would press nothing. I douht if he has any
fixed plan or foresees his way; but I have no doubt that in his own nun
he abates none of his'original demands on behalf ot the Arabs, or in the fumess 0
time, of himself."
It elation of Commitments under- (vi.) to British Desiderata.
His Majesty's Government avoided according Sherif Husein a title incompatible
with tMeir commitments to other independent Arab rulers, while the title ^ hic i • ey
have recognised does not conflict with the wider claims of the Sherif to w uc i^y
consented in the previous negotiations. ,
But though His Majesty's Government's position on this question may .„
factory
An East India Company trading post.
on paper, it is far from being so in fact. The harm done by tie
coup d'Etat of the 29th October, 1916, has never been repaired. The othet in :^ e " e to
Arab rulers have not been inwardly reassured by our restriction ot the o ieri
tiie Hejaz; while he, on his part, has only accepted this restriction as provisiona .
The problem has been postponed, not solved.
38 230285/16.
40 244179/16. There does not appear to be any copy in the Foreign Ofticeo
drafted at, Khartoum on the instrurtiona of the Foreign Office (see 238o^/lo). ^ Grabam>
24684(1/16. 42 251737/16 (memorandum, dated December 11, i. ^! ' 77 18
« 250438/16 and 253937/16. -14 33292/17. - 1
as
About this item
- Content
This is a printed memorandum outlining British commitments made to King Husein [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī] compiled by the Political Intelligence Department of the Foreign Office. The memorandum is split into seven sections as follows: 'General Guarantees against the Restoration of the status quo'; 'Guarantees regarding the Moslem [Muslim] Holy Places'; 'Boundaries of Arab Independence'; 'Foreign Administration of Irak [Iraq], Syria and Palestine'; 'Relation of Sherif Husein to Great Britain'; 'Sheif Husein's Title'; and 'The Caliphate'. References to various sources, including Foreign Office correspondence, the Meccan El Qibla [al-Qiblah] newspaper and La Verité sur la question syrienne (Fourth Turkish Army Command: Stamboul, 1916), are made in the text and in footnotes.
- Extent and format
- 10 folios
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The foliation for this description commences at folio 102 and terminates at folio 111, as it is part of a larger physical volume; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are 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. An additional foliation sequence is also present in parallel between folios 11-158; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and can be found in the same position as the main sequence.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/18/B292
- Title
- 'Memorandum on British Commitments to King Husein'
- Pages
- 102r:111v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence