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'Memorandum on British Commitments to King Husein' [‎109r] (15/20)

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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. .

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ILLLJi-^J-C-UJL
15
that the French Govern-
if as " His Majesty." 38
aggested to His Majesty's
enf Huseins title snould
i and liis style Siyadiya
(No. 53) that, in the reply
ime had been despatched,
proposed title of " Malik
10 It was also objected to
)ffice, 11 and both proposed
been Sir H. McMahon's
uctiiiix him to address the
C7
z," and this style and title
son was instructed, at the
the limitation of the title
ent and him. 15
nt's decision (presumably
without their knowledge),
erlv his.
■d a second message to the
b country and Sherifand
der Hogarth in January,
)posed to sign it as " King
abandoned tins signature,
tie so patently that he
report to Sir R. Wingate
as synonomous with his
Majesty's Government's
ice telegram No. 6 of the
that he secretly regards
ie of my assurance that it
'selves and himself (in his
abit one house but not
ben in the course of our
ich he would settle after
ig. I doubt if he has any
)t that in his own mind
Arabs, or in the fulness of
usein a title incompatible
fhile the title which they
the Sherif to which they
»his question may be
arm done by the Sherif s
i. The other independent
Aon. of the Sherif s title to
■iction as provisional.
lice of the fmal text of this uote
11 1916, by Sir R. Orabam).
« 25577/18.
(vii.) Treaties and Agreements between His Majesty's Government and other Arab rulers
in the independent area.
The boundaries of Arab independence assented to by Sir H. McMahon on the
24th October, 1915, in his second letter to Sherif Husein, included not only (a) Arab
territories still subject to the Turk, but also (b) the dominions of independent Arab
rulers like the Sultans of Mokalla and Maskat, the Trucial Chiefs, and the Sheiklt of
Koweit. with whom His Majesty's Government had treaties, in some cases of more than
half a century's standing; and (c) the dominions of Arab rulers, like bin Sand and the
Idrisi, whom His Majesty's Government had recognised before the war as being within
the Turkish sphere, but with whom we had since made agreements, or were on the
point of making them. (The Treaty with the^ Idrisi was signed on the 30th April,
1915, before Sherif Husein had opened negotiations with us, and that with bin Sand on
the 2()th December, 1915, before we had concluded them with him.)
Sir H. McMahon, therefore, stated in his letter that we accept these limits an<i
boundaries without prejudice to our existing treaties with Arab Chiefs (p. 53)
The point does not appear to have been taken up by the Sherif until his t n
letter of the 5th November, 1915, in which, apropos of British administration m Irak,
he wrote that he might consent to it " for a short time, without the rights of either
side beino prejudiced thereby (especially those of the Arab Nation, which interests aie
economic and vital to it) . . . . at the same time respecting your agreements with the
Sheikhs of those districts, and especiallv those which are essential (p.
On the 10th December, 1915, the Foreign Office, in a telegram of instructions o
Sir If. McMahon, laid it down that:—
" It should 1)6 made clear to the Sherif that when we spoke of our existmg
agreements with Sheikhs being upheld, we referred to the Arabian Peninsula no
less than Mesopotamia " (p. 102).
And in bis third letter of the 13th December, 1915, Sir H. McMahon embodied
these instructions as follows :—
•' In stating that the Arabs are ready to recognise and respect all « ur ^es
with Arab Chiefs, it is of course understood that this will apply ^
included in the Arab Kingdom, as the Government of Great Britain cannot
repudiate engagements which already exist.
This stipulation was ignored by the Sherif in his fourth kt 'er of llie lst jsoveinber,
1916, and docs not appear to have been referred to again dnrino; th « ne ?^ ia ^ o
After the outbreak of the revolt and the reduction of the Turk^h garnsons at
Mecca, Jeddah and Taif, Abdullah, as Sherifial " Minister for Fo f'8'
to have sent messages announcing the victory to the neio )0ui mg . < ''i
both bin Sand and the chief of the Hashid and Bekil Confederation sent extremely
courteous, though non -committal, replies. 1 " . . tt - Mo^ctv's
Kin Saud was also informed of the Hejaz
Government through Sir P. Cox. In his reply to the a ei, a e - Turks" and a
(or 25th July; L91H), he expressed pleasure at the even as a o Sherif Husein's
success for His Majesty's Government, but mtimatef ( ou s ^ ^ ^ emarca tion
intentions, mentioned that he and the Sherit had been a w ar^ or y c , commuri iq U ^
and allegiance questions, and took exception to the fact t la m
mention was made of ' the Arabs' as it they were a compenc ions oppond letter to
at the Sherifs intentions than before.- Sir P. Cox
Government should assure bin Saud that their treaty with him would be ^lieied t
suggestions were adopted, 49 and the text of His Alaj ^ OnfoW 1916 50
bin t^aud was conveyed to the Sherif by Colonel Wi son on the fOth October l^
On the 1st November, 1916, Sherif Abdullah, in his
Colonel Wilson, 51 regarding the proclamation of his father as King oft 1 _
days before, defined the position of the other independent Arab rulers as
46 Translations in 242002/16. 47 182486/16; 111,1 ' ), /1 ' ( 242002/16.
« 1«U581/16. ^ 183725/16 and 187737/16. 50 2192J6/10. ^ /

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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
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'Memorandum on British Commitments to King Husein' [‎109r] (15/20), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B292, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023608756.0x000010> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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