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'Foreign Office Memorandum on Arabian Policy.' [6v] (12/20)
The record is made up of 1 file (10 folios). It was created in c 1920. It was written in English. 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.
10
Rashid is surrounded by tribes hostile to him iu the neighbourhood of Janf and has
urgently summoned his retainers to extricate him. Under these circumstances it
appears unlikely that he will he able to fulfil his engagement on this side.
(17106/ME/44 a)
Sir, Foreign Office, January 24, 1920.
T am directed by Earl Curzon of Kedleston to acknowledge receipt of your letter
No. P. 8354 of the 15th January on the subject of the proposed list of the autonomous
rulers of Arabia. Including those now suggested by the Civil Commissioner, Bagdad,
the list comprises the following :—
King Hussein. Koweit.
The Idrisi. Mohammerah.
The Imam. Trucial Chiefs.
The Sultan of Mokalla. Ibn Sand.
Muscat. Ibn Rash id.
Bahrein.
The only important element which is not included in this list is the tribe of the
Anazeh, and Lord Curzon suggests that, in the event of any of the other autonomous
rulers enquiring as to the policy of His Majesty's Government with regard to the
Anazeh, the reply should be that the matter is under consideration, but that, in default
of such enquiry, the tribe should not be mentioned, and he would be glad to know
whether Mr. Montagu concurs in this view.
I am, &c.
The Under-Secretary of State,
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.
.
(P. 678.)
Sir,
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.
, February 20, 1920.
In reply to your letter No. 171076/ME/44a, dated the li4th January, on the
subject of the proposed list of the autonomous rulers of Arabia, I am directed by the
Secretary of State for India to say that he is not altogether clear how the scheme
outlined in the telegram to General Allenby, No. 642 of the 24th May last, could be
applied to a group of nomad tribes without any single recognised head like the Anazeh
(see " Handbook of Arabia," vol. 1, pp. 45-53), and he feels some doubt also whether, if
the Anazeh w r ere brought within the scope of the scheme, the same procedure should not
be extended to other nomad tribes or groups of tribes.
He sees no objection, however, to the suggestion made in your letter, and has
informed the Civil Commissioner Bagdad, accordingly in the telegram of which a copy is
enclosed.
I am, &c.
J. E. SHUCKBUKGH.
The Under-Secretary of State, Foreign Office.
Copy of enclosed Telegram.
Telegram from Secretary of State to Civil Commissioner, Mesopotamia,
dated February 19, 1920.
Your telegram dated 15th December, 15123.
Additions to list of autonomous rulers approved. It has been suggested that
question may arise also as to Anazeh. If Ibn Rashid should enquire as to the policy of
His Majesty's Government with regard to Anazeh, reply should be that matter is under
consideration. If he does not enquire, tribe should not be mentioned.
About this item
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This printed memorandum deals with the question of the political and financial obligations that the British Government should in future incur in relation to Arabia, in view of the forthcoming negotiations in Paris between Britain, France and the other allied powers on the subject of Arabia [the Paris Peace Conference, 1919-20]. The memorandum is signed 'H. W. Y.' [Major Hubert Winthrop Young].
Arabia is defined in the memorandum as the area bounded on the north-west by the peninsula of Sinai and the British mandate of Palestine and Trans-Jordan; on the north-east by the British mandate of Mesopotamia; on the east by the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; on the south-east by the Indian Ocean; and the west by the Red Sea.
The memorandum includes draft treaty proposals of the British delegation to Paris (Appendix A, folios 4-5), and the main body of the document discusses the articles of the proposed treaty in relation to the various constituent parts of the Arabian peninsula, as defined by the British, including the Kingdom of the Hedjaz [Hejaz, al-Ḥijāz], Nejd [Najd], Yemen, and the Gulf littoral states. The memorandum asserts the right of the British Government to recognition of their special position in Arabia in view of Britain's longstanding relations with many of the region's rulers (folio 1). There are three further appendices: Appendix B (folios 5-6) contains transcriptions of relevant correspondence issued by the Foreign Office and 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. , dated 1919-20, relating to the sub-divisions into which Arabia had been divided for the purposes of the document; Appendix C (folios 7-8) contains minutes of a meeting held at the Foreign Office on 17 April [1920] to discuss the question of subsidies to Arab rulers; and Appendix D (folios 8-10) contains a Foreign Office memorandum dated 13 July 1920 concerning the question of the continuance of financial support by the British Government to King Hussein [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī] of the Hejaz.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (10 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at 1 on the first folio and terminates at 10 on the last folio. The numbers are written in pencil, are enclosed in a circle, and appear in the top right hand corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. page of each folio. This is the system used to determine the order of pages.
Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence, numbered 2-18. These numbers appear in the top centre of each page.
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/18/B367
- Title
- 'Foreign Office Memorandum on Arabian Policy.'
- Pages
- 1r:10v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence