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‘A sketch of the political history of Persia, Iraq and Arabia, with special reference to the present campaign.’ [32] (42/58)
The record is made up of 29 folios. It was created in 1917. 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.
32
ill-feeling caused by the frustration of Wahhabi aims on the
coast and by the restrictions which had been placed by us on
the slave trade that Colonel Felly's journey was undertaken.
Faisal died the same year and a few months later it became
necessary to renew naval operations against his son 'Abdullah
for the protection of the Sultan of 'Oman as well as of the
Chiefs of the
Trucial Coast
A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates.
. Internal rivalries weakened the
authority of the Amir 'Abdullah and induced him to invoke
the assistance of the Forte, and in 1871 Turkish troops occupied
the Hasa and 'Abdullah accepted the title of Qaimmaqam
of Najd.
In Central Arabia a new power had arisen which was des
tined to dispute Wahhabi supremacy. In 1835 a member of a
Shaikhly house of the 'Abdah section of the Shammar, 'Abdullah
ibn Rashid, had been appointed governor of Jebel Shammar
under the Amir of Riyadh. A series of prudent and able rulers
shed lustre on Hail and in 1872 the accession of the Amir
Muhammad gave to the Shammar a leader unrivalled among
his Arabian contemporaries in political skill. In the pages of
" Arabia Deserta " Doughty has drawn an undying picture of
this soldier statesman. Dissensions between Hail and Riyadh
began in 1877 ; by 1882 Muhammad had seized the Qasim
land : in 1887 he reduced Riyadh. Until his death 10 years
later he remained in absolute possession of Central Arabia,
and the Ottoman Government saw in his friendship their best
hope of maintaining touch with the interior of the peninsula.
Friendly relations were established about 1885 and were con
tinued after Muhammad's death had overturned once more
the balance of power in Najd. In 1904 the young Amir 'Abdul
'Aziz ibn Sa'ud aided by the Shaikh of Kuwait returned to
Riyadh and recovered the Qasim. The position of Ibn Rashid
became so precarious that Ottoman troops were sent to his
assistance in 1904 and again in 1905, when for a short time the
Qasim was occupied by a Turkish garrison and placed under
the nominal administration of the Sultan. Bitter family
feuds among the A1 Rashid and the growing reputation of
Ibn Sa'ud have made formidable inroads into the political
importance of Jebel Shammar, but Ottoman support has never
wavered, and the steadfast allegiance of the present Amir
Sa'ud ibn Rashid has in a measure justified the policy, though
his inability to keep his tribesmen together has gone far to
invalidate the diplomatic success of the Forte.
About this item
- Content
The volume is an overview of the political history of Persia, Iraq and Arabia, authored by the Office of the Chief Political Officer, Indian Expeditionary Force “D”, and printed by the Superintendent Government Printing, Calcutta [Kolkata], India in 1917. The volume is divided into a number of chapters:
1. An introduction to the political history of Persia, Iraq and Arabia, chiefly concerning Britain’s history of naval intervention and military occupation in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and its efforts in eradicating the slave trade, arms traffic and piracy;
2. A chapter entitled ‘The Arab attitude in Iraq before the War’, including: political conditions in Turkish Iraq prior to the War; the arrival of the Indian Expeditionary Force “D” at the start of the War; Ottoman ‘jihad’ against the British; Arab attitudes to the British in Iraq, central Arabia and Persian Arabistan;
3. British relations with Arabistan, including an overview of the Anglo-Persian War (1856-57), and a brief outline of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company’s activities in the region;
4. The Bakhtiari tribes, their leaders and their standing with the Persian Government, and the importance of maintaining British relations with them, with reference to trade routes, the maintenance of order in the oil fields, and the maintenance of friendly relations with the Shaikh of Muhammareh [Khorramshahr] and the Russians at Ispahan [Isfahān, or Eṣfahān];
5. Pusht-i-Kuh – ‘the right flank of Indian Expeditionary Force “D”’: a description of the area, and its strategic and economic importance, including: topography; climate; the position and powers of its Wali [governor] (taken from Lorimer’s Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ), the Wali’s relatives; and Kaka Siyah, who reside in the region and who are of African origin;
6. Arabia – the left flank of Indian Expeditionary Force “D”. The chapter is divided into two parts. The first part is a general description of the Arabian peninsula, including: topography and geographic features; political powers in Arabia: the Wahhabi, with a history of their development and territorial gains; Egypt; Ibn Rashid [Ibn Rashīd]; the British Government; and Turkish interests in Arabia. The second part is a detailed historical outline of British relations with Ibn Sa‘ūd;
7. Entitled The Trend of Turkish policy before the War and since (official) , and subdivided into parts on internal and external politics. The first part includes an assessment of the characteristics of ‘Ottoman people’ and their Government, the second concentrates on German influence and activity in Ottoman territories.
There are pencil annotations on the front flyleaf of the volume (folio 2), which make note of sections within the volume, with the corresponding page numbers.
- Extent and format
- 29 folios
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged into seven chapters (I-VII), with subject subheadings used to organise each. A contents page (f 4), referencing the volume’s pagination sequence, lists the chapter headings. A preface (f 5) precedes the chapters.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top-right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the inside of the back cover, on number 29.
Pagination: A printed pagination system runs through the volume (ff 7-27), the numbers of which are located top and centre of each recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. and verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. .
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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‘A sketch of the political history of Persia, Iraq and Arabia, with special reference to the present campaign.’ [32] (42/58), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C150, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023662459.0x00002b> [accessed 23 April 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/C150
- Title
- ‘A sketch of the political history of Persia, Iraq and Arabia, with special reference to the present campaign.’
- Pages
- front, front-i, 1:8, 1:46, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence