'File 61/11 III (D 66) Relations between Nejd and Hejaz.' [‎18r] (43/80)

This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.
EASTERN (Arabia) .
| March 1, 1926. J
CONFIDENTIAL
Section 4.
[E 1397/200/91]
No. 1.
Acting Consul Jordan to Government of India.—{Copy to Foreign 0jjice in
despatch No. 8; received March 1.)
(Secret.)
Sir,
Jeddah, January 29, I92i).
[N continuation of my telegram No. 14 of the 28th January, addressed to the
Foreign Office and repeated to you, I have the honour to transmit herewith a report on
the activities of the Khilafat delegation as far as has been ascertainable by the means
at the disposal of this agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. .
Copies of this despatch and report are being sent to the Foreign Office.
THE Khilafat delegation, under the presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. of Vfaulana Zafar Ali Khan, of the
newspaper " Zaemendar," and with Shuaib Kureshi as secretary, arrived in Rabigh
towards the middle of December, and, after a stay of some days in Rabigh, proceeded
to Medina to verify the reported acts of vandalism on the part of the Wahabi forces.
Shuaib Kureshi, who called at this office, informed me personally that the reports
on this subject were grossly exaggerated and that he found that the dome of the
Prophet's Tomb had been hit in three places only, and one of them was certainly by a
bullet fired from the Jebel Silah by the Sherifian forces, who had established their
headquarters on that hill.
The Syedna Hamza Tomb was intact except for several marks made by shrapnel
fired by the Sherifian forces and the fact that some of the carpets or covering of the
bier were missing.
A small tomb not far from the Syedna Hamza had been destroyed, but was later
repaired.
Shuaib Kureshi also stated that he had taken photographs of the various
monuments and prepared a report on the matter, which would be published in India in
due course.
After their visit to Medina was completed they proceeded to Mecca and had
several audiences with Bin Saud, but, as far as can be ascertained, they were treated
with but scant respect and given to understand that if India really vnshed to have
some say in the control of the Hejaz there were more concrete ways of showing it than
by sending penniless delegations who were dependent on the Hejaz even for their food
whilst here.
After the fall of Jeddah they came to this place and began to investigate the
extent of British interference in the matter of mediation between the Sherifs and
Bin Saud and what propaganda they could make out of it.
ft must be counted a success on the part of His Majesty's Government's policy
that, after these people had been running all over the place endeavouring to find some
excuse for criticism and hearing nothing but good spoken on all sides and how, had it
not been for the actions of His Majesty's representative, bloodshed could not have been
avoided, they were, reluctantly perhaps, forced to admit likewise, and remarked to
Munshi A term used in the Middle East, Persia and South Asia to refer to a secretary, assistant or amanuensis. Munshis were employed in the British administration in the Gulf. Ihsanullah, employed at this agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , and several other local Indians gathered
in his house, that it was the only good thing that Sheitan Government had ever
accomplished."
The delegation was still in Jeddah when Bin Saud was declared King of the
Hejaz at Mecca, and when news reached them to this effect they became very excited
and angry, and declared that Bin Saud, by his acceptance of this position, had given
the lie to all his previous declarations about the Hejaz, and had thereby insulted the
delegation.
I have, &c.
S. R. JORDAN.
Enclosure in No. 1.
li'eport on the Activities of the Khilafat Delegation,
[1228 a—4]