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‘Notes and private telegram from the Viceroy regarding the future settlement of Eastern Turkey in Asia and Arabia.’ [‎82v] (12/20)

The record is made up of 1 file (10 folios). It was created in 1915. 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. .

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years, a sinall advisory
inistration simple, the
iild be too siiuill to be
ice) ; il so, it might he
ible with the Soudan
country would be the
mt is the diliiculty of
)efore the country isself-
^ill be necessary at the
rements would be more
lent of India than by the
i are already sufficiently
reatly by the acquisition
plication of her revenues
3 bearing upon the area
strati on have now been
it is necessary to reduce
other hand impossible to
3 middle of a no-man's-
he south and to the east.
3und than arbitrary lines
I that, For tribal reasons,
i the shape of a definite
u is where that control is
stop until the points are
ers begins. There must
we do not now delmitely
iring Powers will extend
hissia has already been
to her, our protectorate
orth of the Jebel Sinjar.
actory dividing line even
n the summer. But that
will disappear as culti-
3 it will be necessary to
3 of the Tigris up to the
Id thus be in our sphere.
» thai for a great many
rin wdl be contemplated,
the river, on which the
iss under the control ol
find its outlet at Alexan-
dl the convergent trade
}y be exaggerated, and
res—must be ina le a fiee
to the limit of the French
remains to be seen , the}
-tine. In that case the
southwards to include
t. would perhaps suft-
ile 30° lat. westwards to
er In Arabia difficulties
ishid and Bin Sand, some
if thev are both to hnd
( draw Bin Saud into our
lv been mentioned, is m
U events, this "^sarHy
the other side is lurkesj,
as an interest m playinfe
.f the vilayets of * n '
MX)/, steiliug.
11
the one ofi" against the other, and when Bin Sand's territories have been
delimited under our auspices, it is possible that this antinomy may be
resolved. On the west coast of Arabia the Grand Sharif of Mecca will
probably throw off the Turkish yoke and makes himself master of the
lledjaz. South of the Jiedjaz we have promised our diplomatic support
to secure the autonomy of Seyyid Tdrisi in Asir, and we have concluded a
protectorate treaty with the Mavia Sheikh, at the extreme south of the Yemen.
But between ■Mavia and Idrisi is the Imam Yahya, who must in some way or
other be brought into line if peace is to reign in the Yemen and in the
Aden Hinrerland. The Yemen, indeed, must be regarded as somewhat of a
danger point. It has very great potentialities ; wo do not want to annex it
ourselves—moreover we have solemnly assured the Arabs of the Yemen that
we do not desire to extend our territory; and it is quite certain that Italy
covets it. Now the Arabs detest Italy more than any other Power, and we
could not acquiesce in any arrangement that gave her the Yemen without
losing the confidence and goodwill of every Arab from Aden to Mecca. On
the other hand there is no Arab whom we can establish there except the
Imam, whose claims to it are pretty well founded. Although, therefore, he
has so far given us no assistance, we shall be bound in self-defence to
maintain him, subject to an adjustment of his claims with those of the Idrisi
to the north and of Mavia to the south.
The prolongation of the border of the Aden Protectorate, north-east across
the desert to meet a line drawn due south from the neighbourhood of OjV ir, was
accepted by the Ottoman Government as marking the •southernmost limit of
their claims. This line will in future presumably serve to delimit the sphere of
Bin Saud, who lias made himself the heir of Ottoman power in Central
Arabia. This sphere will require a little further delimitation in order to
satisfy the claims of the Sheikh of Koweit which were sacrificed to political
exigencies in the recent negotiations with Turkey. The coast district of
Katif, therefore, which falls to Bin Saud, will end at Jubail-al-Bahri instead
of at Jebel Manifa ; the lictitions distinction between inner and outer Koweit
will presumably bo abolished; and Uin Kasr and Safwan in the north
restored to the 1 Sheikh.
South of the line across the desert the whole of the coast of Arabia is
already under our undivided influence, except El Katr (with whose Sheikh
the Government of India have been authorised to conclude a treaty) and
Muscat, whose independence is jointly guaranteed by France and ourselves.
If the price asked is not too high, it would be worth while to use this
opportunity to eliminate France of Muscat.
A further word must be said about the Hedjaz. It has been a principle
of our policy to leave the Caliphate to take care of itself as a matter o(
purely domestic concern to Mussulmans; but we have made no public
announcement on the subject. If the de facto possessor of the Holy Places
is Caliph, and if the Grand Sharif of Mecca definitely dissociate^ himself
from the Turks, he will ipso facto become Caliph, at all events temporarily ;
and when Turkey's wings have been clipped, as it presumed that they will
be, there will be no Mussalman Power possessing both the will and the
power to eject him. The only source of possible danger to him will be
Arabia itself. But in Arabia the only Chief capable of disputing his claim
is Bin Saud, and Captain Shakespear, in a report written shortly before his
death, has assured us that" we have little need to fear an attempt on the part ol
Bin Sand or his family to arrogate this title.' I he W ahabisonly acknowledge
the first four Caliphs, and the trend of Arab opinion, as Captain Shakespear
heard it expressed, was that, if, as appeared to be anticipated, Knver Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
should displace the present Sultan. " the Caliphate will by common consent
- of Islam revert to the descendants of the Prophet's family m Mecca,
- of whom the present head is the Sharif, and who I feel sure would command
" Bin Sand's support in such an event rather than his antagonism.
In that case the question will have solved itself, as we desire, and in
favour of a candidate whom we have guaranteed against attack.
The upshot of these considerations is thus a British protectoiate o\ei hall
the Svrian wilderness and the whole of Arabia. If this sounds rather
formidable ;i little further examination of what is meant by 44 protectorate
in this connection will dispel anxiety. It has been shown above that, m the
absence of a natural frontier for the administered area in Mesopotamia, and

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Content

The papers comprise as follows:

  • A note by Sir (Frederic) Arthur Hirtzel, Secretary, Political and Secret Department, 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 14 March 1915, indicating factors to be considered in ensuring Basra’s future immunity from Turkish authority, organised under a number of subheadings: geography; ethnology; communications, including roads, railways, and waterways; irrigation; administrative reorganisation; the geographical area to be detached from Turkish authority; the nature of the new administration; protected area; and Persia (folios 77-83);
  • A note by General Sir Edmund George Barrow, Military Secretary, 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 16 March 1915, on the defence of Mesopotamia [Iraq], written in response to Hirtzel’s note, and considering the military implications of defending Mesopotamia (folios 83-84);
  • Comments on Barrow’s note by Hirtzel, dated 17 March 1915, chiefly concerned with Turkish influence in the Arab world (folios 84-85);
  • A telegram from the Viceroy (Charles Hardinge) to the Marquess of Crewe, Secretary of State for India, dated 15 March 1915, regarding the importance of British administration of the vilayets (administrative regions) of Basra and Bagdad [Baghdad], and ownership of the Baghdad railway (folio 85);
  • A map entitled ‘Eastern Turkey in Asia’, indicating the Baghdad railway (completed and projected sections), the Hejaz railway, Aleppo Mezerib line, and the Turko-Persian frontier (folio 86).
Extent and format
1 file (10 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation for this description commences at f 77, and terminates at f 86, 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 ff 77-86; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and won't be found in the same position as the main sequence.

Folio 86 is a fold-out map, extending by more than 3cm beyond the edge of the volume.

Written in
English in Latin script
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‘Notes and private telegram from the Viceroy regarding the future settlement of Eastern Turkey in Asia and Arabia.’ [‎82v] (12/20), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B213, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100024307545.0x00000a> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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