'Negotiations with Ibn Saud regarding Boundaries of Saudi Arabia' [‎9r] (17/40)

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Confidential
11/37/50.
British Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. ,
Doha,
5th June 1950*
Further to my 11/36/50 of 3rd June.
"/ - 6 • S •
Mohammed bin Sa’id, whom I mentioned as one of the
leade rs of the Khayarin wi th Sheikh Ali, paid me one of his
periodical visiits yesterday, and I took the opportunity to
discuss the Bani Hajir with him. One of the first things which
emerged from our talk was that the Khayarin and the Shahawin
are allowances by Ibn Sa^d. I asked whether they had~to
go and collect these, and he said no, they were sent if the
individuals did not go in person to collect, but that the usual
thing was for a few of them to go and collect the lot. I asked
whether only Sheikhs received it, and he said no, everyone in
the tribe, and that all male children were notified to Ibn Sa f ud,
and came on the pay-roll in due course. In this case Ibn Sa»ud
undoubtedly khows more about the Qatar Bedu than the Ruler of
Qatari
3. I talked of the comparative sizes of the three sections
of the Bani Hajir, and he told me that the Eaici Khayarin numbered
about 200 men, and "spoke with one voice"; that the Shahawin were
perhaps a little less than 200; and that the A1 Mohammed were the
most numerous, but that they were too wrapped up in their flocks
and herds, and were not "warriors". He said that the Khayarin
and the Shahawin, whom he describes collectively as the Mukhadhaba .
are the warriors, and that when Ibn Sa^d waged war on the ’Ajman
they were all there.
4. I asked if the A1 Mohammed were to be considered followers
of Ibn Sa*ud, and he said that they were. I went on "But theKhayarin
and the Shahawin.•••«•?" He embarked on a lengthy and circuitous
tale, well larded with "sellimk Allah"s and "Tawwal Allah ‘umrak’^,
the gist of which was that he was present in those days when Sheikh
Abdullah first visisted Ibn Sa*ud, "and I said to Abdul Aziz at that
time, 0 Abdul Aziz, we have found ourselves living with Abdullah,
and in his place. And Abdul Aziz said 0 Muhammad, who lives with
my brother Abdullah lives with me, and whd serves him serves me,
and if I put you into that place it is so that you will do honour
both to me and to my brother Abdullah. And I said we are grateful
for this speech etc etc., and he increased our allowances which he
made to all of us, and since then we have been in this place with
Abdullah, though the A1 Mohammed are in the Dira of Ibn Jiluwi,
which was formerly the place of all us Bani Hajir."
5. I do not think that this basically affects the position as ^
set out in my last letter, but it illustrates well the way in which
Ibn Sa'ud’s relations with the peripheral tribes are conducted.
Lorimer evidently thought that the Bani Hajir belonged to Qatar, and
on the occasion described by Mohammed bin Sa'id, they were in fact
"living in Abdullah^ place’, but Ibn Sa»ud nevertheless contrives
to make a favour out of permitting them to continue to do so, and
perpetuates his claim to have the authority to do so by an increased
allowance. I do not think that too much importance need be attached
to the last point, - Bedu are notoriously receivers of subsidies from ,{
many sources, and also, as I reported in paragraph 180 of my Diary -In
December last, the al Thani themselves take allowances from Ibn Sa f ud.
It may well prove that the latter has over-reached himself if he relies
on such payments to establish a claim to Qatar or a part of it. It
"/'/'V ^ S //^ t /££ 'lok none the less