'File 8/7 I Jidda Intelligence Reports' [14r] (27/536)
The record is made up of 1 file (266 folios). It was created in Jul 1931-Dec 1934. 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.
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19
I. INTERNAL AFFAIRES.
Ibn Sa'ud .—The King spent September and October at Riadh, whence
he made a number of three and four-day excursions to neighbouring centres
and oases for sport and the diversion of picnicking. These were no doubt
mixed with a little local politics, but he seems to have avoided w T ork of any
kind as much as possible. He did not pay his projected visit to the Hasa
coast, nor did he move in force to Hail, as rumour alleged, !to forestall the
Shammar rising which was expected to follow the circumstantially reported
escape of some of the Rashidi family from Riadh. All this and other
similar and repeated news of “trouble in Nejd” proved unfounded. There
was at most a certain dissatisfaction amongst the tribes at having to pay
taxes instead of receiving bounty from the King.
2 . Ibn Sa’ud, during this period of retreat in Nejd, has been described
as disheartened in spirit, disillusioned in mind, and approaching impotence
in body. This last disability seemed to have poisoned his whole outlook,
so that he had become morose and reticent, withdrawing himself for the
greater part of the day into the quarters outside Riadh where he kept his
slaves and concubines, spending long nights with one or other of his wives,
and only finding relaxation between whiles in the company of a few Beduin
cronies, where the talk was of women and camels. In the past it has been
his wont, even in Riadh, to devote many hours daily to current affairs of
his dual monaryhy, but he seems this summer to have lost all interest in them,
so that even his industrious Rais ad-Diwan, Sheykh Uusuf Yasin, mooned
about with nothing to do. These activities and this indolence suggest that
his Majesty, who is now fifty-^two and has had a strenuous sexual career,
has now reached a stage of conflict between desire and its fulfilment.
3. The Hejaz .—While the King was thus employed in Nejd, govern
ment of the Hejaz lapsed more and more into the Beduin hands of his
Director-General of Finance. Sheykh ’Abdullah Suleyman, having placed
his numerous relatives in key positions, himself moved to and fro between
Taif, Mecca, Jedda and Medina levying contributions in cash and kind
and disposing of them none knew how. His bodyguard and style came
to overshadow those of the Viceroy, whom he kept short of funds. He
made the Vice-President of the Legislative Assembly, ’Abdullah Ibrahim
al Fadhl, his jackal. Fuad Bey Hamza, the only other important func
tionary in the Hejaz, he reduced to impotence by continuing to deprive
him and all the Foreign Ministry personnel of their pay and completely ,
ignoring him and his communications. Throughout September he con
solidated his position as dictator in the King’s absence. By the middle
of October he was supreme. At the end of October he was called at last
to account.
4. The period of this ignorant Nejdi’s rule was chaotic and critical.
As foreshadowed in the last report (July-August Report, paragraphs 40
and 41), September opened with a threat of war from the Yemen. There
was urgent necessity to send reinforcements and ammunition to meet it,
but there was neither money nor petrol available. ’Abdullah Suleyman
raised forced loans from the merchants and (two hundred and fifty troops
were sent by sea to Jizan, but the military transport was held up for lack
of fuel. He pressed the Soviet Legation for the benzine they had con
tracted to supply (July-August Report paragraph 10); it had not even
left Batun. He pressed Messrs. Gellatly, Hankey and Co., for Shell benzine
on credit; knowing their man they offered it on cash terms only. Messrs.
Sharqieh Ltd., quoted similar terms for Standard oil. He pressed the
Dutch Bank for credit; they refused it pending the outcome of the nego
tiations in Amsterdam (July-August Report, paragraph 9). On the 12th
September they informed ’Abdullah Suleyman that the negotiations had
failed and that no more credit would be given. The same night a clean
sweep was made of all the benzine held in Jedda. Government lorries
plied all night at the task, and when Messrs. Gellatly, Hankey and Co , and
Messrs Sharqieh, Ltd., woke next morning, they found the warehouse emty
and their stocks gone.
About this item
- Content
The file contains intelligence reports on the Kingdom of Hejaz, Najd and its Dependencies (after September 1932, Saudi Arabia) written by the British Legation at Jeddah.
Between July 1931 and December 1932 the reports are issued every two months, with the exception of the January-March 1932 and April 1932 reports. From January 1933 the reports are sent on a monthly basis.
Between July 1931 and December 1932, each report is divided into sections, numbered with Roman numerals from I to IX, as follows: Internal Affairs; Frontier Questions; Relations with States outside Arabia; Air Matters; Military Matters; Naval Matters; Pilgrimage; Slavery; and Miscellaneous. Each section is then further divided into parts relating to a particular matter or place, under a sub-heading. Some reports contain an annex.
From January 1933, when the reports become monthly, they take a new format. Each is divided into sections, as follows: Internal Affairs; Frontier Questions and Foreign Relations in Arabia; Relations with Powers Outside Arabia; Miscellaneous (often containing information on slavery and the pilgrimage).
Most reports are preceded by the covering letters from the Government of India, who distributed them to Political Offices in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and elsewhere, and the original covering letter from the Jeddah Legation, who would send them to the Government of India and Government departments in London. From May 1933, most reports were sent directly to the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Bahrain from Jeddah.
Up until January 1933, each report began with an index giving a breakdown of the sections with references to the corresponding paragraph number. From January 1933 onwards no index is included.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (266 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged chronologically.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover and terminates at the back cover; 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 incomplete foliation sequence is also present in parallel between ff 6-11; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled, and are located in the same position as the main sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/2/295
- Title
- 'File 8/7 I Jidda Intelligence Reports'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:35r, 36r:47r, 50r:267v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence