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'File 8/7 I Jidda Intelligence Reports' [‎15v] (30/536)

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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. .

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despondent. He confessed to His Majesty’s Charge d’Affaires that he and
his colleagues had lost all confidence in themselves. He seemed to be on the
point of saying that they had lost all confidence in the King, when he
changed the subject.
11. Ministry of Foreign Affairs .—The Under Secretary visited Jedda
on the 31st August and left on the 4th September. His Majesty’s Chargd
d’Affaires discussed a number of current questions with him on the 1st,
2nd, and 3rd, amongst them the Yemen situation, which is dealt with
in paragraphs 43 to 47. Fuad Bey visited Jedda again on the 17th
September, accompanying the Minister for Foreign Affairs, as already
described in paragraph 9. Mr. Hope Gill was received by the young man
who ms usual had nothing whatever to say beyond answering prettily that
the King, his father, was well, thank God. The interview with Fuad
Bey was short and unsatisfactory, marked chiefly by a clumsy denial of
all Government responsibility for the benzine theft. The Amir and Fuad
Bey left the same day, September 19th. to 'return to Taif. There they
remained until Fuad Bey again visited Jedda on Ithe 29th October. In a
private conversation on the 31st he unburdened himself to Mr. Hope Gill
of his cares and fears for the future of this country.
12. Finance .—The silver riyal fell two more points in mid-September
to seventeen to the gold pound. The official rate still stood at ten, how
ever, which enabled the Government to pay at ten whenever 'they did pay,
which was seldom, and to take, which they often did, at seventeen. But
for the fact that large numbers of riyals were withdrawn from currency
in the Hejaz, probably for use in Nejd, the exchange must have fallen
considerably lower. The export of gold, except by special Government
license, was forbidden by decree of October 16th.
13. External credit was still nil. British banks had declined to
accept Sheykh ’Abdurrahman Qusaibi’s proposal to open a State Bank in
the Hejaz (July-August Report paragraph 8). The Nederlandische Handal-
Maatschappij ,also turned down his proposal that they should land Ibn
Sa’dd half a million sterling (ibid, paragraph 9). Internal loans were
therefore extracted by the Director-General of Finance wherever he went
in the Hejaz and by means which have already been described in the pre
ceding paragraphs. Very litltle was written down. Accounts were kept
in ’Abdullah Suleyman’s head, which his creditors hoped no longer to
see upon his shoulders when the day of reckoning should come. Poverty
bred barter. When their benzine was so urgently sought, Messrs. Gellatly,
TIankey and Co., were offered rice and raisins in exchange. The Ministry
uf Foreign Affairs never has had a bank balance, but is used to make its
diverse payments to the Legation, in respect of small claims and minor
routine adjustments such as telegrams, in mixed currency tied up in scraps
of old garments. When even this ceased, -the Legation’s accountant saw
nothing for it but to expect payment in goods, three cakes of soap and a
leg of mutton for instance. But the Ministry maintained caste and paid
nothing.
14. The anxiously awaited Soviet benzine (July-August Report, para
graph 10) did not materialise until October 20th, when a Greek five-masted
schooner brought 30,000 cases. Contrary to the previous report (ibidem),
the Soviet Charge d’Affaires has now stated that payment is not due until
six months after each consignment’s delivery, when it would be due inte
grally. He hopes to have no difficulty.
15. No external debt was reduced during September and October, ex
cept for a surprise payment of five hundred pounds to the Eastern Telegraph
Company on the 26th October. This appeared to result from certain written
representations made by His Majesty’s Charge d’Affaires personally to Fuad
Bey Hamza on October 14th and from the absence of ’Abdullah Suleyman
in Nejd. The balance was promised “in a few days, God willing’’.' The
Deity has much to answer for in the Hejaz. The balance at the end of
October amounted to something over two thousand five hundred pounds.
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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.

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English in Latin script
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'File 8/7 I Jidda Intelligence Reports' [‎15v] (30/536), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/295, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100025543724.0x00001f> [accessed 19 March 2024]

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