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'File 8/7 I Jidda Intelligence Reports' [‎29r] (57/536)

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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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3
10. Financial Situation .—The general financial position at the close of
the year was as gloomy as the economic (see paragraph 17). The reform
scheme, if it had not come too late, had no one capable of running it ration
ally. The Treasurer, for example, is a bankrupt of 35. Nor were the
prospects of revenue brighter. A pilgrimage from overseas of 20,000, or
half the number of the meagre 1931 pilgrimage, was all that could now be
expected; and each year’s pilgrims were bringing less money. The customs
revenues showed a continued decline, due to decreased pilgrimage and gen
eral depression. For the lunar year ended in June 1929 they were believed
to have ranged round the million mark; for that ending next May they seem
unlikely to exceed half a million sterling. With this decreased security,
* * with increasing uncertainty as to the stability of the Sa’udian regime, and
following on the breakdown of the negotiations with the Dutch Bank (July-
August Report, paragraph 9), the prospects of a development loan being
obtained on commercial lines from any European country have receded out
• * of sight. Relations with Soviet Russia, which alone might engage in trade,
or even finance, on uneconomic lines, remained obscure. A consignment of
J** 42,000 cases of Russian kerosine arrived at Yanbu’ and Jedda on November
26th, in fulfilment of the July contract (July-August Report, paragraph 10),
and Russian matches were also on sale; but big business between the two
Governments seemed out of the question. The ‘‘prohibition of Soviet
merchandise was maintained.
11 . The sterling crisis of September had at first no direct effect on the
currency of the Hejaz, which is based on the gold sovereign actually in cir
culation and not on sterling as such. By November, however, one notice
able effect became evident in the lessened volume of gold in circulation, pro
bably owing to hoarding and to heavy purchases of gold made by the local
Dutch Bank. English and Egyptian notes came into increasing use, the
former possibly on account of the Soviet Legation, which has no local bank
ing account and meets its liabilities with English bank-notes imported by
bag. *
12. The silver riyal had been depreciating steadily since February and
in the first fortnight of November sank to a rate which fluctuated between
18 and 20 to the gold £. Attempts made by the King to bolster it up by
popularising its use in Nejd, by the setting up of a net work of retail stalls,
stocked with “borrowed” Hejazi goods, in which riyals alone were accepted,
were frustrated by the attitude of the Nejdi merchants, who complained
that the riyal was useless to them for transactions in Kuwait and Bahrain
A anc i refused to deal in them. The gold value of the riyal in Nejd is said
to have been as low as 30. In the Hejaz the Government themselves had
Ion 0, since ceased to attach any value to the so-called ^ official rate of
Rivals 10 = £1 gold, except in so far as they secured their acceptance at
this rate when making payments wherever they could. Early in October
they had made their first definite admission that the riyal had depreciated by
, > insisting that customs dues, which are fixed in Piastres Miri at the rate of
Piastres Miri 110 = Riyals 10 = £1 gold, should be paid either in gold or by
an equivalent number of riyals at the market, as opposed to the official,
rate This rule was now extended to other classes of payments. In the
, a uncertainty which followed the departure of ’Abdulla Suleyman to Riadh
(September-October Report, paragraph 10) the riyal seemed likely to fall to
the value of its silver content, about 24 to the gold £. Bv the end of D^c-
ember, however, under the influence of the events described in the precedins:
paragraphs, it had recovered to about and 12^ to the gold and paper £
respectively.
13 No Government indebtedness was reduced during November and
December, with the notable exception that the Eastern Telegraph Company
received three remittances, totalling some £1,450, in respect of their long-
outstanding account. Despite this, the debit Hejazi account amounted to
some £2 000 at the end of December. Official salaries were for the most
part six months in arrear on December 12th, from which date the budget is

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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.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'File 8/7 I Jidda Intelligence Reports' [‎29r] (57/536), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/295, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100025543724.0x00003a> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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