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'File 8/7 I Jidda Intelligence Reports' [46v] (92/536)
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.
20
in 1930 or 1931 and to have been sold by his master, or companion, into slavery.
His case seemed thus to fall under Article 7 of the treaty of Jedda regarding the
suppression of slave trade. He was consequently repatriated as intended, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a note of December 26th admitting that he was a free
person wrongfully enslaved.
101. The Hejazi Government asked however that Bakhit, the other slave,
should be handed over to the local authorities as being a Royal slave. They stated
that the fact of his having been with Sheykh 'Abdullah Suleyman was immaterial,
as the latter bought all the King’s slaves. Bakhit was therefore retained in the
Legation and personally questioned by His Majesty’s Minister. He gave a straight
forward and convincing story of having been brought from Africa as a child, at pil
grimage time, captured by Beduin outside Jedda, sold in the \emen, sent many
years later to Medina, taken when the city fell to Ibn Sa ud s son, sent by him to
Ibn Sa’ud’s cousin Ibn Musa’id, and by him to ’Abdullah Suleyman 18 montl s ago.
He had had nothing to do with the King. Copies of His Majesty’s Minister’s ques
tionnaire and the man’s replies were sent to the Hejazi Government on December
31st.
102. The case developed during January on acute lines which it is unnecessary
to describe in detail. The Hejaz-Kejd Minister in London made representations
to the Foreign Office. His Majesty’s Minister had a series of patient interviews with
the Hejazi Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs in a sustained effort to find a com
promise. Fuad Hamza however was uncompromising, became heated, and ev 0 1_
tually lost his head. There seems little reason to doubt that, once armed with Ibn
Sa’ud’s claim to have the slave returned, he made no further reference, or inade
quate reference, of the course of the affair to the King, who was at Hufuf, with the
result that a deadlock was reached.
103. His Majesty’s Government, who were kept fully informed by His Majesty s
Minister by telegraph, stated on January 27th that the matter was one of very
great importance on which they could not yield. They instructed Sir A. Ryan so to
inform the Hejazi Government and promptly to arrange with the Senior Naval
Officer, Red Sea Sloops, to embark Bakhit in H.M.JS. “ Penzance”. They added
that the matter was so important that, had “ Penzance” not happened to be at
Jedda, they would have asked the Admiralty to send a ship for the purpose. 1 hey
realised that the embarkation might present practical difficulties, but they gave
Sir A Ryan fullest discretion. His Majesty’s Minister accordingly informed the
Hejazi Government on January 28th of His Majesty’s Government’s views and their
express instructions, which, he added, he was taking the necessary steps to carry
out without delay. He asked that the local authorities be informed.
104. After consultation with Commander Farquhar, it was decided to leave the
process of embarkation to be carried out on the following afternoon by the Legation
staff, openly from the quay in the Legation launch. If and when this attemp
failed owing to physical or armed opposition, it would be necessary to
consider the need for naval co-operation. The next day was decided upon .in
order to give the Hejazi Government time to communicate by wireless with the
King But they telegraphed to His Majesty’s Minister the same evening, imme
diately on receipt of his note, that they would never agree to the departure of
the slave. Sir A. Ryan telegraphed back the following morning that he was
sending Bakhit to the sloop that day.
105. The man was duly embarked in the afternoon without difficulty, the
doubled Nejdi guard on the quay making no attempt to intervene until too late,
when the launch was already under w'eigh ; then they made a futile rus 0 ^
water’s edge and stood there shouting and gesticulating. It was later learner
that Fuad Hamza, who is no ordinary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, had
himself issued standing orders to the police to shoot Bakhit on sight outside the
Legation, and particular instructions, in the attempt to embark him, to oppose
SirA Ryan if he accompanied the slave in person, without however usmg physical
force in the last resort; but if it were Captain Seager (who usually deals with slaves),
to resist him by every means at their command. Happily it was Hamadhan am
the guard failed to adjust their wits in time to the arrival of Mr. Hope GiU, loilowect
by the slave, flanked by Captain Seager who engaged the passport officials, and
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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'File 8/7 I Jidda Intelligence Reports' [46v] (92/536), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/295, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100025543724.0x00005d> [accessed 18 April 2024]
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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