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'Historical Memorandum on the Relations of the Wahabi Amirs and Ibn Saud with Eastern Arabia and the British Government, 1800-1934' [‎17v] (34/64)

The record is made up of 1 file (32 folios). It was created in 26 Sep 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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30
Desp. No. 17
to G. of I.,
3.5.07,
P. 2938/07.
Basra to
Const.,
No. 32,
6.5.08.
Damascus to
Const.,
23.9.08,
No. 48.
Const, to
F.O.,
No. 585,
22.7.09.
Bre. to G. i
L, 20.4.11.
H.M. Government, “while anxious to maintain friendly relations^with him so long
as he comports himself in a manner consonant with British interests and our
engagements with the Arab Sheikhs on the coast, see no necessity undei piesent
conditions for making him any formal promises of protection, which might e ve n
have the effect of stimulating Turkish opposition to the consolidation of his
authority.”
148. The Ambassador at Constantinople, Sir Nicholas O’Con or, thought that
our right policy was “ to intervene as little as possible in the internal affairs of these
tribes and Jet them work out their own destiny as best they can, to wait on events
and to modify our policy if subsequently a closer understanding with Ibn Saud
seemed desirable. With this view H.M. Government agreed, and they instiucted
the Government of India that they saw no reason to modify their earlier policy that
British interests and influence in this region should be strictly confined to the
coast. If it was quite inevitable to give an answer to Ibn baud s enquiries, the
answer should be that as Ibn baud’s proposals involved considerations which it was
impossible for H.M. Government to entertain, no reply was to be expected to them.
Ibn Rashid is defeated and abandons Qasim, 1907-1908.
149. In October 1907 Ibn Rashid was decisively defeated by Ibn baud and
besieged by him in Boreida ; and in February 1908 Ibn Rashid entered into
negotiations with Ibn baud and abandoned Qasim to him.
Ibn Saud settles Tribal Disputes in Rasa at request of Turks (1908). His
ascendency in Nejd.
150. In May 1908 Ibn baud was asked by the Turkish Wali of Basra to settle
certain tribal differences in Hasa in the Arab way. In July of the same year
bultan Ibn Rashid, himself the murderer in April 1906 of Mita’ad Ibn Rashid, was
murdered by his brother baud, who succeeded as Amir and maoe overtuies to Ibn
baud. But by beptember of that year the Consul at Damascus reported that
“ Abdul Aziz Ibn baud has become practically the undisputed Amir of Nejd, with
his ascendancy recognised in Riyadh, Qasim and by all the Bedouin tubes of Nejd.
Even baud Ibn Rashid himself admits that his Amirate of Hail is only a vassalage
under the suzerainty of Ibn baud.” In the same month baud Ibn Rashid was
overthrown, and the Amirate reverted to a minor under a Regency. But by January
1909 the Ibn Rashid faction had to some extent consolidated themselves.
Ibn Saud and the Turks, Jidy 1909.
151. In July 1909 Ibn baud’s agent at Bagdad, in the course of a discussion
with the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. , remarked that “ Abdul Aziz had
thought of approaching the bultan with the suggestion that he should fly the
Turkish flag, pay a certain amount of tribute to the Turkish Government, and be
recognised as the Governor of the whole of Arabia,” and had actually sent an
emissary to take soundings Measurements of the depth of a body of water. , who had reached Basra, but had returned to Nejd on the
news of the Young Turk coup d'etat of April 1909. Ibn baud’s object and that of
many Arabs was Arab independence. If they could not secure tnis they would
prefer the supremacy of a foreign Power to that of the lurks, and the emissaiy
clearly indicated that the Power they had in view was the British Government.
hirst Conversations between Ibn Saud and Captain Shakespear, 1911.
152. In the spring of 1911 conversations of much importance, though of a,
f wholly informal character, took place between Ibn baud and Captain bhakespear,.
then 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. , Koweit. Captain bhakespear was the first European whom
Ibn baud had met, and close personal relations appear at once to have been
established between them. The Amir described his position and his ambitions in
great detail. The following extracts from Captain bhakespear’s Report of the
conversation are of interest as illustrating Ibn baud’s view^ as to the previous
relations of the Wahabi rulers with the British Government, his own relations with
Turkey and his attitude to the Trucial bheikhs :—
“ . . . After the Egyptians had been expelled from Nejd, his ancestor,.
Turki-Bin-Abdulla, had re-created most of the original Wahabi dominion,,
including Hasa, Katif and most of the Oman coast from Qatar to near Muscat,,
. . . and had then made a treaty with the British Government . . .

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Content

The file contains a historical memorandum written in response to claims advanced by Ibn Saud to ancestral rights on the eastern boundary of the Saudi Kingdom, and to suggestions put forward by him that at some period in the past arrangements were entered into with his ancestors, the Wahabi Amirs, by representatives of the British Government, which afforded some recognition of those claims. The memorandum was written by John Gilbert Laithwaite, 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. , and is a revised edition of a document published on 1 September 1934.

Extent and format
1 file (32 folios)
Arrangement

The file contains a table of content at the front (f 2), and is then divided into six sections (ff 3-27), followed by four appendices at the end (ff 28-31), of which one is a map (f 30).

Physical characteristics

Foliation - the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 32; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Historical Memorandum on the Relations of the Wahabi Amirs and Ibn Saud with Eastern Arabia and the British Government, 1800-1934' [‎17v] (34/64), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B437, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100028817534.0x000023> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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