'Historical Memorandum on the Relations of the Wahabi Amirs and Ibn Saud with Eastern Arabia and the British Government, 1800-1934' [‎24v] (48/64)

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Anglo-T urkish Conventions of 1913—1914 not communicated to I bn Saud in 1927.
213. It may be recorded in this connection, as a point of some importance,
that Ibn Sand, in connection with the discussions which culminated in the Treaty
of Jedda, asked for a statement of the treaty engagements of H.M. Government
with the rulers whose special treaty relations with them he undertook under
Article VI of that treaty to respect. The list of engagements with which he was
furnished did not contain the Anglo-Turkish Conventions of 1913—14.
Ibn Saud informed that H.M. Government continue to regard the Blue Line of
the Anglo-Turkish Convention of 1913 as binding on him, 1934.
214. It is unnecessary to examine in any detail the events between the Treaty
of Jedda and 1934. Towards the end of 1933 the question of the continental
boundaries of Saudi Arabia was raised in an active form by the application of
the Anglo-Persian Oil Company to be allowed to negotiate for an oil concession
in Qatar on behalf of the Iraq Petroleum Company, and by uncertainties as to
the Eastern boundary which had been set by Ibn Saud to the oil concession he
had granted in respect of Hasa. In connection with this, the Sheikh of Qatar
and the United States Government were officially informed in the spring of 1934
that H.M. Government regarded the Blue Line of the 1913 Convention (para. 165 (c)
above) as the eastern boundary of Nejd, and as a matter of courtesy the Saudi
Government were informed that, enquiry as to the boundary position having been
made by the United States Embassy at Angora, a communication in this sense
had been made to them. Ibn Saud subsequently intimated that he did not accept
the Blue Line as binding upon him, and that he preferred ancestral claims to the
territory to the east of it. It is now accepted that the question of his eastern
continental boundary is one on which further discussion will be necessary in the
near future between him and H.M. Government.
VI. —Conclusion.
215. The history of the relations of the Wahabi Amirs with Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ,
Muscat and with the British Government is given in detail above. It may be
convenient, in conclusion, briefly to summarise the position and to touch upon
certain of the more important general questions bearing on the difficulties which
have arisen in connection with the Blue Line and the claims made in that
connection by Ibn Saud.
I.—General Historical Survey.
216. It will be seen that the Wahabi sect originated in Nejd in the early
part of the eighteenth century; that by the end of the eighteenth century it had
conquered Nejd and Hasa; and that between 1800 and 1818 it established a
commanding influence in the hinterland of Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , the headquarters of
its agent being in forts built by the Wahabis at the oasis of Baraimi—a strategical
point of the first importance on the borders of Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. and the Muscat
Sultanate. The Wahabi influence came to an end, and Baraimi was lost, with
the defeat of the Wahabis of Nejd and Hasa by the Egyptians and the capture
and execution of the Wahabi Amir in 1818.
217. On the revival of Wahabi power in 1824 overtures were again made by
the Wahabis to the Trucial authorities. By 1831 those overtures had produced
a considerable effect. By 1833 Baraimi had been reoccupied, and Wahabi
influence appears to have been as powerful in Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. and its hinterland
as it had been in the period prior to the defeat of the Wahabis by the Egyptians.
The Wahabi agent at Baraimi appears to have been maintained there until he
was driven out by the local tribes about 1838. Between 1837 and 1839, the
Egyptians again overcame and destroyed the Wahabi power. They made
endeavours, with the assistance of a former Wahabi agent at Baraimi to secure
the allegiance of the Trucial Sheikhs. These, and the Beni Naim chiefs of
Baraimi who now held the oasis, which they had recaptured from the Wahabis
m 1837-38, were encouraged to resist by H.M. Government, and the efforts of the
Egyptians ended in failure.