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File 2182/1913 Pt 11 'Arabia: relations with BIN SAUD Hedjaz-Nejd Dispute' [‎348r] (250/678)

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The record is made up of 1 item (336 folios). It was created in 16 Oct 1919-28 May 1920. It was written in English and Arabic. 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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4.#
3|C
N©jd rains have been abundant. Bin Baud is well and comes ——
(34'S;
with 500 to 1,000 men and a couple of sons. After he went
Qusaibi told me the story of how Bin Baud captured Hufuf and
Riadho Both were clever strokes Hufuf’s capture a regular
military coup de main, proving the Imam to be by no means
a bad leader.
FEBRUARY 4th.
Spent quiet morning receiving callers. Bin Baud arrived
2.30 P.M. Sent word that he would receive me at once. Paid
1 official call at 3. P.M. He is splendid man, completely over
shadows all his followers. I should say he was man of strong
character and overweening ambition. Saw many Akhwan in his
strain. Wild looking individuals who do not deign to return a
salaam but cover their faces with both hands as £ou pass. It
is well for me I am under Bin Baud’s protection. I would not
trust myself a yard with some of his crew. Bin Baud after a
few words of welcome, began a sermon in theatrical style
speaking towards me but obviously for the benefit of his people.
He took the Turk, for his text, and quoted the Koran and thq
various Caliphs over and over again. The Turks were this, were
that, were everything else. It was interesting to see how every
word that fell from, his lips, was literally drunk in by his
( followers. It is clear that Bin Baud, whatever his real belief
is - absolutely leads, and leads under the name of Religion.
He explained how Nejd, the home of the Arabs and of the pure -
bred, and only true Moslems, was the chosen of God. God’s
will was that those Moslems who had strayed from the path, here
he mentioned Koweit, Hejaz, Syria, were to be brought back to
the fold through the pure teachings and influence of Nejd and
the Akhwan. The whole scene reminded me of the Sannusi and
one of their religious meetings which I once attended, but it
was grander and finer. Bin Baud then turned to me and said
"perhaps/ you English don’t know what the Akhwan are". I am
the Akhwan" he shouted, and I am the slave of God the most
merciful. His dramatic finish was received with murmers of
"Allah i towil amarak ya etc etc." I left Bin Baud at about

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Part 11 concerns British policy regarding the dispute between Bin Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd, also referred to in the correspondence as Ibn Saud] and King Hussein of Hejaz [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī, King of Hejaz] over Khurma and Tarabah [Turabah]. Much of the correspondence documents the efforts of the British to persuade the two leaders to agree to meet. It is initially proposed that the two should meet at Jeddah; however, it is reported by the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, that Bin Saud refuses to meet King Hussein at Jeddah, Aden, or Cairo, and suggests a meeting at Baghdad instead. A number of other possibilities are discussed, including the following: the Secretary of State for India's proposal of a meeting of plenipotentiaries, either at Khurma or Tarabah, as an alternative to a meeting between the two leaders themselves; a suggestion by the High Commissioner, Egypt, that the two leaders meet in London; a proposal from Lord Curzon [George Nathaniel Curzon], Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, that Bin Saud should be induced to meet King Hussein on board a British ship at Jeddah, or, as is later suggested, at Aden.

Also included are the following:

  • an account from Captain Norman Napier Evelyn Bray, political officer in charge of the Nejd Mission, which recounts the last days of the mission's stay in Paris, in late December 1919;
  • a report from the High Commissioner, Egypt, on his recent meeting with King Hussein, which relays the latter's views on the allocation of control of Syria to France;
  • discussion regarding the growing power and influence of Bin Saud's Akhwan [Ikhwan] forces;
  • a note on the dispute by Harry St John Bridger, in which he volunteers to induce Bin Saud to agree to a meeting at any place (outside of Hejaz) suggested by His Majesty's Government;
  • memoranda and diary entries written by 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, Major Harold Richard Patrick Dickson, all of which discuss at length Dickson's interviews with Bin Saud at Hasa [Al Hasa] in January and February 1920;
  • extracts from a report by the British Agent, Jeddah, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Edwin Vickery, which recounts his recent interviews with King Hussein and the King's son, Emir Abdullah [ʿAbdullāh bin Ḥusayn al-Hāshimī].

The item features the following principal correspondents:

Extent and format
1 item (336 folios)
Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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File 2182/1913 Pt 11 'Arabia: relations with BIN SAUD Hedjaz-Nejd Dispute' [‎348r] (250/678), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/391/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100032475965.0x00006c> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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