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File 2182/1913 Pt 11 'Arabia: relations with BIN SAUD Hedjaz-Nejd Dispute' [‎409r] (372/678)

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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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3 / 6
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HSJS-HSJIZ DISPUgE »
HOTS BY Ivffi.PHILBY OP IvLlRCH B3rd 1920.
1,1 ^ ^ ,
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May I make "bold uo force a little unsolicited advice
on you on two masters - the proposed reduction of Ibn 3aud ! s
stibsidy and the proposed meeting between him and the Sherif?
As regards the subsidy I fully admit that 1.3. has no
claim whatever to our financial support but I do hold very
strongly that it is in our own best interests to subsidise
him, if we really wish to make, good our own claim to
exclusive political influence in Arabia. Ibn Saud will
decline to recognise that- claim unless we give him a quid
pro quo; he is willing to shape his policy as far as possible
in accordance with our wishes so long ass he has something to
gain thereby but if we whittle down or discontinue our subsidy
he must consult his own interests regardless of our wishes
and there are only two courses open to him:
(l) to attack the Sherif and either pocket the profits
of the Jidda customs and Mecca pilgrimage or force us to buy
him out by a regular subsidy - in adopting this policy he
would have his whole country solid at his back; or (2) to
seek financial support elsewhere either from the French, who
would find him and Ibn Rashid useful allies in their coming
difficulties with Feisal, or from the Bolshevists, in the
event of^their propaganda spreading beyond its present limits.
Ibn Saud must have money and, as soon as he finds it idle to
look to us, he must turn elsewhere or let his country go to
pieces.
I hope G-overnment will give this matter their most
serious consideration and will at least issue orders to
continue the subsidy undeminished until they have made up
their minds regarding future policy.

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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:

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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' [‎409r] (372/678), 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_100032475966.0x00001e> [accessed 25 April 2024]

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