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File 2182/1913 Pt 11 'Arabia: relations with BIN SAUD Hedjaz-Nejd Dispute' [‎433r] (421/678)

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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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Translation of a letter dated the 14th Habi al Awwal 1338
( 6 th January 1920) from Bin Saud* 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. f
Bahrain*
^ter Complimenta >
You have informed me that you forwarded my letters
telegraphically to the Acting Olvil dommissioner, Baghdad f
and that you have received a reply to the effect that he
thinks that the reports were incorredt and that the British
representative (at Jeddah) is convinced that All and his
brother have made no hostile movement and that there^ was
nothing to confirm the reports (which I sent) regarding Alis
aggressive acts* Yes t I do not disbelieve the British repre*
sentative, knowing that he is entirely loyal to his Govern
ment and is honest and doing his best* But in making my
report I feel like unto the man who spoke the proverb ^Ask
onewho has eaqoerienced and do not ask the doctor*, for i
constantly informed the High Government of the hostile acts
and movements of the Sharif and they kept on giving me
regular replies, on the authority of their representatives
at Jeddah and Egypt that there had been no movements at all,
till at last came the four definite acts on the part of the
Sharif* ^fter that I informed His Majesty 1 s Government of
the move of the Sharif * s son from Madinah and they denied
this again on the authority of the reports of their repre
sentatives at Jeddah and Egypt, until at last oame the
Sharif*s treacherous attack on Turabah*
I know and believe that representatives of the
Great Government are entirely truthful, but they are igno
rant of three things; firstly, the false nature of the
Sharif; secondly, the concealment of his evil plans from
them; thirdly, they have no men who could give correct in
formation of affairs in the Hejaz, this being due to the
j Sharif* a care in not allowing them free intercourse with
the people of Hajaz, and his keeping them under his care-

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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' [‎433r] (421/678), 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_100032475966.0x00004f> [accessed 23 April 2024]

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