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File 2182/1913 Pt 8 'Arabia – Policy towards Bin Saud' [‎281r] (146/602)

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The record is made up of 1 item (300 folios). It was created in 7 Aug 1918-26 Dec 1918. 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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at the present moment the main item of dispute between the two rulers and is
therefore one of the matters in respect of which His Ma jesty's Government has
already imposed an obligation to abstain from provocative action on both parties
alike in its recent joint message. If one party excludes this item from the
forbidden category the other would be within his rights in doing the same.
I trust that I have already in previous telegrams made this point suffi
ciently clear and that before you got this letter the danger will have been
averted by the recall of the Sheriff’s troops from the neighbourhood of Khurma.
I now turn to the detailed consideration of the High Commissioner’s
telegrams which all appear unfortunately to have been despatched
be t ore the
High
• Serial No. 24.
f Serial No. 25.
Copy attached.
M.-147 of 8th August 1918.
My 6863 to Cairo.
Commissioner could have received a copy of my
report* of June 25th which to a
certain extent anticipates some of the
points raised. Firstly, as regards High
Commissioner’s first telegramf, 1128,
dated 25th July 1918—please see the last sentence of my M.-115 of 6th
August 1918, and the further reference
to the matter at the beginning of my
The whole crux of the situation is the Sheriff’s
determination to re-occupy Khurma and
I have said enough to shew what the
inevitable result of another attempt on his part to do so will be. I repeat
that I trust that Colonel Wilson did not commit himself or Government to
an admission of the Sheriff’s claim to jurisdiction over Khurma or in any way
express approval of the Sheriff’s declaration that his activities would be limited
to recovering that locality. I repeat that the last sentence of the same
telegram fills me with grave apprehension. With Ibn Sand I have steadily
taken the line that, as both he and the Sheriff claim Khurma, the matter
must be regarded as one of the points at issue between them in icspect o
which the final decision must rest with His Majesty’s Government who, I have
assured him, will consider and decide it in due course on its merits without
fear or favour. On this explicit assurance Ibn Saud has not only refrained
from all intervention in the affair but he has prevented the despatch of
reinforcements to Khurma by its Akhwan sympathisers in Najd and moreover
has expressly forbidden the Khurma people to carry the fight into the Sheriff s
territory which they might well have done in pursuance of their two recent
victories. I have already expressed my opinion that Ibn Saud’s conduct m
the matter has throughout beeu exemplary and I trust that His Majesty s
Government will accept your recommendation that an expressidn ot their
approval should be conveyed to him.
Secondly, as regards High Commissioner’s telegram of July 30th (Baghdad,
No. 6262 of 31st July 1918) I would make the following comments:
(1) In the first place I confess I cannot see any ground in the contents of
J My 6113 , July 25th. my M.-98 (Koweit, 106-0.) for the High
Commissioner’s that Ihn oauci s
X Serial No. 26. v>v....~^——— - - - --
attitude calls for correction. He had nothing, whatever, to do with the making
or the defeat of the attack reported while to prevent matters going lurther he
went so far as to warn the people of Khurma against anything in the nature
of reprisals and to guarantee to me that no aggressive action would be under
taken bv them. In this he appears to me to have done nothing but exercise
his unquestionable influence over the Khurma people in the interests ot the
preservation of peace.
(2) Ibn Saud most undoubtedly claims Khurma as being within his
jurisdiction—he does so not only on religious and territorial groun s u
also on historical, administrative and tribal grounds. He therefore cousi era
the Sheriff’s action as aggressive and hostile to himself. As I iave sai
this is the chief disputed point between the two parties and Ibn au
again and again asserted his willingness that the Brit.sh truvernment shcuid
adjudicate on the dispute on its merits. It may be as well to
precise regarding the grounds of Ibn Saud’s claim. _
(a) Religious .—The whole population of Khurma, Ashraf Subai, a a
and Hadhr, are of the Wahhabi persuasion and moreover have joined .he mn r

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Part 8 primarily concerns relations between Bin Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and King Hussein of Hedjaz [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī, King of Hejaz]. Included are the following:

  • discussion as to which ruler has the stronger claim to Khurma, and whether Bin Saud should be encouraged to begin hostilities against Bin Rashid [Saʿūd bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl Rashīd, Emir of Ha'il], as a way of diverting the former's attention from other matters;
  • copies of a treaty between the British government and Bin Saud, which was signed on 26 December 1915 and ratified on 18 July 1916;
  • debate about whether the British should supply Bin Saud with more arms and ammunition (to make amends for providing him with 1000 cheap Winchester rifles);
  • discussion of the possible benefits of arranging a meeting either between King Hussein and Bin Saud or between the former's son and the latter's brother;
  • discussion about the possibility of an officer from the Egyptian service succeeding Harry St John Bridger Philby as the British representative to Bin Saud;
  • reports of Bin Saud having begun operations against Bin Rashid, and discussion as to how the British should respond;
  • speculation on King Hussein's actions in Khurma and the implications for Britain's policy in the region;
  • a copy of a memorandum from the Foreign Office's Political Intelligence Department, entitled 'Memorandum on British Commitments to Bin Saud';
  • reports of an Ikhwan force advancing towards Mecca, and discussion as to how the British should respond.

This item features the following principal correspondents:

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1 item (300 folios)
Written in
English in Latin script
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File 2182/1913 Pt 8 'Arabia – Policy towards Bin Saud' [‎281r] (146/602), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/389/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100032845623.0x0000b0> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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