File 2182/1913 Pt 6 'Arabia Relations with Bin Saud' [199v] (406/547)
The record is made up of 1 volume (270 folios). It was created in 3 Dec 1916-30 Dec 1917. It was written in English and French. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
there was evidence that the lurks were still active in Arabia. News was
received from Ibn Sa’ud and from other sources of the despatch of an agent
(Muhammad Taufiq ibn Fara’un of Damascus) for the purpose of buying
camels for the Ottoman Government; the emissary was well chosen, for
he was a personal friend of Ibn Sa’ud and had visited Najd on the same
business the previous year. But on this occasion the Amir was pressed by
us to prevent him from obtaining camels ; he accordingly arrested Ibn
Fara’un, confiscated 700 camels which had been purchased in the interior,
and sent them to Kuwait. Various reports, some of which came from Ibn
Sa’ud, indicated that another attempt to stir up Ibn Rashid against us
was in the wind. Rushaid Ibn Lailah, Ibn Rashid’s representative at Con
stantinople, joined him at Hail, with a few German and Turkish officers,
a small body of Turkish soldiers, and some guns ; accounts varied as to
the exact composition of the mission, but its presence in Hail in some
form seemed fairly certain. Ibn Sa’ud had written in September that he
would be glad of a personal interview with the Chief Political Officer
to discuss the question of co-operation with the Sharif or offensive action
against Ibn Rashid. In October he repeated the request urgently, and
on all grounds it seemed advisable to accede to it. Sir Percy Cox met
him at Ojair on 11 th November. Ibn Sa’ud explained to him his position
in detail. He had lost considerably in men and material in the fight
with Ibn Rashid in January 1915. Since then he had been almost
continuously in the field, first against the ’Ajman, and then against the
Murrah. Most of the normal trade of Najd was with Syria, and the
tribes were accustomed to sell their camels to Damascene dealers ; the strict
blockade imposed by Ibn Sa’ud—the seizure of Ibn Fara’un’s camels bore
witness to its reality—grew more and more galling; the Najdis grumbled,
the tribes were restless, ail asked wherein lay the advantage to themselves
of their Chief’s attitude, and it was increasingly difficult for him to keep
them in hand. With regard to the Sharif, Sir Percy Cox was able to give
Ibn Sa’ud the fullest reassurance. Our treaty with the Amir had been
communicated to Mecca, and when the Sharif announced to us his intention
of proclaiming himself King of the Arabs on 5th November, we had insisted
on a formal admission that he claimed no jurisdiction over independent
rulers. The news of the coronation at Mecca had not yet reached Central
Arabia, and was not discussed. During conversation with the Chief
Political Officer at Basrah, Ibn Sa’ud made a passing remark about the Sharif’s
calling himself “ Sultan,” but his mind seemed to be set completely at rest
on hearing that his rights were safeguarded by us, and* that the Sharif had
explicitly denied any design on the independence of himself or his
com peers.
19. Ibn Sa’ud having expressed to the Chief Political Officer at their meet
ing at Ojair his inclination to pay a brief visit to Shaikh Jabir of Kuwait before
returning home, the project was cordially encouraged as appearing eminentlv
expedient, and Sir Percy Cox recommended that he should be presented
with the K.C.I.E. at a Majlis which was to be held at Kuwait where the
Shaikh was to be invested with the C.S.I. When he intimated to Ibn Sa’ud
that this honour was to be accorded to him, the Chief Political Officer was
authoiised to inform at the same time that his rights had been carefully
reseived m all dealings which the British Government had held with the
Sharif, and Ibn Sa’ud in his reply said that he was entirely satisfied on this
point.
20. The Majlis took place on 20th November. The Shaikh of Muhammarah
had come to Kuwait for the occasion, and many Beduin were present
including the friendly headmen of the Shammar Aslam and Dhafir and
Shaikhs of the Mutair. The Chief Political Officer, in presenting the
decorations, a luded to our satisfaction in feeling that the great Arab chiefs
were bent with us upon a common purpose.. The Shaikh of Muhammarah
followed him with words which were warmly pro-British, and Ibn Sa’ud
struck the keynote of the meeting m a speech which was as spontaneous as
it was unexpected. He said that the Turks had placed themselves outside
About this item
- Content
This volume contains part 6 of the subject 'Persia Gulf'. It concerns British relations with Bin Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd]. Much of the volume's correspondence discusses whether the British should offer Bin Saud inducements (in the form of money, titles, arms or personnel) to take action against both Shaikh Saud bin Abdul Aziz bin Rashid, Amir of Hail [Saʿūd bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl Rashīd, Emir of Ha'il, also referred to by the British as Bin Rashid and Ibn Rashid] and the Turks. The volume includes the following:
- a copy of an article on Bin Saud by Gertrude Bell;
- copies of translations of correspondence between Bin Saud and Bin Rashid, and a copy of a translation of an agreement between the two men, dated 10 June 1915, in which they agree to respect each other's territories;
- a note entitled 'Relations With Ibn Sa'ud', prepared by the Arab Bureau's Iraq section, which provides a British perspective on Britain's relations with Bin Saud from 1899 onwards;
- copies of reports sent to the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. in January 1915 from the late Captain William Henry Irvine Shakespear, regarding his meetings with Bin Saud;
- reports of Harry St John Bridger Philby's meetings with Bin Saud in December 1917, as part of a political mission.
The volume features the following principal correspondents:
- Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Zachariah Cox, corresponding both as the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and as the Chief Political Officer, Indian Expeditionary Force D;
- Secretary to the 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. 's Political Department (Sir Arthur Hirtzel, succeeded by John Evelyn Shuckburgh);
- Bin Saud;
- High Commissioner, Egypt (Sir Francis Reginald Wingate);
- Viceroy of India [Frederic John Napier Thesiger];
- Foreign Office.
The volume also contains copies of correspondence between the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. , Aden (Major General James Marshall Stewart) and both Saiyid Mohamed bin Ali bin Idris, the Idrisi [Sayyid Muḥammad bin ‘Alī Āl al-Idrīsi] and Imam Mahomed Yahya bin Hamid-ul-Din [Yaḥyā Muḥammad Ḥamīd al-Dīn].
The part includes a divider that gives the subject and part number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in the part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (270 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
The subject 2182 (Persia Gulf) consists of 8 volumes: IOR/L/PS/10/384-391. The volumes are divided into 12 parts with part 1 comprising the first volume, part 2 comprising the second volume, part 3 comprising the third volume, parts 4-5 comprising the fourth volume, part 6 comprising the fifth volume, parts 7-8 comprising the sixth volume, parts 9-10 comprising the seventh volume, and parts 11-12 comprising the eighth volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 269; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the one leading flyleaf.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/388
- Title
- File 2182/1913 Pt 6 'Arabia Relations with Bin Saud'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:i-v, 1r:187r, 188r:226v, 228r:268v, ii-r:ii-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence