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Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎11v] (23/540)

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The record is made up of 1 file (268 folios). It was created in 18 Apr 1931-18 May 1945. 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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4
views on Arab questions, Palestine, Syria, &c. Ibn Saud made bis views quite
clear in mayy talks with these visitors and in a special message and a letter to
President Roosevelt. The United States Government should therefore be fully
informed of the King’s views, and they have no further excuse for the ignorance
which w 7 as displayed by the President s message to Ibn Saud regarding
Weizmann (see paragraph 8). . . 0k
14. Other American visitors were less important. They included, in th
spring, a delegation from Life who eventually produced a long article about
Saudi Arabia in their magazine which was notable for its inaccuracies and for
the offence it gave by its references to the King’s connubial affairs. Mr. Gunter,
of the United States Treasury, visited the country in October to investigate
the financial position. An American Military Mission visited the country at
the end of the year (see paragraph 28). During the year the United States
pressed for permission to create a consulate at Dhahran, but Ibn Saud would go
no further than allowing them to appoint a commercial agent with no repre
sentative capacity.
15. The Vichy Legation wms closed by the departure of M. Ballereau
on the 19th June. The Italian and German internees left on the 14th March to be
exchanged for an equal number of British in a Turkish port. The Netherlands
Charge d’Affaires was promoted to the rank of Minister Plenipotentiary and
presented his new r credentials on 5th November. A new Iraqi Minister arrived
to take over the Iraqi Legation in Jedda in March after a long interregnum
during which Iraq w r as represented by a succession of charges d’affaires. The
Saudi Arabian Minister at Vichy was transferred to Ankara in April.
Finance.
16. The proposal to establish a Saudi Arabian Currency Board in London
had not produced any definite results by the end of the year. A good deal of
preparatory w T ork was done, however, principally by Mr. Peters, Accountant-
General of Palestine, who visited Jedda in March and had lengthy discussions
with His Majesty’s Representative and with the competent Saudi Arabian
officials. Captain France, of the Minister of State’s staff, also discussed this
project when he visited Jedda in July.
17. His Majesty’s Government subsidised Ibn Saud to the extent of
£225,000 a month throughout the year (a total of £2,700,000), which was used for
purchasing supplies from the United Kingdom Commercial Corporation and
other sources. In addition to the above, the following amounts of currency were
granted to Saudi Arabia by His Majesty’s Government.
Riyals ... ... ... ... ... 5,000,000
Sovereigns ... ... ... ... 400,000
A further 8 million .riyals were supplied at the end of the year by the
United States under Lend-Lease, and another 7 million riyals are expected to
be forthcoming from the same source early in 1944. The Lend-Lease
riyals which have arrived to date were minted in India and the United Kingdom
from silver loaned by these countries subject to replacement from the United
States.
18. The Saudi budget for 1943 showed a deficit of 30 million riyals,
approximately £2,250,000 sterling, despite the subsidy, gold, and riyals given
to tihe country, and despite a small pilgrimage of 30,000 persons at the end
of 1942.
19. During the year the Saudi Government received an advance of 1 million
dollars from the California Arabian Standard Oil Company, which approximates
to the amount of rental and oil subsidies accruing to the Saudi Government
from the operations of the company in Saudi territory.
Supplies.
20. During the year adequate supplies of foodstuffs, transport and
essential commodities were sent to Saudi Arabia by the Middle East Supply
Centre, which supplied practically the whole of the Saudi requirements. No
acute shortage of foodstuffs w as at any time evident and the Saudi Government
are most appreciative of His Majesty’s Government’s efforts in this direction.
The world shortage of cotton piece-goods had its inevitable reaction on this
country towards the end of the year and led to urgent demands from the King
for supplies from India.

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Content

This file contains copies of annual reports regarding the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia) during the years 1930-1938 and 1943-1944.

The reports were produced by the British Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, succeeded by Sir Reader William Bullard) and sent to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (and in the case of these copies, forwarded by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State for India), with the exception of the reports for 1943 and 1944, which appear to have been produced and sent by His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires at Jedda, Stanley R Jordan.

The reports covering 1930-1938 discuss the following subjects: foreign relations; internal affairs; financial, economic and commercial affairs; military organisation; aviation; legislation; press; education; the pilgrimage; slavery and the slave trade; naval matters. The reports for 1943 and 1944 are rather less substantial. The 1943 report discusses Arab affairs, Saudi relations with foreign powers, finance, supplies, and the pilgrimage, whilst the 1944 report covers these subjects in addition to the following: the activities of the United States in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East Supply Centre, and the Saudi royal family.

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 file (268 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 269; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-12 and ff 45-268; these numbers are also written in pencil but are not circled.

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English in Latin script
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Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎11v] (23/540), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2085, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036362870.0x000018> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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