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Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎58r] (116/540)

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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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21
[17650] e*
to an invitation to Sir R. Bullard to visit the King at Riyadh, an invitation which
it was useful to have in hand when the time came to send the King advance
copies of the report of the Royal Commission on Palestine.
78. The King began his conversations with Sir R. Bullard and Mr. Rendel
by enunciating the principles which he said governed his life : religion, honour,
and devotion to the interests of his subjects. He declared that he was a Moslem
first of all, and that as a Moslem and an Arab he believed that of all the European
Powers the one with whom it was to the advantage of Arabs anywhere to be on
good terms was Great Britain. After a reference to Palestine and to the Royal
Commission then sitting, whose report he said he had advised the Mufti to await,
he turned to the question of the Yemen, as an object of Italian intrigue. He
had been consulted by Saiyid Husain, one of the sons of the King of the Yemen,
who had been in Mecca for the pilgrimage, with regard to the attitude of Great
Britain and Italy, and had told him about the Rome understanding of 1927,
and had said that both the British and the Italians had assured him that it was
their firm desire that the independence of the Yemen should be maintained. He
was sure that internal dissension would lead to an outbreak in the Yemen, on
the death of the King or even before : in that event what would the Italians do
and what would be the attitude of His Majesty’s Government ?
79. Mr. Rendel replied that His Majesty’s Government fully appreciated
the dangers of the situation in the Yemen. There was no doubt that the Italians
had been, and still were, intriguing actively in that country and would be very
ready to fish in the waters they had helped to trouble. But while the internal
situation was perhaps more dangerous than it had been, he was inclined, for the
following reasons and speaking purely personally, to doubt whether the Italian
danger was now quite as acute as it had been a year ago. In the Rome under
standing of 1927 His Majesty’s Government had made it quite clear, and the
Italians had formally recognised, that His Majesty’s Government regarded it as
£ ‘ a vital imperial interest that no European Power should establish itself on the
Arabian shore of the Red Sea.” There was, of course, no reason to trust any
Italian promises as such, but it was obvious that, in view of the terms of the Rome
understanding, any attempt by Italy to establish herself in the Yemen would be a
direct challenge to His Majesty’s Government. No doubt Italian hotheads,
possibly Italian local officials, cherished designs on the Yemen. But Italian policy
would be directed from Rome, and present indications suggested that, for
European reasons, and in view of British rearmament, Italy was not now anxious
to embark on any conflict with His Majesty’s Government, but was seeking to
establish better relations. Even if this view should prove mistaken, he did not
think Ibn Baud need be seriously disturbed by Italian activities in the
Yemen. Saudi and British interests were closely parallel, and it was difficult to
see how any development which threatened Saudi independence could fail equally
to threaten British interests, so that the probability was that, in any such event,
Ibn Saud would, in any case, find Great Britain at his side. At a later interview
the opportunity was taken to mention that the Italians themselves seemed anxious
to keep the Rome understanding alive, and apparently feared a forward policy
on the part of His Majesty’s Government.
80. Mr. Rendel added that he understood that His Majesty wished to know
the attitude of His Majesty’s Government towards his suggestion for an exchange
of information about the Yemen, &c. Mr. Rendel saw no reason why this should
not be possible. His Majesty’s Government would be glad to pass on to Ibn Saud
any information of interest which they could properly communicate to him, though
in doing this they would, of course, be assuming that Ibn Saud was satisfied that
there would be no risk of leakage at the Saudi end.
81. At a later interview Ibn Saud went over the whole course of his relations
with His Majesty’s Government from the moment when he first entered into com
munication with them through 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 Bahrein, and suggested that
their common interests demanded that the Turks should not be allowed to establish
themselves strongly in the Arabian peninsula, and received an assurance that His
Majesty’s Government would not allow the Turks to approach him either by sea or
through Koweit. He recited his dealings with Sir Percy Cox during the war,
recalled the loyalty with which he had offered to help the Sharif Hussein against
the Turks, and spoke of the £< guarantees ” which he had received from Sir Percy

About this item

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.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎58r] (116/540), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2085, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036362870.0x000075> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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