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Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎89r] (178/540)

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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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23
[15154'! B 12
64. Eastern and South-Eastern Boundary .—No advance towards a settle
ment on this point has been made since paragraph 57 of the 1935 report was
written, except that, as is shown elsewhere, the allegation that the Sheikh of
Qatar had signed away his rights over Jabal Naksh to Ibn Baud before 1916
has been exploded. The differences between the British and Saudi points of
^ view when Sir Reader Bullard reached Jedda in September were these :—
(1) The Saudi Government were asking for Jabal Naksh and Khor-el-Odeid,
but hints continued to be given that they would cease to claim Khor-
al-Odeid if they could secure Jabal Naksh. They also appeared to
covet Sufuk.
(2) On the extreme east the British proposal was that the line should follow
longitude 55 east, the Saudi proposal that it should follow 56 east.
(3) On the south the Saudi Government were claiming, in addition to what
His Majesty’s Government had offered, a band of territory varying
in width from about 1 degree of latitude at the ends to about 2 degrees
in the middle.
65. The only point on which His Majesty’s Government had held out hope
of a further concession was the second. They had made it clear that they regarded
both Jabal Naksh and Khor-al-Odeid as essential. The question of Sufuk—
though this is a minor point—had apparently not been studied closely. The Chief
Commissioner of Aden was strongly opposed to any further concession on the
part of the frontier affecting the Aden Protectorate and the Hadhramaut; he
considered that to carry further south in that sector the line proposed by His
Majesty’s Government would give Ibn Saud a footing within the border territory
of the Hadhramaut and the possibility of an extension of his influence which
would have a disturbing effect on the treaty chiefs and their people in those
regions, besides opening the way to interference in the grazing and watering
rights of the tribes concerned.
66. So the matter might have remained, for although it would be a good
thing in principle to add the frontier question to the list of cases settled, no
difficulty arose in practice in 1936 from the lack of definition of the frontiers
on the east and south-east. In October, however, Petroleum Concessions (Limited)
informed the Foreign Office that the Ruba-al-Khali probably contained important
oil resources, and that they would like to obtain from I bn Saud a concession
covering all ’the territory under his sovereignty east of meridian 48 and not
already included in the concession granted to the Standard Oil Company of
California, up to such boundary as might eventually be agreed upon between him
and His Majesty’s Government. The Foreign Office pointed out that such an
application would perhaps give Ibn Saud an exaggerated idea of the economic
value of the area in dispute and make him even more difficult in his dealings with
His Majesty’s Government on this point, and said that they would prefer the
company not to approach Ibn Saud until the frontier negotiations had gone a
good deal further, and at any rate not for another six months.
67. The question was taken up with Fuad Bey late in the year, and on his
return from seeing Ibn Saud he expressed these views. Sir Andrew Ryan’s
impression that the Saudi Government were prepared to compromise was due
to a misunderstanding of Fuad Bey’s idea, which was that he and His Majesty s
Minister should try to find some middle course to recommend to their Govern
ments. He had no counter-proposals to make to the latest offer of His Majesty’s
Government. The southern boundary proposed by the Saudi Government was
based on the essential needs of the tribes in that area. The British suggestion
that the line along longitude 55 east might be moved eastwards was not of much
interest to the Saudi Government, since the country thereabouts was desert. Fuad
Bey appeared to be taking advantage of the change of Minister when he suggested
that His Majesty’s Government attached the greatest importance to Khor-al-
Odeid, but much less to Jabal Naksh, which the Saudi Government regarded as
most important. His Majesty’s Minister held out no hope of any concession
beyond the one mentioned, and could only promise to report to the Foreign Office.
He informed the Foreign Office that but for the complication introduced by oil
he would have been in favour of leaving the question of the eastern and smR* 1 "
eastern frontier in abeyance. As it was, he could only suggest (1) that luad Bey
should be informed, in order that the Saudi Government might remain under no

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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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Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎89r] (178/540), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2085, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036362870.0x0000b3> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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