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Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎231r] (462/540)

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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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63
December. These figures are taken from periodical reports and have not been
checked in Jedda for the year as a whole.
198. The question of search for slaves at sea is dealt with in the following
section.
XII.— Naval Matters.
199. It is perhaps unnecessary to record the fact that Ibn Saud possessed
no naval equipment of any form, except by way of comment on the reservations
made by his Government when agreeing to the armaments truce proposed by the
League of Nations (see paragraph 109). There was no change in 1931 in the
naval arrangements of the three Powers who “show the flag” in the Red Sea.
His Majesty’s Government continued to maintain two sloops for the repression
of the slave trade and more general purposes, H.M.S. “Lupin” replacing the
long familiar “Clematis.” One or other of the two visited Jedda in February,
April, July and October, the longest visit being that paid in April, when, in
accordance with a now well-established tradition, H.M.S. “ Dahlia” came to the
port at pilgrimage time and stayed a week. Commander R. A. Jackson vacated
this ship shortly afterwards. He will be remembered for his zeal in all matters
connected with slavery, and in Jedda for his wholehearted assistance in 1930
and 1931 in organising the annual Haj regatta, an old institution which was
revived in 1929 after some years of abeyance. The French maintain no regular
establishment in the Red Sea. The sloop “Baccarat” of the French naval
division in the Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. visited Jedda in January at the time of the King’s
accession celebrations. Rear-Admiral Deville, Commander-in-chief of the
division, called there for two days in February, towards the end of a long tour
across Syria and Iraq by land and round from the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. by sea. There
were no French naval visits, nor did either of the Italian ships based on Massowah
make any appearance in Hejazi waters during the year.
200. Progress was made with the three questions dealt with in para
graphs 187 to 189 of the annual report for 1930. The results may be summed up
as follows :—
(a) Much consideration was given to the question whether the British sloops
should not visit Jedda more frequently and resume the practice of visiting other
Hejazi ports. The naval authorities not unnaturally chafe at the restrictions
imposed by the recent practice of confining visits to the limited number of three
or four a year, all of which are made at Jedda after giving a few days’ previous
notice to the Hejazi Government, but without formally asking for their consent.
The Legation feared that any extension to other ports would indispose Ibn Saud,
and might lead to controversy as to the propriety of ships continuing to visit
Jedda without his express permission. It was also pointed out that any change
of practice would raise embarrassing questions in connexion with visits to ports
in Asir, both as regards the political significance which might be attached to
them and the danger of compromising the negative attitude of His Majesty’s
Government in respect of the recent absorption of that country by Ibn Saud.
His Majesty’s Government felt unable to endorse an Admiralty suggestion that
the consent of the Hejazi Government should be sought on each occasion in the
hope that this concession would overcome any objection they might have to a
wider range of visits. It was eventually decided in November to maintain the
existing practice for four months and to review the situation again at the end of
(b) As a result of further consideration of the legal and other issues involved,
His Majesty’s Government issued on the 2nd September two sets of revised naval
instructions regarding searches for slaves and arms in the Red Sea. These
instructions enumerated various treaties relative to slavery and indicated the
somewhat meagre conclusions which could be drawn from them regarding the
right of search for slaves. They summed up the still pore meagre effects which
would ensue from the Arms Traffic Convention of 1925, even if it were in foice.
So far as the Red Sea is concerned, the principal conclusions of a practical kind
embodied in the instructions were briefly these :—
(i) Native vessels in the Red Sea might, by custom, be searched for slaves
outside the territorial waters of French and Italian colonies, whatever the flag

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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.' [‎231r] (462/540), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2085, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036362872.0x00003f> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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