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Coll 6/19 'Arabia: (Saudi Arabia) Hejaz-Nejd Annual Report.' [‎264r] (528/540)

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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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[5545] E 4
as/
55
nothing to give effect to article 7 of the Treaty of Jedda. In July Fuad Bey
Hamza assured Sir A. Ryan that he had done a good deal. He had, according
to I'uad Bey, prohibited the entry of slaves into any of his ports, and this
prohibition, if it exists and is enforced, presumably applies to Asir, where Ibn
Baud is now master. Fuad Bey admitted the possibility of smuggling, but held
that smuggling by sea did not account for any important number of slaves, and
that, if any substantial numbers were, in fact, imported, they came overland
from Yemen. He declared that Ibn Sand had taken action in this direction also,
and that any person coming across the land frontier with a slave was compelled
to produce a certificate, with photograph attached, that the slave had grown up
in slavery. If this conversation proves nothing else, it proves that the King is
conscious of a commitment. Should he ever think seriously of entering the
League of Nations, he might possibly be induced to take effective measures.
184. There is no present hope, however, of inducing Ibn Saud to abolish
slavery as an institution. It is doubtful whether he would dare to do so even if
it suited his own book. He looks askance at the manumission of slaves by the
British Legation. The majority of slaves so manumitted have to be repatriated
to Africa. There were instances in 1930 of an obstructive attitude on the part
of the local authorities in regard to the embarkation of freed slaves. Later in
the year it was reported that measures had been taken to prohibit the movement
of negroes in the interior without special permission. At best, the right of manu
mission is of little practical value. The number of slaves who make their way to
the Legation is small. It is thought politic to recognise the existence of an
alleged understanding, the origin of which has not been traced, that the Legation
will not concern itself with Royal slaves. The actual number of slaves manu
mitted by the Legation since the year of the Jedda Treaty has been : in 1927,
36 male and 4 female; in 1928, 27 male and 12 female; in 1929, 15 male and
6 female; in 1930, 16 male and 11 female. The most that can be claimed is that
the exercise of the right provides a way of escape for slaves who find their
condition so intolerable that they surmount the difficulty of flying to the Legation;
that it may serve as a bargaining counter in any future negotiations with Ibn
Baud with a view to his taking stronger measures to suppress the trade; and that
in places within easy reach of Jedda it perhaps creates a certain sense of
insecurity of tenure in the minds of actual or would-be slave-owners.
XII. —British Naval Position.
185. The previous section deals at length with the activities of the British
Red Sea sloops in connexion with slavery. They serve two other purposes, the
general one of “ showing the flag ” and maintaining prestige, and the particular
one of combining some attempt to prevent illicit arms traffic with operations
mainly directed to the repression of the slave trade. The rise of Ibn Saud and
his jealousy of his sovereign rights has necessitated the consideration of sundry
questions, which were not new in 1930 but were active throughout the year,
notably (a) the position as regards visits to Hejaz ports; (b) the extent to which
sloops should exercise right of search; and (c) naval salutes for Hejazi
dignitaries.
186. It is traditional for the sloops to pay occasional visits to Red Sea
ports. The question arising under this head is how far the practice can be kept
up in its old form without risk of controversy with Ibn Saud, whose formal
consent has not hitherto been asked for. The question has not been threshed out
as one of principle, but during the last two or three years a practice has grown
up of confining visits to Jedda, as each time the question of visiting other ports
has arisen it has been held undesirable to make them. When a sloop intends to
visit Jedda notice is given a few days beforehand without any request for
consent. The Hejazi Government has not demurred to the visits except on one
occasion in 1929, when they asked that a visit should be countermanded for
reasons connected with the then situation. This request was agreed to in the
circumstances, which were so unusual that this could be done without prejudice
to the general position. It seemed probable in 1930 that, if other Hejazi ports

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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.' [‎264r] (528/540), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2085, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036362872.0x000081> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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