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File 2182/1913 Pt 9 'Arabia Policy towards Bin Saud' [‎122r] (241/406)

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The record is made up of 1 item (203 folios). It was created in 27 Dec 1918-2 Jun 1919. 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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APPENDIX I.
Bix Saijd’s Claim to Kiiurma.
(Extract from Memorandum by Mr. Phiibj, dated 13th August 1018.)
Ibn Sand most undoubtedly claims Khurma as being within his jurisdiction—he
does so not only on leligious and territorial grounds but also on historical, admini
strative and tribal grounds. He therefore considers the Sheriff’s action as aggressive
and hostile to himself. As I have said before, this is the chief disputed poinfbetween
the two paities, ano Ibn Sand has again and again asserted his willingness that the
British Government should adjudicate on the dispute on its merits. °It may be as
well to be a little more precise regarding the grounds of Ibn Sand’s claim.
[a) Religious. The whole population of Khurma, Ashraf and Subai, Bada and
Hadhr are of the Wahhabi persuasion, and, moreover, have joined the inner brother
hood of that sect, namely, the Akhwan. As such they regard all non-Wahhabis as
Mushrikin (heretics) and Kaffar (infidels), and look up. to Ibn Saud as their Imam and
temporal ruler. As far as I can ascertain they have been Wahhabis (or Haubalis)
from all time—they have become Akhwan largely in self defence against the Sheriff’s
aggression dating from some years back, and particularly since the Sheriff tried last
year to impose a Qadhi on them with a view to breaking up their Wahhabi tendencies.
As Wahhabis and Akhwan they have a religious claim on the protection of the people
of Najd and Ibn Saud.
_ (b) Territorial. —High Commissioner points out that Khurma is only 80 miles in
a direct line from Tail That may be true, but scarcely proves that Khurma is in
the Hedjaz. I believe I am the only European who has ever seen Khurma and the
country round it; I speak, therefore, with a full sense of my responsibility, and my
considered view is that the boundary of the Hedjaz, in the wddest sense in which that
term is capable of being used, runs (in the tract under consideration) along the
eastern edge of the Shaib Shaba south-westward to Turaba. This is undoubtedly the
recognised boundary between the Buqum and Subai tribes, and a reference to my
route chart will show that it comes up to within 10 miles of Khurma. This is my
opinion, while Ibn Saud and others with whom 1 have had opportunities'of discussing
the matter carry the boundary back 50 miles westward to the Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Aqiq. I believe
this latter boundary can be established by Turkish documentary evidence, as the line
of the Aqiq was agreed upon in the seventies between the Turkish authorities and
Ibn Rashid as being the natural boundary between the Hedjaz-and Najd. However,
I should feel inclined to disregard this evidence as the Buqum and Shalassa are, to
my view, undoubtedly Hedjaz tribes. In my opinion, therefore, the Shaib Shaba is
the only possible natural boundary, and, if this view is accepted, Khurma (though
only 10 miles from the Hedjaz boundary) lies in Najd.
(c) Tribal. —The Khurma tract is peopled wholly by the Subai tribe, which is
essentially a tribe of Najd, and extends through its whole breadth from the Summan
to Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Subai. In view of this Ibn Saud claims jurisdiction over the Subai of
Khurma, but is prepared to renounce his claim if the Subai themselves express a
preference for Sheriffian rule ; he is not, however, prepared to abandon them to the
tender mercies of the Sheriff so long as they claim his protection and acknowledge his
rule.
(d) Historical and Administrative. —These grounds may be considered together.
High Commissioner is informed that Khalid was nominated Amir of Khurma four
years ago by the Sheriff. This is improbable on the face of it, as Khalid, according to
my information, succeeded his cousin Ghalib on the latter’s death in the ordinary
course of inheritance, and, like other Amirs of Najd, has regularly made his annual
visit to Riyadh to receive his subsidy and presents ever since as his predecessor did
before him. In any case if any formal appointment by the Sheriff took place, and
was acknowledged by Khalid himself, he ought to be in a position to produce
documentary evidence. What he in all probability means (turning the circumstance
to suit his own present requirements) is that when Ghalib died his successor, Khalid,
was formally recorded in the Turkish registers as the rightful recipient of the Haj
Surra paid by the Turkish Government to all tribes in a position to annoy the annual
pilgrim caravans. That is a very different matter, and proves nothing, as the pages

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Part 9 primarily concerns the dispute between Bin Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and King Hussein of Hejaz [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī, King of Hejaz], and British policy towards both. The item includes the following:

  • a note by the 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. 's Political Department, entitled 'Arabia: The Nejd-Hejaz Feud', which laments the fact that relations between Bin Saud and King Hussein have to some extent been reflected in the views of the two administrations with which they have respectively been brought into contact (i.e. the sphere of Mesopotamia and the Government of India in Bin Saud's case, and the Cairo administration in King Hussein's case);
  • reports on the presence of Akhwan [Ikhwan] forces in Khurma and debate as to which ruler has the stronger claim to it;
  • attempts by the British to ascertain whether or not a treaty exists between King Hussein and Bin Saud;
  • a copy of a report by Harry St John Bridger Philby entitled 'Report on Najd Mission 1917-1918', which includes as appendices a précis of British relations with Bin Saud and a copy of the 1915 treaty between Bin Saud and the British government;
  • reports of alleged correspondence between Bin Saud and Fakhri Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , Commander of the Turkish [Ottoman] forces at Medina;
  • reports of the surrender of Medina by Ottoman forces;
  • discussion as to whether Britain should intervene further in the dispute between Bin Saud and King Hussein;
  • details of the proposals discussed at an inter-departmental conference on Middle Eastern affairs, which was held at Cairo in February 1919;
  • reports that King Hussein's son Abdulla [ʿAbdullāh bin al-Ḥusayn] and his forces have been attacked at Tarabah [Turabah] by Akhwan forces and driven out.

The principal correspondents are the following:

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File 2182/1913 Pt 9 'Arabia Policy towards Bin Saud' [‎122r] (241/406), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/390/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036528095.0x000031> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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