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File 2182/1913 Pt 10 'N.W. Frontier: Proposed Russian zoological expedition' [244r] (79/664)
The record is made up of 1 item (330 folios). It was created in 28 May 1919-13 Jan 1920. It was written in English and Arabic. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
was impossible to foresee what would happen if he decided to do
this, there appeared to be two alternatives before His Maiesty’s
Government: They could once more attempt to bring pressure
to bear upon Ibn Saud by issuing an ultimatum to him; cutting
down his subsidy; and threatening to break off relations with him
there was also the possibility of blockading him from the Persian
Guit side, though he understood that this would not be easy. If
His Majesty s Government decided upon this line of action, they
would run the risk of the Akhwan overrunning Arabia in the event
il w ^ f ! ai 1 m ^ r com P ] y with the terms of the ultimatum.
Ibn Rashid and the Idnsi might be induced to join Hussein agair%
Ibn baud but he was not confident that even this combination
would be strong enough to check the Akhwan. The other alternative
was to leave things as they were : the almost inevitable result of
this would be that King Hussein would abdicate unless we gave
him some crumbs of comfort. His abdication would be followed
by something very like anarchy in the Hejaz. The tribes would get
completely out of hand ; the rival faction which supported Ali Haidar
u m -? e ^ lat - e ^ raiSe t ^ e ^ r ’ pilgrimages would become very
dithcult, if not impossible, for a year or two, if not longer; and the
Akhwan would no doubt take advantage of the disorder in the Heiaz
to overrun the country and occupy the Holy Places.
He would be glad to be authorised to tell King Hussein on his
return to Jeddah that His Majesty’s Government adhered to their
recognition of his ownership of Khurma and Turaba.
2 he Chairman pointed out that Colonel Wilson’s two alternatives
both ended m the advance of the Akhwan, the only difference being
that in one case they would advance more quickly than in the other.
he suggestion that Ibn Rashid and the Idrisi should be induced to
take sides with King Hussein against Ibn Saud amounted to a
complete negation of the policy of His Majesty’s Government, which
was to introduce peace and unity into the Arabian Peninsula.
Mr. Philby thought that the position was perfectly clear If
Colonel Wilson’s suggestion that His Majesty’s Government should
prejudge the ownership of Khurma and Turaba were accepted the
inevitable result would be that Ibn Saud would occupy Mecca and
the whole of the Hejaz. He declined to believe that either Ibn
Rashid or the Idrisi would join Hussein against Ibn Saud. Hussein
had recently paid Ibn Rashid 25,000Z., but this did not mean that
the latter was necessarily friendly to him. Even if he did join
Hussein, the Akhwan would defeat them both. He had mentioned
this view before to His Majesty’s Government, but His Majesty’s
Government had disagreed with him; he had, however, been
justified by events. Replying to a question by the Chairman, he
said that Ibn Saud would not move forward if His Majesty’s
Government decided to do nothing, but he still desired an answer to
ms demand for a Boundary Commission, and the presence of his
delegation in London seemed to provide a good opportunity for this
answer to be given.
Colonel Wilson, replying to a question by the Chairman, said
that King Hussein did not object to arbitration in principle, quite
the reverse ; it was only on the ownership of Khurma that he could
not accept arbitration.
The Chairman said that he could not understand Hussein’s
objections; they seemed to him to be dictated entirely by false
pride. If his claim was so incontestable, and his proofs so
unanswerable, why did he not produce them ? He did not see why
Hussein should refuse to state his case in an office to an impartial
arbiter, though he quite understood his objection to the publicity
[1569] B 2
About this item
- Content
The title provided at the beginning of this item does not relate in any way to the item's contents. Part 10 is in fact concerned with 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 begins with reports that Bin Saud's Akhwan [Ikhwan] forces have advanced to Tarabah (also spelled Turaba in the correspondence) [Turabah], in Hejaz, and includes details of His Majesty's Government's proposed response, which is to inform Bin Saud that if he does not withdraw his forces from Hejaz and Khurma then the rest of his subsidy will be discontinued and he will lose all advantages secured under the treaty of 1915. Included are the following:
- copies of translations of correspondence between Bin Saud and King Hussein;
- discussion as to whether the British should send aeroplanes to assist King Hussein;
- minutes of inter-departmental meetings between representatives of 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. , the War Office, the Foreign Office, and the Treasury, on the subject of Bin Saud, held at the Foreign Office and chaired by the Foreign Secretary, Earl Curzon of Kedleston [George Nathaniel Curzon];
- discussion as to how the British should respond in the event of Bin Saud's Wahabi [Wahhabi] forces taking Mecca and advancing on Jeddah, which it is anticipated may result in the evacuation of a large number of Arabs and British Indians;
- discussion regarding a proposed meeting between Harry St John Bridger Philby and Bin Saud on the Gulf coast;
- a report by Captain Herbert Garland [Director of the Arab Bureau, Cairo], entitled 'Note on the Khurma Dispute Between King Hussein and Ibn Saud';
- a document entitled 'Translation of a Memorandum on the Wahabite [sic] Crisis', addressed to the High Commissioner, Egypt, by Emir Feisal [Fayṣal bin Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī], in which Feisal implores the British to take military action against the Wahabi movement;
- copies of translations of letters addressed to Bin Rashid [Saʿūd bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl Rashīd], from Bin Saud and King Hussein respectively, which provide the perspectives of both on recent events at Khurma and Tarabah;
- a memorandum from the Foreign Office's Political Intelligence Department, entitled 'Memorandum on British Commitments to Bin Saud'.
The item's principal correspondents are the following:
- High Commissioner, Egypt, General (later Field Marshal) Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby;
- Secretary of State for India [Edwin Samuel Montagu];
- Secretary to 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 (John Evelyn Shuckburgh);
- Foreign Office;
- Bin Saud;
- King Hussein;
- Emir Ali [‘Alī bin Ḥusayn al-Hāshimī], son of King Hussein;
- Emir Feisal [Fayṣal bin Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī], son of King Hussein;
- Viceroy of India [Frederic John Napier Thesiger];
- War Office;
- Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , temporarily based in Baghdad [ Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson, acting Resident in Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Zachariah Cox's absence];
- Civil Commissioner, Baghdad [held in an officiating capacity by Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson];
- Colonel Cyril Edward Wilson;
- Harry St John Bridger Philby.
This item also contains translated copies of correspondence between Hussein and the then High Commissioner at Cairo, Sir Arthur Henry McMahon [commonly referred to as the McMahon-Hussein correspondence], dating from July 1915 to January 1916.
- Extent and format
- 1 item (330 folios)
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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File 2182/1913 Pt 10 'N.W. Frontier: Proposed Russian zoological expedition' [244r] (79/664), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/390/2, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036528096.0x00005d> [accessed 24 April 2024]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/390/2
- Title
- File 2182/1913 Pt 10 'N.W. Frontier: Proposed Russian zoological expedition'
- Pages
- 205r:254v, 256r:261v, 266r:271v, 275r:276v, 283r:283v, 287r:298v, 301r:305v, 311r:319v, 326r:335v, 338r:338v, 341r:342v, 350r:358v, 360r:360v, 362r:371v, 373r:426v, 428r:438v, 439ar, 439r:443v, 447r:480v, 484r:485v, 485ar:485av, 486r:487v, 489r:489v, 491r:500v, 502r:507v, 509r:518v, 524r:529v, 530ar, 530r:534v
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- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
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- Open Government Licence