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File 2182/1913 Pt 10 'N.W. Frontier: Proposed Russian zoological expedition' [‎288r] (167/664)

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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. .

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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government.!
EASTERN. [November 15.]
CONFIDENTIAL. Section l
[152298] No. 1.
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. to Foreign O ffice. — (Received November 15.)
^ r ’ r »«- v . 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. , November 14, ]91'9.
^ -A-M dnected by the becretary of State for India to forward for submission to
the Secretary of State for 1 oreign Affairs, a ‘translation of a note read by Ahmad-ibn-
Thunaiyan on the occasion of the interview between the Nejd Mission and representa
tives of the Foreign Office and 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. on the 1st November.
Mr. Montagu would suggest that, with Lord Ourzon’s concurrence, the questions
raised in this note might be considered at an early meeting of the Inter-Departmental
Committee on Middle Eastern Affairs.
The hope was expressed at the interview that it might be possible to convey an
answer to Ahmad-ibn-Thunaiyan as from His Majesty’s Government at a further
interview to be held before the departure of the mission from this country.
I am, &c.
L. D. WAKELY.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Note read to 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. and Foreign Office Joint Conference on behalf of Bin Saud
by Ahmad-ibn-Thunaiyan, November 1, 1919.
(Translation.)
AS your Excellencies are aware, after the occurrence of the regrettable clash
between the subjects of Ibn Saud and Shereef Abdullah, His Majesty’s Government
sent an official representation through their consul at Jedda to the effect that Ibn Saud
and the Ikhwan had in defiance of the counsels of His Majesty’s Government committed
an act of aggression against the boundaries of the Hedjaz, that, if he did not retire and
withdraw his troops from the Hedjaz, His Majesty’s Government would treat him as an
enemy and sever relations with him and discontinue his subsidy. Ibn Saud was
distressed by the tenour of this representation and said : “ What has caused His
Majesty s Government to write thus ? ” seeing that he had frequently informed His
Majesty s Government of the attitude of the Shereef and his acts of aggression against
the territories of Nejd, and had gone so far as to request the despatch of a mission to
solve the difficulties existing between him and the Shereef, declining responsibility
therefore, and His Majesty’s Government made no answer until the affair occurred,
owing to the aggression of the Shereef against the territories of Nejd. He was
disturbed at heart because he was hoping for suitable assistance from His Majesty’s
Government in accordance with the tenour of the agreement made between them and
him, against all acts of aggression which may occur against his territories by land or
sea.^ And when the subjects of Ibn Saud drove the Shereef from the frontiers of his
territories, he did not commit aggression against the Hedjaz, his only object being to
please His Majesty’ Government, and on our arrival in London we learned that His
Majesty s Government had sent Mr. Philby by air to meet Ibn Saud, and had sent him
a written communication to that effect, which did not reach him, while Mr. Philby
returned.
Now the requests of Ibn Saud are as follows :—
1. The question of the protection of his independence and the avoidance of any
interference in his internal affairs, and the realisation of all the provisions mentioned in
the preliminary agreement and its ratification anew on both sides with a view to giving
effect to it.
2. If you honour us by asking us regarding the boundaries of Nejd, they are
patent : to north-west Hanakiyya, to the south thereof Ashaira and the Hadhm range,
and that which is beyond it (looking) from the Hedjaz, according to the dictum of the
| 1378 p—1]

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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:

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
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File 2182/1913 Pt 10 'N.W. Frontier: Proposed Russian zoological expedition' [‎288r] (167/664), 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_100036528096.0x0000b5> [accessed 19 April 2024]

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