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‘1/1 Volume IV Koweit Saudi Relations’ [‎32v] (73/510)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (247 folios). It was created in 29 May 1935-21 Apr 1936. 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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4
be likely to raise any objection in prinapb Jedda
amount to a declaration that neith P y sa - (1 be f ore; agreement could be
reache^on any Sificatira in the provisions of the settlement which the Saudi
Government wished to take this opportunity to secuie.
The discussion then reverted to the question of slavery and manumission.
FUAD BEY HAMZA explained that this question could only be pursued
on a bast of complete confidence between the two parties He realised that His
Maiesty’s Government would require to have advance knowledge of the anti-
slavery legislation which the Saudi Government intended to promulgate. He
doubted however, whether the Saudi Government wou d be wil mg to communi
cate the exact terms of the proposed legislation to His Mamsty s Government.
He suggested that His Majesty s Government should be content with am
understanding as to what should be covered by the legislation and leave the actual
drafting to the Saudi Government. Fuad Bey again emphasised the impoitanee
of avoiding any impression that internal Saudi legislation was being carried out
at the dictation of His Majesty’s Government.
Mr. RENDEL explained that His Majesty’s Government fully realised the
importance of avoiding this impression. On the other hand, they must be in a
position adequately to defend their abandonment of the right of manumission,
and this could only be done if the legislation, in consideration of which the right
of manumission would, in fact, be abandoned, could be regarded as satisfactory.
They could not, therefore, give any undertaking about the eventual abandonment
of their right without precise knowledge of the provisions of the contemplated
legislation. It was, however, just as much in the interest of the Saudi Govern
ment as of His Majesty’s Government that the legislation should be actually
enacted before His Majesty’s Government abandoned their right of manumission,
since if His Majesty’s Government could say that new legislation had been
voluntarily enacted by King Abdul Aziz and that a new situation had thereby
been produced, and actually existed, which justified them in abandoning their
right of manumission, it would look far less as though a bargain had been struck
than if the right of manumission were abandoned simultaneously with, or in
advance of, the promulgation of the legislation in question.
FUAD BEY HAMZA explained that the Saudi Government must have a
private guarantee that if the legislation were passed His Majesty’s Government
would then abandon their right of manumission.
SIR A. RYAN restated the procedure, which he himself had had in mind
and which, if adopted, would involve three stages, viz., (1) a private but binding
agreement that, if the Saudi Government promulgated legislation on certain lines,
His Majesty’s Government would renounce the right of manumission; (2) the
promulgation of the Saudi legislation; and (3) the public renunciation of the
right of manumission as part of the suggested arrangements for prolonging
the validity of the Treaty of Jedda.
Mr. RENDEL saw no difficulty in regard to the private guarantee suggested
by Fuad Bey provided Flis Majesty’s Government were satisfied as to the nature
of the legislation. Indeed, if they were not, the position would be impossible, as
they would not then be able to make an adequate defence before Parliament of
their abandonment of their right. Although the exchange of notes might not
actually need ratification, and Parliament was not technically concerned with
ratifications, it would be necessary for any new agreement to be laid before
Parliament, and it would never do if parliamentary criticism could not be
adequately met. On the other hand, if His Majesty’s Government were supplied
with full and piecise infoimation as to the contemplated legislation Ministers
would then be able to judge whether that legislation would enable them to meet
parliamentary criticism and to carry Parliament with them when the right of
manumission came to be abandoned. The question whether the modification of
a treaty instrument which had been ratified would itself need ratification-
%.e., whether he proposed exchange of notes would have to be subject to ratifica
tion was a question somewhat outside his province, on which the necessary
technical advice would be obtained. ece

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Content

Correspondence and papers concerning relations between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and British officials’ efforts to negotiate the lifting of a trade blockade, imposed upon Kuwait at the orders of the of King of Saudi Arabia, ‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd (Ibn Sa‘ūd). The volume is a direct chronological continuation of ‘1/1 Volume III Koweit Saudi Relations’ (IOR/R/15/5/111), and includes:

  • Further diplomatic exchanges amongst British, Saudi and Kuwaiti officials, relating to the incursion into Kuwaiti territory by an armed Saudi party in May 1935.
  • Saudi assertions that smuggling from Kuwait into Saudi Arabia has increased in the wake of the Kuwait-Saudi conference held in July 1935.
  • The death of the Amir of Hasa [al-Aḥsā’] Abdulla al Jiluwi [‘Abdullāh bin Jilūwī Āl Sa‘ūd] in October 1935;
  • Discussions regarding a proposal, put forward by Ibn Saud, for the recognition of Arafa [’arafa] law between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
  • In early 1936, Saudi Government proposals for a lifting of the blockade, and reports of the Ruler of Kuwait’s agreement in principle to the proposals.

The volume’s principal correspondents are: the Kuwait Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. (Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Richard Patrick Dickson); the 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. (Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard William Craven Fowle); the British Government’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (Andrew Ryan); the British Chargé d’Affaires at Jedda (Albert Spencer Calvert); representatives of the Government of Saudi Arabia (Fuad Bey Hamza, Yusuf Yasin, Feysal [Fayṣal bin ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd]); the Ruler of Kuwait (Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ).

Extent and format
1 volume (247 folios)
Arrangement

The volume’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest item at the front to the latest at the end.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 249; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers; nor does it include the two leading and ending flyleaves.

Additional foliation sequences are present in parallel between ff 4-246; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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‘1/1 Volume IV Koweit Saudi Relations’ [‎32v] (73/510), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/5/112, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100042317212.0x00004a> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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