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File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎36r] (80/834)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (411 folios). It was created in 1917-1920. 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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of them. They are cordially welcome to stay as many days as
they wish, the customary Arab rule of three days being quite
suspended. No one goes away without a gift, which appears to
average in value certainly several rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. .
Riyadh is the centre of the organization of the £ Ikhwan’, a
Bedouin society which exists to promote the spread of pure
religion, in the extreme Wahabi sense, among the different tribes.
The abolition of all intertribal warfare is one of its cardinal
doctrines. Three hundred and more of these ‘Ikhwan’ are being
educated in Riyadh to be religious teachers of the different
tribes. They are supported by the Ruler, and to join their
number anyone of the ‘ Ikhwan’ has only to signify his desire for
similar training. r £he society numbers many thousands in many
different tribes and supports the present ruling house in Riyadh
enthusiastically.
Very little is heard in ordinary conversation concerning the
present European war. The Bedouin knows very little about it
and cares less. The city dwellers are better informed, but they
say very little because they dare not. As far as can be judged
Nejd is pro-British only because the ruler compels it. The war
has had almost no direct effect upon the people. Rains in the
desert and good date crops in the cities have made times rather
better than usual.
Abdul Aziz, the ruler, is an Arab of very unusual endow
ments. A courteous host and a natural gentleman, he is a ruler
of great force and even severity. He has acquired a considerable
knowledge of the world and shows great intelligence in his grasp
of present conditions. There is no doubt of his warm personal
regard for several of the British Political Agents whom he has
met, most of all for the late Captain Shakespear and for Sir
Percy Cox and Captain Loch. His admiration for the British
administration of India and the Gulf is very great, though not
unmixed with criticism of certain things, particularly the character
of some of the native under-officers. In his opinion the
campaign in Mesopotamia has not been without mistakes as, for
example, the failure to assign at least one steamer to passenger
traffic upon the fall of Baghdad, so that Arabs travelling in and
out might have carried the news everywhere, and so have secured
the maximum influence on Arab attitude. He feels too, that
adequate management might certainly assign to the carrying trade of
the Gulf two steamers instead of one, thus securing for Nejd,along
with the other districts served, bi-weekly visits, instead of the
considerable hardship of the present irregular monthly service.
His own personal relations with the British, however, seem
to have afforded him the greatest pleasure and there can be no
doubt of his conviction that his own best interests and those of his
country are to be advanced by cultivating present pleasant relations.
It is easy to see that he is anxious to promote further association
with the British and looks forward to increasing its intimacy.”

About this item

Content

The volume consists of individual copies of the Arab Bulletin produced by the Arab Bureau at the Savoy Hotel, Cairo numbers 66-114. These publications contain wartime, and post-war intelligence obtained by British sources. They deal with economic, military, and political matters in Turkey, the Middle East, Arabia, and elsewhere, which – in the opinion of British officials – affect the ‘Arab movement’; the bulletins cover a wide range of topics and key personalities.

The volume contains the following maps:

  • A map of Central Arabia showing St John Philby's route from Uqair to Jidda 17 November to 31 December 1917: folio 103.
  • Sketch map prepared from RNAS photographs and reconnaissance by HMS City of Oxford of Wadi A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows. Mur February to March 1918 : folio 170.
  • Sketch map of Hejaz (1919): folio 317.
  • Tribal sketch map of the Hadhramaut ‘showing only tribes of fighting value’: folios 333v.

Towards the back of the volume is a small amount of correspondence respecting the distribution of Notes on the Middle East ; the Arab Bulletin was superseded by this publication. Copies of numbers 3-4 of this publication can also be found at the back of the volume.

Tables of content can be found at the front of each issue. A small amount of content is in French.

Extent and format
1 volume (411 folios)
Arrangement

The Arab Bulletins are arranged in numerical order from the front to the back of the file. The Notes on the Middle East follow on from the bulletins at the back of the file in reverse numerical order.

The subject 759 (Arab Bulletins) consists of two volumes. IOR/L/PS/10/657-658.

Physical characteristics

Condition: the edges of some of the folios towards the back of the volume have suffered damage to their edges due to general wear and tear. The affected folios are 389-390, 407-409, and 412.

Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 413; 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 front cover and the leading flyleaf have not been foliated. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 357-363 and ff 374-412 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

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English in Latin script
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File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎36r] (80/834), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/658, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100048056854.0x000051> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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