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Coll 6/67(6) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar: Trucial Coast Oil Concessions' [192r] (394/402)
The record is made up of 1 file (195 folios). It was created in 30 Jun 1940-30 Mar 1948. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
(a
m
[22284—2] b 3
5
Sheikh of AbfmaW 1 whereby Aefr^SredTKb gaV ? “ undert ^ing to the
that ruler and undertook to prevent ^nvnne^l Kh ° I '‘ el -° deid as belonging to
assurance was contained in a letter dated ^he l!l n occu Py in g it. This
! ” e'' Sir Percy) Cox to Sheikh ZaW bin KJ, i r eC - embe , r ’- 1906 ' fro ® Major
m -med that— ^aid-bm-Khahfa, in which the latter was
your territory and are DrevelJf^ reco gnise that the place is in
yourself, they are not satisfied i ltS occu P atlon b y anyone else but
good or peaceful result and ft tbit r t,r CCU ? atl0nby ,.y° U would have any
reoccupying the place.” ' ab0n aie not in clmed to assist you in
27th March, mT^Ejwtern . des P atch No. 47 of the b. 2124 / 268 /
21. Since by Article 6 of the tt' °/ T th ?i 9t h A P ril -, 1937 - action 1.) « am.
ment undertook to recognise the soecia Wreat ^ ® audl Al 'abian Govern-
Majesty’s Government fnd the Trutt S eikhdots Ts b ? tween His
that undertaking as aDDlyine- tr hdomb ’ u seems logical to regard
Government recfgnised tht Iveretnfv of th ga fH , /. t His Majesty’s
Khor-el-Odeid. It may be argued Tat tho Send! I 01 T" Dhabl 0yer the
committed to similar recognition atTLg tn tte bas“ otlh”- ^ thuS
Sthl/tdT^iXScwtTi^
atareof ttlbOe asTanTortoti”"'’ 7 ^ Were
claim to the Kbo^Tn^t^* 1 * the 1 Sa 1 udi , Arabian Government do not base their
claim to the Khor-el-Odeid on purely legal grounds. They also maintain—
(a) that they need an additional outlet to the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
more easy to
develop and more accessible than their ports to the north of the Qatar
peninsula;
(b) that they need to be able to control smuggling from that part of the coast
into Saudi Arabia.
Their attitude is no doubt also influenced by considerations of prestige and bv
a desire to secure as much territory as possible which may contain oil
(C)— The Saudi claim to the Jebel Nakhsh.
23. With regard to the Jebel Nakhsh the position is more doubtful. The
case for claiming it for the Sheikh of Qatar rests mainly on two arguments,
(a) that in the past that area has been commonly regarded as falling within
the State of Qatar, and
(b) that topographically the Jebel Nakhsh forms part of the range of hills
known as the Jebel Dukhan, which runs along the west coast of Qatar,
and therefore properly belongs to the Qatar peninsula.
24. As regards (a), it will be seen from paragraph 4 of
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.
memo
randum B 430 of the 5th March, 1934, that, according to the information e. 1512 / 279 /
contained in Lorimer’s Gazetteer of the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, the southern boundary! 91 ( 1934 ).
of Qatar was, before the 1914-18 war, considered to run roughly south-east
from the Dohat-es-Salwa to a point to the north of the Khor-el-Odeid. As
against this the 1913 convention (which was, however, later in date than Mr.
Lorimer’s work) definitely speaks of the Blue line separating Ottoman territory
from “the territory of Qatar.” Lorimer admits, however, that the Qatar
boundary was £ ‘ somewhat indeterminate ’ ’ in the part towards the Khor-el-
Odeid and, although care was taken to collect what evidence was available, the
above description of the pre-war boundary does not seem to have been based on
any positive knowledge, but simply on what was, at the time, vaguely considered
to be the true position. It has been suggested that the claim of the Sheikh of!
Qatar to the whole of the Qatar peninsula was recognised by Ibn Sand on the
occasion of his interview with Sir Percy Cox at Ojair in 1923, when he
apparently accepted without demur the latter’s statement that he had no rights
About this item
- Content
This volume concerns British policy regarding the south-eastern boundaries of Saudi Arabia, specifically its border with Qatar.
The correspondence and memoranda near the beginning of the volume discuss from a British perspective the origins and recent history of the boundary dispute, which is described as having been in abeyance since 1938; much of the later correspondence is concerned with whether the British should make renewed attempts to reach an agreement with Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] .
References are made to various existing and proposed boundary lines, the most recent of the latter is the 'Riyadh line' (the name given to the boundary proposed by the British to the Saudi Government in November 1935, referred to elsewhere as the 'final offer').
Notable correspondents include the following: 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. (Charles Geoffrey Prior, succeeded by William Rupert Hay); the 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. , Bahrain (Reginald George Alban, Edward Birkbeck Wakefield, and Cornelius James Pelly); His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Stanley R Jordan, succeeded by Laurence Barton Grafftey-Smith); officials of the Foreign Office, 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 Government of India's External Affairs Department, and the Ministry of Fuel and Power (Petroleum Division); representatives of the United States' State Department, Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited, Petroleum Concessions Limited, and the Iraq Petroleum Company respectively.
Related matters of discussion include:
- Ibn Saud's claims regarding the south-eastern frontiers of Saudi Arabia, particularly those relating to Jebel Nakhsh [Khashm an Nakhsh, Qatar] and Khor-el-Odeid [Khawr al ‘Udayd, Qatar].
- Reports in 1941 of a rumour that the Shaikh of Qatar [Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī] and Ibn Saud have reached an agreement regarding the Saudi-Qatar boundary.
- The likelihood of oil prospecting either near or within the disputed territory, and its implications for the territorial dispute.
- British concerns in 1947 regarding the possibility of the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) initiating drilling operations in the seabed near to the disputed territory.
- The precise location of proposed drillings by Petroleum Concessions Limited in the Qatar Peninsula.
- A reported complaint in 1947 from the Shaikh of Abu Dhabi [Shaikh Shakhbut bin Sultan Al Nahyan] that Petroleum Development (Qatar) Limited has laid buoys in his territorial waters.
- Whether the British should permit or impede a proposed survey in Qatar by Petroleum Concessions Limited, which is thought likely to provoke protests from Ibn Saud.
Also included are three maps depicting the eastern and south eastern parts of the Arabian Peninsula.
The volume includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 2).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (195 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 195; 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.
Pagination: the volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 6/67(6) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar: Trucial Coast Oil Concessions' [192r] (394/402), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2139, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100049276752.0x0000c3> [accessed 17 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2139
- Title
- Coll 6/67(6) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar: Trucial Coast Oil Concessions'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 1r:8v, 10r:22v, 24r:42v, 44r:51v, 54r:73v, 75r:106v, 108r:147v, 150r:160v, 162r:164v, 166r:176v, 178r:190r, 191r:195v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence