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Coll 6/67(4) 'Boundaries of South Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [‎337r] (673/843)

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The record is made up of 1 file (420 folios). It was created in 12 Nov 1935-27 Sep 1937. 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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19. I find that in the foregoing record of the earlier part of the discussion,
I have omitted three points of some little importance as follows :—
(а) At one moment Fuad Bey gave a definite hint that a bargain might be
struck.
(б) I reinforced my arguments regarding the special position of our Persian
Gulf clients by saying that Ibn Baud was the most powerful ruler in
Arabia, and that those other States had only such strength as they
derived from their special relations with His Majesty’s Government.
Had it been otherwise, I said, Ibn Baud would have before now
absorbed Koweit and Qatar. Fuad smilingly asked whether this
would harm our interests. I replied emphatically that it would.
(c) Fuad Bey threw a question at me about oil possibilities in the Jebel
Nakhsh. I told him that I thought there might be oil there, but that
we had also reason to believe that there might be oil in the area south
west of the Dohat-as-Salwa, and that we had not allowed the discovery
of this possibility to deter us from making the Green Line offer
at an earlier stage in the discussions. Fuad Bey tried to make out
later that in claiming the Jebel Nakhsh so insistently, the Baudi
Government were influenced only by considerations connected with
the protection of Salwa in the event of raiding, &c.
20. The second part of the conversation related to the south-eastern portion
•of the proposed frontier. Before we had got far, Fuad Bey raised the point
that the Saudi Government must respect the position of the King of the Yemen.
They were themselves ready to waive any claim to tribes in the Hadhramaut
hinterland, but they could not prejudice any claim which the Imam might have.
I adverted to the fact that the Saudi-Yemen Treaty of 1934 did not deal with
the Saudi-Yemen frontier east of Najran. I understood that that was because the
Imam had refused to let it be defined lest his pretensions in the Hadhramaut
should be prejudiced. After some little general discussion on this subject, I
said that it would be hopeless to bring the King of the Yemen into the negotiation
of a treaty regarding the frontiers now under discussion, but that the Saudi
Government might possibly overcome their difficulty by attaching some sort of
declaration to the effect that they did not wish to prejudice Yemen interests.
I qualified this by adding that, if such a declaration were made, it should not
mention the Hadhramaut as such. We should hold on to the Hadhramaut until
all was blue. I added an intimation, speaking quite personally, that His Majesty s
Government on their side might have some scruples about possible Yemeni
interests in the area between the Violet Line and Najran. Fuad Bey said that
no difficulty could arise here, because, while the Saudi-YYmen boundary east of
Najran had not been defined, the Saudi and Yemeni Governments had an under
standing based on the attribution of tribes in the area.
21. Fuad Bey intimated that our proposed line G-H—Violet Line was
unacceptable. He put a general question as to whether I could offer any improve
ment on our proposals as a whole. I said that I was not authorised to offer
any further concessions in regard to the line south of Qatar, on which my
instructions were quite categorical; or indeed in regard to any part of our
proposals. I said guardedly, however, that as legalds one portion, \iz., the line
J-G I deduced from the^ correspondence, though not from the text of my
instructions, that His Majesty’s Government might be prepared to put the
frontier in that part ratherjurther to the_east, if it would lead to an agreement,
but that in this case it*~would Ye more than ever necessary to consult the interests
of the Sultan of Muscat and Oman. 1 made it clear that I was speaking only
of the area between points J and G and had no sort of authority to go further
than our proposal regarding G-H—Violet Line • t. i o t
22 Fuad Bey suggested that there would be no difficulty with the Sultan
of Muscat and Oman. Tde would agree to any frontier, because of the trouble he
had in his hinterland with two important personages, A1 Khurusi and A1 Khalili.
Fuad Bey caught on to what I had said generally about a possible modification
of the line J-G. He suggested that, if that line could be transferred to
meridian 56° E„ it might be possible to devise a line further on inter
mediate between our proposed line G-H—Violet Line and that proposed in the
Saudi memorandum of the 3rd April He thought it would be preferable if this
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This file primarily concerns British policy regarding the eastern and south-eastern boundaries of Saudi Arabia, specifically those bordering Qatar, Abu Dhabi, and Muscat (i.e. the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman).

Much of the correspondence relates to British concerns that the boundaries should be demarcated prior to the commencement of any oil prospecting in the area. The file's principal correspondents are the following: His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, succeeded by Sir Reader William Bullard); 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 Craven William Fowle); 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 (Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch); 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. , Muscat (Major Ralph Ponsonby Watts); the Secretary of State for the Colonies; the Secretary of State for India; the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; officials of the Foreign Office, the Colonial 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. , and the Admiralty.

Matters discussed in the correspondence include the following:

  • Whether the British should press King Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] for a settlement of the outstanding questions relating to the aforementioned boundaries.
  • Sir Andrew Ryan's meeting with Ibn Saud and the Deputy Minister for Saudi Foreign Affairs, Fuad Bey Hamza, in Riyadh, in November 1935.
  • The disputed territories of Jebel Naksh [Khashm an Nakhsh, Qatar] and Khor-al-Odeid [Khawr al ‘Udayd].
  • Whether or not a territorial agreement between Ibn Saud and Qatar was concluded prior to the Anglo-Qatar Treaty of 1916.
  • The intentions of Petroleum Concessions Limited regarding the development of its oil concession in Qatar.
  • The line proposed by the British for the boundary between Saudi Arabia and the Aden Protectorate.
  • The Kuwait blockade.
  • Leading personalities in Oman.
  • Details of Harry St John Bridger Philby's expedition to Shabwa [Shabwah, Yemen].
  • Four meetings held between Sir Reader Bullard, George Rendel (Head of the Foreign Office's Eastern Department), and Ibn Saud, in Jedda, 20-22 March 1937.

Also included are the following:

The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 2).

Extent and format
1 file (420 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 421; 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. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

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English in Latin script
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Coll 6/67(4) 'Boundaries of South Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [‎337r] (673/843), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2137, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100049619518.0x00004c> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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