Skip to item: of 1,310
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

Coll 6/10 'Hejaz-Nejd Affairs: Financial Situation and Internal Situation' [‎19r] (44/1310)

This item is part of

The record is made up of 1 volume (649 folios). It was created in 21 Jun 1928-26 Aug 1938. 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.

Apply page layout

(19
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
. P. Z, j
EASTERN (Arabia). .
'Tf A
J * ; 0 4 J March 28, 1938.
CONFIDENTIAL.
b | Section 2.
[E 1701/196/25]
Copy No.
bir R. Bullard to Viscount Halifax.—(Received March 28.)
(No. 46.) v ’
My Lord, Jedda, March 11, 1938.
I HAVh the honour to inform you that Ibn Saud summoned me to a final
audience to-day before his departure for Mecca and thence to Nejd for his annual
holiday. I was thus able to convey in person to the King, as well as by letter to the
Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the congratulations on the discovery of oil in Hasa
which you sent in your telegram No. 37 dated the 9th March. The King was much
pleased at this mark of sympathy and expressed his appreciation and thanks. I
have since received a letter in the same sense, written on the King’s behalf, from
the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
2. What with the visit of Her Royal Highness Princess Alice and Lord
Athlone, every detail of whose journey he follows personally with the greatest
interest, and the discovery of oil, the King was in an excellent "humour. He talked
a good deal about European politics, going to pieces over names like Czecho
slovakia, but showing a shrewd knowledge of the situation, but he did not refer to
the projected negotiations between His Majesty’s Government and the Govern
ment of Italy, as I had thought he might do.
3. Much of the talk was about the Yemen. The Imam, said the King, was
always worrying about something. He made a lot out of Philby’s journey, and the
other day he said that the British were working up to Nejran and asked what
the King was going to do about it. This seemed to amuse the King, who always
seems to find the Imam slightly ridiculous. He proceeded to criticise the Yemenis
as thoroughly factious and savage and untrustworthy, and related various
incidents in support of this thesis. He then talked about the Hadhramaut in the
sense of the communication from Fuad Bey which I have reported in my despatch
No. 39 dated the 8th March. I hope to have time before the bag closes to give the
gist of the King’s remarks as a postscript to that despatch:
4. The King repeated the kind invitation which he gave me on the occasion
of Lord Belhaven’s visit (my despatch No. 9 dated the 19th January) to spend
some time with him in the desert next spring, if the rains should be good. As he
pressed for a reply, I could only say that, if His Majesty did not mind my being
no great sportsman, I should be very glad to come. It seemed to me that I might
do more good in camp with the King for a week or so, than sitting at a desk in
Jedda. and I trust that you will approve my general acceptance of the invitation.
I have, &c.
R. W. BULLARD.
94
t. ’ 9
r : l
kiAil
[255 ee—2]

About this item

Content

This volume largely consists of copies of Foreign Office correspondence, which have been forwarded by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State for India. The correspondence, most of which is between Foreign Office officials and either the British Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, succeeded by Sir Reader William Bullard) or His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires at Jedda (Cecil Gervase Hope Gill, succeeded by Albert Spencer Calvert), relates to financial and political matters in the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia).

The correspondence discusses the following:

  • The history of the Wahabi movement and Ibn Saud's [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd's] attitude towards Wahabism.
  • The currency exchange crisis in the Hejaz.
  • Requests from Ibn Saud for the British Government either to assist in establishing a British bank as a state bank in the Hejaz, or to provide a loan directly to the Hejazi Government (both requests are declined).
  • The British Minister at Jedda's accounts of his meetings both with Ibn Saud and with various Hejazi/Saudi Government officials.
  • A Hejazi-Soviet contract for the supply of Soviet benzine and relations between Soviet Russia and Hejaz-Nejd generally.
  • Tensions within the Hejazi Government.
  • The Hejazi Government's budgetary reforms.
  • The prospect of a new Saudi state bank, possibly backed by the financial assistance of the former ex-Khedive of Egypt [ʿAbbās Ḥilmī II].
  • The death of Emir Abdullah ibn Jiluwi [‘Abdullāh bin Jilūwī Āl Sa‘ūd].
  • Saudi-Egyptian relations.
  • The discovery of oil in Hasa.

In addition to correspondence the volume includes the following:

The volume includes three dividers, which give a list of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format
1 volume (649 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 for this description commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 651; 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. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 563-649 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in
English in Latin script
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

Coll 6/10 'Hejaz-Nejd Affairs: Financial Situation and Internal Situation' [‎19r] (44/1310), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2074, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100050632224.0x00002d> [accessed 10 May 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100050632224.0x00002d">Coll 6/10 'Hejaz-Nejd Affairs: Financial Situation and Internal Situation' [&lrm;19r] (44/1310)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100050632224.0x00002d">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x000264/IOR_L_PS_12_2074_0044.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x000264/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image