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Coll 6/10 'Hejaz-Nejd Affairs: Financial Situation and Internal Situation' [‎52v] (111/1310)

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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. .

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(c) Public Security.
Ibn Saud has ruled with a strong hand, and there is security of travel and
peace between the tribes such as has not been known in Aiabia lor many
centuries. Europeans, however, are not permitted to tia\el in the country without
the consent and the protection of the Government, but such travel is now relatively
common except in the south-west. Non-Moslems are not permitted to enter the
holy territories that surround Mecca and Medina.
' Security of life is equalled by the security of property, the thief and robber
being greatly discouraged by the rigour of the religious law.
(d) Commercial Legislation.
Commercial Code .—A Commercial Code based mainly on the old Ottoman
codes was published in successive numbers of the official newspaper, the
Umm-al-Q,ura, from the 7th August, 1931, to the 26th February, 1932, coming into
force on the latter date. The code originally applied to the Hejaz only and, so
far as it applies to the Majlis-at-Tujjar, still relates to the Hejaz only.
Ownership of real property .—Regulations issued on the 26th October, 1934,
reaffirmed the old principle that foreigners may not hold property in the Hejaz
as distinct from the rest of Saudi Arabia.
Company registration and licences to trade .—By regulation No. 144 of the
16th Muharram, 1347 (1928), commercial companies (“ association of more than
one person for the purposes of trade ”), including agents, must register with the
Government.
By official communique No. 14 of the 1st Rabi-al-Thani, 1353 (the 13th July,
1934), all people practising trade in Saudi Arabia must obtain a licence from the
finance department of the town in which they live. For this purpose, firms, shops
and vendors booths are divided into four categories which pay for licences
annually at the rates of £2 gold, £1 gold, gold and £J gold respectively.
Doctors, dentists, chemists and chauffeurs are subject to special regulations.
Patents and Irade-marks .—!No provision seems to be made either in the
Sharia law or the Commercial Code mentioned above for the registration or
protection of patents and trade-marks.
Debtors. Commercial debts are heard according to the Commercial Code of
1931-32 before the Majlis-at-Tujjar in the first instance and, if complicated,
before the religious Sharia court. By a decree of the 25th November, 1932.
piovisipn was made for preventing defendants from leaving the jurisdiction of
i oui ts m which they are sued for debt. There are no firms of lawvers in the
country, and absent creditors must appoint local agents to plead their cases before
the court. r
ir • ct . cl . ls ^ oms t a . ri ff applicable to the whole of Saudi Arabia was
?oqqx A m 0fi ? Cla comm u ni qu e No. 1 of the 10th Muharram, 1352 (the 5th May,
Iqqq " a su PP!ementary list of dutiable articles was published on the 23rd June,
Tn 1 ™ dl £ ca 1 tlons of the tariff on the 15th June, 1934, and the 14th May,
ppfptnrv l a k K SeS g00d ? m t T cate g° ri es. The first, and by far the larger
ad ralnrem \ ^ system of specific duties. The second is treated as
of revennp thprp ^ 1 j e S ard ed by the Government solely as a source
even on th’p nprp^it' ^ n f i°p Ca m( i u stry to protect. Duties are invariably high
class of ^oods of imnnt fw aS ’ for mstanc e, sugar and rice. The only
class of goods of importance that are admitted duty free are ohenol (tariff
modification published on the 14th Mav 1935f and r^rnL fl a .P neno
Thprp nr\ enrols™ u i XYlc v > ana pumps for drawing water.
landed are liable V ^“dT/S^ taxes
aremrposed at various rates, some ad valoreZnd others specific by weight or by
tarifShnThe td" been t w' the , Kin ? abolished all internal
Merchants, however, who wish to send their tmnd ll n der Hashimite regime,
must obtain a customs certificate from the Mird t § r c i T.^ ecca in t° the interioi,
go,* w,ii b. T ,d.„ „ “
import and sale of alule^oL^Tmaoil me’foTdT 06 ^ar^i? Sharia laW ^
pure alcohol can be imported undei thf Ltd / bl( J de ?- Meth yl a ted spirit and
published on the 21st September 1934 /^Tnh 8 kld ^ 0wn m the re g ulatl0D i S
to be imported, but smokino- i s activelv diio ° ba j C ? and C1 g ar ettes are allowed
g 18 actlvei > discouraged by the Government (see VII

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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.

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English in Latin script
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Coll 6/10 'Hejaz-Nejd Affairs: Financial Situation and Internal Situation' [‎52v] (111/1310), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2074, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100050632224.0x000070> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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