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Coll 6/63 'SOUTH EASTERN ARABIA AND QATAR BOUNDARIES.' [‎198r] (402/756)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (374 folios). It was created in 19 Jan 1923-12 Jun 1934. It was written in English and French. 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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021 tno "blue line n ? on the grounds that the 1913
Convention had not been ratified
i Guinea, wni±e ? therefore, prepared:
ultimately to take their stand on that line, they had not
visaed t0 • press the matter, and were inclined to favour a
policy which would leave the status of the whole area
somewhat indeterminate, a kind of "no man’s land" being set
up between tne Qatar peninsula and the Saudi territories
to the west of the "blue line". The legal position had,
however, now been re-examined and found to be much stronger
than had been originally supposed. It was only on the
basis of that legal position that any dividing line at
cili could be Qi’Qvvn between Saudi Arabia and the territories
in south-eastern Arabia under British influence.
Circumstances now appeared to render it necessary to draw
such a line, and the Foreign Office view therefore was
that we should take our stand on the "blue line" forthwith,
at any rate as a basis for negotiations. He wished to
differentiate between the strictly legal position and the
practical position. He fully realised that in practice
it was difficult to draw any lines in a desert area of
this type, sparsely inhabited by wandering nomadic tribes
owing uncertain allegiance to distant overlords. But,
to reach any practical working arrangement for the establish
ment of a division between the Saudi and the British
spheres, it would be necessary to start from some legal
basis, and this could only be furnished by the 1913/14
line. Some of the arguments for regarding this line as
legally valid had been set out in his letter of March 16th
to Mr. Laithwaite (M,E.(0) 115). Further, the Foreign
Office Legal Advisers had pointed out that, while the
existence of a division between the British and non-British
spneres nad always been accepted, no line oi division other
than the 1913/14 line had ever been suggested, so that it

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Content

This volume relates to the eastern boundary of Saudi Arabia and the southern boundary of Qatar.

Much of the correspondence discusses the legal and international position of what is referred to as the 'blue line' (the frontier which marked the Ottoman Government's renunciation of its claims to Bahrain and Qatar, as laid down in the non-ratified Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913 and redefined and adopted in the Anglo-Ottoman convention of the following year), which is regarded by the British as the eastern boundary of Saudi Arabia, but is disputed by the Saudi Government, mainly on the grounds that it is no longer correct, following various developments during the years since the line was demarcated.

British concerns regarding these boundaries follow a recent oil concession for the Hasa [Al Hasa] region of Saudi Arabia, granted by the Saudi Government to the Standard Oil Company of California, as well as reports of the possibility of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company securing an oil concession in Qatar.

Related matters discussed in the correspondence include the following:

The volume features the following principal correspondents: His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan); 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. , Kuwait (Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Richard Patrick Dickson); the Secretary of State for India (Samuel Hoare); the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India; the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs; 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 Admiralty, and the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department.

In addition to correspondence, the volume includes extracts from Bahrain political intelligence reports and minutes of meetings of the Committee of Imperial Defence's Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East, which concern the Qatar boundary.

Whilst the volume contains material dating from 1923 to 1934, the vast majority of the material dates from 1934. The French material consists of a short extract from the aforementioned Anglo-Ottoman Convention of 1913, which is contained in copies of an 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. memorandum on the southern boundary of Qatar.

The volume includes two dividers which give a list of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence (folios 3-4).

Extent and format
1 volume (374 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 374; 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 and back covers have not been foliated.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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Coll 6/63 'SOUTH EASTERN ARABIA AND QATAR BOUNDARIES.' [‎198r] (402/756), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2130, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100055982231.0x000003> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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