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Coll 6/63 'SOUTH EASTERN ARABIA AND QATAR BOUNDARIES.' [‎264v] (535/756)

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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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2
The Anglo-Turkish Convention of July 1913.
Jrasef'
•Hu
P.Z. 299/34..
r, over tte years 1911-13 between the Turkish Government and
His Maiesty’s Government on the various matters in dispute between them in the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. area culminated in the latter year in the signature of two Conventions
defininc inter alia the eastern limits of Turkish authority ,n Arabia. The Convention
of 29th g July 1913, which defined the eastern boundary of Nejd, is alone relevant ^
the nresent 7 purpose Under that Convention, which, though reference is made to it
n the ratified Anglo-Turkish Convention of 9th March 1914, was never itself ratified,
the eastern boundary of the Turkish Sanjaq of Nejd was defined by a blue me on
the map running due south from the head of the bay opposite Zaqnuniyeh Is and in
thg San Gulf to the 20th parallel of latitude in the Central Arabian Desert. The
mxt of the recant article is given in section II of the Appendix attached to this .Note
Its wording (“ une ligne . . . separera le Medjd de la presqu lie d El Katr ^
limites du Nedid sont indiquees par une ligne bleue . • ; ) ^ouW FsUtv 'ilie
contention that the blue line was at once the eastern frontier of Nejd and the western
frontier of Qatar. But there are definite objections to adopting this view. I the
first place there is nothing to show that this was, m fact, the intention of His
MaiestVs Government at the time when the Convention was concluded, or that they
hadmiv object beyond limiting the eastern boundary of the Turkish possessions in
his area Secondly there is So evidence of any claim to suzerainty by Qatar so far
to the tv^st or so faf to the south. Thirdly, the Resident's telegram of Uth January
1934 T 19 emphasises the absence of control by the Sheikh of Qatai over the interior
, f hkSiateVand a fortiori over regions so remote from Dohah as are now under
consideration). Fourthly (though this by itself is probably not of serious importance!
the position vis-a-vis Ibn' Saud is to some extent compromised, as explained below,
at any rate as regards the Barr-al-Qarah, by the line fixed by Sir Percy Cox m 19 2.
Fifthly it is arguable that even m a formal document such as the 1J13 Convention,,
the fact that thf blue line is spoken of separating Ne d from *0 Qatar
need not be regarded as determining the boundary ot Qatar, ihe Qatar FemnsuLa
was the closest prominent geographical feature and the nearest adjoining Arab p^olitica
entity on the mainland, and a reference to it for descriptive purposes n0 \"“ a d t ” al :
Finally, there is much to be said for giving no avoidable extensions to the bound a
of Qatar, even if the consequence is that we have to_deal with an area of indeterminate
ownership between those boundaries and the blue line.
Line indicted in 1922 by Sir P. Cox to Ibn Saud and Major Holmes as the Eastern
Limit of any Oil Concession in respect of Hasa.
P.Z. 180/34.
6 . One more incident of importance should be recorded before coming to the
latest evidence as to the view held by the Sheikh of Qatar as to his southern
boundary The incident is that referred to m Colonel Dicksons letter ot 4th J
1933, No. 143, to 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. , copies of which were received under tae
Political Resident’s express letter of 18th December 1933, No. 1934 S., when Sn
Percy Cox, who was then High Commissioner for Iraq, in a discussion at Cqair m Id--
with Ibn Saud, then Sultan of Nejd, and Major Holmes, warned both the Suita
and Major Holmes that the Sultan could grant no concession, and Major Jloime
receive none from him, in respect of the Principality of Qatar, and drew o n a ma P
a line running from Djau-ed-Dukhan to Dohat-as-Salwa, which, e 111 ica e 1 m
represent the eastern boundary of any concession granted by Ibn baud in re sP^
of Hasa. Such a line, as will be seen from the map, excludes the whole Cat
Peninsula (and incidentally a substantial area lying to the west of the bine n ^
of the Anglo-Turkish Convention). It also includes m Hasa an area to the east oi mu
OI tne iinglO-iarKISIl Qyuuvoutiuu;. Xb cu.au i xX +
blue line of the Anglo-Turkish Convention. It should, however, he noted that wtiiie
Busliire
Memo. 947 S.
of 20th Dec.
1922.
P.Z. 464/
33 .
it constituted a definite indication of the High Commissioner’s view as to the eastern
boundary of Hasa, it in no way specifically defined the boundaries ot Qatar save in
far as Qatar might be regarded as marching with Hasa and or ml g
regarded as having been granted a western frontier hounded by the blue line ot
19l3 Convention at the time when that Convention was concluded.*- 1 *'
7. The statement reported in Bushire Memorandum No. 947 S. of 20 th Decembei
1922 to have been made by Sir P. Cox that Ibn Saud had agreed with Sir P. Cox, in
1922, that the boundary line between Nejd and Qatar should follow a hne rannmg
due south from the end of the bay south of Bahrein Island and just east ot MabaK as
t Sir Percy Cox’s comments on this incident are contained in the Note dated 27th February 1934,
printed as Appendix IY to this Memorandum.
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About this item

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.' [‎264v] (535/756), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2130, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100055982231.0x000088> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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