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Coll 6/63 'SOUTH EASTERN ARABIA AND QATAR BOUNDARIES.' [265r] (536/756)
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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
shown on Fraser-Hunter’s map, stands bv itsplf no
apparently recorded in writing by the two parties or officialhcoKed
,ne would, of course, be qmte inconsistent with the maintenance of the blue line
It would equally give a very substantial extension to the boundaries of Qatar-an
pension of much more practical importance now than in 1922, when there was no
question of active exploitation of the hinterland, and our concern was chiX to
maintain the independence of the sheikhdoms of the Arab littoral against Ibn Sand
Ihe statement is no doubt, an alternative version of Sir P. Cox’s warning to Ibn Baud
as to the eastern boundary of any concession to be granted by him in respect of Hasn
discussed m the preceding paragraph, of which an authoritative record based on
personal knowledge is given in Colonel Dickson’s letter of 4 th July 1933, N 0 A 43 .
I.P.C. Map of February-March 1933.
8 . The map compiled by the I.P.C. geologists during their survey in Qatar in
February-March 1933 marks a southern boundary linf starting on the sea-coas^
immediately south of Jabul-el-Naksh about 10 miles north of Salwa town and
12 miles north of the head of Dohat-as-Salwa Bay, turning abruptly to the south-
south-east imniediately south-east of Jabul-el-Naksh for a distance of some 12 miles
to Qalat-ali-Bin-Said and thence runuing due east, leaving Tuair-al-Hamir on its
left, through the
Wadi
A seasonal or intermittent watercourse, or the valley in which it flows.
-al-Ghurban to the sea, which it apparently reaches at a point
some 8 miles north of the outlet of the Khor-al-’Odeid inlet and not very far into the
Naqiyan Sandhills,
The A.P.O.O., in communicating a copy of this map, remarked : “ The dotted line
boundary to the south of Qatar is apparently the Sheikh’s version of the line The
I.P.C. report, however, is not definite about this.”
The A.P.O.C. have since reported that, according to one member (Haji A. F.
Williamson) of the geological party which visited Qatar in February and March
1933 the southern boundary shown on their map was indicated by the Sheikh
himself. If the line in fact represents his view, the boundary, as will be seen will
correspond very closely to the pre-war line recorded by Lorimer.
Conclusions as to the Southern Boundary of Qatar.
9. It is suggested, in the light of the evidence collected above —
(a) that the south-eastern boundary of Qatar must lie to the north of the
Khor-al-’Odeid and the district of ’Aqal;
(b) that while His Majesty’s Government had at no stage formally recognised
any specific southern boundary to Qatar (save to the extent referred to in
(a)), such evidence as is available goes to show that the pre-war
boundary ran roughly south-east across the base of the Peninsula, from
Dohat-as-Salwa, or a point slightly north of it, to a point north of the
Khor-al-’Odeid. There is no recorded evidence of any more extensive
claims by the Sheikh of Qatar other than those to Abn Dhabi territory
referred to in paragraph 2 above ;
(c) in the light of the above, that, if it proves that the Sheikh of Qatar now
regards the line shown on the I.P.C. map as his southern boundary,
this may be accepted by His Majesty’s Government as generally
satisfactory. Acceptance of that line, if we continue to regard the blue
line of the 1913 Convention as the eastern boundary of Ibn Sand’s
territories (or even if we were to agree to the attribution of the Barr-al
Qarah district lying east of the blue line to Hasa (see paragraph 18
below)), will admittedly leave an area of undetermined ownership between
Qatar and Nejd. The problems involved in this are discussed in greater
detail in paragraphs 10 and following. If, however, His Majesty’s
Government are prepared to face them, the boundary in question has the
merits that it is consistent with the obligations we have undertaken to
Abu Dhabi ; it is equally consistent with the maintenance of the blue
line of the 1913 Convention as against Ibn Sand (or with such a modifi
cation of that line as is referred to in paragraph 19 (c) (i) below; and it
has the advantage of definitely limiting the area of any commitments in
respect of protection, &c., into which His Majesty’s Government may think
it desirable to enter in the event of an oil concession being granted by the
Sheikh.
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 British policy regarding the blue line.
- The views of 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 Foreign Office officials, as well as other British officials (most notably Sir Percy Zachariah Cox, former 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. , and Harold Richard Patrick Dickson, 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. at Kuwait), regarding the demarcation of the southern boundary of Qatar.
- British concerns regarding the land lying between the blue line and the southern boundary of Qatar, as recognised by the Sheikh of Qatar [Shaikh ‘Abdullāh bin Jāsim Āl Thānī].
- A request for a copy of the 1913 Anglo-Ottoman Convention, submitted by the United States Embassy in Angora [Ankara] – reportedly on behalf of the United States' State Department – to its British counterpart, and the wider significance of this request in relation to the United States' oil interests in the region.
- Foreign Office concerns that aerial survey work carried out by the California Arabian Standard Oil Company (Casoc) in relation to its Hasa oil concession might extend beyond the blue line.
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 View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2130
- Title
- Coll 6/63 'SOUTH EASTERN ARABIA AND QATAR BOUNDARIES.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 1r:17v, 20r:30v, 32r:56v, 58r:72v, 74r:125v, 129r:259v, 261r:267v, 269r:280v, 282r:285v, 287r:296v, 301r:305v, 307r:326v, 328r:331v, 333r:352v, 356r:356v, 359r:374v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence