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Coll 6/67(1) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [‎173r] (350/794)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (392 folios). It was created in 13 Jun 1934-13 Dec 1934. It was written in English and Arabic. 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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CONFIDENTIAL
P.Z. 5620/1934.
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 Wahabi Amirs and Ibn Saud : their Relations with Eastern
Arabia and with the British Government, 1800 to 1934.
The difficulties which have recently arisen in connection with the eastern
boundary of the Saudi Kingdom, the claims advanced by Ibn Saud to ancestral
rights east of the Blue Line laid down in the Anglo-Turkish Convention of 1913,
and the suggestions put forward by him that at some period in the past arrange
ments were entered into with his ancestors, the Wahabi Amirs, by the representatives
of H.M. Government, which afforded some recognition of those claims, have made
it desirable to examine in some detail the history since 1800 of the connection
of the Wahabi power with the Trucial Sheikhdoms and their hinterland and with
Muscat; the relations between H.M. Government and the Wahabi Amirs and Ibn
Saud himself; and finally the extent to which either the Wahabi Amirs or Ibn
Saud in the pre-war period can properly be regarded as Turkish vassals or have
admitted or claimed Ottoman nationality.
2 . The period to be covered falls into the following sections :—
( 1 ) 1745 to 1800.—First development of the Wahabi sect,
(2) 1800 to 1870-71.—From the first expansion of the Wahabis in Eastern
Arabia to the fall of Baraimi and the Turkish occupation of Hasa.
(3) 1871 to 1901. — From the Turkish occupation of Hasa to the capture of
Riyadh by Ibn Sand.
(4) 1901 to 1914.—From the capture of Riyadh to the outbreak of the Great
War.
(5) 1914 to 1934.—From the outbreak of the Great War to the opening of
the Blue lane discussions.
I.—Rise and Development of the Wahabi Power, 1745 to 1800.
Origin of the Wahabi Sect.
3 . It is unnecessary to examine in detail the sources and early history of the
Wahabi movement. The sect appears to have been founded by Abdul Wahab and
his son, Mohamed Ibn Abdul Wahab, in the early part of the eighteenth century in
Nejd, and to have advocated a return to the primitive simplicity which prevailed
among the early followers of Islam in the lifetime of the Prophet. The founders
of the sect connected themselves with the Sheikhs of the Saudi family, who then
ruled at Deriyah in Nejd ; and the movement, originally religious in character,
rapidly assumed a political complexion. The Saudi Sheikhs, with the assistance of
the impetus given them by the Wahabi movement, rapidly extended their local
influence under the Amir Mohamed, who ruled from 1745 to 1765, at the expense
first of the neighbouring rulers of Riyadh and then of the Beni Khalid, who had,
since the middle of the seventeenth century, been the principal tribe in Hasa.
4. The first Wahabi Amir died in 1765 and was succeeded by his son, Abdul
Aziz, who ruled till his assassination in October or November of 1803. Riyadh
was captured in 1772 and the whole of Nejd came under Wahabi rule. The Lor. I,
province of Hasa was subdued for the first time in 1792 and finally in 1795, and 1053-6.
the power of the Beni Khalid broken. Attempts by the Ottoman Government to
re-establish its control failed, and a truce for six years, under which the Wahabis PP' ^
remained in possession of Hasa, was concluded in 1799.
The Political Situation in Arabia in 1800.
5. With the conquest of Hasa the Saudis commenced to turn their attention to
the east and south. The occasion is a convenient one briefly to review the political
situation in Arabia in the year 1800. It was as follows:
6 . Turkey held Iraq; exercised what appears to have been a controlling
influence in Koweit, and maintained a claim to Hasa and its ports. The Hejaz was
also held by a Turkish vassal, the Sherif of Mecca.

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Content

This volume primarily concerns British policy regarding the south-eastern boundaries of Saudi Arabia.

It includes interdepartmental discussion regarding the approach that the British Government should take in reaching a settlement with King Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] over the demarcation of the boundaries.

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), a line which is not accepted by Ibn Saud as being binding upon his government.

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 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. , Bahrain (Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch); the Chief Commissioner, Aden (Bernard Rawdon Reilly, referred to in the correspondence as Resident); the Secretary of State for the Colonies (Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister); the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Sir John Simon); the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs; officials of 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 Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, the War Office, and the Air Ministry.

Matters discussed in the correspondence include the following:

  • Whether the British should press Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] for a general settlement of all outstanding major questions.
  • The extent of territory that the British should be prepared to include in any concession made to Ibn Saud.
  • The British response to what are referred to as Ibn Saud's 'ancestral claims' to territories east of the blue line.
  • Sir Andrew Ryan's meetings with Ibn Saud in Taif, in July 1934.
  • Meetings held at the Foreign Office between Sir Andrew Ryan, George Rendel (Head of the Foreign Office's Eastern Department), Fuad Bey Hamza (Deputy Minister for Saudi Foreign Affairs), and Hafiz Wahba (Saudi Arabian Minister in London), in September 1934.
  • The boundaries of a proposed 'desert zone', suggested by Rendel, where Ibn Saud would hold personal rather than territorial rights.
  • Saudi-Qatari relations.
  • Whether tribal boundaries should be considered as a possible solution to the boundary question.

Also included are the following:

The Arabic material consists of one item of correspondence (an English translation is included).

The volume includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 4).

Extent and format
1 volume (392 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 (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 394; 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. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.

Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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Coll 6/67(1) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [‎173r] (350/794), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2134, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056574349.0x000097> [accessed 19 March 2024]

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