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Coll 6/67(1) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [‎192v] (389/794)

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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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40
J-v., _
193. In the case of Article VI, the Saudi draft, with a very slight verbal
modification, was accepted. In its final form it ran as follows .
“ Ibn Sand undertakes, as his fathers did before him, to refrain from all
aggression on or interference with the territories of Koweit, Bahrain, and
of the Sheikhs of Katr and the Oman coast, who are under the protectioiw
of the British Government and who have treaty relations with the saicF
Government, and the limits of their territories shall be hereafter determined.”
The words “ other chiefs and tribes ” proposed in the original British draft
quoted in paragraph 189 above were omitted in deference to Ibn Sand’s state
ment that the several chiefs whom we did protect and had relations with were
all mentioned, so that the words in question seemed unnecessary.
194. In Article VII, the British draft of which provided that a
further detailed treaty should be concluded “ in regard to other matters jointly
concerning ’ ’ the British Government and Ibn Saud, Ibn Saud successfully
pressed for the omission of the word “ other.” He pointed out that some of the
matters such as boundaries were among those already alluded to in the present
treaty, so that there seemed no need to say “ other.”
195 From the above it will be seen that it was H.M. Government who them
selves suggested the inclusion in the treaty of a provision for the subsequent
determination and definition of the boundaries of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. States, our
special relations with which Ibn Saud undertook to respect.
Construction of Articles I and II of Treaty of 1915.
196. During 1916 Sharif Husain of Mecca wrote to Ibn Saud asking for
an alliance and assistance. This overture was reported to Sir Percy Cox by the
Amir of Nejd, who expressed mistrust of the Sharif s intentions. As a lesult,
Sir Percy Cox recommended on 8 th September 1916 that Ibn Saud should be
“ informed definitely that no present or future understanding between us and the
Sharif would prejudice our adherence to the terms of Articles I and II of our
treaty with him of 26th December 1915.” He was instructed in reply that “as
the policy of encouraging an Arab State or confederation of States was not dead,
anything repudiating it should be avoided,’ and that reference to the treaty
should be confined to Article I, as we could not admit that Article II was binding
on u& against other Arabs.” A verbal assurance on the lines indicated appears
to have been given to Ibn Saud by Sir Percy Cox at Koweit on 21st November
1916.
197. The Foreign Office in a memorandum drawn up about this time
remarked that the wording of Article I of the treaty in effect “ commits us to
arbitrate on the territorial questions at issue between Ibn Saud and King Husain,
and in the last resort to impose an effective sanction for our award.
Agreement of 1922 with Ibn Saud on Koweit Boundaries.
Aitch XII 198. In 1922 an agreement was reached with Ibn Saud, who in that year
No. ill, ’ overthrew the Rashid, in regard to the boundaries of Koweit. The agreement
pp.213-4. referred in terms to the boundaries accepted by H.M. Government for that
principality in the Anglo-Turkish Convention of 29th July 1913, but, by agree
ment between the two parties, and with the subsequent concurrence of the Sheikh
of Koweit, it varied those boundaries in favour of the Saudi ruler.
Summary, 1914 to 1922.
199; During this period Ibn Saud in 1915 concluded a treaty with
H.M. Government, in which the latter recognised him as the independent ruler
of Nejd, and he undertook not to interfere with the territories of their Arab
proteges. By 1922 he had finally defeated and captured the representative of
the Ibn Rashidi family. In the same year he entered into agreements under which
he received certain concessions in the Koweiti hinterland, and by which the
boundaries of Koweit, Nejd and Iraq were delimited.

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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.' [‎192v] (389/794), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2134, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056574349.0x0000be> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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