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Coll 6/67(1) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [‎195r] (394/794)

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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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Wabiw nnwr he JH lthdraWal 0f the . E gyp tians in 1840, and a fresh revival of
re establish thenifeW T were , a £ am ma df in 1842-3 by the Wahabi Amirs to
e establ is ii themselves m Trncial Oman. Baraimi was surrendered by the Naim
re-esttblish d ed b ^ year and . 1853 Wahabi influence was to a iLge extent
at Rarai m t tW Hl= and 1869 1 the Wahabis continued to maintain an Agent
fewer sILns of Wpb K-T was ’. ho ^ eve i;. m uch less than before, and there are
hinterland Tn^Tu ? 1 A the afia V rs of tbe T™cial Sheikhdoms or their
Turkev sfnee^ sln 55 ! N h t bl A ^ lr ’, N 0 a PP ears to hav e paid a tribute to
in ISfifi -he ! 184 °i’ ? laimed t0 be „ a Turkish subject (paragraph 105 above) and
m 1866 he appealed unsuccessfully to Turkey for help against Her Majesty’s
Government (paragraph 92 above). In 1869 the Wahabi Agent at Baraimi was
murdered at Shargah, and m the same year the Sultan of Muscat captured
Baraimi, m alliance with the Sheikh of Abu Dhabi. Meanwhile, the Wahabi
ruling family, which had since 1865 been internally divided by disputes regarding
the succession, were expelled from Hasa by the Turks. They were unable to
take steps to re-establish themselves in Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , and by 1879 their influence
was reduced to Riyadh. Baraimi came under the influence of the Sheikh of Abu
JJiiabi and so remained for the next 50 years.
• n nr?pnp Fr0I r r° the are of merely local political
importance. Cut off from the coast and confined to the centre of Arabia their
mnuence is of the smallest and does not extend to Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. or its hinterland.
Ihe principal power m Nejd at this period is the Amir Ibn Rashid of the Jebel
bhammar, a Turkish vassal.
_ 2 ^- The Saudis, under the present Saudi King, in 1901 attacked Ibn Rashid.
Ihe history of Central Arabia for the next 15 years is that of the struggles for
supremacy between the Rashidi and Saudi families, culminating in the victory
tu ^ a ^ e r m 1922. Between 1901 and 1914 repeated overtures were made by
k * 311 baud to H.M. Government with a view to securing their protection against
the lurks. Ihese were invariably declined. In May 1914 he reached an under
standing with Turkey under which, as a Turkish subject and a Turkish vassal
he was appointed Wall and Commandant of Nejd.
222. On the outbreak of the war Ibn Saud was approached both by the Turks
and by H.M. Government. He alleged his preoccupations with Ibn Rashid as
an excuse for not co-operating actively with the Turks but did not repudiate his
allegiance to them. In 1915 he concluded a treaty with H.M. Government under
which he undertook to respect their special relations with the Sheikhs of Bahrein,
Koweit, Qatar, and the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , whose boundaries should thereafter
be delimited, and thereafter he co-operated with them. The treaty of 1915
regulated relations between H.M. Government and Ibn Saud until 1927.
223. Throughout this time there were no signs of any importance of Wahabi
advances in Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. or its hinterland. In 1925—26 emissaries from the
Wahabi Viceroy of Hasa were reported to have been moving in the hinterland to
have approached the Trucial Sheikhs, to have reached Baraimi and to have
collected zakcLt from the tribes (paragraphs 201 to 207 above). The matter was
not regarded as of great moment and no special steps were taken to deal with
it, the affairs of the hinterland being at that stage of no concern to HM
Government. But when the Treaty of Jedda of 1927 replaced the Treaty of
1915, steps were taken to include in it a provision that Ibn Saud would respect
the territories of the Sheikhs of Qatar and the Oman Coast which were in special
treaty relations with H.M. Government.
224. Information accumulating since 1927 goes to suggest that Ibn Saud, as
the result of the general prestige which he has achieved, and his authority with
the Bedouin of Central Arabia, is becoming increasingly a power in the Trucial
hinterland and even as far east as Baraimi. H.M. Government have
adopted the attitude, both in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and in dealing with the King, that
the eastern boundary of Nejd is the eastern boundary represented by the Blue
Line of the Anglo-Turkish Convention of 1913, and that they cannot acknowledge
any Saudi authority to the east of that line. This contention is vigorously con
tested by Ibn Saud, partly on the basis of what he describes as c ‘his ancestral
claims.”

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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.' [‎195r] (394/794), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2134, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056574349.0x0000c3> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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