Coll 6/67(1) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [‎196r] (396/794)

(B) Engagements of HM. Government with the Wahabis between 1800 and 1930.
230. The Treaty of 1915 was the first formal engagement concluded by H.M.
Government with the Wahabis. In 1810 friendly letters were exchanged between
the Wahabi Amir and the Government of Bombay From c. 1668-1858, the East India Company’s administration in the city of Bombay [Mumbai] and western India. From 1858-1947, a subdivision of the British Raj. It was responsible for British relations with the Gulf and Red Sea regions. (paragraph 26 above). In
0813, similar letters were exchanged, and again in 1814 (paragraphs 28-30). In
1820 (paragraph 32) reference was made to the existence of an earlier Anglo-
Wahabi Treaty. In 1831 the Wahabis (paragraph 53) expressed a desire for the
renewal of ‘ £ the treaty .... which was made between you, the British and
Imam Saud.” No such treaty could be traced, but a friendly letter was sent in
reply to the Wahabis (paragraph 54). In 1843 the Wahabi Amir (paragraph 98)
expressed a desire for the renewal of the amicable relations which had existed
between his father and the British Government, and a suitable reply was sent.
In 1855 (paragraph 105) on the Amir being warned that the British Government
regarded the Arab tribes on the coast as independent powers, the Amir referred
to an understanding “between us and the British Government of 100 years’
duration for the security of traders and travellers passing on the seas.” No
reference was made in reply to the contention that such an understanding existed.
In 1850 the Amir (paragraph 106), endeavouring to justify himself for his
attacks on the Sheikh of Bahrein, alleged that “between the Wahabi Amir and
the British Government treaties have been made by the several authorities,
authority after authority,” and referred to his treaties with the Turks. The reply
sent to him took no notice of this point.
231. In 1865 Colonel Pelly, then 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. , visited the Wahabi Amir
at Riyadh. It was repeatedly subsequently alleged that some undertaking was
then entered into by the Resident with the Wahabi Amir. There is nothing to
support this (paragraphs 110-112). Subsequent to the visit, the Amir
(paragraph 115), in reply to a protest against the activities of his Lieutenant at
Baraimi, alleged that there existed between the Wahabi power and the British
Government an agreement originally effected in the time of the late Saud and
again ratified in the time of the then ruler. No trace of any such document or
agreement could be found, and on the point being raised with the Wahabi envoys
by Colonel Pelly they replied (paragraph 120 ) “ that the Wahabi Amirs had from
time to time received friendly letters from the British authorities, and that the
Wahabi Government considers a friendly letter to be synonymous with a treaty
agreement” (1866). On 21st April 1866 a Wahabi representative volunteered
the declaration recorded in paragraph 118 above. This was a unilateral
declaration.
232. It will be seen that, if the Wahabi declaration of 1866 is left out of
account, there is no foundation for any suggestion that any treaty or agreement,
whether affecting the Trucial Sheikhdoms or the hinterland, was concluded
between the Wahabis and H.M. Government between 1800 and 1870. Nor was
any engagement subsequently entered into until the formal treaty of 1915 between
H.M. Government and Ibn Saud, now superseded by the later Treaty of Jedda of
1927. No Saudi argument in regard to the Blue Line or the territorial limits of
Saudi Arabia can thus be based on any engagement concluded prior to 1915 by
H.M. Government. It is, on the other hand, a legitimate argument on the Saudi
side, and one which they have not neglected, that no reference was made to the
Blue Line in the lengthy discussions which preceded the conclusion of the Treaties
of 1915 or 1927, and that the Anglo-Turkish Conventions were not communicated
to them on the occasion of the latter treaty; though it is no doubt open to H.M.
Government to argue, on the other side, that while as the result of their breach
with Turkey they were prepared to ignore the Blue Line, and, as proposed on the
initiative of H.M. Government, to agree to a subsequent territorial delimitation,
the Blue Line, which was internationally legally binding, must be the starting
point of any discussions designed to bring about a modification.
(C) Status of the Trucial Sheikhs, and their relation to the Wahabis: 1800
to 1934.
233. H.M. Government, without consultation with or any protest by the
Wahabi Amir, in 1806 entered into an agreement with the Jowasimi Sheikh of
Ras-al Khaimah-Shargah for the suppression of piracy (paragraph 24 above). In