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Coll 6/67(1) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [‎263r] (530/794)

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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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11
Wahabi Overtures, 1831.
4 cru .^ 0U ^ ^. e °f 1831 the W ahabi Amir, through the intermediacy of Precis, § 37.
the Sheikh of Ajman, wrote to 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. expressing his desire to
be upon the same intimate footing as that formerly existing between the British
Government and his ancestor, Saud, and t£ to have the treaty renewed which was
made between you, the British and Imam Saud.”
54. Search among the records of 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. with reference to
the alleged treaty showed that two documents only could be found bearing on
British intercourse with the Wahabis, viz. those quoted in paragraphs 26 and 28 Lor I ’ 1096 -
above. 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. , in reply to the Amir, wrote as follows
Your communication dated 25th Jumadyooluwul, informing me that by
the appointment of the Ruler of Events you had arrived at the dignity of Chief
of the Wahabi sect, has reached my hands, and given me the gratification
which friends feel when they receive intelligence from friends.
“ Your disposition to a friendly understanding is met with reciprocal feeling,
and the terms of amity which existed between this Government and your great
ancestor, Imam Saud, will still remain in force, and, I cherish hopes, will never
be broken or infringed. I send this letter by the hands of your faithful
dependent Isa bin Hassan to express the same.”
Mr. Lorimer remarks that the relative ignorance existing in Bombay at this Lor. 1,1096.
time of the position in Central Arabia is evidenced by the use of the phrase
“ ancestor ” of the Imam Saud, who belonged to the same generation as the then
Amir, and had died only in 1814.
British Attitude, 1833-1840.
55. The question of the attitude to be adopted in the event of the Wahabi Amir
absorbing Muscat was considered by the Government of India and the Government G of T to
of Bombay in 1833-34. The Government of India intimated that they were not Bo., 1.2.34.
prepared to send an expedition to maintain the continental possessions of Muscat
and instructed the British authorities in the Gulf “ to observe a strict neutrality
in any disputes that may arise between him [the Sultan of Muscat] and any of his
neighbours on the continent of Arabia.”
1837-1839.
56. On the second Egyptian invasion of Nejd in 1837 to 1839, the Government
of India (see paragraphs 59-62 below), moved by considerations of European Nejd Precis,
policy, spared no efforts to counteract the progress of the Egyptians and to persuade § 445.
the Trucial Chiefs and the Beni Naim of Baraimi to co-operate against them.
1839-1840.
Fall of the Wahabi Amir.
The Egyptians and Eastern Arabia.
57. The Amir Feisul surrendered and was sent to Egypt as a prisoner in
December 1838, and by the beginning of 1839 the Egyptians were in complete
control of Nejd and Hasa. Hitherto they had supported a puppet Amir of the
AYahabi family, the Amir Khalid. They now threw off the pretence of supporting
Khalid, and declared that Nejd was a possession of Mehemet Ali, and that he would
improve and extend his conquests. Khalid thereupon called upon the Sheikhs of
Bahrein for payment of tribute, and advances were made by the Egyptians towards
Eastern Arabia.
Egyptian Overtures to Muscat and Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , 1839.
58. For this purpose they employed Syed bin Mutlak, who, during the lifetime Bo. Sel.
of the Amir Turki, had been the Wahabi Lieutenant at Baraimi, but who had XXIY, 156,
been removed by his son, Feisul, and who possessed great personal influence among
the Arab tribes “ as well as a perfect knowledge of their various and conflicting 7 q 2 _ 6 ]
interests.” Syed was despatched by the Egyptians to Ras-al-Khaimah to persuade Lor. 1,
the chiefs of the Oman coast to acknowledge the authority of the puppet Amir 1100-3.

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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.' [‎263r] (530/794), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2134, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056574350.0x000083> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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