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Coll 6/67(1) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [‎268r] (540/794)

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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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and restore order and goodwill among them except the Lieutenant in charge of Lor. I, 1118,
Oman, whose office is among the things pleasing to God and his Prophet, as also to Nejd Precis,
^he Sultan of the Faithful.” § 61.
Further Correspondence with Amir, 1859.
106. In 1859, the Wahabi Amir threatening to support the Bahreini pretender,
Muhammad bin Abdulla, against the de facto chief, the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Squadron
was despatched to Bahrein, with the result that the Wahabi Governor of Qatif
abandoned his designs and begged for pardon. The Amir, however, after justifying
his proceedings on the ground that the Sheikh of Bahrein was one of his feudatories Lor. I, 887.
whom he had a perfect right to chastise for various misdeeds, strongly protested Nejd Precis,
against British interference and added that “ between the Wahabi Amir and the
Butish Government treaties have been made by the several authorities, authority
after authority, and, m accordance with treaties between the W^ahabi Amir and the
Sultan Abdul Mejid, there are matters which everyone is precluded from meddling
with, unless on special grounds.” The Resident replied that the British Government
recognised Bahrein as an independent Sheikhdom and was prepared to oppose all
foreign agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , including that of H.H. the Amir, by every means in its power.
He added that the Amir s claim to be a dependant of Turkey was inconsistent
with the piracies which were at the same time being committed by his Lieutenant
at Qatif on vessels bearing the Turkish flag.
Bombardment of Damman, 1861.
107. In June 1861 the Amir was required to eject the Bahreini pretender from
Damman in Qatar, and was advised to enter into a peaceful convention with the
ruling Sheikh. No answer having been returned, the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Squadron
forcibly compelled the Pretender to flee from Damman in November 1861. The
Wahabi garrisons took no steps to molest the Squadron.
Turkish Protest and British Reply, 1862.
108. A Turkish protest against the bombardment of Damman—a place which,
as lying within the territory of “ Feisul Beg, the Kaimakham of Nejd,” “ was part of Pr6ciSr
the hereditary dominions of the Sultan was received from the Turkish Wali § '
of Bagdad in 1862. I he British Consul-General at Bagdad replied that
H.M. Government had hitherto “ always maintained direct relations with Amir
Feisul as well^as with all the chiefs and principalities situated on the shores of the
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .” In the prosecution of our pacific policy in the Gulf, which was
well known, we ‘‘have never acknowledged the authority or jurisdiction of any
other State an authority and jurisdiction, however, which assuredly the Porte
neither does exercise nor has ever exercised in that quarter.” The Consul-General,
in reporting the correspondence to the Ambassador at Constantinople, remarked :
“ Although it may not be denied that since the Egyptian invasion of Nejd in
1839-40 Amir Feisul has remained tributary to the Turkish authorities of Mecca,
his tribute being regarded probably as an offering to the head of the religion, it is
certain that the Porte has never exercised any jurisdiction or attempted to extend
its authority over that country. ... In point of fact the Porte has not the power
to punish or coerce its tributary; not a single Turkish functionary exists in the
country, and to judge from my own experience of the duties of the British Resident
in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , J feel assured that, were the relations of that officer with the
Amir of Nejd to be disturbed in a manner to withdraw the Wahabi coast from his
immediate supervision, the effect must be highly prejudicial to the policy which
has hitherto obtained under the orders and sanction of Her Majesty’s Indian
Government in that quarter.”
1864. Resident authorised to mediate between Muscat and the Wahabis.
109. Towards the end of 1864, serious difficulties having arisen between the
Sultan of Muscat and the Wahabi Amir consequent on the endeavours of the
Wahabi Agent at Baraimi to secure a substantial increase in the amount of zakat Nejd Precis,
paid by Muscat to the Wahabis, Colonel Pelly, the 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. , was § 72.
requested to report fully and to employ his good offices if mediation were of any
use, but “ to let the Sultan clearly understand that the British Government had
no intention of interfering in the differences between the powers on the shores
of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. by aiding one party to coerce the other.”

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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.' [‎268r] (540/794), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2134, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056574350.0x00008d> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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