![Coll 6/67(1) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [‎275v] (555/794)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x0002a0/IOR_L_PS_12_2134_0557.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Coll 6/67(1) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [‎275v] (555/794)")
Coll 6/67(1) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [275v] (555/794)
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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
Aitch. XII,
Xo. i,
pp. 42-3.
P. 3683/14,
3848/14.
P. 4902/14.
Vic. tel.,
2.1.15,
P. 43/15.
P. 697/15.
P.R. to Gr. of
I., 18.1.15,
P. 975/15.
oO
Anglo-Turkish Convention of Wi March 1914.
174 On 9th March 1914 H.M. Government concluded a further Convention
(ratified on 3rd June 1914) with Turkey, which provided that the line separatingV
British and Turkish Spheres in South-Western Arabia should rejoin dans le
Euba-al-Khali, sur le parallele 20°, la ligne droite et directe vers le sud qui part
d’un point sur la rive meridionale du golfe d’Oudjeir et qui separe le territoire
Ottoman du sandjak de Nedjd du territoire d El Katr en conformite de
1’article 11 de la Convention anglo-ottomane du 29 juillet 1913 relatit au Goile
Persique et aux territoires environnants.”
174a On 4th June 1914 the Foreign Office, the news of the conclusion o± the
Ibn Sand treaty with Turkey not yet haying been made public, strongly urged
the importance of avoiding any action which might lend colour to suspicions that
H.M. Government were supporting Ibn Saud’s policy of^ making himself
independent,” and in the same connection referred to him as a Turkish subject
and specifically recognised as such by the Anglo-Turkish p£ nVentl0n +-m
29th July 1913. Sir E. Grey is, in fact, convinced that it would not be compatible
with our engagements that Ibn Sand should be treated otherwise, or t at
independent communications with him should be held except m cases where they
cannot be avoided.”
Summary, 1901 to 1914.
175 From the above it will be seen that Ibn Saud, emerging as the repre
sentative of The Saudi family and capturing Riyadh from Ibn Rashid m 1901,
by 1913 had consolidated his position in Nejd, and in the same year drove the
Turks out of Hasa. His repeated overtures to H.M. Government between 1901
and 1913 with a view to securing their protection against the Turks had
no result. In May 1914 he accepted the position of Turkish Wall of Nejd and
concluded an understanding with a duly authorised Turkish representative, the
basis of which was that he was an Ottoman subject and lieutenant of the Ottoman
Porte in this area.
y. F rom the outbreak of the Great War to the opening of the Blue Line
Discussions, 1914-1934.
British Offers to Ibn Saud in return for his Co-operation.
176 The importance of securing the support of Ibn Saud and the Arab
Rulers of the Gulf (or, at any rate, of preventing them from giving active support
to the Turks) in the event of war with Turkey was patent; and H.M. Government
decided that Ibn Saud should be informed that, in return for his co-operation
in the eviction of the Turks from Basra, H.M. Government would be prepared to
recognise him as independent Ruler of Nejd and Hasa, and enter into treaty
relations with him, and to guarantee him against attack by sea.
Ibn Saud’s Response.
177. Ibn Saud on the outbreak of war took the field against his rival,
Ibn Rashid, and used his preoccupations in this quarter as an excuse for refusing
the Turkish request for active military support against the Allies. It proved
impossible to pursue discussions with him as to an understanding on the lines
referred to in the preceding paragraph until the end of 1914, when
Captain Shakespear, on the instructions of H.M. Government, met and discussed
the position with him. Ibn Saud intimated that he was entirely on the British
side and that he would commence verbal negotiations on the subject of the offers
made him by H.M. Government in the near future. In a letter to the Political
Resident of 28th November 1914 he referred to the British promise of recognition
of his independence as ‘ ‘ Her recognition of the independence of my Chief ship of
all the parts of Nejd, El Hasa and Katif.”
Ibn Saud’s terms, January 1915.
178. In January 1915 further discussions took place between Ibn Saud and
Captain Shakespear. The Amir’s attitude was that being ultimately dis
appointed of British intervention on his behalf in April 1914, he was obliged to
come to an understanding with the Turks sufficient to secure his immunity from
their aggression. He was now anxious for a signed treaty giving him a solid
guarantee of his position under the aegis of Great Britain. If the treaty was not
soon concluded, force of circumstances might drive him to give some overt demon
stration of his intention to side with the Turks. On the other hand, once it was.
About this item
- 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:
- Two copies of an 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. memorandum entitled 'Historical Memorandum on the Relations of the Wahabi Amirs and Ibn Saud with Eastern Arabia and the British Government, 1800-1934', dated 26 September 1934.
- Copies of the minutes of meetings of the Committee of Imperial Defence's Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East, dated 8 November 1934 and 12 September 1934.
- A copy of a report by Bertram Thomas regarding a Trans-Oman air route reconnaissance, which was undertaken in May-June 1927.
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 View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Coll 6/67(1) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [275v] (555/794), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2134, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056574350.0x00009c> [accessed 19 April 2024]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100056574350.0x00009c
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100056574350.0x00009c">Coll 6/67(1) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [‎275v] (555/794)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100056574350.0x00009c"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x0002a0/IOR_L_PS_12_2134_0557.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x0002a0/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2134
- Title
- Coll 6/67(1) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:197v, 199r:199v, 201r:281v, 283r:328v, 340r:362v, 363ar, 363r:389v, 390ar, 390r:393v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence