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Coll 6/67(1) 'Boundaries of South-Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [‎279r] (562/794)

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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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211. On the revival of Wahabi power in 1824 overtures were again made by
f the Wahabis to the Tracial authorities. By 1831 those overtures had produced
a considerable effect. By 1833 Baraimi had been reoccupied, and Wahabi
influence appears to have been as powerful in Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. and its hinterland
as it had been in the period prior to the defeat of the Wahabis by the Egyptians.
The Wahabi agent at Baraimi appears to have been maintained there until he
was driven out by the local tribes about 1838. Between 1837 and 1839, the
Egyptians again overcame and destroyed the Wahabi power. They made
endeavours, with the assistance of a former Wahabi agent at Baraimi to secure
the allegiance of the Trucial Sheikhs. These, and the Beni Naim chiefs of
Baraimi who now held the oasis, which they had recaptured from the Wahabis
in 1837-38, were encouraged to resist by H.M. Government, and the efforts of the
Egyptians ended in failure.
212. On the withdrawal of the Egyptians in 1840, and a fresh revival of
Wahabi power, endeavours were again made in 1842-3 by the Wahabi Amirs 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. . Baraimi was surrendered by the Naim
in 1845 and between that year and 1853 Wahabi influence was to a large extent
re-established.
213. Between 1853 and 1869 the Wahabis continued to maintain an Agent
at Baraimi. His influence was, however, much less than before, and there are
fewer signs of Wahabi influence in the affairs of the Trucial Sheikhdoms or their
hinterland. In 1855 the Wahabi Amir, who appears to have paid a tribute to
Turkey since 1840, claimed to be a Turkish subject (paragraph 105 above) and
in 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 in the same year the Sultan of Muscat captured
Baraimi, in 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 to 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
Dhabi and so remained for the next 50 years.
214. From 1875 to 1901 the Saudi family are of merely local political
importance. Cut off from the coast and confined to the centre of Arabia their
influence 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.
The principal power in Nejd at this period is the Amir Ibn Rashid of the Jebel
Shammar, a Turkish vassal.
215. The Saudis, under the present Saudi King, in 1901 attacked Ibn Rashid.
The 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
of the latter in 1922. Between 1901 and 1914 repeated overtures were made by
Ibn Saud to H.M. Government with a view to securing their protection against
the Turks. These 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 Amir of Nejd.
216. 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, Muscat 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
he delimited, and thereafter he co-operated with them. The treaty of 1915
regulated relations between H.M. Government and Ibn Saud until 1927.
217. 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 zakat from the tribes (paragraphs 195 to 201 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 H.M.
Government. But when the Treaty of Jedda of 1927 replaced the Treaty of

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:

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.' [‎279r] (562/794), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2134, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056574350.0x0000a3> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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