Skip to item: of 1,062
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎34r] (72/1062)

This item is part of

The record is made up of 1 volume (527 folios). It was created in 6 Jan 1929-15 Jan 1938. It was written in English and French. 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.

Apply page layout

29
ThomL’stoutetfto e™ ^Wuck" the wMe ° r
McMahon correspondence represented the leael lme r Whl< l h } he time of the
ritories of those Arab Chiefe on the Persian® GuTf 6 ^ h T & V- °t the ter -
Government had treaties. Mr. Philbv would nrr.hnlj 1 fi°™ His Majesty’s
no authority to agree to the blue line which took no ^ sa y that the Turks had
the hands of IbnSaud, but hedc^’fr hmr defe , at at
mitted that His Majesty’s Government saved him from bei ng crushTby 7 the'
Yusnf V a . dn ; ls T slon was made in the message transmitted through Sheikh
But in Y WhlC m 1 m “i? des P atch 283, dated the 11th October
But in any case, Mr. Philby could not be expected to forgo an opportunitv
to use Mr. Thomas as a stick with which to beat His Majelty’s Government!
5. The statements recorded in paragraph 5 of the enclosure left little
doubt in my mind that Mr. Philby did enter the territory of the King of the
Yemen, and since he cannot accuse the King of encroaching on Arab territory
he will have to find another excuse for the encroachment which the KiW
nghtly resented. But he will probably think the purity of his intention!
sumcient excuse.
6. Mr. Philby does not seem to have entered the band of territory lying
between the proposed British and Saudi hues, but he may have gathered some
information about it. In recent discussions with Fuad Bey I have claimed it
for Aden and Oman on the ground that the four wells in it which are shown on
our maps, viz., Sanau and Thamut in the Hadhramaut hinterland and Shisur
and Tadhau in the hinterland of Oman, are not on Fuad Bey’s list of Murra
wells, have never been claimed by the Saudi Government by name, and, ac
cording to the information in Thomas’s Arabia Felix, lie to the south of the
Rub-al-Khali and in the steppe country which rises from the rim of the desert
to the crests of the coastal range and are frequented almost exclusively by
tribes to whom Ibn Saud lays no claim. It is unlikely that Mr. Philby
has collected any better information on this point than Bertram Thomas,
who passed through the territory in question and halted at Shisur, but he
may make it more difficult for Ibn Saud to renounce his claim by representing
the tribes thereabouts as entirely beyond the control of the authorities in
the coastal States, but ready and willing to submit to Ibn Saud. Ibn Saud
is so much more a statesman than Mr. Philby that I am hopeful that nothing
Mr. Philby can say will influence him in this matter, the more so as, having
repudiated responsibility for the expedition, he can hardly quote the results
to his own advantage. I am more anxious lest the appearance of the promised
attack on His Majesty’s Government in Mr. Philby’s next book should drag
the question of the smaller Arab States in the Arabian peninsula into the
vortex of controversy about the McMahon correspondence.
7. I do not propose to engage in a dispute on pan-Arab politics with
Mr. Philby, nor to continue the discussion about his visit to Shabwa. The
views of His Majesty’s Government have been conveyed to the Saudi Govern
ment, and Mr. Philby has also been informed of those views, and the matter
had better, I suggest, be left there.
8. I am sending copies of this despatch and its enclosure to Aden, Cairo
Jerusalem, Bagdad and Bushire.
Enclosure to letter No. 27, dated the 22nd March 1937.
Summary of Statements made by Mr. Philby about his Expedition to Shabwa
and beyond, in the course of a Conversation which he had with His Majesty s
Minister on February 18, 1937.
It was quite true that Ibn Saud had nothing to do with the expedition
beyond instructing all local officials to assist him. Mr. Philby had defrayed
all the expenses himself (and they had turned out to be much heavier an
he had expected), though he had financed himself by drawing on Saudi trea-
suries, where they existed, and refunding the advances through his firm
55(C) ExAffairsDept.

About this item

Content

This volume compiles printed copies of letters, telegrams, memoranda and newspaper extracts relating to Britain's involvement across the Arabian Peninsula during the period 1929-1938. Whilst the correspondence encompasses all matters concerning British interests in the region, much of it relates to Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia). Matters discussed in the correspondence include the following:

  • Reports of unrest in the Hejaz.
  • Relations between Imam Yeha Hamid-Ud-Din [Yaḥyá Muḥammad Ḥamīd al-Dīn, Imam of Yemen] and Ibn Saud.
  • Reports of raids and arms trafficking on the Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan -Nejd frontier.
  • Reports of the proceedings of British naval ships in the Red Sea.
  • Details of the Akhwan [Ikhwan] revolt against Ibn Saud, including the movements of one of the revolt's leaders, Faisal Dawish [Fayṣal bin Sulṭān al-Dawīsh], and his surrender to the British in Kuwait.
  • Relations between Kuwait and Nejd.
  • Relations between Iraq and Nejd, including a proposed meeting between Ibn Saud and King Faisal [Fayṣal] of Iraq, and reports of a treaty of alliance between Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
  • Objections from the Hejaz Government to Royal Air Force aircraft flying over Nejd territory.
  • The purchase of arms by the Hejaz Government from Poland.
  • Ibn Saud's annexation of Asir.
  • The death of King Hussein [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī].
  • Harry St John Bridger Philby's conversion to Islam, his mapping of Rub-al-Khali, and his reported spreading of Saudi propaganda in the Aden Protectorate.
  • The currency exchange crisis in the Hejaz-Nejd and the financial situation in the kingdom generally.
  • Reports on a survey of the water and mineral content of the Hejaz coastal area.
  • Relations between Soviet Russia and Saudi Arabia.
  • The emigration of Jews from Yemen to Palestine, via Aden.
  • British fears that Italy might harbour ambitions to annex Yemen.
  • Saudi oil concessions.
  • Italian-Saudi relations.

Prominent correspondents include the following: the British Agent (later His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires) at Jeddah; His Majesty's Minister at Jeddah; the High Commissioner for Egypt; the High Commissioner for Iraq; the High Commissioner for Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan ; 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; 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. (later Chief Commissioner, and later still, Governor), Aden; 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. ; His Majesty's Ambassador to Iraq; His Majesty's Ambassador to Italy; the Secretary of State for the Colonies; the Minister (and Acting Minister) for Foreign Affairs for the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia); Ibn Saud; King Feisal of Iraq; the Prime Minister of Iraq; various officials of the Colonial Office, the Foreign Office, the Air Ministry, and the Admiralty.

The French material in the volume consists of several items of correspondence and a copy of a treaty between France and Yemen, which was signed in April 1936.

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.

Extent and format
1 volume (527 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

The items of correspondence are divided (roughly) into various sections. Each extract or item of correspondence within these sections has its own number, which is enclosed in brackets. These numbers proceed in ascending (and approximate chronological) order from left to right; however, the sections themselves proceed in reverse, from the rear to the front of the volume, in distinct groups (e.g. for 1929 numbers 1-23, which are located at folios 517-526, are followed by numbers 24-49 at folios 509-516, which are then followed by numbers 50-89 at folios 494-508, and so on).

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 529; 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.

Pagination: each section of correspondence within the volume (as described in the arrangement field) has its own pagination sequence.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
View the complete information for this record

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎34r] (72/1062), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2071, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100061765163.0x000049> [accessed 6 May 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

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_100061765163.0x000049">Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [&lrm;34r] (72/1062)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100061765163.0x000049">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x000261/IOR_L_PS_12_2071_0072.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

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_100000000555.0x000261/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image