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Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎75r] (154/1062)

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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. .

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3 Work on the road from Jedda to the Mahd is still in progress and I under
stand that as far as approximately 72 miles from Jedda the roadway be described
from the point of view of light motor transport, as good. The central po“f
the total distance still presents difficulty, but the syndicate are now^quipped
with modern road-making machinery. Activity also continues at the Jedda ‘ ? ter-
mmal of the road, where the construction o± the compound referred to in para
graph 4 of the despatch under reference, on an area now stated to be 300 bvl50
yards, is proceeding steadily.
4. I am sending copies of this despatch and enclosure to the Department of
Overseas Trade and to His Excellency 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 .
Enclosure.
Memorandum respecting the Saudi Arabian Mining Syndicate [Limited) Mining
Concession, dated the 11th January 1936.
(a) Areas being worked, or about to be worked [or prospected in the near future).
The operations of the Saudi Arabian Mining Syndicate commenced in March
1935 at the Mahd-adh-Dhahab (position according to latest estimates at 23 degrees
30 minutes north by 41 degrees east) and near Yanbu The latter workings, where
Mr. Shanks was engaged, were abandoned in the early summer, but the former have
continued and have been developed with considerable prospects of success.
Under the terms of the original concession reported to the Foreign Office by
Sir Andrew Kyan’s despatch No. 56 of the 24th February 1935 [Serial No. (31) in
File No. 1-N./35}], by which areas which it is desired to prospect further should be
designated within one year, and areas for exploitation must be fixed and subsidiary
exploitation companies formed within two years of the date of the concession, it is
becoming a matter of urgency to determine the areas which can be worked profit
ably.
Mr. Shanks has been away prospecting for the past two months or more (he
returned on the 21st December, 1935), but had not had much success. His pros
pecting trip is believed to have taken him in an easterly and north-easterly direc
tion, well into Nejd, almost but not quite as far as the Jebel Hilit (see below).
At the end of 1935 arrangements were stated to be under way for four separate
prospecting parties to go out into the concessionary area, the districts to be ex
plored being, it is said, Yanbu’ (in spite of previous failure in that neighbourhood).
Wejh and two others not at present definitely known. M. Van de Poll left for Wejh
about the end of December in this connexion.
(b) Facts known as regards handing over the Mahd to an Exploitation Company.
The little we know on this subject may be summarised as follows. The first
mention I believe, was by a member of the Saudi Arabian Mining Syndicate to a
member’of the Legation early in August, 1935. This was reported to the Foreign
Office in our despatch No. 227 of the 6th August, 1935 [Serial No (57) in File No.
1-N./351. Towards the end of October, 1935, another member of the Saudi Arabian
Mining Syndicate stated that the syndicate had given “ the new company one
square mile to survey, a conversation which was reported m our despatch JNo. o39
of the 28th November, 1935 [Serial No. (10)], paragraph 5.
It is difficult to determine from these brief references whether the Mahd itself
is to be turned over to the subsidiary (it seems most probable), or wnether an adja
cent area is being made over to it, or both.
(c) Facts known or surmised regarding Difficulties with the Saudi Arab Govern-
v J ment.
Difficulties are believed to have arisen with the Saudi ^ G ?™™ d “ries
over the definition of the boundaries^ the original con^ssm^ Th b ^
iCS-cUVa. 12 thnMmm. 'VSr?,25lta3teV»*
Legation staff had access for a short time to a map m poss ^ wag
Arabian Mining Syndicate, on which a boundary line was
MS132FP

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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
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Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎75r] (154/1062), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2071, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100061765163.0x00009b> [accessed 24 April 2024]

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