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Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎87v] (179/1062)

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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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Memorandum No. 193 (2883/147/29), dated the 30th November 1936. >»
His Maiesty’s Charge d’Affaires at Jedda, present^ his compliments
to H E.W Viceroy of India (F. and P.), and has the honour to transmit
to him the under-mentioned documents.
To Foreign Office, despatch No. 344 of 30th November 1935, regard
ing Economic situation in $audi Arabia.
Enclo. to S. No. (69).
Letter from II. M.’s Charge d’affaires, Jedda, to the Foreign Office,
No^ 344 (2881/147/29), dated the 30th November 1935.
In my despatch No. 370 (3200/61/34), of the 11th December, 1934
rs. No. (11)], I had the honour to submit a brief review of the general
financial and economic situation in Saudi Arabia. I now propose, after
an interval of almost twelve months, to attempt a similar appreciation,
necessarily as brief and perhaps as fragmentary as in previous years, in
view of the absence of reliable statistics and the lack of authoritative
sources of information.
2. Whilst during the previous twelve months, Saudi finances were
heavily engaged in meeting and satisfying the demands of the Saudi-
Yemen war and its settlement, the period under review may be held to have
witnessed the liquidation of the immediate legacies of the conflict and a
renewal of the activities of the Minister of Finance, now less pre-occupied
with the duties of his second office of Deputy Minister of Defence, to find
fresh sources of revenue to repair the seriously deplenished financial re
sources of the state.
3. Some relief was afforded early in the year by a further increase in
the nmrpber of foreign pilgrims performing the ,Hajj in 1935. Not only
did this figure increase from 25,291 in 1934 to 33,898 but an exceptional
number of distinguished personages and well-to-do pilgrims visited the
Hejaz this year, a matter of some point when the general level of wealth
amongst incoming pilgrims has fallen so markedly in these lean years.
The beneficent effects of the increase brought comfort to all classes in the
Fle.jaz, but complaints were not wanting that the Government had appro
priated to themselves the lion’s share of the pilgrimage harvest, and dis
tress, even amongst merchants, motor-car proprietors and pilgrim-guides,
all of whom might have been expected to have benefitted most by a larger
pilgrimage, was only partially alleviated. Certain foreign companies in
Jedda, however, had a more satisfactory year,, upon completing their
accounts after the Hajj, both Messrs. Gellatly, Hankey & Co. (Sudan)
Ltd. and Messrs. Sharcpeh, Ltd., being able to record some improvement,
the latter having achieved a reasonably good profit albeit, according to Mr.
Philby. a 1 - paper' ’' one. j
4. Customs receipts form the other main item of Saudi revenue, and
during the twelve months under review, these, although no official figures
are available, may be expected to have risen in sympathy with the increase
in the numbers of pilgrims. Other sources of revenue are of subordinate
importance; concessions have not yet commenced to yield steady revenue for
operations by the California Arabian Standard Oil Company for the pro
duction of oil in Hasa though promising, have not yet been completely suc
cessful, and gold-mining operations by the Saudi Arabian Mining Syndi
cate upon which I have reported separately, have not yet reached the pro
duction stage, though here also there are believed to be grounds for opti
mism. As statistics of any description are, in the absence of official figures
Df some interest I give for what they are worth estimates, given in

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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.' [‎87v] (179/1062), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2071, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100061765163.0x0000b4> [accessed 24 April 2024]

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