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Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎128v] (261/1062)

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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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.HnanK*'.''*
His Majesty’s Government resrard it, however as a vital-imperial ivitor-
est that no European Power should establish itself on Kama ran
Island and that tlm Island should not fall into the hands of an un
friendly 'Arab ruler,” I
I am sending copips, of this, letter to McjOlaughry- Warner and' Laithwaite-
xr , OT , nm . Q o vnegel of some three Hundred tons from Beirut formerly
tliese skamm, ,1 renamed “ El i’ath ” arrived off Jedda on
C&t May'and saUed for Jizan two days later. The other, also Irom Beirut
and to be named “ El Nasr ”, has not yet arrived.
2 It would appear that this Company, like the ‘ Arabian Export Com-
mm ’ described it my despatch No. O.T. U of the 4th April last originated m
the'fertile brain of the Minister of Finance, who intended at first to use tne
ships for military transport, but has now conceived the idea of using them tor
commerce and possibly for the transport ot pilgrims, m the future, iaheykli
Muhammad Serur as-Sabban, manager of the Export Co. fills the same posmon
in the Steam Navigation Co., and the Amir h ejsal, huad amza, SneiU
Yusuf Yasin, and other notables are shareholders. The hrm of Huseyii.
’Awavni, a Syrian well-known connexion with the Lancashire trade anil through
his association with the projects of Mr. A. G. Ydlibi, are to act as shipping-
ae-ents. The steamers themselves are said to have been bought from or through,
a certain Haji Khalil Tabbara, described as the pilgrim agent of Messrs.
Gellatlv. Haukey & Co. (Sudan), Ltd. of Beirut.
3. It is clear that the new company, while ostensibly a private concern, is
in fact primarily a Government enterprise, representing the first attempt of the
Saudi Government to enter the realms'of coninrsrcia. navigation. Indeed Slieykh
Yusuf Yasin, while stressing the commercial character of the Company in con
versation with me a few days ago, said that the Government had undertaken to
guarantee any loss on working*. The Government may be encouragod^ in this
venture by the success of the motor-car companies, which form a parallel instance 5
of semi private, Government-controlled concerns and which v ere originally in
tended for Government transport but now carry-the bulk of the pilgrim-traffic;
within the country.
4. It may be recalled in this connexion that in the latter part of King
Hussein’s reign, the Hashimite Government acquired at least four small vessels
of this type and employed them either for coastal- work or for transport of
pilgrims, whom they sometimes forced to travel by them. Two or three of
these vessels were attached in Egypt, I believe by order of a court, in satis
faction of claims against them and efforts made by the Saudi Government to
retrieve them after the fall of Jedda were unsuccessful. Another had been
mortgaged to members of the Al-Fadhl family m Jedda and passed into their
hands. It subsequently became more or less, derelict and I do not know what lias
happened to it.
5. I am sending copies of this desnatch to His Majesty’s Principal Secre
tary of State for Foreign Affairs and H. M. Consul-General at Beirut.,
(A eceived on 4lh August-1934, with Political Secretary’s letter No. 29, dated
the 19th July 1934.)
Enclosure in Admiralty covering letter, dated 13th July 1934.
Letter from the Admiralty, to the Colonial Office, No. M.-01 : 858|34, dated the
13th July 1934.
In reply to your letter to Startin of the 25th June. No. 37926|34,1 am writing
to say that we concur in your draft despatch to the Resident at Aden about the
status of Kanuran. We would like, however, to suggest the addition to para-
graoh 2 of the following sentence, giving the sense of the first part of paragraph
4 of the Record of the Rome Conversations of the 7th February 1927 [Serial
No. (169) in F: No. 42? (IT)-N. 126-27]

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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.' [‎128v] (261/1062), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2071, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100061765164.0x00003e> [accessed 16 April 2024]

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