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Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎130r] (264/1062)

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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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testy’s Am'
am
ie 21 st Jk
madvertew,
dement iipit!
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li Green p : ;
50
added that a tele-
u,, LPiSS^SShSifm'S'SfJff; "Vr;“~ t r, ”"w>
tin; J.ansi, tt.e exact nature ot whiS hi ton5 b in Ib “ Sa " U a “ d
enclose a rough translation of this agreemeiit hut T u:i;iect ot speculation. X
at present, I would ask that it should not be used tor puTpleslf"publicS
until a more accurate translation can hn mnrlo Vo, -i i bes 01 Putiiitation
the date the 16th Mm’l SW Auis? th ?‘ U bears
red to in the second Sandi-Id’risi Treaty of the 2 Ts Oc^ob l-tdor 6 " 3 “ IS refei '-
ment of the 10th Safar, 1339 (the 24th October 199m t u ’ ’ as . a,1 (‘S res -
Pncrl fU.it +n riot ucioDer, . 1 have ascertained from
Fuad Be that the date of signature is correctly stated in the Green Book and
tnat the lattei date is that 01 a letter from Ibn Sand approving of it This
gave the agreement final validity, the Idrisi himself having signed the original!
3. The title ^ Imam ” has become so closely associated in European
language with the Imam Yahya that it may not be out of place to remind vo2
that it is borne equally by ibn Sand as Imam of the Wahabis and by the Id'risi
as the religious head of lus own adherents. It has often, in the past been
applied to them foul court, with results that are nowadays somewhat confusing.
rl , 4 ; kT 11 bo . seen from . tlle enclosed translation that the first Saudi-Idrisi
Ireaty did not m any precise sense establish frontiers. What it did was to
lake account of the ancestral claims of Ibn Sand, founded on the early expan
sion ol \\ahabi and the more recent expansion of the Idrisi, whose pretensions,
it not his actual occupation, extended to areas far greater than his dominion
in the Tihama of A sir. The effect of the agreement was to partition the total
area which both might claim, but much more with reference to tribes and their
ranges than to geographical features. I need not pursue the analysis further at
present. 1 "would point out, however, that, unless a treaty in modern form
between Ibn Baud and the Imam Yahya relegates all past arrangements to limbo,
the agreement of 1920 may still have importance in connexion with the compli
cated question of Ibn Sand’s titles.
5. Next in interest is the account given of the negotiations between Ibn
Sand and the Imam Yahya in 1927-28 and the settlement of the Arwa question in
1931. The story of the tw r o missions which Ibn Sand sent to Sana in 1927 and the
Yemeni missions which came to Mecca in 1928 becomes much clearer than it has
hitherto been. The telegrams between the Imam and Tbn Sand which produced
the latter’s award giving Arwa to the Imam are still of interest. The
most important points are perhaps the following :—
{a) When the first Saudi mission went to Sana they were confronted with
a Yemeni claim to the whole of A sir, as having always been Yemeni, despite Idrisi
occupation. The Saudi mission counterclaimed the whole country as far as
Mokha and Zehid and inland to Bajil, as having been Idrisi, and denied all
Yemeni claims in A sir. It is not astonishing that no agreement was reached.
(5) Chapter III contains proces-verbaux of meetings held during the vi-it
of the second Saudi mission to Sana. If trustworthy, they hear out the recent
Saudi contention that an oral agreement of sorts was reached in the course
of two meetings, as stated in Mr. Zada’s letter to Mr. Rendel of the 28th July,
1933. It is less important to try to ascertain the effect of that agreement, roue
of the versions of which quite agree in terms, than to record the fact that it
was clearly a status quo arrangement only. The best of several proofs of
this is that, when sending his own mission immediately afterwards to Mecca,
the Imam wrote a letter to Ibn Sand In which he described his object as being
to convince the King of his claim to “ what is in the hands of the Idrisi......
too'pther with ell that is counted as of Khaulan-bin-Amr and Hamdan-bm-
Zeyd.” This, I think, can be taken as a restatement of his demands ot the pi e-
viems year, though it is difficult to estimate 1 the territorial scope of ceman^s in
regard to the interior, defined "with reference to the names of tribal arcesov.
(a) The Imam’s mission to Mecca accomplished absolutely nothing ayd
though the status quo went on it might well he argued that whatever ya r 1 -\ _
had was impaired or destroyed bv the failure of the negotiatiors m re corrs,
°f which it was more or less defined. The Imam does not, hovm er, seei
have taken this line. He hided his time until he advanced to Arwa.

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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.' [‎130r] (264/1062), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2071, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100061765164.0x000041> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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