Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [159v] (323/1062)
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.
l
His Highness then took his leave, again assuring me of the vital importance)
of keeping the Imam Yahya out of the Hejaz at all costs, adding that the Imam
was now immensely powerful, that he had invited all the Yemen under his un
disputed sway, and that, if he completed the conquest of Nejran, he would be
within striking distance of Riyadh itself, in addition to being able to threaten
the Hejaz through Asir.
1 hope that I will not be thought to have acted irregularly in submitting
direct to the Colonial Office, a report on a conversation which occurred before I
left Amman. As stated above, however, the Amir Shakir made these statements
in a visit ostensibly made to say goodbye, when my car and luggage was at the
door. I could not possibly have committed it to paper, without missing the
Imperial Airways machine, on which my passage was already booked and paid
for.
I presume that copies of this note will be forwarded to Jerusalem and
Amman, with this explanation as to the method of its submission.
(45)
(Received on 7 th August 1933, 'with Political Secretary’s letter No. 33, dated
21 st September September 1933.)
Enclosure in Foreign Office covering letter, dated 16th September 1933.
No. 1.
Memorandum respecting Petroleum in Arabia (as revised by Petroleum DeparU
ment .— (Received in Foreign Office, August 11 , 1933.)
(A)— Petroleum Prospects of Arabia.
(1) LITTORAL Region of the Hejaz. —Petroliferous deposits and seepage
have long been known to exist in this area. Interest in it was stimulated by
Mr. TwitchelPs survey in 1931 in the coastal region north of Jedda, hut this
area seems to have dropped into the background of late. In a report furnished
by the Anglo-Persian Oil Company to the Petroleum Department in 1932, it
was pointed out that the general structure of the Red Sea is known geologically
as a “ Rift Valley, ’ ’ that is, a sunken valley bounded on either side by rift faults.
The prospects of finding oil in commercial quantity are considered to be remote,
though not entirely non-existent, and even after a complete survey, “ Rift Valley
conditions are such that any test drilling would be very speculative.
(2) Hasa and Koweit Neutral Zone. —It has been thought for many years
that this region might produce oil. The idea that it may be underlain by rocks
of the same geological age as those of the Iraq and Persian oil-fields, and that
potential oil structures might exist extending from Koweit to Qatar inclusive,
has been encouraged by the striking of oil in quantity in Bahrein in 1932.
(3) 77?e Farson Islands and Asir. —Interest in these islands andior the
mainland of Asir, from the point of view of petroleum potentialities, seems to
date from before the Great War. Operations were actually started on one of
the islands by the Red Sea Petroleum Company, a subsidiary of the Shell Group,
in 1926 or early in 1927, but drilling operations were subsequently abandoned as
unsuccessful. As to Asir, see (D) (2).
(4) Mokalla. —In 1928-29 the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company (Shell
Group) carried out investigations, and reached the conclusion that the petroleum
prospects were quite unfavourable.
(5) Muscat .-—The Anglo-Persian Oil Company abandoned this area as un
favourable in 1925-26.
(B)— Interested or Potentially Interested Companies.
(1) The Iraq Petroleum Company. —The Turkish Petroleum Company (now
the Iraq Petroleum Company) was formed in 1912, when the Deutsche Bank
became associated with the National Bank of Turkey and the Anglo-Saxon
Petroleum Company (Royal Dutch Shell Group), in order to press certain c l a ^ in 5
to oil rights in Baghdad and Mosul, including those attached to the Baghdad
Railway Concession. The chief rival of the new company at that time was the
Anglo-Persian Oil Company, which had for some time been in negotiation with
the Turkish Government. In 1914 an agreement was entered into providing
for the reconstitution of the Turkish Petroleum Company, from which the
National Bank of Turkey withdrew, the new participants being the Angm-
Persian Oil Company, 50 per cent. ; the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company anc
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
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2071
- Title
- Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:5v, 6v, 8v:10r, 11r:14r, 15r:20r, 21r:21v, 22v, 24v:26v, 27v:30r, 32r:41v, 43r:46v, 48r:48v, 49v:52v, 53v, 55v:58r, 59r:60r, 61r:70r, 71v:77v, 78v:79r, 80v:81v, 82v:93v, 95r:101v, 102v:104v, 106r:108r, 109v:110v, 111v:113v, 115r:120v, 122r:123r, 124r:126v, 127v, 128v:130v, 132r, 133v:137r, 139r:154r, 155r, 156r:157v, 159r:166r, 167r, 168r:171r, 172r:174r, 175r:175v, 176v:177v, 180v:181r, 182v, 183v:184v, 187v:188r, 191r:198r, 199r:199v, 200v:201r, 202r, 203r:203v, 206r:207r, 210r:211v, 213r:220r, 223v:224v, 226r:226v, 228r, 230v:234v, 236r, 237r:252r, 253v:257v, 259r:260v, 262r:262v, 264r:268v, 269v:276r, 277v:278v, 279v:281r, 282v:285r, 287r:288r, 289r:292v, 295r:296v, 297v:307r, 308r, 309r:316v, 318r:320v, 322r, 324r:325r, 327r, 329r:331r, 332r:335r, 336r:337v, 338v:345r, 347r:348r, 350v, 353v:358v, 360r:363r, 364v:365v, 366v:371r, 372v:375r, 376v, 377v:379v, 383r:383v, 384v:385r, 387v:389r, 390r:391v, 395v:400v, 401v:412v, 414v:420r, 422r:433v, 435v:437v, 440r:447v, 449r:449v, 451v:459r, 460r:463v, 465r:468v, 469v:471r, 474r:477r, 480r:485r, 486v:492v, 494r:507r, 508v:511r, 512r:513v, 514v, 516r:518v, 520r:522r, 523r:528v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence
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