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Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎160r] (324/1062)

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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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the Deutsche Bank, 25 per cent each Tk;* i. t
three groups should give undertakings not to b<f interested 1 - pr , < l vlded . 1,1 at t,ll!
in the production of oil in the Ottoman Erani re n S dlr f indirectly
Egypt, Koweit and the Transferred Territories os , ie /, ind (excluding
Petroleum Company. This agreemtr w Ts Tned by the BridS ^ Urkish
Governments, and by the groups concerned. As the Turkish PeSenm'r' 661 ™ 1111
was then predominantly British, this arrangement had the effect of souring The
whole of this area to interests which were predominantly British After the
war American and French interests were admitted into the Iraq Petroled
Company and the arrangement as regards non-competition between the cto,Z
WaS COnfi ™ ed “ an agreement^etween
vrouTs w P ith w-hich the BHt?T)f 8 p T Wa f a priVate a S reem ent between the
groups witp AUucn tlie Bntish Government was not associated. Under this
agreement a line was drawn round Arabia, Palestine and Asia Minor which
excluded the feultanate of Koweit and the Farsan Islands, hut included Bahrein
and an area was thus defined within which the various groups constituting the
Iraq Petroleum Company agreed that they would not seek for or obtain oil
concessions otherwise than through the Iraq Petroleum Company or its nominee!
r adndaslon of French and American interests the share capital of the
Iraq Petroleum Company was distributed as follows
Anglo-Persian Oil Company
Royal Dutch Shell ..
French Group
American Group C 1 ) ..
C. S. Gulbenkian
Percentage.
. 23.75
23,75
. 23.75
. 23.75
. 5.00
100.00
As the Royal Dutch Shell is 60 per cent. Dutch and 40 per cent. British,
the British shareholding in the company now only represents about 33f per cent.
The Iraq Petroleum Company is still technically a British company, as in
article 32 of its convention with the Government of Iraq the company must be
and remain a British company, registered in Great Britain, and the chairman
must at all times be a British subject. But the position is different from a
British point of view, from that which formerly obtained when the company was
British in fact as 'well as in name.
Apart from the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and the Burmah Oil Company,
there are no really large oil companies which are entirely British, and which
could compete with the big groups represented on the Iraq Petroleum Company.
The Burmah Oil Company has never been inclined to undertake exploration work
outside India. There may, however, be some instances where the Iraq Petroleum
Company is not prepared to seek concessions in the reserved area, and where the
Anglo-Persian Oil Company, either by itself or in association with one or more
of the other groups, may be allowed to acquire concessions.
(2) British Oil Development Company and Mosul Oil-fields (Limited ).—On
the 20th April 1932, the Iraq Government granted an oil concession to the
British Oil Development Company (Limited) over the western portion of Iraq.
The concession is for a period of seventy-five years and covers an area of about
40,000 square miles, comprising all Iraq lands situated west of the River Tigris
and north of the thirty-third parallel of latitude. A special law confirming the
British Oil Development Concession was passed and published in the
Official Gazette on the 29th May 1932. This is reckoned as the date of . the
commencement of the concession. The company must be and remain a Bntish
company registered in Great Britain, and the chairman must be a British subject.
There is, however, a large foreign interest in the company. The Bntisli Oil
O) In 1932 the American shareholding in the American group (Near East Development Cor
poration) was held in the following proportions :—
Lc571FD
Standard Oil Company of New Jersey ..
Standard Oil Company of New York (now the Socony- Vacuum Company)
Gulf Oil Corporation of Pennsylvania ..
Percentage.
,. 41 §
. 411
,. 161

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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.' [‎160r] (324/1062), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2071, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100061765164.0x00007d> [accessed 9 June 2026]

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