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Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎173r] (350/1062)

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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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by the Secretary of State for India to say that he suggests that it might be prefer
able to inform the Sultan that the contents of his letter are noted ” rather than
“ that the election has been noted ”, and to omit the word formal ” before £c re
cognition ” in informing him that the recognition of his successor must be deferred
until the latter’s actual accession to the Sultanate. Otherwise Secretary Sir
Samuel Hoare agrees with the proposal of the Secretary of State for the Colonies to
approve the course of action suggested in paragraph 13 of the despatch from the
Eesident at Aden enclosed with your letter.
2. A copy of this letter is being sent to the Foreign Office and Air Ministry.
( 28 )
(Received on 15th July 1933, with Political Secretary's letter No. 26, dated 29th June
1933.)
Enclosure in Foreign Office covering letter No. E. 2990/2990/25, dated 19th
June 1933.
Letter from His Majesty’s Minister, Jedda, to the Foreign Office, No. 139-
(1328/398/2), dated the 15th May 1933.
In paragraph 18 of the Jedda Report for January to March 1932 (F. 139-N./32),
Mr. Hope Gill mentioned a Sa’udi Commercial Code, the serial publication of which
had been completed during that period. On my return to Jedda at the end of
May 1 found awaiting me a portly volume containing a rough manuscript transla
tion of this enormous document, which took up much space in successive numbers of
the Umm-al-Qura newspaper from August 7th, 1931 to February 26th, 1932 inclusive.
The vicissitudes of the remainder of the year made it impossible for me to give
attention to it. Now that the storms of rebellion had died down, I owe it to the
industry of my translators, if for no other reason, to give some brief account of so
considerable an addition to the modern legislation of this country. It will be
very brief indeed, as the code is a mere white elephant at present. It would be
useless labour to check the translation, to have it typed and to study it closely.
2. The code is not one which the ordinary religious courts of this country
would ever dream of applying. It is designed solely for the purpose of tribunals
of the type known as Majlis-at-Tujar or Council of Merchants. Only one such
court exists at present. It has its being in Jedda but I understand that its juris
diction in commercial cases is supposed to extend to Mecca. Bo far as I know
it is a very inept body but one seldom hears it mentioned at all, never, in my ex
perience, in connexion with any important commercial suit.
3. The code provided for the use of this non-professional tribunal consists
of four parts. Part I (Articles 1 to 149) deals with commerce on land and contains
chapters dealing with the usual matters, including companies, agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , bills of
exchange and insolvency. Part II (Articles 150 to 431) deals with maritime
commerce and comprises, among others, chapters on the ownership of ships, seamen,
bills of lading, freight and charter-party, passages, hypothecation of ships, etc.,
marine insurance and average. Part III (Articles 432 to 533) is devoted to the
organisation and procedure of the Majlis-at-Tujar. Part IY (Articles 534 to 622)
contains schedules of fees for various proceedings. Article 62o makes lie cot e
operative from the date of publication, presumably the date of the last instalment,
as the code is not otherwise dated. The last Article, 624, charges lie iceroy
with the execution of its provisions, a clause which indicates that, even m prmcip e,
the code was intended only to apply to the Hejaz, which at the time had not yet
been merged in a unified Sa’udi Arabia.
4. I learn from Fuad Bey Hamza, who was probably the principal author
of the code, that it was based mainly on the old Ottoman codes see 'loung.
Corps de Droit Ottoman, Volume VII, page 55 «.). So far as I J u ^; . •
hurried glance I should say that in the case o. Par s an ni, man f! 0( i e
had been done very freely, whereas Part II seems o o | r ^ n0
of Maritime Commerce more closely. I confess, owever,
time to study the Sa’udi text in detail.
5. I am sending a copy of this despatch to the Department of Overseas Trade.

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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.' [‎173r] (350/1062), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2071, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100061765164.0x000097> [accessed 15 July 2026]

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