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Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎231r] (466/1062)

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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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K5
been the erection of an undoubtedly fine and happily cheap American wind
mill at the Waziria wells some miles Irom Jedda and some quite useful work
on the old conduits connecting them with the town. It seems uncertain
whether the water is to be used to supply J edda or for agricultural purposes.
Of the gold and peti oleum I know nothing new nor have I heard any more
of the separate pioposal to employ Swedish experts to investigate the
petroleum.
6. I turn to the financial situation of the Government Mr. Hope Gill
has kept you very fully informed on this subject m a series of despatches
ending with his Ao. 482 of December 13th. [Eclo. 1 to S. No. (10).] I
need not therefore go ino the details of the reform schemes which have been
so greatly advertised. The general opinion is that, even if revenue prospects
were steadier and even if Ibn Sa’ud had men capable of running a rational
financial system, the scheme has come too late. The revenue from direct
taxation of pilgrims must necessarily diminish. There must be a further
decline in customs revenue owing to the failing off of pilgrims and general
depression. In his despatch No. 346 of August 29th Mr. Hope Gill gave
figures from a well informed source showing that the customs receipts had
fallen from nearly £1,200,000 in the lunar year ending about June 8th, 1929
to less than £900,000 in that ending about May, 18th, 1931. One of my
more pessimistic informants puts the figure as low as £400,000 this year.
This may be an under-estimate but I doubt whether a customs revenue of
more than half a million can be counted on for the year ending next May.
The customs receipts such as they are might be used as security for a foreign
loan but only if the lenders could rely on some more or less independent
control being established and on a greater prospect of durability than the
Sa’udian regime at present offers. As you are aware the negotiations with
the Dutch Bank broke down and there seems to be no longer any likelihood
of a loan being obtained from any European source on commercial lines.
Contradictory rumours are in circulation regarding the relations between
the Government here and Soviet Russia, which might alone engage m tra e
or even finance on uneconomic lines. The Russian Minister went
on long leave a couple of months ago and may not return, though he is offi
cially due back in April. He has been temporarily replaced by a non-
Moslem from Leningrad, a man of intelligence and Ig ather s ^ e
importance in Soviet circles. This gentleman, Monsieur Horace Salkmd,
is very much out for information, but he cannot go m person to Mecca as
the Minister used to do. My impression is that Mthough the Ru®iaMhaYe
brought off the coup of selling benzine and petroleum on credit and althou
there are other Russian goods in the market e.q., mateh^ there is
big business doing between the Soviets and the Hejazi Government.
7 The proposal to supplement the reform scheme by employing an
EuropeJn aSr still holds the field. I am told that Monsieur Jacote
the lianager of die xjutch*
a salary of £1 : 000 a yean was 4 j Netherlands Chargfi
-*»« i-g
a Atlaires tninks J meone to undertake the reorganization of the
£* ■». - * “ p ”“
frnm the Kin 0, when he has accomplished his task.
8. Meanwhile the ^"^matlon StoGm budget
far as they can d( > s° wifhont a Y ^ x ig to be divided into percentages
which has been adopted f floating debt, reserve and extraordinary
assigned to ^y^kffnparentlv betterment schemes. The new tadget is
expenditure me X p fi rs t dav of the current lunar month *.jo, abou
to operate as from the tirst Y ,i b tbe i ar cr e arrears of salaries
December 9th. From this.it l^ks as &ough toe ^ practicable arrange .
due on that date were to go ^ d t the penury among officials.
in the spring and early summer. *
It

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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.' [‎231r] (466/1062), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2071, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100061765165.0x000043> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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