Skip to item: of 1,062
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎232r] (468/1062)

This item is part of

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.

Apply page layout

.arket
Ntwerea^
chsit
th the?
emits for | !f r
instaetms.r'
i as
«Si
, adapted te
a hi^li pnii
relatioato i
demand, siffl
t the time of i
:jsr
ret, as
ituatioalfl
earl
It isposf
Kk is ^
isure.
ch I
This
a desire® 1
old reserve
il
t
17
sS* B “ r aK
t ti A/T ^ Asir, though it was not hoped to
ou^t the Ma,ria Theresa dollar at a stroke. This policy has
been pursued by introducing riyals into Nejd for use in out
payments, e.g., it was said that Ibn Sa’ud intended to give his
largesse to the, tribes this year in Hejazi silver, and a plan was
apparently devised for creating in Nejd a net-work of stalls
to retail goods bought or borrowed in the Hejazi towns, the
transactions to be effected in riyals only. The latter part of
the plan is said to have been defeated by local Nejdi opposition
with the result that the goods had to* be stored or sold whole
sale. Riyals, though put into circulation in Nejd, are very
unpopular there, partly because the merchants complain that
they are no use to them in Kowait and Bahrain. Their gold
value in Nejd is consequently much lower than in the Hejaz,
though information as to the actual rates are conflicting. One
informant, the pessimist, says that they went some little time
ago as low as thirty to the £, with the result, he adds, that
the King in his anger confiscated the good of twelve Riadh
merchants and closed down their shops.
(d) The Government have stultified their previous policy of trying
to keep riyals at 10 to the £ gold by their own recent attitude.
,Where possible they pay them out at that rate but they accept
them only at their market value in gold. This is perhaps
reasonable in the case of telegraph charges, having regard to
the necessity for providing for external settlements. The
same rule is, however, applied in other cases, notably that of
customs duty. Unfortunately for the financial authorities
they have not been able to carry to its logical conclusion their
plan of having it both ways i.e., paying at 10 and collecting
at gold rate. In order to clear off debts to certain commercial
houses, they have had to agree to take only a portion of the
duty on new imports in cash and to allow the remainder to be
written oh against the debts. Some at least of the com-
mercdal houses, e.g., Messrs Gellatly, Hankey and . Company
have successfully asserted the principle that, for this purpose,
the writing oh .should be on the basis of £ .gold to £ gold,
instead of at the customs rate for riyals, which fluctuates
round the fluctuating market rate.
(e) A curious transaction came to my notice accidentally at Fort
Sudan. I found that the Hejazi postal authorities had clear
ed oh their debt to the Eastern Telegraph Company up to
last May and had subsequently made a single payment which
was understood to be on account of the June account. Ims
took the form of a cheque in sterling drawn by Credit
Lyonnais, Paris on Credit Lyonnais, London on Octohcr -6t
last to the order of the Director General of Posts and Tele
graphs and endorsed by the latter at Mecca on December _
to the Eastern Telegraph Company. I am at a toss to unde^
stand how this cheque was bought and can only surmi* that
it may have something to do with ‘Abdurrahman Qusar i
activities in Europe.
11. I ought perhaps to apologise for tr ® atl ^ ordepictingTht
in a single report. I could not otherwise achiev y £ or ^ sa p e 0 ,f
general depression and di ^ 0 ^ anlsat T t J! il ! C bear r i n o- on the political future,
their intrinsic interest and because of t inrhVidnal subiects separate-
I shall, in later despatches, again deal with the individual subjects sep t _
ly. In view
L1008 F&PD
of themore general character of the present paper,
I am

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

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎232r] (468/1062), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2071, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100061765165.0x000045> [accessed 29 March 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100061765165.0x000045">Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [&lrm;232r] (468/1062)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100061765165.0x000045">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x000261/IOR_L_PS_12_2071_0468.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x000261/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image