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Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎244r] (492/1062)

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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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75
Constantinople, e.g Dr F G. Clenow’s monograph on “Les Eaux de
Dpddah , or repoits made for military purposes during the War I do
not know either to what extent the matter is of real interest to departments
of His Majesty s Government. If it were considered worth while this
Legation could send home a translation of Mr. Twitched’s report but I
should not with to undertake this unnecessarily as the labour of checking the
rough translation already made with the Arabic text in the Umm-al-Qura
itself presumably a translation from an English original, would be consi
derable.
7. As regards other minerals, I mentioned casually to Fuad Bey Hamza
some weeks ago the announcements in the Stockholm press that the Hejazi
Government had asked the Swedish Government to supply a geological
mission. See the correspondence ending with Mr. Clark Kerr’s despatch to
vou No. 127 of May 31st [S. No. (59)]. Fuad Bey did not deny this report
but did not expand. '
8. I am sending a copy of this despatch to the Department of Overseas
Trade.
(89)
Enclosure in Foreign Office covering letter dated 27th August 1931.
(Received on 20th September 1931 with Pol, Secy.’s letter No. P. Z.-36,
dated 3rd September 1931.)
Letter from H. M.’s Minister, Jedda, to the Foreign Office, No. 253,
DATED THE 1ST JULY 1931.
In my despatch No. 177 of the 15th May [S. No. (67)], I attempted to
bring up to date the information in my earlier despatch No. 108 of the 23rd
March, regarding the financial situation in this country, with special refer
ence to the problem of exchange. I have had occasion in other reports to
advert to the growing hopelessness of Ibn Saud’s financial position, and to
the way in which it has come to be ai dominant factor in the political situa
tion in the Hejaz.
2. There has been no improvement in the financial outlook since the
middle of May. It seems more than probable, though it cannot be taken as
certain, that any gold reserve which the Director-General of Finance may
have had up his sleeve has been practically exhausted. This is the view of
the manager of the Dutch Bank, who was in close touch with the Govern
ment during March and April. He told me recently that at the end of that
period the Government were in fact good for the £60,000 in gold required
to bolster up the exchange. I could not ascertain whether he actually made
a new arrangement with them then, but, if he did, little or nothing came of
it, and Mr, Jacob’s principals in Holland have settled down to an attitude
of abstention from further transactions. Before the departure on leave of
M. Adriaanse, the future Netherlands Charge d’ Affaires, who arrived here
some months ago to be initiated into his duties in accordance with the Dutch
system, he was strongly pressed to use his influence at home to get the Dutch
Government to get the Dutch Bank to be more accommodating. There is
very little chance, however, of their altering their attitude.
3. I have reported elsewhere on the King’s experiment of convoking a
National Conference of urban representatives, which sat from the 2nd to the
Hth June, to review in an advisory capacity the problems confronting the
Hejazi Government. Finance was naturally a prominent feature in the
proceedings. As might have been expected, the members of the conference
had no comfort to offer, and such advice as some of them were bold enough
to tender was most unpalatable to Ibn Saud. All that the conference effect
ed was to help to give a certain coherence to grievances which have gradually
been growing articulate afid which may be summed up as follows. (a) The
L632(C) F&PD - -

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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.' [‎244r] (492/1062), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2071, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100061765165.0x00005d> [accessed 16 June 2026]

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