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Coll 6/8(1) 'Printed Series: 1929 to 1938.' [‎272v] (549/1062)

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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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PAM P'
Office, 1
C.uro. fi
limed Senus
®| become
l®:aorliaA
As. regai
eberefrc
liJrtofgidc
, il certain S
57
representative merchants. The principle of this arrangement appears to
be to withdraw from circulation £24,000 of nickel, the Government putting
up £8,000, the merchants the rest, each of them being assessed at a stated
amount. The nickel thus collected was to be held by the Ministry of
Finance, and repayment of the money levied on the public was to be made
at a later date. It was further decided about the 7th May to close all the
shops of the money changers, who are accused of rigging the currency
market.
7. The measures taken have rehabilitated nickel for the time being
and, as I have said, the riyal has not fallen unduly low. Nevertheless, the
situation is obviously precarious, for the crisis has occurred at what should
be the period of greatest prosperity. The months between now and the
beginning of the next pilgrimage season late in the autumn, when the 1932
pilgrims will begin to arrive, must necessarily be very lean months. The
manager of the Dutch Bank was a very disillusioned man towards the end
of April, but he was then negotiating a fresh arrangement with the Gov
ernment. He did not tefl me its exact nature, but he said that the
Government would have to put up £60,000 in gold to back it. After the
festival he did not reopen his bank for exchange business, and rumours
were afloat that the bank contemplated retirement from the countrv. On
the 10th Mav, however, Mr. Jacobs told me that he was still negotiating
He no longer had any doubt that the Government could dispose of any
necessary amount of gold up to £60,000, but he said he was awaiting the
King’s guarantee of the transaction, whatever it might be. He complained
bitterly of the changeableness and incapacity of the Government. He put
much of the blame on Mr. Philby, who, he said, had been dangling before
the King the idea that it would be an easy matter to arrange, with his
(Mr. Philby’s) assistance, to introduce another bank, which would give
all the help required.
8. The situation is complicated by factors which are even further from
my ken than the matters which I have attempted to summarise above in a
torrn m ore intelligible than most of the reports on which my account is
based there are supposed to be, for instance, some £30,000 worth of
me el coins m circulation, but rumours of inflation by the importation of
forged coins have been current and have helped to destroy confidence.
= ° b8 T e - f fP ' S the dlfficult y o f popularising in Nejd the use of
tile silver and nickel coinage current in the Hejaz.
whirh ,W w' doubtless t be struck by the smallness of the amounts on
£60 000 h fn crnTd 7 lm P° rtant C , nses turn ' Ifc needs at most, it appears,
unlimited amount s ns am a silver currency which is legal tender to an
the market TntA 1 °P e . ratlons in nickel to a total of £30,000 can throw
report it is champtp >• ® l0n ®- A s ^ have observed in at least one previous
to P all sorts Af sidfr! to f 01 tllls f , cou ? tr y that the Government are reduced
quite small liabilities P. e W1 h _what, according to our standards, are
low water but I doubt wbetli 'T P brSt ^i™ 6 tbat bn ® aud bas been ' n
little credit It is iust oS m tn ? f er been 80 embarrassed or had so
react on his political future.' 6 the present financial situation may
seas Trade 3 ™ Sencbn ° a co f^ °f tbls despatch to the Department of Over-
( 68 )
(RtCGicC’d otl 12th July 1931 with * ? 7
th725tk,tTwlT)^ ^ N °- 26 ’ d
TtrEGRAM P., FROM THE FOREIGN OFFICE TO tttt? TT™ n
Egypt, No. 164, dated the Sro JJe'" M[ssione *
(Repeated to Jedda, No. 96)
Please see Jedda telegram No nf t\/To
mg desire of Sayed Ahmed el Scussi to vis.t the Sudar. N °' 61) ^

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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.' [‎272v] (549/1062), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2071, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100061765165.0x000096> [accessed 23 April 2024]

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