File 57/1928 Pt 11 'Arabia: Iraq-Nejd Frontier Affairs: Ibn Saud's Request for Arms etc, Saudi Debts to H.M.G.' [‎89r] (177/974)

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The file concerns the supply of arms and ammunition to Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd], King of Hejaz [al-Ḥijāz] and Nejd, by the Government of India in 1929, to enable him to suppress potential trouble with the Ajman tribe. The papers go on to record the attempts of the British Government to obtain payment for the arms from the Government of Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia), and discussions between British Government departments about how to allocate the cost of the debt.

In addition to 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. correspondence and memoranda, the file includes correspondence from: the British Agent and Consul, Jeddah; HM Chargé d’Affaires, Jeddah (Andrew Spencer Calvert); HM Minister, Jeddah (Sir Andrew Ryan); the Colonial Office; the Foreign Office; the Government of India; and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia).

The papers cover: Ibn Saud's request for the use of a British troopship to transport one thousand men to Uqair [Al-ʻUqayr], and the supply of three thousand rifles and one thousand boxes of ammunition for possible use against the Ajman (also referred to as Akhwan [Ikhwan]), May 1929; the agreement of the Government of India to supply 2700 rifles and 3,000,000 rounds of ammunition (in June 1929) at a cost of four lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees [400,000],19,163 rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. , May-August 1929; a suggestion by the Foreign Office that the British Government should give the arms to Ibn Saud at a reduced figure, or free of charge, as a gesture of goodwill (folio 437); the failure of the Government of Hejaz and Nejd to pay for the arms, requests by them to postpone payment, and the reorganisation of the state's finances, 1929-32; acceptance of HM Treasury proposals that HM Government should accept liability for two thirds of the debt, with only one third being borne by the Government of India, March 1933; the Saudi Arabian Government offer to pay 5% interest on the debt, March 1933; the financial situation in Saudi Arabia, October 1933; negotiations over the debt between British officials and the Saudi Government, 1933-34; the risk of prejudicing Anglo-Saudi relations by pressing for a resolution of the debt, January 1934 (folio 160); the effect on negotiations over Saudi debts of the run-up to, and outbreak of, the Saudi-Yemen War, 1934; Saudi debts to Polish arms manufacturers, 1934; the Government of India again press for repayment of the debt, May 1935; the payment by the Saudi Arabian Government of 10% of the 1929 debt, 1935; the refusal of the Government of India, supported by the Viceroy, of a Foreign Office proposal to write off the remainder of the debt, unless the balance due to them was paid by HM Government, 1937; and agreement between the Foreign Office and the Government of India that the debt should be allowed to stand indefinitely, 1938.

The file includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.

Extent and format

1 file (485 folios)

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume. The subject 57 (Iraq-Nejd Relations) consists of sixteen volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/1234-1249. The volumes are divided into nineteen parts, with each part comprising one volume, apart from parts 4-5, 7-8, and 17-18, which each comprise a single volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 486; 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. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-128; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

Condition: two folios (folios 233 and 485) are damaged, and this has caused some loss of text.

Written in

English in Latin script

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