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File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [14r] (32/898)
The record is made up of 1 volume (445 folios). It was created in 13 Mar 1924-18 Mar 1931. It was written in English. 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.
quarantine to the value of £16,000 in respect of their benzine contract. These
drafts are theoretically payable at sight, but in practice months go by before they
can be met. J
(c) The important Hejazi firm of “ E. A. Alfazal,” with its head office in
Bombay, has gone out of business owing £30,000 to a leading bank there. The
bank is advised that a criminal action for false declaration of value lies against
the firm, but its partners have retired to influential positions in the Government
at Mecca {(?•(/•, see section 1 above). The matter has, therefore, been taken up
semi-officially, in the first instance, with the Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs,
but with little prospect of success. The Nejdi firm of Qusaibi is also said to be in
difficulties. Ibn Saud’s private bankers, in fact, seem to be in as bad a way as
their patron. The Kaimakam of Jedda, Haji Abdullah Ali Ridha, one of the
few wealthy men left in the country, is keeping out of reach by a prolonged
absence in Egypt.
(d) The outlook is, moreover, decidedly gloomy. The coming pilgrimage has
been anxiously looked to by this Hejazi nation of lodging-house keepers, of touts
and guides and parasites, to replenish its empty coffers, but there is now every
indication that it will be an exceptionally poor one. The heart of Islam is now
beginning to feel the reflex actions of world conditions. The most important
section of the pilgrimage, that from the Dutch East Indies, has already started,
but advices from Java put it at 18,000 at most this year, as against 30,000 last
year. It is still too early to estimate the Egyptian and Indian pilgrimages, which
last year numbered 17,000 and 12,000 respectively, but the conditions prevailing
in both countries are calculated to reduce those figures considerably.
Ibn Saud is faced with the prospect of a very lean year. There are some who
foresee his complete bankruptcy.
4. Commerce.
Efforts are being made to open up and organise the Hasa coast to trade j
through the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
, and probably to pilgrim traffic also. A strong
committee, under Mohammed-at-Tawil, left for the Hasa on the 26th September
to study the possibilities on the spot. Its recommendations will no doubt aim at a
short-circuiting of Bahrein and its transit dues.
5. Wireless.
The Hejaz-Nejd Government signed vith the Marconi Company at the
beginning of October a contract w'orth £37,000, payment to be made by instal
ments extending over three and a half years. The company have undertaken to
supply and erect within eighteen months eleven land stations and four mobile
sets. The former are to comprise two principal six-kilowatt stations at Mecca
and Riadh, and nine subsidiary stations at Tabuk, Qaryat (Kaf), Hail, Qasim
(Ayun), Sha’ra (Shaqra), Hufuf, Jubail, Qatif, and Uqair. The half-kilowatt
mobile sets are to be mounted on Ford one-ton trucks. The contract marked the
successful conclusion of Mr. Philby's negotiations of the past year on behalf of
the Marconi Company (June report, paragraph 30).
A wireless school has been opened in Jedda, and four of its most promising
pupils have been sent to the Marconi Company’s wx>rks in England to complete
their training.
6. Aeronautics.
See air matters (sections 21 and 22 below).
7. Hejaz Railway.
A petition, presented in 1929 to the Permanent Mandates Commission of
the League of Nations by the Amir Shakib Arslan, the noted Syrian Nationalist,
who is in close touch with Ibn Saud and Ihsan-al-Jabri, was considered by the
commission on the 9th September. The petitioners complained, amongst other
things, that in spite of its Waqf character, the Hejaz Railwav had been taken
out of the hands of the Moslem peoples to whom, as a religious property, it
belonged, and they asked that it be handed back to a commission elected by Syria,
Palestine and
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
, which would control it in concert with the Hejaz-
Nejd Government.
[328 e— 1] b 2
About this item
- Content
The volume mostly contains printed copies of despatches from HM Agent and Consul, Jeddah, to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, enclosing reports on the situation in the Hejaz (also spelled Hedjaz in the file) [now a region of Saudi Arabia], from January 1924 to December 1930, and related enclosures to the reports. These despatches were sent to the Under-Secretary of State for India by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. The volume also includes 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. Political and Secret Department minute papers, which include comments on the reports, and indicate that the reports had been seen by the Under-Secretary of State for India and the Political Committee of the Council of India.
The reports are monthly for January to August 1924, May 1925, September 1925 to March 1927, June 1927 to June 1930, and December 1930. Reports between these dates cover shorter periods, except July and August 1930, which are both covered by one report, and September, October and November 1930, which are also covered by one report.
The reports discuss matters including the actions of King Hussein ibn Ali al-Hashimi of the Hejaz, including his attempts to gain recognition as Caliph, and the military and financial situation in the Hejaz during the war between the Hejaz and the Saudi Sultanate of Nejd [Najd]. They report on events of the Hedjaz-Nejd war including: the capture of Taif (September 1924) and Mecca (October 1924) by Nejd; the departure of the ex-King Hussein from Jeddah; the fall of Medina and Jeddah and the surrender of the Hejaz to Sultan Abdul Aziz of Nejd [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd, also known as Ibn Saud] (December 1925); and the formal assumption of the title of King of the Hejaz and Sultan of Nejd and its Dependencies by Ibn Saud (8 January 1925).
The reports following the annexation of the Hejaz by Nejd cover internal affairs, including prohibitions introduced for religious reasons, the Hejaz Railway, the financial situation of the Hejaz-Nejd Government, and the Hejaz Air Force. They also report on foreign relations, including: the publication of an agreement, dated 21 October 1926, between Ibn Saud and Sayyid Hassan-el-Idrisi, establishing the suzerainty of Ibn Saud over Asir; relations between Ibn Saud and Imam Yahya of the Yemen; the situation on the frontiers between Nejd and Iraq, and Nejd and 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 ; and the Treaty of Jeddah between Hejaz-Nejd and Great Britain (20 May 1927). They also report Ibn Saud being proclaimed King of the Hejaz, Nejd and its Dependencies (4 April 1927).
In addition, other frequently occurring topics in the reports are: the Pilgrimage [Hajj], including the arrival of pilgrims in the Hejaz, from India, Java and elsewhere, arrangements for the pilgrimage, the welfare of pilgrims, and the repatriation of pilgrims; and the slave trade and slavery in the Hejaz, including the manumission and repatriation of slaves.
The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (445 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
The subject 1707 (Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)) consists of one volume only.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 447; 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 4-444; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/1115
- Title
- File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:88v, 90r:104v, 106r:108v, 110r:124v, 126r:128v, 129v:132v, 133v, 134v:137v, 139r:145r, 146r:161v, 162v:180v, 183r:205v, 206v:267r, 269r:271v, 273r:288v, 291r:308v, 309v, 310v, 311v, 312v, 313v, 314v, 315v, 316v, 317v:321r, 324r:335r, 337r:378v, 379v:381v, 383v:389v, 391r:393v, 395v:397v, 399r:400r, 402r:446v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence