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File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎160v] (325/898)

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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. .

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prevented by the building of fortifications but only by the establishment of cordial
relations and by mutual confidence. To prevent raids of the Shammar through
Syria the more natural course would, the writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. continues, surely be the erection of
a fort on the Iraq-Syrian rather than on the Iraq-Nejd frontier. If, as
Sir Henry Dobbs asserts, the Busaiyah post can only accommodate fifteen persons,
what is its use as a protection against raiders ? The Uin-el-Qura continues to
maintain that Busaiyah is the first well after the frontier, and must therefore^
regarded as one of those referred to in the Tjqair Protocol. Answers to all these
comments have been supplied to the King. Shammar raids stopped as a result of
action by Iraq. The Busaiyah post was a police and intelligence post and not
designed for offence. Busaiyah is not the first well after the frontier. As the
writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. of the leading articles in the “ Um-el-Qura ’ has access to most, if not all,
official correspondence, his comments are disingenuous.
4. Special preparations are being made for the King’s reception both at
Jeddah and at Mecca. We are officially informed that these preparations are the
outcome of the spontaneous determination of a loyal and loving population to do
honour to their beloved sovereign. It may be so. The streets of Jeddah are to be
decorated with flags, and shops and houses are to be bedecked on the initiative of
the occupants. The house which the King will occupy in Jeddah during the coming
negotiations has been refurnished.
5. Preparations for the reception and accommodation of Sir Gilbert Clayton’s
mission have been very efficiently carried out. They are to be housed at Kandara,
the large bungalow some 2 miles north of Jeddah, which the King himself usually
occupies during his short visits to the coast.
6. Early in the month an unusual incident occurred at Mecca. On the
6th instant, a Bedouin mounted the pulpit of the Holy Mosque before the time of
the preaching of the regular Friday sermon. He appears to have enunciated
doctrines or recited prayers to which the congregation took exception. He was
pelted with every kind of missile, but as his ardour was not thereby effectively
damped, he was fired at and wounded in the neck. He was transported to hospital,
where he was pronounced insane. He is said to have recovered from his wound.
The incident gave rise to so much wild talk that the Mecca Foreign Office were
requested to supply an official version. Their version follows the lines of the above
account, which was supplied by an eye-witness, except that they omit any mention
of shooting. They state that “ the congregation pelted him with anything that
came to hand, but he did not come down until he was hit too much/ ’ Dr. Damluji
states that “it is a small matter of no importance. 7 ’ Early reports brought by
chauffeurs and pilgrims from Mecca stated that the unauthorised preacher to be a
new Mahdi from Syria, others believed him to be a member of the Yemenite mission
to Ibn Saud, but it is now established that he was a Bedouin from Medina.
7. The Yemenite mission is still at Mecca awaiting the arrival of the King.
It is difficult to see how His Majesty will find the necessary time to devote to them,
as the days before the pilgrimage are likely to be fully occupied with conversations
with Sir Gilbert Clayton’s mission. It is rumoured that the Yemenis have
instructions to insist on the withdrawal of Ibn Saud’s mandate over Asir. In the
probable event of negotiations on this basis proving fruitless, the Imam may move
and to this end has concentrated forces at Mehdi, while Ibn Saud also has taken
precautions against a possible attack. These reports are unconfirmed. Meanwhile,
the mission is treated with the greatest respect, but is allowed little contact with
the outside world; a member of the Italian consul’s staff was unable to obtain access
to them.
8. The newly-appointed Egyptian consul, Mohammed Said, and the vice-consnl,
M. Matar, arrived in Jeddah on the 5th instant. The former has thrown himsell
with much elan into the life of Jeddah, and, from a social point of view, is an asset.
Whether he will be a success officially is doubtful. In conversation with one of his
colleagues, he has prepared the ground for possible failure by fairly frank criticism
of his predecessor.
9. At the request of the Hejaz Government, the conference which it was
proposed to call early in the year at Haifa to discuss technical details concerning
the reconditioning of the Hejaz Railway, has been postponed until the first days
of July. There is likely to be much competition for the appointment as Hejaz
delegate. Dr. Abdullah Damluji has earmarked it for himself, but Hafiz Wahba
or Yusef Yassin may well be chosen, as Damluji’s services so soon after the
pilgrimage could with difficulty be dispensed with.

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
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File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎160v] (325/898), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1115, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100084998360.0x00007e> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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