![File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎219r] (442/898)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000466.0x000084/IOR_L_PS_10_1115_0442.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎219r] (442/898)")
File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [219r] (442/898)
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.
EASTERN (Arabia) .
l
CONFIDENTIAL.
\
[E 1488/644/91]
I 1 807
192 7
No. 1
[March 28, 1927. J
Section 1.
/t
Acting Consul Mayers to Sir Austen Chamberlain.—{Received March 28.)
(No. 23. Secret.)
Sir 7
i tt A vtt ^ • i . Jsddcih, March 8, 1927.
xr • ^ DAVE the honour to transmit herewith m y report on tho cntimtirm in iRo,
Hejaz during the period the 1st to the 28th February, 19 P 27. 1 th
x^ n 2 'x report are being sent to Egypt Jerusalem ‘RflarErl AH^n
Delhi, Beirut (for Damascus), Khartum (through Port Sudan) and Siifga S pore’.
I have, &c.
NORMAN MAYERS.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Jeddah Report for the period February 1 to February 28, 1927.
THE King has remained in Nej d during the whole of February. His Maiesty’s
absence has slowed down affairs in the Hejaz, and has certainly increased the
difficulty of transacting affairs with the Hejaz-Nejd Government. Riyadh has no
doubt been accessible by means of wireless communications and speedy couriers to
e queries, problems and news submitted to Ibn Saud by his own subordinates in
t ^ PaS ^ een T u ite another matter for the foreign representatives in
Jeddah, who have had to find a substitute for the helpful personal contact maintained
between them and the King when the latter is in the Hejaz.
2. Simultaneously with Ibn Baud’s departure for Nejd in January,
Dr. Abdullah Damluji, Director of Foreign Affairs, obtained from his master leave
to spend two months with his family in Hofuf, where, as he describes in his recently
published book, Major Cheeseman met him in obscurer days in 1923. On
Dr. Abdullah Damluji’s departure, Sheikh Yussef Yassin took over duties as Acting
Director, and it has been with him that practically all ordinary business affecting
general British interests has been transacted during the interval.
3. Sheikh Yussef Yassin is a young man of intelligence, but of discursive and
argumentative mentality, who formerly sought his fortune with the Arab Government
in Damascus, he being by birth a Syrian and by persuasion a Nationalist. He came
subsequently to the Hejaz, and when, after the fall of Mecca in 1924, Ibn Saud
founded his newspaper the “ Umm-el-Kura,” Sheikh Yussef was made its editor.
He is not to be blamed for his peregrinations, in that his inclinations and aspirations
are obviously pan-Arab. On the other hand, the narrow cast of his views and his
extraordinary methods, so different from the frank directness of his master, have
doubled the difficulty of relations. A suspicion or an abstract idea will dart across
the current of his thought in the transaction of most ordinary and straightforward
business and divert the course of talk completely. When the King is present
Sheikh Yussef sits before him meekly, like the mere scribe he is. But with the
direction of affairs in the Hejaz left in his hands by the King’s absence he has proved
a very lago. The Emir Eeisal, the King’s nominal representative, has been
completely effaced. Often, the only effective means of checking Sheikh Yussef’s
genius for obstructive thought has been a hint that his master, when he returns, may
not altogether be too pleased at his petty management .
4. His methods are unpleasant. He is, for example, engaged at present in a
battle with the local agents of the Khedivial Mail Line for quarantine dues on a
batch of Egyptian pilgrims who arrived in the Hejaz on last year’s pilgrimage. The
Egyptian Government, in accordance with their own regulations, received these dues
in advance before ever the pilgrims left their own country, and are therefore debtor
in this respect to the Hejaz Government. One would have thought that this was a
simple matter, easily arranged between the two Governments concerned. Not so
Sheikh Yussef Yassin; his method is to press the Khedivial Mail Line agents in
[63 ee—1]
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [219r] (442/898), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1115, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100084998361.0x00002b> [accessed 23 April 2024]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100084998361.0x00002b
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100084998361.0x00002b">File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎219r] (442/898)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100084998361.0x00002b"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000466.0x000084/IOR_L_PS_10_1115_0442.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000466.0x000084/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
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