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File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎223r] (450/898)

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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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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government. I
EASTERN (Arabia) .
i, ? s ,
[February 2b, 1927. J
CONFIDENTIAL.
1 - ;
P 19 2 7
Section 1.
[E 1012/644/91] No j
Acting Consul Mayers to Sir Austen Chamberlain,—(Received February 28.)
(No. 10. Secret.)
Q ’ /
ir ’ T ,i i . Jeddah, February 5, 1927.
1 nave the honour to transmit herewith my report on the situation in the Heiaz
during the period the 1st to the 31st January, 1927. J
2 ' T?n’- eS 1 ? f th t is reP 01 ^ are being sent to Egypt, Jerusalem (2), Bagdad,
Aden, Delhi, Beirut ^for Damascus), Khartum (through Port Sudan) and
bingapore.
1 have, &c.
NORMAN MAYERS.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Jeddah Report for the Period Januairy 1 to January 31, 1927.
1HE most important event of the period under review has been the publication
of an agreement, dated the 21st October, 1926, between Ibn Saud and the present
ruling idrisi, Sayyid Hassan. This ££ Mecca Agreement," which will be found as
Appendix (A)* to this report, was published in the u Uinm-el-Kura ” of the
7th January. It caused general surprise, because, although everyone knew that
Asir had awakened the appetite of both Ibn Saud and the Imam Yahya of the
Yemen, the general impression was, in the Hejaz, that the first move would come
? from the latter.
2. Ibn Saud, by a regular treaty with Sayyid Hassan-el-Idrisi, has thus
established his suzerainty over Asir. The internal government of the province is
left in the hands of Sayyid Hassan; but war and peace, foreign policy, and defence
from external aggression, even the faculty of granting commercial concessions, pas&
into the hands of Ibn Saud. The convention is dated the 14th of Rabi Akhar, 1345,
and lest this date should puzzle London and Rome, the corresponding date, the
21st October, is added. In spite of appearances, the treaty must have been signed at
different times, for on the 21st October last the signatories were several hundred
miles apart. The comings and goings of Sheikh Murgani-el-Idrisi between Jizan
and Jeddah had, no doubt, much to do with it. That servant of Islam, Ahmed
Sherif-el-Senussi, gives the document, it will be noticed, his pontifical blessing. The
lightheartedness reflected from Jizan in last month s report is now explained.
’ 3. The agreement is very possibly a retort to the notorious fact that Italy is
supplying arms and war-material to the Imam Yahya, and the signature of the
Grand Senussi, who can be no friend to Italian expansion, lends support to the
thesis. Nevertheless, Ibn Sand’s claim to suzerainty over the Asir is not a new
conception. In 1920 Ibn Saud played an obscurer part on the Arabian stage than
he does at present. But, starting from the occupation of Ebha by his men in that
year, an occupation which, after a temporary reverse, was renewed in 1922, there
have been various indications of an intimacy of relations between Ibn Saud and
Asir, although such relations were not nerhaps mutually sought in the same degree.
In more recent years the King’s interferences in Asir affairs have been considerable.
In June 1925 he openly wrote to this agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. stating that he had been asked not only
by the leading chiefs in Asir, but also by the Idrisi himself (at that time the present
Sayyid Hassan), to take over the reins of government. He added that, for reasons
of security on his southern frontier, and in order to preserve the balance of poyver m
Asir and Y^emen, he had instructed his commanding officer in Asir, i.e., in the
northern region of Asir already under his sway, to occupy and to restore to peace
and order, as the Idrisi had requested, the area which the latter might indicate.
The present treaty, to be known as the “ Mecca Agreement, thus rounds on an
ambition of many years’ standing. Unprotected, Asir was bound to fall, either to
Ibn Saud or to the Yemen.
* Not printed.
[35 ee—1]

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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.

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English in Latin script
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File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎223r] (450/898), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1115, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100084998361.0x000033> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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