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File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎334v] (673/898)

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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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“ Jehangir.” If that had been his reason he might have let them go earlier in the
month. The real reason was, I think, that he feels he is beaten and wants to goP
what little credit he can before it is too late. For the same reason he is considering
seriously whether he should not allow all returning pilgrims to embark at Jeddah.
11. On the 21st June a letter, a translation of which is attached (Enclosure 2),
was received by the foreign representatives from Ibn Saud, saying that he was-,,
changing the position of his troops, but by no means abandoning the siege of Jeddah.
That night the neighbouring villages which had been occupied by the Wahabis for
about five months, were seen to be on fire, and the next morning the Hedjaz army,
finding them abandoned, occupied them as the first step in the march to Granada via
Riyadh and Damascus. The spirits of the troops were a little damped to find that
the Wahabi trenches were so large and so well covered with timber and sandbags that
the Hedjaz bombardments which make so much noise in Jeddah can have done them
no harm whatsoever, and the discovery that there were still Wahabis among the
foothills completed the feeling of disappointment. A party of cavalry which
approached the point where the Mecca road enters the hills was attacked and fled
with about ten casualties, and on the 24th a body of Yemenis in the Hedjaz army
were nearly surrounded and lost not less than fifty killed and missing.
It is supposed that Ibn Saud wants to be able to send as many of his men as
possible on the Hajj, and that he is, therefore, withdrawing to some place on the
Mecca road which can be held by a very small number of men. There is reason to
believe that when the pilgrimage is over he will concentrate on the capture of Medina
and Yambo.
12. On instructions from His Majesty’s Government a message was given to
Ali that, “ while a Government does not ordinarily protect any of its nationals who
enlist in a foreign army, His Majesty’s Government consider that every soldier in
the Hedjaz army who is a native of Palestine or Transjordania is entitled to the
full terms on which he enlisted and is entitled to leave the Hedjaz if he wishes to
do so unless there is a written agreement binding him for a fixed term.” Ali said
that according to his information, the men were bound by some sort of written agree
ment; it was in Ma’an and would be sent for; but he did not venture to promise that
their arrears of pay would be given them. The question dragged on until the arrival
of the fourth barren pay day, when the men finallv refused to serve any longer. On
the 28th June thirty came to the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. with their rifles, the next day forty, and the
King was so scared that he gave me his word that as soon as a steamer was available,
m eight or ten days, he would send them to Akaba and thence to Ma’an. He still,
however, postponed a decision on the general question, until a demonstration at the
barracks, m which many shots were fired (albeit onlv into the air), and the rapid
increase m the number of men applying to this agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. *'for help, compelled him to tell
the Palestinians that within about three weeks they should all be sent away.
13. The Director-General of Customs, who recently returned from a holiday in
Eritrea, brought with him from Musawwa’ a party of about fifty Somalis, who,
rumour stated, were recruits for the army. A few davs later most of the Somalis
applied to this agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. for assistance, saying that they were British subjects who had
leen induced to come to Jeddah under promise of being given well-paid work on
ships, in workshops, and so on, but were now asked to serve in the army and at £2
a month or less Few of the men had papers, but there was little doubt that thev were
irom British Somaliland. I he recruitment of men from mandated territories has
given trouble enough, but for that there are extenuating circumstances; but the
i icemen o ritish subjects from Musawwa to Jeddah for military service could
not be permitted, and this agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. requested that the men should be provided with
the means to leave the country Somalis are notoriously feather-brained, and it is
possi e a some, if not all, of the party did agree, before leaving Eritrea, to serve
II 1 tl , 1 \^ ed;]az arm D and changed their minds only when they found that, though
le g i ingwas leal the pay was imaginary; but the fact that they applied for help
very soon after landing is m their favour. Anyhow, the Hedjaz Government did not
attempt to defend the action of the Director-General of Customs, and they provided
a dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. to take those of the Somalis who wished to leave—forty-three in number—to
Aden WWa ’ ^ ^ ^ Ita lan aut ^ or Pics should not allow them to land there, to
141 reposed some time ago that, according to the Foreign Secretary, the Imam
of the Yemen was disposed to help the Hedjaz. The Foreign Secretary has now
Diown the Egyptian consul a document which he says is a treaty with the Imam.
The Egyptian consul is of opinion that the document is genuine. A translation is

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.

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English in Latin script
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File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎334v] (673/898), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1115, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100084998362.0x00004a> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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