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File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎369r] (742/898)

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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
EASTERN (Arabia).
CONFIDENTIAL.
[E 2105/10/91]
Property of His Britannic
Majesty’s Government.!
[April 7, 1925.]
Section 1.
Consul Bullard to Mr. Austen Chamberlain.—(Received April 7.)
(No. 24. Secret.)
Slr > T TT A17 p , , . Jeddah, March 19, 1925.
1 TiA 11/ the honom to enclose a report on the situation covering the period the
12th to 19th March.
2. Copies of this despatch and of its enclosure are being sent to India Egypt
Khartum (through Port Sudan), Jerusalem, Bagdad, Beirut (for Damascus), Aden*
Singapore, Bushire, Koweit, Bahrein and Muskat.
I have, &c.
R. W. BULLARD.
Enclosure in No 1.
Report for the Period March 12 to 19, 1925.
(Secret.)
THE Hedjaz war.command consists principally of three persons: Tahsin Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. ,
the Syrian, who is Minister of War and Army Commander ; a Bagdadi, General Jamil
Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , who is attached to the King ; and the King himself. As it seems no Bagdadi
ever agrees with any Syrian, and as the King ticks from one side to the other with the
speed and regularity of the pendulum of a clock, there is a certain lack of unity and
purpose in the campaign. However, at last the die was cast for a sortie, and an
attempt to occupy the Wahabis’s positions and capture or destroy their guns. On the
13th March the garrison kept up a fairly heavy bombardment of the Wahabis’s
positions for most of the day. In this they had the assistance of four heavier guns
(4 —5-inch) which had just arrived from Medina via Maan and Akaba. On the 14th,
at 10 a.m., the Hedjaz forces moved out towards the north and north-east in four
separate bodies on a front of almost 2 miles. The main attacks were against a village
on the left wing and trenches in the plain on the right. The operation was a complete
failure. The Wahabis had four or five machine guns in various parts of the front, and
with these and rifle fire they inflicted casualties amounting in all to nearly 200 on the
Hedjaz forces. The Wahabis fought, by all reports, with the greatest ferocity, and, so
far as could be seen from the roofs of the town, with a good deal of science. The
Hedjaz troops appeared to have no heart for the work, and this is borne out by the
fact that a high proportion of the wounds received are in the discreet rather than the
valiant portions of the body, viz., the back and buttocks. The heaviest casualties were
suffered by the remnants of King Hussein’s regular army, which consist of “ Hedjazis ”
(cultivators from the country between Mecca and Taif) and “Yemenis” (men of
Yemen stock, though mostly born in the Hedjaz, ; they came under maching-gun fire
from the village. The Palestinians, who were supported by armoured cars, behaved
very warily. A few days before the battle a few hundred “ scallywags ” from the
bazaar were recruited at £2 a month, and given old rifles. A large proportion of them
were boys of 14 and under. These troops took no prominent part in the battle.
The two new Italian armoured cars were hardly more successful than the protected
lorries obtained from Germany. One never got far beyond the wire, though whether
the breakdown was in the machinery or in the German who was driving it has not
been discovered. The other went out at a good pace, but came back as quickly with
several holes in the armour, the driver wounded in the neck, and the officer
commanding armoured cars with a piece of the plating in a bullet wound in his leg.
This failure, which was anticipated by everyone else, was a heavy’ blow to the war
command, who now appear to realise that they would need more and better men to drive
the Wahabis back. But, as they are desperate and as they can always leave for a safer
place in case of disaster, there may be something in the rumour that they propose to
make another attack. The attack of the 14th has done nothing but dishearten the
defence and (doubtless) strengthen Ibn Sand’s determination to hold on until Jeddah
surrenders.
[920 g—1]
It
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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.

Written in
English in Latin script
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File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎369r] (742/898), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1115, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100084998362.0x00008f> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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