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File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎390r] (784/898)

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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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6. Sayyid Talib Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. leaves for Egypt on the 31st December. Mr. Philby
wishes to leave for Aden, but is at present suffering from dysentery. He would have
left some days ago, but gave in to the King’s pressing request that he should stay.
This pressure Mr. Philby attributes to his beautiful eyes, but it is mainly due to the
belief of the military party that he wants to get to lim Baud by another route and
*•41 him the secrets of the defences of Jeddah. To fill up the time Mr. Philby has
^n making a map of the surroundings of Jeddah and incidentally helping a
Turkish officer to make a plan of the trenches. He would be much surprised to
learn that such action in wartime by a foreigner who is known to be friendly to the
other side is calculated to arouse suspicion.
R. W. BULLARD.
Appendix.
Umm-al-Kura ” Mecca.
No. 1.— December 12, 1924.
A proclamation by Ibn Baud dated the 12th Jamada ’1 Ula, 1343 (9th December,
1924) is published. Four of the five clauses are either repetitions of previous
statements or unimportant—the Holy Places are to be cleansed of Hussein and his
sons, the decision must rest with the Moslem world, ulama, mosque officials, &c., will
be left in undisturbed possession of their posts unless found to be unworthy, and no
one who acts rightly has anything to fear from Ibn Baud; but the third clause is
worth translating in full.
The source of all (religious) legislation and laws is to be found only in the
Koran and what came from the Prophet {i.e., the traditions or sunnah), and—in
regard to matters on which the Koran and the traditions are silent—in the decisions
which Moslem divines have adopted by way of analogy ( £t kiyas ”) or consensus of
opinion (“ ijma’ ”).
An Egyptian divine, Sheikh Hafidh, gives an address to the Ulama of Mecca.
He says, without explaining exactly what he means, that Ibn Baud does not want the
House of Allah (the Ka’bah) to be the private property of anyone, but the joint
property of all Moslems. He rails against “ civilised progress ” as the main source
of heresy in Moslem countries. Moslems need no progress but religious progress,
which can be attained only by a return to the injunctions of the Koran and of the
Prophet.
It is announced that the leading Mecca and Nejd divines (names given) have
come to an agreement on the fundamental articles of religion, viz.
1. Any person who, after making the profession of faith and performing the
five duties of Islam falls into unbelief, in word or deed or belief, shall be
held to be a kafir (unbeliever). He shall be invited to repent: if he
repents, well; if not, he shall be killed.
2. Whoever makes any creature an intermediary between him and Allah and
prays to it, and asks it to bring him advantage or to ward off evil or to
bring him near to Allah, is a kafir. It is lawful to take his life and his
goods.
3. Whoever seeks intercession between him and Allah is guilty of polytheism.
4. Graves shall not have buildings made over them, or candles lighted or prayers
performed at them; for that is heresy forbidden by the Shara’ law.
5. Whoever petitions Allah in the name of one of his creatures is a heretic and
a criminal.
6. It is unlawful to take oath except by Allah—whether by the Ka bah, or by
the Faith, or by the Prophet, or' by anything else.
No. 2.— December 19, 1924.
Leading article : “ Our Political Position.”
We want, for the present, to speak of the Hedjaz alone and not of the position
of the Arabs in general in the Jazirah. (Suppressed passage : There will be a
time for that when we have done with the matter in which we are now engaged and
the question has been settled in the interests of Moslems in general and of the Arabs
in particular.”)
By the help of Allah the injunction that none but believers should enter the
Holy Places has been observed. The Holy Places have remained untouched by foreign
intrigues or by the ambitions of colonisers. Some blind people, however, wished to

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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)’ [‎390r] (784/898), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1115, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100084998362.0x0000b9> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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