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File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎407r] (818/898)

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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.!
EASTERN (Arabia).
[September 15, 1924.]
CONFIDENTIAL.
3971
Section 2.
E 7907/424/91]
/91] No. <lr> o /]
Consul Bullard to Mr. MacDonald.—{Received September 15.)
(No. 94. Secret.)
Sir, Jeddah, August 30, 1924.
I HAVE the honour to transmit to you herewith the Jeddah report for the
period the 31st July to the 30th August.
Copies of this despatch and report are being sent to Alexandria, Bagdad,
Jerusalem, Simla, Aden, and Beirut (for communication to Damascus).
I have, &c.
R. W. BULLARD.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Jeddah Report. July 31 to August 30, 1924.
THE imminent arrival of a Soviet representative was reported in a postscript
last month. On the 6th August arrived one Kerim Hakimov, “ agent et consul
general de TU.R.S.S. pres de Sa Majeste hachimite le Roi d’Arable,” with two
secretaries and two other assistants, three ladies and three children. Their
information about Jeddah must have been bad, for they had no house to go to, no
furniture of any kind (there is none to be got in Jeddah), and only European clothes
such as can be worn on perhaps five days in the year in Jeddah. The King first
ordered them to be quartered on the Kaimakam of Jeddah, later on the Director-
General of Customs. The Director-General got rather tired of providing houseroom
for eleven guests while they went about coveting other people’s houses, and at last
he ordered one of his subordinates in the customs to evacuate a fine house the hatter
owns and inhabits. No pitv need be wasted on this man, as he only acquired so
large and fine a house by the most shameless corruption. More to be pitied is an old
man who was flung out at a day’s notice to make room for the customs official. This
old man owns no other house but one which is occupied by the dispensary attached
to the Netherlands consulate, and as the consulate had no intention of making room
for people turned out to accommodate ‘Bolsheviks,” the chain of evictions came to
an end for a moment. Probably the ripples are still spreading, though imperceptible
to any except the immediate sufferers.
M. Hakimov and two of the others are Tartars and Moslems. The second
secretary (Naum Belkin—perhaps a Jew) knows French, the other two know no
European language but Russian. M. Hakimov and the first secretary, Ausuf
Ouimetov, were both in Tehran with Rothstein, and talk Persian.
Being a Moslem, M. Hakimov has one advantage over his foreign colleagues :
he can go to Mecca. He went there, in a car provided by the King, soon
arrival, and when the King came to Jeddah a few days later to speed the Amir
Abdullah on his journey and to inspect the least useless of the boats he has bought,
he called on the Soviet representative and stayed with him over an hour. The visit
attracted much comment, the more because King Hussein seemed to have long
abandoned the habit of returning the calls of foreign representatives m person.
Before the war the Russian consulate, though not very busy, had some work to
do. Two lines of Russian steamers called regularly, and some thousands of pilgrims
from Bokhara chme to Jeddah every year. There have been no (Russian) Boknanot
or other Russian pilgrims, so far as we know, since the war, and M. Hakimov does
not seem to expect many, since he says that few if any Russian subjects have at
present as much money as would buy a ticket for Jeddah, and if they had ffpy wou
spend it on something else. Nor is it likely that any considerable number of Russian
ships will call at Jeddah for the next year or two. It is therefore, impossible not
to share to some extent the impression prevailing everywhere m Jeddah tnat ne
main object of the mission is propaganda. The size of the mission, the oo is i
■ recognition of King Hussein as “ King of Arabia, and the fact that a courier is
[724 p—2] B

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
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File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎407r] (818/898), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1115, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100084998363.0x000013> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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