File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎423r] (850/898)

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government. 1
EASTERN (Arabia.).
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[June 16, 1924.]
CONFIDENTIAL.
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Section 2.
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Consul Bullard to Mr. MacDonald.—{Received June 16.)
(No. 56. Secret.)
Slr ’ t TTATrt7 i • Jeddah, Ma?/ 29, 1924.
1 HAVit the honour to transmit to you herewith the Jeddah report for the neriod
the lst-29th May.
Copies of this despatch and report are being sent to Cairo, Bagdad, Jerusalem,
Simla, Aden and Beirout (for communication to Damascus).
I have, &c.
B. W. BULLAED.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Jeddah Report for the Period May 1-29, 1924.
(Secret.)
THE work of securing recognition of King Hussein as Caliph goes slowly. His
only serious successes during the month have been a telegram of recognition from
Dalaram Khan Mahtarjan, Wazir Minister. of Chitral, and a long declaration by an Indian
Maulvi, Nidham-al-Din, of Bidayun, attacking the Turks and supporting King Hussein’s
claim to the Caliphate. The importance of the latter is diminished by the knowledge
that Nidham-al-Din is a pupil of Abdul Bari’s. A certain Sayyid Hassan-bin-Salim-al-
Abbas swears allegiance to the new Caliph not only in his own name, but “ in the
name of the people of Hadhramaut and of the neighbouring territories,” and several
persons—faint-hearted liars these—send recognition in the name of “ half the merchants
of Tanta.” An envoy of King Hussein’s has been “sitting on the head” of the
Sultan of Lahaj for over a month without having yet secured recognition, though his
efforts have been seconded by the grant of the First Class of the Order of Independence.
The King seems avid of recognition, however insignificant the quarter from which it
comes. A Persian pilgrim, who had been detected trying to smuggle in a large stock
of turquoises and had them confiscated by the customs at Jeddah, only had to go
weeping to the King and hail him as Caliph to have his turquoises returned and to
escape even payment of ordinary duty, which would have amounted to about 200Z.
A certain Sheikh Abdul Eahman Bukhari-al-Madni, of Bokharan origin, but
resident in Mecca, has just returned from a visit to India, where he has been engaged
with Maulvi Abdul Bari in Caliphate intrigues. He claims that the King’s cause is
going well, and that only their former hostility to the King prevents even such people
as the Ali brothers from recognising him as Caliph immediately. He admits, however,
that the poorer people are still strongly anti-Shereef, and will take a long time to bring
round. It can be gathered with certainty, from his conversation, that Abdul Bari is
not going to all this trouble for nothing, but has considerable sums at his disposal for
propaganda in King Hussein’s favour.
All this, though not elevating, can hardly be called illegitimate by those who have
no interest in the matter. Not all the Caliphate wire-pulling, however, is equally free
from objection. For instance, when the Netherlands consul at Jeddah, like all the
other consuls, telegraphed his personal congratulations to King Hussein on the occasion
of the past Ramadhan festival, the “ Kiblah ” reported that the Netherlands Govern
ment had wired their congratulations to the Caliph. The object of this falsehood is,
of course, to influence the Javanese. Similarly, an important. Javanese pilgrim, on
whom the King had conferred a decoration, was represented as writing a letter of thanks
headed : “ Your Majesty, Commander of the Believers.” The original was headed only
“ Your Majesty,” and was couched in language cooler than the Arabic translation; to
those who can read between the lines of Oriental politeness it said quite clearly that,
if King Hussein thought he could purchase the writer’s recognition by a. present of any
class of any Hashimite order, he was much mistaken. The opposition of the Far
Eastern residents of Mecca shows no sign of weakening. Those who were wanted to
serve on the Caliphate Advisory Committee managed to resist the great pressure put
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