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File 488/1920 Pt 3 ‘Hedjaz:- Relations between H.M. Govt & King Hussein. Question of subsidy. Negotiations for conclusion of a treaty.’ [‎312r] (628/940)

The record is made up of 1 volume (466 folios). It was created in 25 May 1921-25 Aug 1925. It was written in English, French and Arabic. 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 Docam ent is t he Propel cf His Britannic M ajesty's Government.]
EASTERN (Arabia).
CON FIDENTIAL.
t
[July 20 . j
Section 1.
[E 8339/1977/91]
No. 1 .
Major Marshall to Earl Curzon.—(Received July 20 .)
(No. 58.)
My Lord, Jeddah, June 2& y 1921.
WITH reference to your Lordship’s despatch No. 43 of the 26th April last,
relative to the capitulatory rights of British subjects in the Hedjaz, I have the honour
to transmit herewith a note on the subject by Mr. Vice-Consul Grafftey-Smith.
I have, &c.
. E. MARSHALL, Major, R.A.M.C.,
British Agent and Consul.
Enclosure in No. 1 .
Minute on Foreign Office Despatch No. 43 of April 26, 1021 .
EVEN if, after pressure, King Hussein signs the Treaty of Sevres, and even if,
after pressure, he gives an undertaking to recognise as British subjects persons whose
claims he has hitherto refused to accept, there remains the fact that His Majesty’s
Government have no representative at Mecca or Medina, and that practical consular
intervention in these places is at present impossible.
No undertaking affecting British subjects in the Hedjaz will be of value unless
King Hussein thereby admits the competence of the Indian vice-consul at Jeddah, in
default of special appoiTitments at'Mecca and Medina, to visit the Holy Places in an
orhcial capacity and to act, if necessary, on behalf of our nationals there. At present
the consular district of Jeddah is described as “the eastern coast of the Red Sea”;
this, in His Majesty’s opinion, runs no further eastward than the Mecca Gate of
Jeddah town.
2 . The words “ British subject ” will require precise definition if future difficulties
are to be avoided. Strict insistence upon an interpretation analogous to that with which
Greek and Italian consular authorities in Egypt have made us familiar would entail
responsibilities, more particularly in Mecca, of the greatest embarrassment ; the King
would, in his own phrase, be left with no other subjects than c ‘Qoreish Bedous and i
the pariah dogs of the streets.” One-third of Mecca is Indian, by any comprehensive \
definition.
We cannot well champion against the local authorities all the Indians, Somalis,
Adenese, Afghanis, Hadhramis, Soudanese and Egyptians in the Hedjaz. Yet.all these',
lire entitled to the good offices of His Majesty’s consuls abroad.
And if, on the one hand, His Majesty’s Government cannot, without something
hke an annexation of the Hedjaz, assert capitulatory rights over all such persons, it
Appears equally impossible to disclaim them all; the one course is as unfair to the
individuals as is the other to the Government concerned.
1 he ideal solution would be that the Hedjaz should be considered not as a national
eu %, but simply as the “ Belad-ul-Muslimin,” and, as such, administered as an
essentially neutral State under international Moslem control, vested in Arab, Indian,
uikish, Egyptian, Moroccan and other representatives. We could then accept King
ussein’s often implied contention that community of religion should transcend
( eiences of nationality, and the international status of the Hedjaz, which in fact *
exists only bv virtue of the attraction it exercises over the Moslem voild, would be
l0 £ically established.
But in this ideal republic there would be no exclusively Arab monopolies of
Gade, no discrimination against non-Arabs in the administration and m the Courts,
and no general fear of a despotic ruler. All these things are found in the Hedjaz of
King Hussein.
We cannot, in justice, abandon all the British subjects and British protected
persons resident in the Hedjaz to the Hashimite Government, We cannot, on the
[6538 u — 1 ]

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Content

The volume contains papers concerning relations between the British Government and the King of Hedjaz [Hejaz or Al-Hijaz].

Most of the papers relate to negotiations between the British Government and King Hussein ibn Ali al-Hashimi over the terms of an Anglo-Hashimite treaty, and revisions to the draft treaty. These papers mainly consist of correspondence and copies of draft versions of the treaty.

The file also includes correspondence regarding:

  • The proposed subsidy to the King of the Hedjaz
  • The Foreign Office’s objection to the India Office’s suggestion that King Hussein should be persuaded to publicly recognise the religious suzerainty of the Sultan of Turkey as Khalif (Khaliph) over the Holy Places of the Hedjaz
  • King Hussein’s threat to abdicate on 27 February 1922, and the question of whether he should be allowed by the British Government to remain in Mecca in the event of his abdication
  • The Foreign Office’s request for the views of the Secretary of State for India (Viscount Peel) on the advisability of requiring King Hussein to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, as well as to accept the treaty with HM Government, as conditions which would need to be met before Hussein would be invited to visit Great Britain
  • The refusal of the British Government to enter into further negotiations with King Ali ibn Hussein al-Hashimi for the conclusion of the Anglo-Hashimite treaty, following King Hussein’s abdication in October 1924 (after military defeat by Ibn Saud), ‘so long as present unsettled conditions in the Hejaz continue’.

The correspondence (and copy correspondence) is mainly between the following: the 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. , the Colonial Office (John Evelyn Shuckburgh, John Ernest William Flood), and the Foreign Office; the 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. and the Government of India Foreign and Political Department; the Foreign Office and Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence; the Foreign Office and HM Agent and Consul at Jeddah (Major W E Marshall, Laurence Barton Grafftey-Smith, and Reader (William) Bullard, successively); the Foreign Office and Dr Naji el Assil, agent of King Hussein; the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the British Resident at Aden; and the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the High Commissioner of Palestine (Herbert Louis Samuel).

The volume includes a document entitled ‘Translation of a Report sent to His Majesty King Hussein 1st to Mecca’, signed Habib Lotfallah, Envoy Extraordinary of King Hussein, London, 24 October 1920, which includes translations in French and Arabic (folios 101 to 102).

The file 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 (466 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

The subject 488 (Pt 1-2 Arabia, and Pt 3 Hedjaz) consists of two volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/880 and IOR/L/PS/10/881. The volumes are divided into three parts, with parts 1 and 2 comprising one volume, and part 3 comprising the second volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 468; 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. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.

Written in
English, French and Arabic in Latin script
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File 488/1920 Pt 3 ‘Hedjaz:- Relations between H.M. Govt & King Hussein. Question of subsidy. Negotiations for conclusion of a treaty.’ [‎312r] (628/940), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/881, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100085520017.0x00001d> [accessed 25 April 2024]

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