File 3666/1925 'ARABIA: PRINTED CORRESPONDENCE 1924-28' [119r] (248/792)
The record is made up of 1 volume (388 folios). It was created in 27 Dec 1924-28 Oct 1929. It was written in English and French. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
113
(127)
Despatch from the Acting British Agent and Consul at Jeddah, to Foreign
Office, London, No. 16—(30/2) Secret, dated the 22nd February 1927.
In the last sentence of paragraph 5 of my Jeddah Report for January,* trans
mitted with my despatch t No. 10 of February 5th last, I recorded the impression
that in 1920 Hodeidah was in the hands of the Idrisi.
2. A rectification is necessary in this respect. In his despatch^ No. 30 of
February 9th last to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the
Political Resident
A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency.
at Aden points out that Hodeida was not occupied by the Idrisi until January, 1921.
3. January 29th, 1921, the date on which the British troops evacuated Hodeida»
corresponds in the Arabic calendar to the 20th of Jamada Awal, 1339. As Jamada
Awal is the fifth month of the Moslem year, it is still not clear whether Hodeida
was in the hands of the Idrisi when he signed his “ Treaty of 1339 ” with Ibn Saud,
or the contrary. It will not be known, therefore, whether Ibn Saud will extend his
claim to suzerainty under the Mecca Agreement as far as Hodeida, until the date of
the Treaty of 1339 is published. As far as I can learn, publication for the present
is not intended.
4. I am sending a copy of this despatch to Egypt, Jerusalem (2), Baghdad*
Aden, Delhi, Beyrout (for Damascus), Khartoum (through Port Sudan), and
Singapore.
Despatch from the Acting British Agent and Consul, Jeddah, to Foreign
Office, London, No. 23—(30/2)-Secret, dated the 8th MARCH 1927.
I have the honour to transmit herewith my report on the situation in the
Hejaz during the period February 1st to 28th, 1927.
2. Copies of this report are being sent to Egypt, Jerusalem (2), Baghdad,
Aden, Delhi, Beyrout (for Damascus), Khartoum (through Port Sudan) and
Singapore.
Jeddah‘Report for the period February 1st to February 28th, 1927.
The King has remained in Nejd during the whole of February. His Majesty’s
absence has slowed down affairs in the Hejaz. and has certainly increased the
difficulty of transacting affairs with the Hejaz-Nejd Government. Riyadh has no
doubt been accessible by means of wireless communications and speedy couriers
to the queries, problems and news submitted to Ibn Saud by his own subordi
nates in Mecca : But it has been quite another matter for the foreign represen
tatives in Jeddah, who have had to find a substitute for the helpful personal contact
maintained between them and the King when the latter is in the Hejaz.
2. Simultaneously with Ibn Saud's departure for Nejd in January, Dr. Abdullah
Damluji, Director of Foreign Affairs, obtained from his master leave to spend two
months with his family in Hofuf where, as he describes in his recently published
book, Major Cheeseman met him in obscurer days in 1923. On Dr. Abdullah
Damluji’s departure, Sheikh Yussef Yassin took over duties as Acting Director,
and it has been with him that practically all ordinary business affecting general
British interests has been transacted during the interval.
3. Sheikh Yussef Yassin is a young man of intelligence but of discursive and
argumentative mentality who formerly sought his fortune with the Arab Govern
ment in Damascus, he being by birth a Syrian and by persuasion a nationalist.
He came subsequently to the Hejaz and when, after the fall of Mecca in 1924 Ibn
Saud founded his newspa er the " Umm el Qura, " Sheikh Yussef was m ide its editor.
He is not to be blamed for his peregrinations, in that his inclinations and aspira
tions are obviously pan-Arab. On the other hand, the narrow cast of his views and
his extraordinary methods, so different from the frank directness of his master,
have doubled the difficulty of relations. A suspicion or an abstract idea will dart
across the current of his thought in the transaction of most ordinary and straight
forward business, and divert the course of talk completely. When the King is
present, Sheikh Yussef sits before him meekly like the mere scribe he is. But
*Enclosure to Serial No. (120).
+Serja| No. (120).
JFile No. 427-N.
MC43FD.
About this item
- Content
This volume mainly relates to British policy in Arabia, and specifically concerns British relations with Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd, also referred to in the correspondence as Bin Saud]. The papers cover the Hejaz-Nejd War of 1924-25 and political affairs in Ibn Saud's Kingdom of Hejaz and Sultanate of Nejd [Najd] (or the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd, as it became in 1927).
The volume mainly consists of compiled sections of printed correspondence, with each section closing with a report from the British Agent and Consul at Jeddah. The most prominently featured correspondents are as follows: the British Agent and Consul, Jeddah; the Secretary of State for India; the Secretary of State for the Colonies; the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. , Aden; the High Commissioner, Egypt; the High Commissioner, Iraq; the High Commissioner, Palestine; officials of the Colonial Office, the Foreign Office, the Admiralty, 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 Government of India's Foreign and Political Department. Also featured as correspondents are Ibn Saud, King Ali [‘Alī bin Ḥusayn al-Hāshimī], and British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.
Matters covered in the correspondence include the following:
- Diplomatic relations between Ibn Saud and Britain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Persia [Iran]
- Information on developments in the Hejaz-Nejd War of 1924-25, mainly in the form of telegrams and letters from the British Agent and Consul at Jeddah, and British policy regarding the conflict
- British policy in relation to the fate of the ex-King Hussein [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī]
- Reports of Wahabi forces having damaged or destroyed holy sites in Mecca and Medina
- The efforts of King Ali [‘Alī bin Ḥusayn al-Hāshimī] to raise money in Jeddah
- Details of the Hadda Agreement and the Bahra Agreement, concluded between Sir Gilbert Clayton and Ibn Saud in late 1925
- Details of King Ali's surrender and abdication on 19 December 1925, and arrangements for his passage out of Jeddah
- Britain's recognition of Ibn Saud as King of the Hejaz in February 1926
- British concerns regarding the spread of anti-British opinion in the Hejaz
- Public outrage in the wider Muslim world regarding the desecration of holy sites by the Wahabis, and the British Government's refusal to become involved, owing to its stated policy of non-intervention in Muslim religious affairs
- British efforts to ensure the Government of Hejaz's participation in the International Sanitary Convention of 1926
- Arrangements for a private visit to London by Ibn Saud's son Faisal [Fayṣal bin ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd] in September 1926
- British concerns regarding Ibn Saud's diplomatic relations with Soviet Russia [Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR]
- A change to Ibn Saud's title in 1927, from 'King of Hejaz and Sultan of Nejd' to 'King of Hejaz and Nejd'
- The conclusion of the Treaty of Jeddah in June 1927
- Relations between Ibn Saud and the Imam of Yemen [Yaḥyá Muḥammad Ḥamīd al-Dīn], and the former's suspicions that the Italian Government has been supplying the Imam with arms
- Profiles of prominent figures in the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd
- The number of pilgrims arriving each year for Hajj
- Tense relations between Ibn Saud and the Iraqi Government, particularly concerning the Uqair Protocol.
Also included with the correspondence are the following: minutes of an interdepartmental conference held at the Colonial Office on 20 May 1926, to discuss matters arising out of Clayton's Mission to Ibn Saud (ff 178-179); a Colonial Office memorandum entitled 'British Interests in Arabia', dated 8 December 1926 (ff 111-113).
The volume includes a small amount of correspondence written in French.
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 (f 1).
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (388 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 388; 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. A previous foliation sequence between ff 118-388, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.
Pagination: each of the various sections of printed correspondence has its own printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/1155
- Title
- File 3666/1925 'ARABIA: PRINTED CORRESPONDENCE 1924-28'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, i-r:ii-v, 1r:2v, 4r, 5v:14r, 15r, 16v:18r, 20v:25v, 26v:45v, 47r:47v, 49r:51v, 54r:55v, 56v:59r, 61r:65v, 67r:70r, 71v:88v, 89v:95v, 96v:103v, 105v:106v, 107v:108r, 110v:113v, 115r:116v, 118r, 119r:120r, 121r:122v, 123v:128r, 130r:136v, 138r, 140r:143r, 145v, 146v:147v, 149r, 150v:153v, 155r:156r, 157r, 158v:161r, 162v:167v, 169v:173r, 174v, 177r:187v, 189r:189v, 192r:193r, 195v, 197v:203r, 204v:213r, 215v:216v, 218r, 219v:220v, 221v, 222v:223v, 225r:227r, 228v:229r, 231r:232r, 233r, 234r:240r, 243r:260r, 261v:267r, 269r:269v, 271v:274r, 276v:280r, 282v:285v, 288r:289r, 290v:291v, 294r, 295v:296r, 299r:300r, 302r:304r, 305r, 306v, 308v:317r, 318v:319r, 320r:321r, 323r:325v, 327v:338r, 339v:359r, 360v:367r, 368v:369v, 371r, 372v:373r, 374v, 375v:376v, 378v, 380r:384v, 387r:388v, iii-r:iv-v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence
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