File 3666/1925 'ARABIA: PRINTED CORRESPONDENCE 1924-28' [351v] (713/792)
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.
(* “O” Copy on Filo No. 161-N.)
74
(100)
(Received on 1st June 1925, with Political Secretary s letter No. 20, dated 14th May
1925.)
Copy* of a letter from the Admiralty to the Foreign Office, No. M. 0931/25,
dated 2nd May 1925.
With reference to your letter, E.-2317/10-91 of the 23rd ultimo, and previous
correspondence regarding the blockade of certain ports in the Red Sea by the Hedjaz
Government, I am commanded by My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to
transmit, for the information of the Secretary of State for Foreign Afairs, a copy
of a communication received from the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, on
this subject, and to request the views of the Secretary of State on the points raised
therein.
2. My Lords desire particularly to be informed what attitude should be adopt
ed as regards the interception by the Hedjaz authorities of enemy supplies in
Hedjaz territorial waters which would constitute a purely military act incident
to the conduct of hostilities, observing that the Hedjaz has been given a certain,
amount of international recognition and is among the original Signatories of the
1919 Arms Traffic Convention.
3. A copy of this letter and enclosure has been sent to the Colonial Office.
(99)
(Received on Sth June 1925, with Political Secretary's letter No. 21, dated 21st May
V • 1925.)
Enclosure in Foreign Office COVERING letter dated 14th May 1925.
Letter from His Majesty’s Representative at Damascus, to the Foreign
Office, No. 69, dated 30th April 1925. (Copies to Jeddah, Beyrout
(60), Jerusalem (64), Amman (45) and Bagdad (59).
I have the honour to report that Ruslidi
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
Safadi, a Damascene and
Minister of War of Ex-King Hussein's Government, has announced his intention
of leaving Damascus to-morrow to take command of the Sherifian troops at Jeddah.
He states that he is proceeding via Aqabah.
I understand that he was in command of the Sherifian forces at Taif at the
moment of the Wahhabi attacks.
I am informed that, on his return to Damascus after his resignation, he told
his friends that he had feigned sickness and left the Hejaz on the capture of Taif,
because the Ex-King would make no adequate provision for military operations
Enclosure.
Letter from His Excellency the Naval Commander-in-Chief, Mediter
ranean Station, to the Admiralty, No. 659-123-Confdl., dated 9th
April 1925. (Copy to Senior Officer, Red Sea Sloops).
Be pleased to lay before the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the
accompanying letter from the Senior Officer Red Sea Sloops, which raises an
important issue.
2. The situation in the Hedjaz is abnormal and, notwithstanding our attitude
of neutrality, it is essential in my opinion that we should in no way countenance
Arab states maintaining armed vessels in the Red Sea.
3. It has always been the British prerogative to police the Red Sea and our
constant endeavour to suppress piracy. We are under an obligation there
fore suppress conditions which lead inevitably to piratical acts by native craft in
these waters.
4. I have informed the Senior Officer, Red Sea Sloops that the armed vessels
mentioned in his letter do not possess in my opinion the status of men of war and
that interference on their part with British vessels (including Dhows with British
register) will not be tolerated and is to be prevented. I have directed him also
to communicate my views to His Britannic Majesty’s Consul and Agent at Jeddah.
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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Copyright: How to use this content
- 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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