File 3666/1925 'ARABIA: PRINTED CORRESPONDENCE 1924-28' [352r] (714/792)
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.
75
Annexe.^
Letter from the Commanding Officer, H. M. S. Ci Clematis ” to His Excel
lency the COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, Mediterranean Station, No. S.O./D./
10-CONFDL., dated the 10th March 1925. (Copy to “Cornflower” for
information).
Submitted—
That the Senior Officer, Red Sea Patrol, H. M. S. “ Cornflower ”, reported to
you in his No. 6/1 of 11th February, 1925, that the Hedjaz Steamer " Ragmateine ”
had captured several dhows while blockading Kunfida.
2. I have now further information on this subject.
3. The Hedjaz Steamers “El Tawil”, “Ragmateine " and“Rushdy” are
carrying out a blockade of parts of the coast.
4. There are also a number of dhows with armed parties on board employed
on the same duties.
5. These operations have now extended to' traffic across the Red Sea and
recently an Arab
dhow
A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean.
which was duly cleared from Suakin has been brought in
here under armed guard.
6. Recently the local authorities informed the Consul that it was intended
to blockade Kunfida.
7. The Consul reported this to the Foreign Office who have not recognised the
blockade and are refraining from protesting until a
dhow
A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean.
with British register is
interfered with.
This has not occurred yet.
8. This blockade does not appear to fulfil any of the recognised conditions.
(a) It is not carried out by vessels of war of a belligerent.
(b) It is not effective.
(c) There is no prize court.
9. The Consul is of opinion that as we recognise, cr are in treaty relations with,
both the King* of the Hed i az and the Sultan of Ne;d, their right to arm craft and
send them on patrol should be admitted.
10. Without expressing any opinion on the legal correctness of this view
I feel bound to point out the gravity of the consequences to be expec ed if this case
is allowed to become a precedent.
11. The Indian Government is in treaty relations wi h several Arab chiefs on
the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
coast and through the Resident, Aden, with the Imam of the
Yemen.
12. None of these Chiefs admit that their status is in any way inferior to that
of Bin Saud or Ali and they will naturally expect the same treatment.
13. If each side in every one of the perpetual tribal disputes of Arabia were to
be accorded the full maritime lights of a civilised belligerent power, the preven
tion of gun running and slave trad ng in the Persian Gull and Red Sea would be
come impossib e.
14. Whatever 1 he intention of the local chief may be,the standard of morality
and discipline in the country is so low that these aimed daows and coasting steamel S
are certain to start piracy as a side line.
15. The following is an example of several cases that have occurred .
A Hedi az
dhow
A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean.
with a cargo of grain from Suakin was intercepted at sea by
an armed
dhow
A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean.
from Jeddah and ordered to anchor n ar Mismari reef. She was
boarded and searched and her papers were in order. ! ne soldiers then stole all
the private property of the crew 7 as well as their money, observing that it would
come in handy as they could get no wages out of the king.
The
dhow
A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean.
was sent to Jeddah and the cargo delivered to the consignee and the
dhow
A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean.
liberated.
It was made c ear to the crew that any effort to lay a complain. would be met
by imprisonment.
* Not with Hejaz ?
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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