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File 3666/1925 'ARABIA: PRINTED CORRESPONDENCE 1924-28' [‎355r] (720/792)

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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. .

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81
Ihsanullah. This man, a British Indian, was a merchant in Medina before the
war, with a good business and a high reputation for integrity, but the war having
ruined his business prospects he has since worked for the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. . He is particu
larly well versed in pilgrim work, but he is also a valuable source of information
as he is in touch with all classes of people and knows everyone of importance in
Mecca, Medina and Jeddah. I may add that so far as my judgment goes, he
combines strong Muhammadan beliefs with loyalty to His Majesty’s Government as
.the best defence of the rights and interests of the Indian Muslim communitv.
2. Munshi A term used in the Middle East, Persia and South Asia to refer to a secretary, assistant or amanuensis. Munshis were employed in the British administration in the Gulf. Ihsanullah left Jeddah on May 1st and returned on May 15th.
During his ten days in Mecca he accomplished a vast amount of useful work. He
was given a free hand by the Sultan’s representative in Mecca, and received much
assistance from him.
Among the more important duties which he accomplished were these :
(a) He saw all the leading British Indians and made full lists of all those who
wish to leave the country. There are about 200 who can pay their own expenses
and nearly 100 who could get to Jeddah somehow but would have to be repatriated
from here. (I am unable to decide what action to take about these people until
it is known for certain whether Indian pilgrims are coming to Mecca or not this
year).
(b) He saw all the leading British Malay pilgrims and received from them
letters and telegrams to be sent to their relatives, a complete list, for reference, of all
British Malays still in Mecca, and a list made out by the Malays themselves of re
latives in the Straits Settlements, etc., who should be asked to send them funds
through the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. .
^c) He managed to wind up the estates of many deceased pilgrims, viz., 261
Indians, 49 Malays and 45 Egyptians. He did not, it is true, recover the money
they had left, for the Wahabi authorities had used it for general purposes, but he
secured from Bin Saud’s representative in Mecca a promise to pay the amount
(some £200) “ on demand ”, and recovered passports bearing deposit receipts, and
return tickets, which are worth some £1,500 to the next-of-kin.
In contrast to this I may note that my Soviet colleague tells me the Mecca
authorities refused to give him any facilities in connection with estates of deceased
Soviet Union citizens.
(d) He managed, unofficially, to secure the release from prison of two Indian
(Malabari) pilgrims. These two men, who had arrived at Mecca via Musawwa’
not long before, had been imprisoned by the Wahabis for praying at Khadijah's
tomb. The penalty was death or blood-money—1,000 dollars, and the men were
penniless. After much intercession they were let off with a line of 5 dollars each,
which Munshi A term used in the Middle East, Persia and South Asia to refer to a secretary, assistant or amanuensis. Munshis were employed in the British administration in the Gulf. Ihsanullah paid.
He carried out many other minor duties either on instructions he had taken
with him or on his own initiative.
He also secured much information, the principal items of which are summaris
ed in the following paragraphs.
3. Mecca is governed in civil matters by an Egyptian, Hafidh W ahbah, who
is called Naib Al Sultan (Vice-Sultan). He corresponds roughly to the V ali of
Turkish times, while Khalid Al Luwai exercises the functions of the Sharif, i.e., he
is responsible for the relations with the tribes and for matters affecting religion,
the pilgrimage, etc. The civil government is well run, and taxes are very light as
compared with those levied in Hussein’s time. Khalid, however, who it will be
remembered is a relative of Hussein’s, appears to combine all the dishonesty and
tyranny of the Sharifs with the fanaticism of the Wahabism he has adopted.
Hafidh' Wahbah does what he can to restrain Khalid, but this is very little. The
accounts previously received of the attitude of the more extreme of the W ahabis
(especially the Ghuthghuth tribe) were correct. All the tombs of the saints, including
that of Khadijah, Muhammad’s first wife, and the building known as Muhammad’s
house. have been demolished. Smoking, reading " maulids or lives of the Prophet,
are forbidden, and infractions of the prohibition are punished with beating, fine
or imprisonment. With the two Indians referred to in paragraph 2(d) above
were two Meccans imprisoned for a similar offence. Their friends were trying
to collect the 2,000 dollars demanded for their release.
MC306FD

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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
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File 3666/1925 'ARABIA: PRINTED CORRESPONDENCE 1924-28' [‎355r] (720/792), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1155, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100145454965.0x000079> [accessed 21 July 2026]

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