ملف رقم ٢١٨٢ لسنة ١٩١٣ الجزء ١٠ "الحدود الشمالية الغربية: البعثة الروسية المقترحة المختصة بعلم الحيوان" [و‎‎٢‎٩‎٠] (٦٦٤/١٧١)

EASTERN.
[August 26.]
CONFIDENTIAL.
Srctiox 1 .
No. 1.
Colonel Wilson to Major Young.—(Received August 26.)
My dear Young, The Rest, Ellington Road, Taplow, Bucks, August 23, 1919
on my wfy hoiT S ° me ° n ^ 0Wnelshi P of Khu >™ which I wrote
I would be very much obliged if you would kindly bring them tp the notice of
the authorities concerned. I regard this question of Khurma as being of very special
eTriWate 6 ’ ^ '* merltS t ie senous consideration of His Majesty’s Government at an
Sincerely yours,
C. E WILSON.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Some Notes on the Ownership of Khurma.
F • T ?S .^ mlr A Ib j 1 Saud c]aims that Khurma is within the boundaries of his
itrnirate or JNejd. As far as I am aware, practically no evidence has been produced by
Ion baud to substantiate his claim. J
mit evidence obtained from notables in Jeddah and in Mecca (some of them
a q T 3 . ; r .° 1 m tax eollectors of the l urkish Government, greybeards of the Buqum
and bubai tribes, and others is unanimous on the point that Khurma district for opera
tions has been under the jurisdiction of the Emirs of Mecca, with the exception of the
period during which the holy cities were occupied by the Wahabis early in the
nineteenth century. J
3. Assuming Ibn Sand’s contention to be correct, io follows that the Emirs of
Jxburma are subjects of, and owe allegiance to, Ibn Saud alone, and it is relevant to
consider how far the conduct of Emir Khali-ibn-Eluwai has been consistent with such
alleged allegiance.
4. Late in 1916 King Hussein, hearing that Khalid was getting too enthusiastic
about the recently formed Akhwan, sent him orders to come to Mecca ; he came, and
v»as kept under “ open arrest ” as he refused to return to the orthodox fold.
Ak ^ be r . e( l uest Emir Abdulla he was allowed to go to the former’s camp at
Wadi Ais, where I met him in April 1917.
Emii Abdulla states that he had long talks with Khalid about the Akhwan sect,
and towards the end of 1917 —being satistied with the latter’s professions of loyalty—
o Dtamed the reluctant consent of King Hussein to the return of Khalid to resume his
duties as Emir of Khurma.
5. With lefeience co the Cadis of Khurma, I offer the following remarks :—
After the suppression of the Wahabi revolt early in the nineteenth century, a
proportion of the inhabitants of several villages, amongst them Khurma, cluno- to the
new faith (Wahabism). - &
The Wahabi belong to the Hambali division of the Moslem religion, and owing to
t ie number of Wahabis in Khurma the Emirs of Mecca usually appointed a Hambali as
the official cadi.
Emir Abdulla informs me that the present cadi is from Wadi Dawasir, and was
appointed in the ordinary course by the Emir of Mecca (King Hussein), who paid his
salary and those of his assistants. It is not impossible that the cadi also received
some salary from Ibn Saud.
In 1917 it was reported to King Hussein that the cadi was preaching the Wahabi
creed, &c. He was ordered to Mecca, where he was given a serious lecture by King
r 1 eturned to his P ost at Khurma. As he still continued preaching the
•Vahab 1 faith, he was sent for to Mecca a second time, and appears to have satisfied
King Hussein with his protestations of loyalty, &c.
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