'File 11/44 Leading Personalities in Iraq, Iran & Saudi Arabia' [‎45r] (89/96)

(C) Dhawi Barakat.
(11) Sharaf ibn 'Abdul-Muhsin. —Seems to have
served King Huseyn in Egypt, but entered the ser
vice of Ibn Sa’ud and became Amir-al-Arban, or
Director of Tribes. Appointed President of the
Inspectorate of Government Departments in 1930.
His present official status is not known, as the
inspectorate is understood to have been abolished.
(D) Apparently of the Abadila stocks though not of
the Dhawi ’Aim.
(12) Shakir ibri Zeyd ibn Fawwdz. —Formerly
Governor of Taif, a post which seems to have been
hereditary in his family. President of the Beduin
Control Board in Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan and intimately
associated with the Amir ’Abdullah, with whom he
has thrown in his lot. Died at Amman in December
1934. Was a tenacious enemy of Ibn Sa’ud and
much less a play-boy than his master.
(13) Hamud ibn Zeyd, brother of the preceding.—
Probably the same as the ‘ Sharif Hamud ’ who
joined the plot with No. (10a) and was carried off to
Riyadh, dying, it is said, on the road.
(14) Sharaf ibn Rdjih, a cousin of (12) and (13)—
Said to have also been Governor of Taif at one time.
Now resides at Bagdad. Identified both in Jerusalem
and Bagdad as being the Sherif Sharaf mentioned by
Tahir ad-Dabbagh in February 1932, in a letter
which fell into the hands of the Sa’udi Government,
a man who might be enlisted in the conspiracy
‘against Ibn Sa’ud.
(E) Even less easy to place, but perhaps of the
Abadila.
(15) ’Alt ibn Ahmad ibn Mansur. —A younger
member of a family, two of whom were prominent in
King Huseyn’s time and had great mfluence in the
Harb tribe. This ’Ali has only come to notice as
having been one of the persons arrested at Mecca
and deported to Riyadh at the time of the Ibn
Rifada affair in 1932.
(16) ’Alt ibn Huseyn al Harithi. —One of the
Sherifs of Muda’iq, near Taif. Took part in the Arab
revolt and is remembered as one of the conquerors
of Damascus. Described by Colonel Lawrence as
having been at that time an attractive young man,
physically splendid and full of courage, resource and
energy. Seems to have resettled in the Hejaz, as
he was arrested at Mecca and deported to Riyadh at
the time of the Ibn Rifada affair in 1932.
(17) Muhammad Mohanna. —One of the Jedda
^\mily, one member of which was chief of the Con-
trolling Department in 1917, and was then described
as a “ bottle-nosed bandit,” while his brother, still
alive, was said to have acquired wealth by smuggling
and general robbery. This Muhammad is only
interesting because he was arrested at Jedda and
sent to Riyadh at the time of the Ibn Rifada affair.
(18) and (19) M. ’Ali and Muhammad al-Bedeywi
(a diminutive of Bedawi). Members of a family
distantly related to King Huseyn and formerly
important in the Juheyna tribe and in the coast
towns of the Northern Hejaz. Despite the similarity
of name, they would appear to be two distinct,
though closely related persons. Both w T ere mixed
up in the Ibn Rifada affair in 1932. M. ’Ali became
an object of attention in Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan and was more
or less arrested in July to the displeasure of the
’Amir. Muhammad seems to have been in trade at
Suez and Dhaba and was concerned in attempts to
get supplies by sea to Ibn Rifada. It was probably
he who was reported killed in the defeat of the rebels.
53. Suwayt Family.
Leaders in the Dhafir tribe. Two members of it
figured in reports from Kuwait about 1936: —
(1) Ja’ddn, a disgruntled man, hovering between
allegiance to King Faysal or to Ibn Sa’ud and too
proud to come to terms with either; and
(2) 'Ajemi, recognised as chief of the tribe by Ibn
Sa’ud.
54. Abu Tuqeyqa Family.
Formerly chiefs of the Tihama, mainly Hejazi,
section of the Huweytat tribe, with an urban con
nexion at Dhaba. Rafi’a, their common ancestor,
was chief of the tribe prior to his death in about
1870. One of his many grandsons, Ahmed ibn
Muhammad ibn Rafi’a, was chief in 1917. He came
to notice in 1924 as one of several Hejazi sheykhs
who approached the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. in Cairo with a com
plaint of King Huseyn’s tryranny and his inability
to protect them against the Wahhabis. He appears
to have been Governor of Dhaba in 1927, but in that
year the family were apparently in serious trouble
with the Government, as it is said that Ahmed and
four others were ” killed by Ibn Sa’ud,” and others
fled to Egypt. Numerous members of the family
were concerned in the rebel invasion of the Hejaz by
Ibn Rifada in 1932. Seven of them lost their lives
in that adventure and five more were reported by the
Sa’udi commander to have been slain after Ibn
Rifada’s defeat. Among the survivors was, how
ever—
(1) Muhammad ibn [ ?] Abdurrahim ibn Alwdn
ibn Rafi’a, who was regarded as co-leader with Ibn
Rifada. He escaped, and after many vicissitudes
left ’Aqaba for Egypt early in October 1932. May be
the person against wffiom an exclusion order was
made in Egypt rather later, but whose name is given
as Muhammad bin Ahmed.
Another probable survivor is—
(2) Mahmud ibn Ahmed ibn Rafi’a, who ratted on
Ibn Rifada early in the rebellion and tried to make
his peace with Ibn Sa’ild.
Although the above summary cannot be verified
at all points, it is inserted in view r of the obvious
tenacity of the family hatred of Ibn Sa’ud, and the
survival of (1), who seems to have been an active
leader and may crop up again.
55. Turki ibn Madhi.
Was in 1932 Inspector-General of ’Asir and was
associated with Fahad ibn Zu’ayr in efforts to make
Ibn Sa’ud realise the gravity of the situation pre
ceding the open revolt of the Idrisi at the end of
October. Identical with the person mis-named at
the time ’Abdullah ibn Turki ibn Mahdi, who, with
Abdul-Wahhab Abu Malha and two chiefs of
Asiri tribes, w r as sent on a mission to the Imam
Yahya in June 1927. Took part in further negotia
tions with the Imam early in 1928. Would therefore
appear to be one of Ibn Sa’ud’s experts in ’Asir and
Yemen affairs. Accompanied Khalid al Qarqani and
Hamad Suleyman on their fruitless mission to San’a
in 1933, before the outbreak of the Sa’udi Yemen
war. Visited the Yemen again in May 1943, and in
the autumn of 1944 as Ibn Sa’lid’s special envoy
to the Imam. The real purpose of his visit w r as to
report on conditions in the Yemen. He described
the people as groaning under the yoke of the Imam
and anxious to transfer their allegiance to Ibn
Sa’ud.
56. Yahya an Nasri.
Formerly principal quarantine doctor at Jedda.
A Syrian, like most doctors now employed by the
Sa’udi Government. Born probably about 1897.
Studied in Constantinople and Beirut. Previously
quarantine doctor at Yanbu’. Pleasant and well
regarded by the legation. Speaks Turkish and
French. Was Sa’udi delegate to the meeting of the
International Health Office, Paris, in October 1934.
Appointed early in 1943 to be Director-General of
Public Health in succession to Mahmud Hamdi
Hamuda. (See 1937 report.) Reported to have
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