File 3666/1925 'ARABIA: PRINTED CORRESPONDENCE 1924-28'

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

Type

Archival file

Access & Reference

Original held at

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.

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

IOR/L/PS/10/1155

Former external reference(s)

P 3666/1925

History of this record

Date(s)

27 Dec 1924-28 Oct 1929 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

Uqair ProtocolTreaty of Jeddah (1927)Bilateral relationsTreatiesMuslim pilgrims and pilgrimagesRoyal visitsWar (concept)

Places

MeccaKingdom of Nejd and HejazKingdom of HejazMedina

People & organisations

Secretary of State for India, United KingdomColonial OfficeHigh Commissioner, IraqBritish Agent and Consul General, JeddahKing of HejazKing of Hejaz and Sultan of NajdSultan of NajdKing of Hejaz and NajdHigh Commissioner, EgyptHigh Commissioner, Palestine and TransjordanSecretary of State for the Colonies, United KingdomPrime MinisterForeign Office

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File 3666/1925 'ARABIA: PRINTED CORRESPONDENCE 1924-28', British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1155, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000466.0x00011d> [accessed 6 October 2024]

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