'File 61/13 I (D 133) Wahabis and Pilgrimage to Hedjaz' [‎179v] (370/431)

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Taif spirit of Arab brotherhood with the Yemen was severely tested by the
attempted assassination in the Haram at Mecca ot Ibn >aud and Amir Saud
by a number of Yemenis, to which reference will be made later, but, thanks to
the good sense of the King, survived substantially unimpaired.
2. Considerable diplomatic activity marked the course of the year over a
large field of questions in which British interests were closely involved and
protracted negotiations with the Saudi authorities on a number of delicate
subjects, chiefly relating to eastern and south-eastern frontiers, engaged the
attention of the Legation. The future of the Treaty of Jedda, which had become
denunciable by either party at six months' notice at any time from the 17th March,
1934. onwards, was also the subject of conversations. These negotiations were
to be continued in London in June and July 1935, when Fuad Bey Llamza would
be there in attendance on the Amir Saud, who embarked at Jedda for Italy on
the 14th May, on his first visit to Europe.
3. The year was more definitely given over to internal reorganisation,
consolidation of recently acquired territory, and to liquidation, as far as possible,
of the financial legacy of the Yemen war. In the autumn of 1934, upon the
demobilisation of his troops, Ibn Saud disbursed in cash and kind the equivalent,
it is estimated, of at least £100,000 gold, in war gratuities. Conjecture as to
the provenance of so considerable a sum leaned to the view that the King had
dipped heavily into the Royal Treasury, a reservoir of unknown depths, little
credence being given to the opinion, strongly held in one quarter, that Ibn Saud,
as a condition of peace with the Yemen, had exacted a secret indemnity from
the Imam Yahya.
4. Release from his preoccupations as Deputy Minister for Defence enabled
Sheikh Abdullah Suleiman, in his other capacity of Minister of Finance, to devote
his undivided attention to the revenues of the country. Measures were taken,
by an intensification of propaganda work in Islamic countries, to stimulate an
increased pilgrimage for 1935, and promises, not to be fulfilled, were held out
of a " Haj-al-Akbar," with its seven-fold blessings. A propaganda department
was established in the Ministry of Finance under the notorious Indian agitator,
Muhammad Khan Ghazi Khan.
5. Partly perhaps as a 'consequence of these efforts, the total of overseas
pilgrims in 1935 rose to 33,898, a satisfactory increase over the 25,291 of the
previous year and better, in fact, than the figures for any year since 1931.
6. Pilgrimage Day, the 9th Dhu'l Hijja, fell this year on Thursday, the
14th March, a keen disappointment to many who had hoped for a Friday Haj,
Haj-al-Akbar.'' The congregation on Arafat numbered some 70,000 inclusive of
all elements, according to Legation estimates, although the Saudi estimate, higher as
usual, put it at about 100,000, Nejdis alone being estimated at about 40,000.
The increase this year, apart from the general increase from abroad, can be
chiefly attributed to the presence of Yemenis, who numbered about 10,000, whilst
the Indian vice-consul reports that again this year Hejazis were not represented
in full force, owing to the adverse effects of the economic depression.
7. Climatic conditions, if warm, were favourable and general health was
good. Saudi medical personnel (vide paragraph 58) remained much the same
as last year.
8. The outstanding incident of the pilgrimage was the attempt, happily
completely frustrated, of a number of Yemenis to assassinate the King and the
Heir Apparent. The would-be murderers attacked the King and his son whilst
they were circumambulating the Kaaba, but were beaten off and speedily dealt
with. The King showed exemplary coolness and his sagacity and statesmanship
in giving strict instructions that the persons of the numerous Yemeni " Guests of
God '' then at Mecca were to be respected averted what might easily have proved
to be another St. Bartholomew's Eve.
9. The economic situation was depicted in last year's report (paragraph 9
et seq.) in the most sombre colours. During the intervening twelve months,
although some improvement has been discernible, particularly in 1935, the general
position has continued to present many of the unsatisfactory features previously
noticed. A further payment of £30,000 gold by the California Arabian Standard
Oil Company early in the summer of 1934 scarcely availed to lighten the burden
of expenditure over the Yemen war. Economy was again practised at the expense
of officials, whose salaries, when paid, were invariably considerably in arrear,
whilst the most recent step has been to effect an all-round salary reduction of