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'File 61/11 V (D 95) Hejaz - Nejd, Miscellaneous' [118r] (252/530)
The record is made up of 1 volume (261 folios). It was created in 12 May 1932-28 Dec 1933. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
bill
jj^y
THIS DOCUMENT IS THE PROPERTY OF HIS BRITJOrtTlC MAJESTY'S GOVERNMENT
1 ^ ^
CONFIDENTIAL,
0U8HIRF REB^E>SN^
^ t i r
OCHftOEHTIAl HEOM^
April 3, 1933.
Section 2.
[E 1736/81/25] No. 1.
^ . Ryan to Sir John Simon.—{Received April 3.)
(No. 81.)
Sir, Jedda, March 13, 1933.
WITH reference to my despatch No. 68 of February 28, I have the honour
to state that the Mecca newspaper Umm-al-Qura of the 3rd March published the
text of a decree of Ibn Saud, dated the 28th Shawwal, 1351 (the 24th February,
1933), sanctioning an agreement between the Minister of Finance and Dr. Jeelani
regarding the concession for the proposed railway between Jedda and Mecca.
The JJmm-al-Qura published also what purported to be a summary of the principal
provisions of the agreement. I enclose an abridged version of this.
2. The Umm-al-Qura summary presents various peculiarities, which may,
or may not, be peculiarities in the concession itself. There is no reference to a
<c cahier des charges," except in so far as paragraph 12 may be supposed to fore
shadow something of the sort later; nor is there any mention of two matters
which must have been the subject of agreement, viz., the price of tickets and the
division of receipts. No mention is made of the interest on the loan provided
for at paragraph 8, which is apparently to be a charge on capital, but the parties
may well be in agreement that none shall be paid for reasons of Islamic piety.
3. This report supersedes my previous account of the concession except as
regards matters not mentioned in the enclosed summary. I have still to learn
whether Dr. Jeelani has made definite arrangements in India. It has been
suggested to me that the people described to me as the £C Hades Syndicate " are
merely those Indian Moslems who adhere to Wahhabi doctrine and call themselves
Ahl-I-Hadith, to show that they rely only on the Traditions of the Prophet, as
opposed to the teaching of the orthodox schools into which Sunni Moslems are
divided. I have also again heard it suggested that the Nizam of Hyderabad
is behind the railway scheme, but I still believe this to be false.
4. I am sending copies of this despatch and enclosure to the Department
of Overseas Trade and to his Excellency the Viceroy of India.
I have, &c.
ANDREW EYAN.
Enclosure in No. 1.
Summary of the Published A greement regarding the Concession granted to
Dr. A. K. Jeelani for the Construction of a Railway from Mecca to Jedda.
1. AN all-Moslem company will be formed to construct the railway.
2. The capital will be 5 million
rupees
Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
, subject to increase if necessary, and
will be divided into 100,000 shares of 50
rupees
Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
. . .
3. The company's headquarters will be in India until the line is m operation;
afterwards in the Hejaz. • • i_ i o
4. A portion of the shares to be reserved for subscription by the (government
and natives of this country. „ . 1 .
5. The concession to be for fifty years from the date of its having been
granted. 1 p ,
6. The line and the rolling-stock to be good, strong and of modern type
7. The line will be a single track similar to those in India and will be
extended to the quay in Jedda. Cranes to be provided at Mecca and Jedda for
handling heavy packages. . ,
8. The companv to advance to the Government 1 million
rupees
Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
m five equal
monthly instalments payable from Rajab to Dhu 1-Qa da 1352 {i.e., five lunar
[767 c—2]
About this item
- Content
The volume consists of letters, telegrams, and memoranda relating to the Hejaz and Najd. Much of the correspondence is from the British Legation in Jeddah, with regular reports on the situation in that region sent to Sir John Simon, the Foreign Secretary in London. The rest of the correspondence is mostly between the Political 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 Bushire, the Political Agencies in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Muscat, the Colonial Office, and the Government of India.
The main subjects of the volume are:
- the change in name from 'The Kingdom of the Hejaz-Nejd and its Dependencies' to 'The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia';
- the announcement of Ibn Sa'ud's eldest son, Prince Sa'ud, as the heir apparent to the throne;
- the territorial dispute between Yemen and Saudi Arabia after the latter's absorption of the 'Asir region into its kingdom.
A copy of the 23 September 1932 issue of the newspaper Umm al-Qura is contained in the volume (folios 57-58). It features the Royal Order proclaiming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Other miscellaneous subjects covered in the volume include:
- relations between Italy and Saudi Arabia;
- a dispute between Ibn Sa'ud and his agent in Bahrain, al-Quasaibi [‘Abd al-‘Azīz al-Qusaibi], over a debt the former owes the latter;
- a revolt against Ibn Sa'ud by tribes loyal to ex-King Hussein coming from Sinai;
- a request for a loan made by Ibn Sa'ud to the British Government;
- relations between the Soviet Union and Saudi Arabia;
- relations between the USA and Saudi Arabia, including the visit of a Mr Gallant looking for oil concessions;
- concessions for the building of the railway between Mecca and Jeddah;
- the prospect of Saudi Arabia joining the League of Nations;
- the case of two slave girls seeking refuge at the British Legation in Jeddah.
Other documents of note contained in the volume are:
- a copy of a new customs tariff for Saudi Arabia (folios 122-134)
- a 'Who's Who' of Saudi Arabia, produced by the British Legation in Jeddah and covering all those deemed important to know by the British (folios 183-200);
- an envelope containing the torn-out pages of an article in the International Affairs journal (Vol. 12, No. 4, Jul., 1933, pp 518-534) entitled 'Ibn Sa'ud and the Future of Arabia.'
At the back of the volume (folios 245-251) are internal office notes.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (261 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arrranged chronologically.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The sequence starts on the first folio and continues to the inside back cover. The numbers are written in pencil, circled and 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. Note that following f 1 are folios 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D. The sequence then continues as normal from folio 2. There are two other foliation systems present but both are inconsistent and neither are circled.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/568
- Title
- 'File 61/11 V (D 95) Hejaz - Nejd, Miscellaneous'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 1r:1v, 1ar:1ev, 8v:11v, 15r:43v, 45v:56v, 59r:64r, 69v:118v, 120v:127v, 128v:133v, 134v:149v, 151v:161v, 162v:164v, 166r:166v, 168r:171v, 172v:174v, 175v:179v, 181r:201r, 202v:212v, 222r:225r, 226r:243v, 244v:256v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence