'File 61/11 V (D 95) Hejaz - Nejd, Miscellaneous' [218v] (453/530)
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.
528
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
[JULY
desire in our country, and wishing to unite the parts of this Arab
Kingdom, We decree the following :—
1. The name of the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd and its Depen
dencies shall be changed to that of the ' Kingdom of Sa'udian
Arabia' [Mamlakat 'Arabiyat as-Sa'udiya], and our title
shall in future be ' King of the Kingdom of Sa'udian Arabia.'
2. The change shall take effect as from the date of its announce
ment [September 22nd].
3. This change shall not affect the treaties and international
obligations and agreements, which will remain effective and
binding. Neither shall it affect the contracts and agreements
made with individuals, which will continue to be effective.
4. All previous regulations, instructions and orders given by us
shall remain in force after this change.
5. The organisation of our present Government, whether in the
Hejaz or in Nejd and its Dependencies, will provisionally
continue in its present form until a new organisation is laid
down for the whole Kingdom on the basis of the new
unification.
6. Our present Council of Ministers shall start immediately to lay
down a basic constitution for the Kingdom, a rule for succes
sion to the throne, and a regulation for the organisation of
the Government, and shall submit them to us for our orders.
7. The President of our Council of Ministers has the right to add
to the members of the Council of Ministers any person or
persons of intelligence, while the above-mentioned regulations
are being prepared, in order to benefit from their opinions
and to obtain enlightenment from their knowledge.
8. We choose Thursday the 21st of Jumada I, 1351, the first day
of the equinox, as the day on which shall be announced the
unification of this Arab Kingdom."
There are two comments to be made on this Decree. You
will have noticed, discreetly tucked away, is a statement about
a rule for the succession to the throne. That is an adroit move.
There are three possible candidates, the King's eldest son, the
Amir Sa'ud, Viceroy of Nejd, the King's second son, the Amir
Feysal, Viceroy of the Hejaz and Minister of the Foreign Office,
and the King's brother, the Amir Muhammad ibn Abdu'r-Rahman,
who really should have succeeded to the throne in place of Ibn
Sa'ud. Ibn Sa'ud has thrown this matter of the succession on
the Council of Ministers. The British have always been very
fond of constitutions—we come, we see, and we constitute—-
but I would suggest that one of the finest constitutions at present
existing in the world is that in Sa'udian Arabia, which has an
Assembly of sixteen people, eight of them appointed by the
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
- 213r:221v
- Author
- Lewis, Captain C C
- Usage terms
- Public Domain