!['File 61/11 IV (D 77) Hejaz-Nejd, Miscellaneous' [‎99v] (208/366)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x00021c/IOR_R_15_1_567_0208.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "'File 61/11 IV (D 77) Hejaz-Nejd, Miscellaneous' [‎99v] (208/366)")
'File 61/11 IV (D 77) Hejaz-Nejd, Miscellaneous' [99v] (208/366)
The record is made up of 1 volume (182 folios). It was created in 17 Feb 1930-4 Apr 1932. It was written in English. 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.
host of hungry Bedouin who hung round Riadh and complained of taxation
when he suddenly changed his attitude and became conciliatory. laskedMr.Philby
later on whether, if such a juncture were to occur again, a friendly w r ord from
us w r ould have any value; he replied that it would undoubtedly be deeply resented.
He is evidently less than ever in the King's confidence. I must report, in this
connexion, that at the end of our conversation of the 19th September f uad Hamza
made a point of telling me how grateful Ibn Sand had been for His Majesty s
Government's friendlv gesture of advice.
6. Mr. Philby lias spoken much of the King, but what J have written
summarises his views sufficiently for the purpose of this report. He also spoke ot
Fuad Bey as having now lost such influence as he had. He pictures him at Taif
as withdrawn from contact with current affairs of State and spending his time
in writing a handbook on the Hejaz and Nejd and its Dependencies. My own
impression is that he knows much less than formerly of what is passing and that
his office has largely become a letter-box for receiving and despatching to
the " competent authorities " the correspondence of the foreign representatives.
The French vice-consul, who had to transact all the current business for his
hermit Charge d'Affaires on the occasion of the Amir Feisal's recent visit to
Jedda, found Fuad Bey ready to discuss the attractions of the post of Minister
at Paris. I think that M Durmanjay initiated this subject, a point which may
have significance of another kind.
7. Mr. Philby confirmed my growing conviction that the Director-General
of Finance is now for all practical purposes " the Hejazi Government. He
still has the King's blind confidence. He moves about the central Hejaz, the only
moving point and the sole motive force in an area of complete stagnation,
collecting means from the merchants in cash or kind and disposing of it none
knows how. Holding the purse-strings, he controls everything except the
" Umm-al-Qura," which he has tried to capture but failed in face of the Syrian
party," which still has enough means to produce the paper. An essential
department w^hich Abdullah Suleiman is said to be deliberately starving is the
Post and Telegraphs. In spite of the Finance Department's hauls of benzine,
the Jedda-Mecca-Taif mails have now for a fortnight been carried by donkeys.
The Eastern Telegraph Company's account is mounting up and nothing has been
paid since the end of May. It is Mr. Philby's opinion that, for all his secretive
activity, Abdullah Suleiman is near the end of his tether and cannot reach the
beginning of the pilgrimage season. I learn that he is shortly going to Riadh.
8. If he goes, the Hejaz will lapse into a state of anarchic torpor under the
figure-headship of the Viceroy. The urban populations will sit w T ith fatalistic
eyes turned towards a pilgrimage which they know will be minimum. The only
movement which may be expected is from soldiery and police who, lacking pay
wherewith to buy food, have the powder to take it.
I have, &c.
C. G. HOPE-GILL
About this item
- Content
The volume contains letters, telegrams, and memoranda relating to Hejaz affairs. Most of the correspondence is between the British Legation in Jeddah, 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 Bahrain and Kuwait, the Foreign and Colonial Offices in London, and the Government of India.
The majority of the volume concerns the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Hejaz-Najd and its Dependencies, especially the financial difficulties it was experiencing at the time and attempts to counter them.
Other subjects covered are:
- the prospect of the Kingdom joining the League of Nations;
- the appointment of a Minister in London;
- al-Qusaibi's proposed visit to London;
- the different uses of the title "Sheikh";
- American recognition of Ibn Sa'ud as King;
- the mineral prospecting of the American millionaire Mr C. R. Crane;
- American appraisal of the water situation in the region;
- the religious policing activities of the Committee of Virtue in the Hejaz;
- the arrest of two members of the royal family between Kuwait and Zubair;
- the territorial dispute between Ibn Sa'ud and Yemen;
- relations between Ibn Sa'ud and Italy.
A notable document within the volume is a confidential report on the heads of all foreign missions in Jeddah (folios 163-164).
At the back of the volume (folios 165-170) are office file notes.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (182 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume is arranged chronologically. There is a partial and non-alphabetical list of subjects at the front of the volume (folio 2). The list identifies some of the earlier subject correspondence in the volume and where it occurs, according to its original numbering, as folios 17 to 41a.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: The sequence starts on the first page with ff 1A-1D and then continues from f 2 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. The are the following anomalies: f 38A; f 91A; f 108A; f 128A; f 146A; there is no f 119.
There are two more sequences that are inconsistent and incomplete.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
Use and share this item
- Share this item
'File 61/11 IV (D 77) Hejaz-Nejd, Miscellaneous' [99v] (208/366), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/567, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023554072.0x000009> [accessed 6 April 2025]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023554072.0x000009
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023554072.0x000009">'File 61/11 IV (D 77) Hejaz-Nejd, Miscellaneous' [‎99v] (208/366)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023554072.0x000009"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x00021c/IOR_R_15_1_567_0208.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x00021c/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/567
- Title
- 'File 61/11 IV (D 77) Hejaz-Nejd, Miscellaneous'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 1ar:1dv, 2r:38v, 38ar:38av, 39r:108v, 108ar:108av, 109r:128v, 128ar:128av, 129r:146v, 146ar:146av, 147r:158v, 159v:160v, 161v:174v, back-i, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence