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File 2182/1913 Pt 11 'Arabia: relations with BIN SAUD Hedjaz-Nejd Dispute' [‎410r] (374/678)

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The record is made up of 1 item (336 folios). It was created in 16 Oct 1919-28 May 1920. It was written in English and Arabic. 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. .

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II • 3J >
spreads and there is anything line a general revolt against
British policy in Hejaz and Mesopotamia, we may need the
services of Ibn Sand and it would be foolish to alienate his
sympathies now.
As regards the second question, if the proposed meeting
between Ibn Saud implies the latter^ readiness to reconsider
his previous attitude on the boundary question I welcome it as
a step in the right direction. As you remarked Ibn Saud has
become more ambitious than he was two years ago and this is
only natural in the circumstances. Ambition crescit eundo.
Yesterday he claimed Khurma, today he claims luyaba, tomorrow
it will be Taif and so on. The longer a settlement is delayed
the worse the position will become and I for one view with
perfect equanimity the prospect of his becoming master of all
Arabia, but that is not H.M.G’s policy and if H.M.Gr* seriously
wish to save Husain they should act without delay. I
gathered however from you that while both parties now agree
in principle to meeting each other is nervous of facing his
rivals before a packed audience - instructive comment on our
own divided counsels - and that the proposal is in danger of
falling through on that account. That would be very
regrettable and, so far as Ibn Saud is concerned, his
nervousness is easily explained. He knows that I am his
friend, he knows that I have supported his claim for an
impartial consideration of his position and he sees that I
don 1 1 cut much ice; naturally he suspects that G-overnment will
try to force his hand when they get him into their clutches and
is shy of coming out of his shell. Some attempt should be
made to disarm his suspicions before the idea of a meeting is
abandoned. I assume that the Sherif is anxious that such a
meeting should take place under tne auspices or the ^~igh
Commissioner and that Government also wisn Ghat - I peisdinal-ty
am strongly of opinion that it should oe so; if that is the
case

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Part 11 concerns British policy regarding the dispute between Bin Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd, also referred to in the correspondence as Ibn Saud] and King Hussein of Hejaz [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī, King of Hejaz] over Khurma and Tarabah [Turabah]. Much of the correspondence documents the efforts of the British to persuade the two leaders to agree to meet. It is initially proposed that the two should meet at Jeddah; however, it is reported by the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, that Bin Saud refuses to meet King Hussein at Jeddah, Aden, or Cairo, and suggests a meeting at Baghdad instead. A number of other possibilities are discussed, including the following: the Secretary of State for India's proposal of a meeting of plenipotentiaries, either at Khurma or Tarabah, as an alternative to a meeting between the two leaders themselves; a suggestion by the High Commissioner, Egypt, that the two leaders meet in London; a proposal from Lord Curzon [George Nathaniel Curzon], Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, that Bin Saud should be induced to meet King Hussein on board a British ship at Jeddah, or, as is later suggested, at Aden.

Also included are the following:

  • an account from Captain Norman Napier Evelyn Bray, political officer in charge of the Nejd Mission, which recounts the last days of the mission's stay in Paris, in late December 1919;
  • a report from the High Commissioner, Egypt, on his recent meeting with King Hussein, which relays the latter's views on the allocation of control of Syria to France;
  • discussion regarding the growing power and influence of Bin Saud's Akhwan [Ikhwan] forces;
  • a note on the dispute by Harry St John Bridger, in which he volunteers to induce Bin Saud to agree to a meeting at any place (outside of Hejaz) suggested by His Majesty's Government;
  • memoranda and diary entries written by the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Bahrain, Major Harold Richard Patrick Dickson, all of which discuss at length Dickson's interviews with Bin Saud at Hasa [Al Hasa] in January and February 1920;
  • extracts from a report by the British Agent, Jeddah, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Edwin Vickery, which recounts his recent interviews with King Hussein and the King's son, Emir Abdullah [ʿAbdullāh bin Ḥusayn al-Hāshimī].

The item features the following principal correspondents:

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1 item (336 folios)
Written in
English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script
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File 2182/1913 Pt 11 'Arabia: relations with BIN SAUD Hedjaz-Nejd Dispute' [‎410r] (374/678), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/391/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100032475966.0x000020> [accessed 26 February 2025]

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