File 2182/1913 Pt 4 'Persian Gulf: Policy towards Bin Saud (Capt. Shakespear's Mission)' [132r] (265/426)
The record is made up of 1 item (211 folios). It was created in 22 Sep 1914-17 Jan 1916. 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.
\
£-
Lo • /48 0± 1914.
From
To
Political
Agency
An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
,
K u w ait.
Lieutenant-Colonel VA G. Grey, I.A.,
Political A^ent, Kuwait.
The Politic. 1 Resident in the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
,
B u s h i r e .
Dated Kuwait, the 21st November 1914.
Sir,
1 Love the honour to make the following report in
connection with the Amir Bin Saud rnd his relations
with the Turkish Goverrm.ent.
2. He recently received a telegram from _nwar
Pasha
An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders.
the Turkish minister of War urging him to abandon the
campaign against Ion Rashid in which he is at present
engaged and gather 11 the forces at his command to
assist the Turks in the defence of Basrah. He refuser
to comply with this request on the following grounds:-
(1) He declines to renounce the operations against
Bin hashid until the latter has been reduced
to the position of a vassal.
(2) He cannot come t > Basrah being otherwise
engaged, neither can his troops for the s*me
reason.
b. The present campaign against Ibn Rashid supplies
Bin Saud with an eminently suitable excuse for
declining to assist the Turks in the present war, and
it is believed to do possible that he may have under
taken it at this time mainly with a view to be in a
position to plead a previous engagement when the
inevitable request for assistance should come from the
Var Minister.
4. I son sending a. copy of this letter (1) to the
Government of India, in the Foreign Department and (2)
About this item
- Content
Part 4 primarily concerns British policy towards Bin Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd], following the outbreak of the First World War. It includes the following:
- discussion regarding Bin Saud's relations with the Ottoman government, and the need for the British to secure Bin Saud's goodwill, especially in the event of the Ottoman government entering the war on the German side;
- details of Captain William Henry Irvine Shakespear's mission (as a political officer on special duty) to meet with Bin Saud, with the aim of ensuring that, in the event of hostilities between Britain and the Ottomans, no assistance is offered to the latter by Bin Saud;
- translated copies of letters from Shaikh Mubarak [Shaikh Mubarak bin Ṣabāḥ Āl Ṣabāḥ], Ruler of Kuwait, to Bin Saud, urging the latter to side with the British Government;
- details of a proposed preliminary treaty between the British and Bin Saud;
- reports of Captain Shakespear's death;
- reports on Bin Saud's military engagements against Bin Rashid [Saʿūd bin ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Āl Rashīd];
- a copy of a draft of a preliminary treaty between the British government and Bin Saud;
- details of proposed gifts from the British to Bin Saud of arms and ammunition captured from the Ottomans, plus a £20,000 loan.
The principal correspondents are the following:
- Secretary of State for India [Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe];
- Viceroy of India [Charles Hardinge];
- Foreign Office;
- 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. ;
- War Office;
- Permanent Under-Secretary of State for India, Thomas William Holderness;
- Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Percy Zachariah Cox;
- 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. , Kuwait (Lieutenant-Colonel William George Grey);
- Secretary to the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department [Alfred Hamilton Grant];
- Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart George Knox (on special duty in the absence of the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. );
- Captain William Henry Irvine Shakespear;
- Bin Saud.
- Extent and format
- 1 item (211 folios)
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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File 2182/1913 Pt 4 'Persian Gulf: Policy towards Bin Saud (Capt. Shakespear's Mission)' [132r] (265/426), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/387/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100034341124.0x00004b> [accessed 4 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/387/1
- Title
- File 2182/1913 Pt 4 'Persian Gulf: Policy towards Bin Saud (Capt. Shakespear's Mission)'
- Pages
- 3r:23v, 24ar, 24r:45v, 48r:63v, 64ar, 64r:85v, 85ar:85av, 86r:119v, 120ar, 120r:120v, 121ar, 121r:212v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence
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