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[8544] b 2
3
attributed to him in the spring of keeping the Amir at Riyadh on his return
from Egypt he did not adhere to it. At that time he indeed deferred to the
Amir’s representations on behalf of citizens of Mecca and Jedda who had been
deported to Riyadh. Even less is known of his relations with his eldest surviving
son, the Amir Saud, who resides permanently in Nejd. Early in the year there
was a story that the King intended to designate Feisal as his successor. It was
--- ^derstood in the autumn, after the unification of Saudi Arabia, that the choice
nad fallen on Saud. The King is again an equilibrist in dealing with religious
extremists. He defers to them when his material interests are not affected, and
permits periodical intensifications of the activities of the Committees of Virtue,
which in October 1932, for instance, raged in a manner that the Amir Feisal
himself could not combat; but in important matters affecting general policy or
his schemes for developing the country, Ibn Saud imposes his will on the Ulema
of Nejd.
5. The year was one of stagnation as regards many questions dealt with in
great detail in the report for 1931. On the other hand, it was marked by events
of considerable importance relatively to the Arabian stage. As they had
repercussions on most important matters to be discussed in separate sections of
the present report, it will help to an understanding of these to complete this
introduction by a summary account of the events in question.
6. Friendship, or at least the appearance of friendship, with Great Britain
is a cardinal factor in Ibn Baud’s policy. Much of his ascendency in the Arab ?
world depends on the widespread belief that he enjoys British support./
Nevertheless, he allowed his relations with His Majesty’s Government in the
United Kingdom to be seriously strained about the end of January 1932 by a
quarrel over a slave who had taken refuge in the Legation at Jedda during the
previous month. The details of this affair will be dealt with later. It is enough
to say here that the incident was happily liquidated in April and the way cleared
for the inclusion of London in the tour of the mission, presided over by the
Amir Feisal, which the King sent forth to visit friendly capitals in Europe and
the nearer parts of Asia.
7. While the mission was improving Ibn Baud’s contact with the outer
world, he was assailed by a sudden danger at home. One Hamid-bin-Rifada, one
of a leading family in the Billi tribe, with an urban establishment at Wejh, had
been floating about as an exile in Egypt, Palestine and Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan since the
failure of a local rising at Wejh in 1929. On the night of the 20th-21st May,
1932, this man entered the Hejaz near Aqaba with a rebel band which he had
recruited in Egypt and elsewhere. Although the Saudi Government had known of
his activities, they did not get news of his actual invasion until it was conveyed to
them by His Majesty’s Legation on the 30th May. Ibn Saud could not tell what
it portended. The" rebel force was small, but it might attract support in the
Hejaz and any success there might be the signal for revolt elsewhere. Portions
of the Shammar tribes were of dubious loyalty. In Eastern Nejd the Mutair and
Ajman still smarted under the after-effects of their rebellion in 1929. There
might be doubts of the loyalty of the tribes in the Taif region. It had been
necessary to send a punitive force some months before to quell disorder in Najran
on the northern confines of Asir. Asir itself was uneasy under the new Saudi
yoke. The King was conscious of political activities in the background of
Ibn Rifada’s enterprise and other possible enterprises. He believed his enemy,
the Amir Abdullah of Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan , to be the head centre of all attempts to
undermine his own position. He may at first have shared the belief, then and
later held widely in Nejd and to some extent elsewhere, that the British were
stimulating the forces hostile to him.
8. Ibn Saud called out the famous Ikhwan. They responded in large'
numbers, flocking to A1 Ula and to Taif, where the King remained in summer
residence, keeping an eye on every side. The Ikhwan were loud in their loyalty.
They complained only of being used for so small an affair as that of Ibn Rifada
and of not being allowed to carry on the Holy War, which was duly proclaimed,
against the real enemy, Abdullah and his fellow “ hypocrites,” an epithet which
recalled the struggles' of the Prophet against hidden adversaries. On the other
hand, measures taken by the British authorities in Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan and by the
Egyptian Government at the instance of His Majesty's Government cut off