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Coll 6/16 'Future of: Royal Family. Probable happenings on the death of Ibn Saud.' [217r] (434/440)
The record is made up of 1 file (218 folios). It was created in 30 Sep 1931-7 Oct 1949. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
19. Zn this case the defence of Kuwait would depend
on the battalion of Infantry and Artillery, both presumably
from India, or in lieu ^the latter ships guns, which would
mean the ^tying up’ of the Persia# Gulf Ptrision - or part of
it - at Kuwait, when it might be needed to cope with troubles
elsewhere on the
Trucial coast
A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates.
for example* Apparently
not much assistance can be expected from Shaihh Ahmad ( of
Kuwait ) himself, During the crisis it was proposed that he
should purchase armoured cars, but this idea was finally
abandoned for financial reasons# He has apparently little
faith in the martial qualities of his Kuwaitis# In a
conversation with Colonel Dickson,
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,
in August 1929^ and with Colonel Biaeoe in December of the
same year, he pointed out that the real fighting strength
on which Kuwait had always depended was the Mutair, Ajman
and Awazim tribes which had been taken away from him and
given by us to Bin Saud in 1922 by the Treaty of DJair. In
addition to this his State has been greatly impoverished by
the blockade imposed by Bin Saud for the last 8 years# This
he feels all the more acutely as it was his gre&tjanole the
famous Shaikh Mubarak who offered asylum to Bin Sadd when an
exile and a fugitive, who actually took the fifeld with the
Wahabi leader on a hazardous and unsuccessful venture into
Southern Hejd, and to whose backing and encouragement Bin
Baud’s final and successful bid for power in 1902 was not a
little due* Moreover when Shaikh Ahmad succeeded to the
Shaikhship in 1921 he continued Mubarak’s policy towards
Bin Saud, sending that individual Mho was then operating
against Hail ( see paragraph 14 above ) Rs#1,60,000 in cash
and 3,000 camel loads of supplies# Much later too, only
About this item
- Content
This file relates to Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and the future of Arabia in the event of his death.
The file largely consists of copies of Foreign Office correspondence, which have been forwarded by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State for India. Also included are copies of correspondence addressed to the 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. and the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department by 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. (Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle, succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior).
The correspondence begins with 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. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. 's response to the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India's remark that British influence in the Middle East seems largely to depend on the life of one man: Ibn Saud.
Related matters discussed in the correspondence include the following:
- The effect that Ibn Saud's death, or fall from power, might have on Kuwait.
- The designation of Amir Saud [Sa‘ūd bin ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd] as Ibn Saud's heir apparent in 1933.
- Rumours of tense relations between Amir Saud and his brother Feisal [Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Sa'ud].
- Arab public opinion on Ibn Saud, following the Saudi-Yemeni war.
- Reports of Ibn Saud and Amir Saud having been attacked by would-be assassins in Mecca in 1935.
- Amir Saud's visit to India for medical treatment in 1940.
- Reports of the arrest of ninety persons suspected of being involved in a plot to assassinate Ibn Saud in 1940.
Other prominent correspondents include the following: 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. , Kuwait (Harold Richard Patrick Dickson, succeeded by Gerald Simpson de Gaury); 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. , Bahrain (Hugh Weightman); the British Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan; Sir Reader William Bullard; Hugh Stonehewer Bird); His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires, Jedda (Albert Spencer Calvert); officials of the 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. , the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, and the Government of India's External Affairs Department.
In addition to correspondence the file includes the following:
- A report by 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. entitled 'The Future of Arabia', which discusses the present position of Ibn Saud and how Arabia might look without him.
- Extracts from Kuwait intelligence summaries.
- A copy of a report produced in 1937 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 Kuwait, Gerald Simpson de Gaury, on the history of the Shammar tribe and the Ibn Rashid [Āl Rashīd] family, which includes as enclosures a table of the Shammar confederation and a genealogical table of the Al Rashid family, both of which are printed in Arabic and English.
- A copy of a report, produced in 1938 by de Gaury, on the 'Anaza [‘Aniza] tribe, which includes a tribal table of the tribe.
The file includes two dividers which give a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (218 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 219; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are 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. An external leather cover wraps around the documents and the front inside of this cover has been foliated as folio 1. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 2-218 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English and Arabic in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2082
- Title
- Coll 6/16 'Future of: Royal Family. Probable happenings on the death of Ibn Saud.'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:115v, 117r:124v, 126r:130v, 137r:140v, 142r:172v, 174r:179v, 181r:181v, 183r:219v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence