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Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [47r] (94/1144)
The record is made up of 1 file (570 folios). It was created in 21 Dec 1932-5 Mar 1948. It was written in English and French. 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.
/ K7
0 o
^OP 3SCPIT
AND
PERSON^.
ARAB FEDERATION AS SEEN FROM INDIA,
It should not be thought that this is intended to be a
paper pn the current situation in the
Levant
A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
. It is quite
impossible to write effectively on such a subiect at this range,
and'in the absence of information about H.M.Grs policy towards
France and the French colonial empire, of which even the
Government of India de not seem yet to have been apprised. It is,
in fact, impossible t^ attempt any sort of topicality* w^ 10 ^- 6
issue of world security, regional pacts, etc,, isin the melting
pot at San Francisco: the "Alexandria Protocol" signed last
November by the Arab States has been reviewed at a further
» council held towards the end of last February, but still no
report of the conclusions of that council have been released, nor
is even the ratification of its conclusions - whatever they may
have been - certain: while a burning issue is now being fought
out, involving the whole principle of the position of Western
Powers in the Middle East.
It may, however, be of some value to attempt an assessment
of # tendencies in the Middle East as seen from India. Leaving
aside the bonds of unity felt by Indian Muslims for the peoples
of Middle Eastern countries^ there is an intense interest in
india as a whole in the political changes now taking place there,
which serve as a prototype of India's own problems in more ways
than-one. The question of the relations of Asiatic peoples
with a paramount European power will be a touchstone in Indian
eyes, or British honesty and goodwill. Similar problems of
harmonizing ppposing interests, and protecting the rights of
minorities without unduly weakening the central power, are raised
both by Arab Federation and by the Indian constitutional problem.
Finally, it must not be forgotten that the Middle East is at
once the vital strategic zone for India’s defence against
aggression from Europe, her link of communication with every part
of the world except Australia and the Far East, and the area of
her most natural economic expansion.
2, It is not intended to draw a history of movements towards
Arab Federation (or more strictly, Arab independence from the
Turkish empire) during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,
from the insurgence or Mohamed Ali, through the days of under
ground revolutionary societies in Syria, to the final victory of
Feisal. Arab Federation, as we now understand it. is quite a
different thing from Arab Independence, although the solution of
the problems of mandated areas bulks large in its objectives.
,3. # must, we think of Arab Federation in pan-Islamic terms.
The idea.of pan-Arabism was developed as an offset to the pan-
Turanianism of Abdul Hamid, at a time when Turkey was still
officially a Muslim State. Moreover, the proposed Federation
clearly excludes certain important Muslim area, Persia to the
•i«ast and Morocco to the West.
4. We ourselves know very well what picture is coniured up in
our minds by the word Arab, the hawk-nosed son of the desert, in
snowy burnous etc. etc., or else the riff-raff of Port Said.
But n, Arab" is indeed a proud name on the lips of an Arab, and
means exactly what the Greeks implied themselves to be when they
referred to all non-Hellenic races as "barbaroi" - people who can
only talk in unintelligible syllables like "bar - bar". The word
Arab" is composed of three letters, ’a, r and b; and this simple
About this item
- Content
This file concerns the British Government's response to the Pan-Arab movement during the 1930s and 1940s. Much of the correspondence refers to the prospect of an Arab federation, although the use of the word 'federation' is noted in some of the correspondence as being a mistranslation of the original Arabic expression, which would be more accurately represented by the words 'unification' or 'unity'.
Significant subjects of discussion include:
- Arab party politics in Palestine.
- Iraqi-Egyptian relations.
- Italian propaganda in the Middle East.
- The future of Palestine.
- Britain's post-war policy in the Middle East.
- Whether the Arab states should be induced to make a wartime declaration in favour of the democracies (i.e. the Allies).
- The formation of the Arab League (also referred to as the Arab Federation in the correspondence).
- Details of the Pact (also referred to as Covenant) of the Arab League, signed in Cairo on 22 March 1945.
- Whether representatives of the Arab League should be present at the Palestine Conference in London, in 1947, in addition to representatives of Arab states.
Notable correspondents include the following: 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. ; the High Commissioner for Iraq; His Majesty's Ambassador in Baghdad; the High Commissioner for Egypt; His Majesty's Ambassador in Cairo; the High Commissioner for Palestine; His Majesty's Minister at Jedda; the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; the Minister of State in the Middle East; officials of the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, 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 Commonwealth Relations Office, and the Indian Political Service The branch of the British Government of India with responsibility for managing political relations between British-ruled India and its surrounding states, and by extension the Gulf, during the period 1937-47. 's External Affairs Department; Noury Said [Nūrī al-Sa‘īd], Prime Minister of Iraq; George Antonius, Lebanese-Egyptian author and diplomat.
Also included with the correspondence are the following:
- Extracts from Palestine police summaries dating from 1933 to 1936, produced by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Jerusalem.
- A printed copy of a paper on Arab federation by the Foreign Research and Press Service, dated 20 June 1941.
- Copies of documents produced by the War Cabinet's Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East (also referred to as the Middle East (Official) Committee), including minutes of meetings (1941-1942) and a copy of a report on Arab Federation, dated January 1942.
- A copy (in French) of the Protocol of the Preparatory Committee for the Arab Congress, dated 7 October 1944.
- Copies of the Pact/Covenant of the recently formed Arab League (consisting of a printed copy in French, distributed by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and an English translation of the full Arabic text, which includes a passage that was omitted from the French version).
The French material consists of the aforementioned Protocol and Arab League Pact, plus one item of correspondence and a copy of a newspaper extract.
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 (folios 2-3).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (570 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 571; 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. Two previous foliation sequences, which are also circled, have been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement' [47r] (94/1144), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2110, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100047229909.0x000061> [accessed 15 July 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2110
- Title
- Coll 6/43 'Pan Arab Congress 1933. Attitude of H.M.G. to a Pan Arab Movement'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:6v, 9r:24v, 27r:59v, 61r:62v, 73r:78v, 82r:93v, 95r:103v, 105r:106v, 111r:111v, 113r:115v, 118r:120v, 122r:132v, 134r:152v, 158r:199v, 201r:265v, 273r:354v, 356r:381v, 384r:394v, 398r:407v, 410r:516v, 518r:565v, 567r:571v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence