[Un-numbered file] 'Diary of Colonel Hamilton's Visit to Nejd 1918' [‎36v] (72/206)

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usual exihibition of horsemanship but without letting off rifles. One of them
fell off.
"Reached Riadh; met at Palace gates and conducted to mejlis wher e
all the principal Shaikhs assembled. Sat on right of ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Bin Saud.
The whole length of the top wall was unoccupied except by two of us ; then
Muhammad ibn Abdur Rahman, ‘Abdul ‘Aziz's brother, an extremely influential
man in Najd, Paisal ibn Rashid (refugee from Hail), Mullah‘Abdullah, my
reader, Salih al Adil, Ibrahim ibn Muhammad bin Saif (of Kuwait), ‘Abdullah
Bin Saud, brother of ‘Abdul ‘Aziz, and 5 or 6 of the Araif were among the
principal notables present. Afterwards went for a private talk in the maktab,
or office, of Bin Saud. Then breakfast. At 2 p.m. visited ‘Abdur Rahman Bin
Saud, the Imam, as he is generally called, an old man with saffron-coloured
beard, about 70 years of age, a charming personage. We were conducted
to a bright reception-room, with lofty roof, 3 central pillars and doors at
both ends but in opposite corners of the rectangle ; triangular windows high
up on walls let in plenty of light ; good carpets and cushions round walls.
Long conversation, chiefly on general politics. ‘Abdur Rahman is yellow in
face, with the dark, clear, inscrutable eyes of the true and wise, resembling
remarkably those of Lord Roberts. He is as strongly pro-British now as he
was when Raunkiaer met him before the war in 1912. The latter remarked of
him :—“ On the last subject, the relative power of European States, especially
in the matter of Africo-Asiatic politics, I could do no more than confirm the
chieftain’s deep-rooted belief in the hegemony of the British Empire”
Most charming and affable to myself ; Mullah ‘Abdullah and all my follow*
ing who accompanied me have been saying what a fine old man the Imam is.
Back to Palace, past the keep, which was taken by ‘Abdul ‘Aziz and his 45
faithful companions in 1910. Saw bullet marks in frame of huge door. There
were 70 defenders but these surrendered after 20 of them had been killed and
wounded. Long talk with the Amir in his private room; served with tea by a
pretty boy. In came ‘Abdullah al Hakim, a young “ medical ” of Mosul, who
had got his degree in Constantinople. Handsome, French-looking, about 30.
Speaks French fairly well. Also came Ahmad ibn Thanaiyan of the As-S£ud
family. Old-looking young man with “ tender eyes ”, as the Bible hath it,
understands French very well, was born in Constantinople.
The Amir suspicious about me ; wants to know if I come to find out all
about him and to criticize him .:—“ What do we want,of him > He has carried
out all he promised, which was to neutralize Ibn Rashid. But for his (B. S.)
menace, the Sherif would not have been in a position ever to rebel against
the Turks ; Ibn Rashid would have put a stopper on any movement of his
in that direction. So the fact that the Sherif has been able to keep the field
so long against the Turks (even if his early success had been possible
otherwise) is due to Bin Sdud’s neutralizing the power of Ibn Rashid. Yet
Bin S&ud’s action is not given proper credit by us. He has to hear himself
traduced, people even saying that he is secretly helping Ibn Rashid to hold
out against us—because he is supposed to be jealous of the Sherif. If he were
so, which is not the truth, there would be some reason for his jealousy. The
Sherif has secured a great position, he has got hold of the Harb and Ataibah
tribes which belong to Bin Saud and also some thousands of Qasimi—or Agailis
as they are called—all subject to Bin Saud. Have we not poured gold into
the Hijaz ? Here on this side everything has got dear- Riyals had appreciated
(the relative value to the sovereign being 5} dollars in ‘ Anaizah and 6± in Riadh).
Camels aie dear and clothes too. Rice is now far more expensive than
before the war. The Turks in Madinah and Syria are getting supplies through
the Shammar and ‘Anaizah, who have come in to us, and so on, and so on”.
Bin Sand’s complaints are numerous. Money and supplies would, doubtless*
put a fresh complexion pn matters. We spoke about Ibn Rashid and the
possibility of knocking him out. At first Bin Saud said it was an impossible
task. “Ibn Rashid was a Shaikh of a single, powerful tribe which would unite
at once for self-defence in case of Hail being attacked. He (Bin Saud)
could, of course, call on his tribes-the Mutair, Ahl-Murrah, Dawasir, Subai
Ataibah, Harb, Beni, Hajar, Beni Khalid, Dhafir, ‘Anaizah, etc. All of them
would gather at the bidding and would be a large mob, difficult to control or