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Coll 6/67(4) 'Boundaries of South Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [110v] (220/843)
The record is made up of 1 file (420 folios). It was created in 12 Nov 1935-27 Sep 1937. 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.
himself free of military influence, and the longer he could maintain his Govern
ment, the more hope there was that he would become less dependent on the army’s
support. As to the attitude of the Turkish Government, a year ago Mr. Rendel
would have scouted the suggestion that Turkey might embark on a policy of
adventure. In this opinion he had been seriously shaken by Turkey’s
Alexandretta policy, but the Turks had not “got away with it” over
Alexandretta, and they had, he thought, felt themselves much isolated at Geneva
and had retreated from the extreme position they had taken up. The fact that
the Turks had received so marked a check over Alexandretta ought, he felt, to
make them much less likely to put forward any other similar claims in future.
Second Interview, March 21.
9. Ibn Saud said that he wanted to make some remarks under four heads :—
(1) His relations with His Majesty’s Government.
(2) The Arabs in general.
(3) Palestine.
(4) The future.
The interview went on for over two hours, but never got beyond the first head.
Ibn Saud went over the whole course of his relations with His Majesty’s Govern
ment from the moment when he first entered into communication with them
through 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 Bahrein, and suggested that their common
interests demanded that the Turks should not be allowed to establish themselves
strongly in the Arabian Peninsula, and received an assurance that His Majesty’s
Government would not allow the Turks to approach him either by sea or through
Koweit. He recited his dealings with Sir Percy Cox during the war, recalled the
loyalty with which he had offered to help the Sherif Hussein against the Turks,
and spoke of the “ guarantees ” which he had received from Sir Percy Cox.
Nothing whatever had come of these “ guarantees,” though he had been promised
“ all sorts of things.” He had assisted the Arab policy of His Majesty’s
Government by communicating to them the written and oral offers which he
received from the Turks as an inducement to him to join them against Hussein—
offers which he refused, alleging that he could not move against the British
because they were his neighbours on the Gulf, and saying that, in any case, he
could not join the Turks when they were slaughtering Arabs. At first he even
told His Majesty’s Government that he would accept Hussein as King of the
Arabs, but later he was obliged to withdraw this offer. He told Hussein that
the resources in money and arms which were supplied by the British were being
wasted through being dealt out to the various sheikhs according to the number
of followers they said they had, and asked that, if he sent his son and some men
to help, they should only be given arms for themselves and food to eat, and
Hussein had replied that Ibn Saud must be either mad or drunk. Ibn Saud
thereupon informed the British Government that he must lay down two
conditions : that he would not recognise Hussein as King of the Arabs, though
he did not object to his being King of the Hejaz, and that when the war was over
His Majesty’s Government should allow him to settle his own scores with
Hussein. He had always listened to the advice of His Majesty’s Government,
even to his own hurt. On more than one occasion he had fallen out with his chief
supporters, the Ikhwan, for that reason, e.g., when he retook Turaba, which the
Sherifians had unjustly occupied, and His Majesty’s Government asked him not
to go any further; when he refrained at the request of His Majesty’s Government
from taking Aqaba, where the ex-King Hussein was staying, and Maan; and
when he listened to the mediation of the British agent at Jedda and ensured the
peaceful occupation of the city to the disappointment of some of his followers.
For all this loyal support, and after all the promises made to him, what had he
got? Nothing whatever. On the contrary !
10. He would put his complaints under three heads :—
{a) His Majesty’s Government had not given him the help he needed.
(h) Their boundary policy was always squeezing him in.
(c) By their Gulf policy they tried to make him dependent commercially on
Koweit and Bahrein.
About this item
- Content
This file primarily concerns British policy regarding the eastern and south-eastern boundaries of Saudi Arabia, specifically those bordering Qatar, Abu Dhabi, and Muscat (i.e. the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman).
Much of the correspondence relates to British concerns that the boundaries should be demarcated prior to the commencement of any oil prospecting in the area. The file's principal correspondents are the following: His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, succeeded by Sir Reader William Bullard); 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); 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 (Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch); 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. , Muscat (Major Ralph Ponsonby Watts); the Secretary of State for the Colonies; the Secretary of State for India; the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; 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. , and the Admiralty.
Matters discussed in the correspondence include the following:
- Whether the British should press King Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] for a settlement of the outstanding questions relating to the aforementioned boundaries.
- Sir Andrew Ryan's meeting with Ibn Saud and the Deputy Minister for Saudi Foreign Affairs, Fuad Bey Hamza, in Riyadh, in November 1935.
- The disputed territories of Jebel Naksh [Khashm an Nakhsh, Qatar] and Khor-al-Odeid [Khawr al ‘Udayd].
- Whether or not a territorial agreement between Ibn Saud and Qatar was concluded prior to the Anglo-Qatar Treaty of 1916.
- The intentions of Petroleum Concessions Limited regarding the development of its oil concession in Qatar.
- The line proposed by the British for the boundary between Saudi Arabia and the Aden Protectorate.
- The Kuwait blockade.
- Leading personalities in Oman.
- Details of Harry St John Bridger Philby's expedition to Shabwa [Shabwah, Yemen].
- Four meetings held between Sir Reader Bullard, George Rendel (Head of the Foreign Office's Eastern Department), and Ibn Saud, in Jedda, 20-22 March 1937.
Also included are the following:
- Copies of the minutes of meetings of the Committee of Imperial Defence's Standing Official Sub-Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East.
- Copies of correspondence dating from 1906, exchanged between 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. (Major Percy Zachariah Cox), the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department, and the Ruler of Abu Dhabi [Shaikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan], regarding the latter's claim to Khor-al-Odeid.
- Several maps and sketch maps depicting the proposed boundaries discussed in the correspondence.
The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 2).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (420 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 (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 421; 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. A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 6/67(4) 'Boundaries of South Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [110v] (220/843), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2137, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100049619516.0x000017> [accessed 15 June 2026]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2137
- Title
- Coll 6/67(4) 'Boundaries of South Eastern Arabia and Qatar.'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:30v, 33r:47v, 50r:60v, 64r:93v, 95r:107v, 109r:210v, 213r:304v, 313r:358v, 360r:421v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence