![Coll 6/67(4) 'Boundaries of South Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [‎114v] (228/843)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x0002a3/IOR_L_PS_12_2137_0231.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "Coll 6/67(4) 'Boundaries of South Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [‎114v] (228/843)")
Coll 6/67(4) 'Boundaries of South Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [114v] (228/843)
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.
'1
K
correspondence represented the legal western boundary of the territories of those
Arab chiefs on the
Persian Gulf
The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran.
with whom His Majesty s Government had
treaties. Mr. Philby would probably say that the Turks had no authority to
agree to the blue line, which took no account of their defeat at the hands of
Ibn Sand, but he does not know that Ibn Baud has recently admitted that His
Majesty’s Government saved him from being crushed by the Turks. fliis
admission was made in the message transmitted through Sheikh Yusuf Yasm
which I reported in my despatch No. 283, dated the 11th October. But in any
case, Mr. Philby could not be expected to forgo an opportunity to use Mr. Thomas
as a stick with which to beat His Majesty’s Government.
5. The statements recorded in paragraph 5 of the enclosure left little doubt
in my mind that Mr. Philby did enter the territory of the King of the Yemen, and
since he cannot accuse the King of encroaching on Arab territory, he will have
to find another excuse for the encroachment which the King rightly resented.
But he will probably think the purity of his intentions sufficient excuse.
6. Mr. Philby does not seem to have entered the band of territory lying
between the proposed British and Saudi lines, but he may have gathered some
information about it. In recent discussions with Fuad Bey I have claimed it
for Aden and Oman on the ground that the four wells in it which are shown on
our maps, viz., Sanau and Thamut in the Hadhramaut hinterland and Shisur
and Tadhau in the hinterland of Oman, are not on Fuad Bey’s list of Murra
wells, have never been claimed by the Saudi Government by name, and, according
to the information in Thomas’s Arabia Felix, lie to the south of the Rub-al-Khali
and in the steppe country which rises from the rim of the desert to the crests of
the coastal range and are frequented almost exclusively by tribes to whom
Ibn Saud lays no claim. It is unlikely that Mr. Philby has collected any better
information on this point than Bertram Thomas, who passed through the territory
in question and halted at Shisur, but he may make it more difficult for Ibn Saud
to renounce his claim by representing the tribes thereabouts as entirely beyond the
control of the authorities in the coastal States, but ready and willing to submit
to Ibn Saud. Ibn Saud is so much more a statesman than Mr. Philby that I am
hopeful that nothing Mr. Philby can say will influence him in this matter, the
more so as, having repudiated responsibility for the expedition, he can hardly
quote the results to his own advantage. I am more anxious lest the appearance
of the promised attack on His Majesty’s Government in Mr. Philby’s next book
should drag the question of the smaller Arab States in the Arabian peninsula
into the vortex of controversy about the McMahon correspondence.
7. I do not propose to engage in a dispute on pan-Arab politics with
Mr. Philby, nor to continue the discussion about his visit to Shabwa. The views
of His Majesty’s Government have been conveyed to the Saudi Government, and
Mr. Philby has also been informed of those views, and the matter had better, I
suggest, be left there.
8. I am sending copies of this despatch and its enclosure to Aden, Cairo,
Jerusalem, Bagdad and Bushire.
I have, &c.
R. W. BULLARD.
Tmclosure.
Summary of Statements made by Mr. Philby about his Expedition to Shabwa
and beyond, in the course of a Conversation which he had with His Majesty's
Minister on February 18, 1937.
IT was quite true that Ibn Saud had nothing to do with the expedition
beyond instructing all local officials to assist him. Mr. Philby had defrayed all
the expenses himself (and they had turned out to be much heavier than he had
expected), though he had financed himself by drawing on Saudi treasuries, where
they existed, and refunding the advances through his firm in Jedda. The object
of the journey was purely scientific, and he had, in fact, collected a great mass of
information which he hoped would be of use to science, and had established the
position of over a hundred points. Throughout the expedition the only connexion
he had had with Ibn Saud was that, as a matter of courtesy, whenever he was
within reach of a Saudi telegraph station he sent a telegram to the King reporting
the date of arrival and the probable date of departure.
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
Use and share this item
- Share this item
Coll 6/67(4) 'Boundaries of South Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [114v] (228/843), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2137, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100049619516.0x00001f> [accessed 10 August 2026]
https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100049619516.0x00001f
Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.
<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100049619516.0x00001f">Coll 6/67(4) 'Boundaries of South Eastern Arabia and Qatar.' [‎114v] (228/843)</a> <a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100049619516.0x00001f"> <img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x0002a3/IOR_L_PS_12_2137_0231.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" /> </a>
This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x0002a3/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images
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