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File 1166/1925 'Arabia: Nejd; negotiations with Ibn Saud regarding Iraq-Nejd question and Trans-Jordan boundary; Sir G Clayton's mission; Bahra agreement, 2nd November, 1925' [164v] (335/769)
The record is made up of 1 volume (378 folios). It was created in 14 Apr 1925-28 Jul 1927. 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.
*50811/23 ; not printed.
t Not reproduced.
£2565/24 ; not printed.
3. Although the situation in Arabia has been very considerably
modified during- the last two years, the three principal questions with
which the Koweit Conference was concerned remain unsettled to-dav,
and it is with the primary object of disposing of the first two of
these questions that the negotiations, in which you are to represent
His Majesty’s Government, have been initiated. As regards the first
question, that of the delimitation of the frontier between Trans-Jordan
and Nejd, I am to enclose, for your information, a copy of the in
structions* communicated to Lieutenant-Colonel Knox prior to the
assembly of the Koweit Conference. You will see that at that time
His Majesty’s Government were prepared to accept as a minimum an
eastern frontier for Trans-Jordan, which would rougly follow a line
drawn from the intersection of meridian 39° with parallel 32° to the
intersection of meridian 37° with parallel 31°30 / . From this point,
the line follows meridian 37° to parallel 31°, thence to the intersection
of meridian 38° with parallel 30°, and thence along meridian 38° to
parallel 29°35', or a point due west of the Nefud salient. This
frontier is indicated by a red line on the attached map. f .Since this
frontier was decided upon the military advisers of His Majesty’s
Government have represented the importance, for strategical reasons,
of including in Trans-Jordan the village of Kaf. His Majesty’s
Government are now satisfied of the desirability of this, and you
should use your utmost endeavours to secure the acceptance by Ibn
Sa ud of a frontier substantially identical with that indicated above,
but including Kaf within Trans-Jordan territory.
4. From the telegram^ from Lieutenant-Colonel Knox, a copy of
which is appended, it appears likely that Ibn Sa‘ud will advance a
claim to a Irontier considerably to the w ? est of the above line and
extending to the north of the Jebel Anaizeh. This frontier claim is
indicated by a green line on the attached map. Such a frontier would
imolve the interposition of Nejd territory between ‘Iraq and Trans-
Jordan and would place Ibn Sa'ud astride the Imperial Air Route to
t ie East. This cannot be permitted, and in no circumstances should
you assent to any extension of Nejd territory to the north, w T hich
would have the effect of separating ‘Iraq from Trans-Jordan. You
wall observe from the enclosed copy of the ‘Iraq-Nejd frontier agree
ment, with attached map, that the western extremity of this frontier
is the intersection of meridian 39° N. with parallel 32° E. The Eastern
frontier of Trans-Jordan should, in the opinion of His Majesty’s
io\ eminent, start from this point and be drawn rather in a westerly
or southerly direction than in a northerly.
ii K c " ,, e sector of the eastern frontier of Trans-Jordan
Ibn .Sa ud s claim appears equally objectionable since, in His Majesty’s
Government s opinion, any more westerly tract than that proposed
t on d not be adopted without endangering the safety of the Trans
jordan section of the Hejaz Railway. You should, therefore, regard
t ic northern and southern extremities of the frontier line originally
proposed by His Majesty’s Government as fixed, and it would be
advisable to make this clear to Ibn Sa‘ud at the, outset of your dis
cussions. If, however, you are unable to induce Ibn Sa‘ud to agree
to the inclusion of Kaf within Trans-Jordan, and if, in your opinion,
further insistence on this point would be useless, you may in the
last resort concede that village to Nejd, in which case the'frontier
About this item
- Content
This volume contains correspondence, reports, telegrams, a memorandum and minutes between Sultan of Nejd Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and the British Representative regarding the negotiations of the Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan boundary after the First World War. Related matters of discussion include the following: Gilbert Clayton’s mission; a conference agreement with tribunal representation; relations between Iran and Nejd relating to refugee issues; the British mandate; the railway in the southern part of Nejd; Mullah Hafiz; the Bahra agreement; the Hada Agreement; the Jeddah Agreement; and conflicts and riots between Iraq and Nejd around the frontier. The correspondence in the volume is mainly internal correspondence between British officials, although the Sultan of Nejd and officials from the Iraqi Government also feature.
The principal correspondents are: the High Commissioner for Iraq; Under Secretary of States; Sir Gilbert Falkingham Clayton, British Agent and Consul General in Jeddah; and the Government of Iraq. Other items of note include a hand-drawn map showing the Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan frontier (f 223), a draft of the negotiations between Gilbert Clayton and Ibn Saud (ff 287-305); an annotated draft of negotiations by R V Vernon (ff 123-167); a newspaper article about the Anglo-Wahabi Agreement (f 196); and finally a memorandum with a list by the Iraqi Government summited to the Tribunal regarding the damages after the raids (ff 55-57).
The volume includes a divider, which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (378 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume's contents are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 380; 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 between ff 256-378, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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File 1166/1925 'Arabia: Nejd; negotiations with Ibn Saud regarding Iraq-Nejd question and Trans-Jordan boundary; Sir G Clayton's mission; Bahra agreement, 2nd November, 1925' [164v] (335/769), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1144, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100075776572.0x000088> [accessed 21 July 2026]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/1144
- Title
- File 1166/1925 'Arabia: Nejd; negotiations with Ibn Saud regarding Iraq-Nejd question and Trans-Jordan boundary; Sir G Clayton's mission; Bahra agreement, 2nd November, 1925'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 1r:27v, 30r:54v, 56r:64v, 66r:90v, 93r:195v, 197r:222v, 224r:241v, 243r:314v, 316r:321v, 322ar, 322r:335v, 338r:380v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence