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Papers on British policy and the Arab movement [9r] (19/380)
The record is made up of 1 file (187 folios). It was created in 1 Jul 1916-7 Dec 1918. 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.
17
ovembeiy’ 0 and the other making fairly satisfactory amends for his previous behaviour. 57
aii the second telegram he explained his relation to the general movement for Arab
Independence in the following terms, which are practically identical with those
employed during his negotiations with His Majesty’s Government:—
“You and I are friends and Allies of the British Government, the powerful
friend of the Arabs, and we should unite and co-operate with each other to expel
the Turkish tricksters, our personal enemies and the enemies of the truth, and to
purge the Arab country from their vileness and iniquity. This is the first
necessity and everything else will follow. I have absolutely no personal ambition
in this matter ; my objects are to secure our safety (yours and my own), and the
integrity of the Arabian country and its purification from the wickedness and
series (? the lies) of the deceitful Turks.’
On the 12th December, 191(5, the Sheikh of Koweit returned a suitable reply, and
this particular incident was closed. 58 The relations of Sherif Husein with the Idrisi
and bin Sand, however, have caused His Majesty’s Government perpetual difficulties.
On the 20th May, 1917, on the occasion of the meeting between the Sherif and
M. Picot and Sir Mark Sykes at Jeddah, 51 ' Faisal gave Sir Mark Sykes the following
message from his father':—
“We are ready to co-operate with France in Syria to the fullest extent and
England in Mesopotamia, but we ask for help from England with Idrisi and
bin Sand, without in any way infringing on their independence. We beg that
Great Britain will endeavour to induce them to recognise King’s position as leader
of Arab movement.”
The Foreign Office consulted with 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.
as to how far it was possible to
obtain recognition from the Idrisi and bin Sand of Sherif Husein’s special position as
leader of the Arab movement/' 0 and the question was referred respectively to the
Resident at Aden and to Sir P. Cox. Both reported that the moment was inopportune,
and the matter was not proceeded with. 61
T1 le difficulties between the Sherif and the Idrisi over Kunfida in August, 1916, 6 ~
and between the Sherif and bin Saud over Khorma in the summer of 1918, do not fall
within the scope of the present section. They were essentially demarcation and
allegiance disputes between the Sherif, in his quality of a local Arab ruler, and his
nearest neighbours, and the question of his rank and relation to the Arab Movement
was not technically involved/ There is no doubt, however, that these and other
dispute* of the kind have been and will be considerably embittered by the presence of
this larger question in the background.
Relation of Commitments under (vii) to British Desiderata.
All commitments hitherto made by His Majesty’s Government to the Sherif on the
one part and the other independent Arab rulers on the other appear to be compatible
with one another.
On the of her hand, the problem of retaining the goodwill of the Sherif and
securing him the position required by British and French desiderata in Mesopotamia,
Palestine and Syria, while at the same time retaining the confidence of the other
independent Chiefs, remains unsolved.
(viii.) The Caliphate.
On the 31st October, 1914, Lord Kitchener, in his second message to Sherif Abdullah
wrote :—
“ It may be that an Arab of true race will assume the Khalifate at Mecca or
Medina, and so good may come by the help of God out of all the evil that is now
occurring.”
On the strength of this message, Abdullah, on the occasion of King Husein’s
coronation in November 19 1(5, and His Majesty’s Government’s message of congratulation
5G
61
241296/1G. 57 248796/16. 68 251680/16. 59 104269/17. 60 117999/'] 7.
126081/17, 187978/17, 141418/17 (the Idrisi) and 16262a/17, 118989/17, 119702/17 (biu 8aud).
182183/16 and 215155/16 (No. 142).
[883]
F
18^1
62
About this item
- Content
This file contains correspondence, memoranda, maps, manuscript notes, and other papers relating to the political and territorial settlement of parts of the Middle East following the First World War. Many of the papers were collected for the attention of the Middle East Committee (later named the Eastern Committee, following the mergence of the Foreign Office's Russia Committee and the interdepartmental Persia Committee) of the War Cabinet. Contributors include officials from the War Office, Foreign Office, Admiralty, and 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. , as well as indivduals such as Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence. Correspondence comes from representatives of the French and Italian governments as well as British officials in Cairo and other parts of the Middle East.
The papers deal with plans for the region presuming and following an Allied victory in the First World War and take into consideration the imperial ambitions of the victorious European Powers (France, Italy, Russia, Britain, and the United States) and the multitudinous commitments made by the British to various groups. The plans are based on evolving agreements rooted in the Sykes-Picot, or Asia Minor, Agreement between the British and French of 1916. Regions under consideration include the Hejaz (sometimes written Hedjaz), Syria, Northern Iraq, Southern Iraq, Palestine, Armenia, Turkey, the Idrisi state, Yemen, Persia, and Afghanistan. Various matters are covered in the file, but particular focus is given to plans for the Sherifian family of the Hejaz, led by King Husein [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī], which impacted upon policy in Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and the Arabian Peninsula. Other matters include the situation between Jews and Arabs in Palestine, wartime commitments to ruling shaikhs in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , the French position in the region, and desiderata of the Government of India for any peace settlement.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (187 folios)
- Arrangement
The file is arranged in chronological order from the front to the back.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front first page with 1, and terminates at the inside back last page with 187; 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.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- Mss Eur F112/277
- Title
- Papers on British policy and the Arab movement
- Pages
- 1ar:1av, 1r:14r, 14r:14v, 14v, 22r:59v, 62r:98r, 99v:120v, 125r:133v, 136r:165r, 166r:167r, 167av, 168r:173r, 175r:176v, 178r:187v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence