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Papers on British policy and the Arab movement [153v] (310/380)
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.
The French Government have consented (No. 11, article 11) that “ the negotiations with the
Arabs as to the boundaries of the Arab State or Confederation {i.e., the negotiations with King Husein)
shall be continued through the same channel as before” the Agreement of 1916 (i.e., through Hist
Majesty’s Government), and they have observed this understanding in practice—for instance, in the
negotiations regarding King Husein’s title, referred to above.
On the other hand, there has been a French military mission at Jeddah and a French Moslem
agent at Mecca. And the latter was not only instructed to deal with the Hejaz Government
regarding pilgrimage facilities for the Moslem subjects of France (a matter in which His Majesty s
Government could not, and would not desire to, prevent the maintenance of direct relations between
the Hejaz and other outside Powers), but was given written instructions regarding certain purely
political questions, which were communicated at the time to His Majesty’s Government by the trench
Ambassador. This has created an awkward precedent, and in subsequent negotiations (which were
not, however, carried to a conclusion) we virtually admitted that France has a status in the Hejaz
which is in some manner an exception to the general political priority of Great Britain in the Arabian
Peninsula.
It may be expected, moreover, that Italy will claim any privileges that are acquired by France.
3. Mesopotamia (Irak and parts of Jezireh),
(a.) His Majesty’s Government are pledged to King Hnsein that the whole of this
area shall be independent ” and “ Arab,” but King Husein has consented that
Great Britain shall take “ special measures of administrative control ” in the former
Turkish vilayets of Basra and Bagdad (together = Irak). King Husein suggested that
this rdgime should be short, and that he should be compensated for it by a contribution
from Mesopotamian revenues, but His Majesty’s Government have not committed
themselves to any" such payment, nor to any limitations on their control, either of
period or function.
As regards those parts of Jezireh which go naturally with Irak (see below), King Husein has
neither been asked to concede, nor has conceded, any reservations in regard to the independence
assented to by us.
(6.) France and Italy have agreed (No. 11, article 2, and No. 12, article 1) that
Great Britain shall establish such direct or indirect administration or control in the
Bed Area as she desires and may think fit to arrange with the Arab State or
Confederation (see below), and that she shall have political and economic priority in
Area B (which covers part of Mesopotamia).* France has also agreed to guarantee to
Great Britain a “ given supply ” of water from the Tigris and Euphrates in Area A for
Area B.
His Majesty’s Government on their part are pledged to France to recognise and
uphold an independent Arab State or Confederation, under the suzerainty of an Arab
chief, in Area B ; not to cede their rights in the Red Area to any third Power, except
the Arab State or Confederation, without the previous consent of the French
Government (No. 11, article 9); and not to extend the Bagdad Bailway northwards
beyond Samarra, until a railway connecting Bagdad with Aleppo via the Euphrates
Valley has been completed.
Further, that in the Bed Area and Area B the existing Ottoman customs tariff is
to remain in force for twenty years, and that there are to be no internal customs
barriers between any of the “ coloured ” or “ lettered ” areas.
Moreover, those parts of Jezireh which go naturally with Irak (that is, at least the
parts east of the line Verdi-Jeziret Ibn Omar, including Jebel Sinjar and Mosul) are
included in Area A, in which we have agreed that France shall have political and
economic priority, under the same conditions as we in Area B.
(c.) We are also pledged to the Sheikh of Koweit (No. 5), the Sheikh of
Mohammerah and Bin Saud, that Basra shall never again be subject to Turkish authority.
The same assurance has been given verbally to the notables of Basra vilayet, and the
Viceroy of India, in a speech delivered at Basra on the 3rd February, 1915, to a local
deputation, indicated plainly, though not expressly, that Turkish administration would
not be restored.
(d.) As regards the (Shia) Holy Cities in Mesopotamia, they were included
specifically in the Government of India’s Proclamation concerning Moslem Holy Places
(No. 4), and in the similar assurance to the Gulf Chiefs, hut reference to them was
carefully avoided in our negotiations with King Husein. Lord Grey of Fallodon also
avoided discussion of their status in his conversation with the Aga Khan on the subject
* Including the country of the Amarat-Anazeh tribe, on the Mesopotamian side of the Syrian steppe.
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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Papers on British policy and the Arab movement [153v] (310/380), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/277, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100079857499.0x00006f> [accessed 17 June 2026]
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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