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Papers on British policy and the Arab movement [173r] (351/380)
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.
11
agreements with the Sheikh, which were recognised by the Turkish Government in
the Anglo-Turkish Convention of the 29th July, 1913, had placed him, with the
exception of this Turkish suzerainty, in a “trucial” relationship to His Majesty’s
Government. From the trucial point of view, the existing agreements appear satis
factory
An East India Company trading post.
. But if it is desired to modify or amplify them at some future date, this can
now be done without reference to Turkey. On this head, therefore, the assurance to
the Sheikh of Koweit is at least as much in our interest as in his.
As regards Safwan, Umm Kasr, and Bubiyan, the guarantee against Turkish
reprisals for an attack on the Turkish military posts there on the part of the Sheikh
has, of course, been fully redeemed, and is now an obsolete question. The important
point is the permanent political ownership of the places referred to.
Bubiyan is an island at the mouth of the Shatt-el-Arab, and Safwan and Umm
Kasr are forts on the mainland just north of it. All three had been in dispute for
many years before the war between the Sheikh of Koweit and Turkey. The Anglo-
Turkish Convention of the 29th July, 1913, effected a compromise, assigning Bubiyan
Island to the direct territories of the Sheikh, while Safwan and Umm Kasr forts were
excluded even from his outer sphere of tribal allegiance, and were assigned to the
Turkish vilayet of Basra.
Our assurance practically commits us to recognising Sheikh Salim’s sovereignty
over Safwan and Umm Kasr, as well as Bubiyan. But since the Sheikh is in a trucial
relationship with us, our position at Basra would in no way be injured by this, nor does
the possession of these forts by the Sheikh appear to conflict with any other British
interest.
The assurance regarding the Sheikh’s date gardens is on the same footing as that
given to the Sheikh of Mohammerah.
As regards the treaty with the Sheikh of al-Katar, the only point on which it goes
beyond the normal type of “ trucial treaty ” is the undertaking, under article 11, that
His Majesty’s Government’s good offices shall be used on the Sheikh’s behalf in the
event of unprovoked aggression against him by land. But the assurance is so vague and
guarded that it hardly constitutes a serious innovation.
[972]
ken.
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