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File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [320r] (644/898)
The record is made up of 1 volume (445 folios). It was created in 13 Mar 1924-18 Mar 1931. 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.
[1060 a—1]
B
1 This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty’s Government.]
EASTERN (Arabia) .
[September 1, 1925.]
3132
ff tr<»
CONFIDENTIAL.
Section 1.
[E 5228/10/91]
Vice-Consul Jordan to Mr. A usten Chamberlain.—(Received September 1.)
(No. 73. Secret.)
Sir,
Jeddah, August 10, 1925.
I HAVE the honour to enclose a report on the situation covering' the period
the 21st July to the 10th August. ° P
2. Copies of this despatch and of its enclosures are being sent to India, Egypt
Khartum (through Port Sudan), Jerusalem, Bagdad, Beirut (for Damascus), Aden'
Singapore, Bushire, Koweit, Bahrein and Muscat.
I have, &c.
s! R. JORDAN.
Enclosure 1 in No. 1.
Report for the Period July 21-August 10, 1925.
ret.)
DC RING the period under report the internal situation appears to become more
(Secret.)
impossible every day. Amir Ali and his followers are resorting to all possible means
to obtain money, and now that to all intents and purposes it appears impossible to
procure any outside the Hedjaz he has commenced extorting money from the
merchants in Jeddah. This on account of the dire poverty already existing would
appear to be the final effort of Ali to keep his throne, and hold the Wahabis at bay.
About the end of July the kaimakam of the town was instructed to call a meeting
of the principal merchants of Jeddah, and when assembled were informed that the
Government required £20,000, and they, the merchants were to produce it. After
much argument and a blank refusal on the part of the kaimakam and other merchants
(the kaimakam is the principal merchant in the town) the amount was reduced from
£20,000 to £10,000, and the King offered as security certain property of his at
present in Wahabi hands. This also was refused and a deadlock reached. At the
Selamlik on the following Friday the King refused to receive any of the merchants
and ignored them completely. Subsequent arrangements have produced about
£4,000, which has already been paid to the soldiers to keep them in the trenches.
The Government are now forcing merchants, under threat of the confiscation
of their property, to subscribe to this war fund such amounts as the King considers
reasonable, amounts varying from £20 to £200. In this way the tottering throne
may be steadied for a while, but in a town where starvation is rife and business at
a complete standstill it would appear to be only hastening the end. A number of
deaths occur daily from starvation, also from berriberri and scurvy produced by
under-nourishment.
The general state of despondency of the King and Government was considerably
relieved about the 1st August when a letter from Mr. Philby, written from London
and addressed to the Director of Customs, arrived here. He asked on what conditions
the Hedjaz Government would be prepared to grant concessions for oil and railways,
&c., as he had met certain financiers in England who were prepared to put money
into the Hedjaz and had advised them to go on. The King and Foreign Secretary
at first saw in this the end of all their troubles and worries, and were prepared to
grant anything. Potential oil-fields at Dubba, railways, mines and ports sprang
to their minds, and the money, not less than half a million as mentioned to me, was
already as good as in their hands. But they failed to realise that all these sources
of wealth, if they exist, were for the present in Ibn Saud’s hands and likely to remain
there. The Foreign Secretary called one evening to know if Ibn Saud would be
obliged to recognise any concessions granted by them for territory actually in his
hands at present owing to the war. I told him that it was highly improbable, and
that English capitalists would hardly be prepared to put capital into a State where
security could not be reasonably guaranteed. The general state of despondency
again prevails.
About this item
- Content
The volume mostly contains printed copies of despatches from HM Agent and Consul, Jeddah, to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, enclosing reports on the situation in the Hejaz (also spelled Hedjaz in the file) [now a region of Saudi Arabia], from January 1924 to December 1930, and related enclosures to the reports. These despatches were sent to the Under-Secretary of State for India by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. The volume also includes 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. Political and Secret Department minute papers, which include comments on the reports, and indicate that the reports had been seen by the Under-Secretary of State for India and the Political Committee of the Council of India.
The reports are monthly for January to August 1924, May 1925, September 1925 to March 1927, June 1927 to June 1930, and December 1930. Reports between these dates cover shorter periods, except July and August 1930, which are both covered by one report, and September, October and November 1930, which are also covered by one report.
The reports discuss matters including the actions of King Hussein ibn Ali al-Hashimi of the Hejaz, including his attempts to gain recognition as Caliph, and the military and financial situation in the Hejaz during the war between the Hejaz and the Saudi Sultanate of Nejd [Najd]. They report on events of the Hedjaz-Nejd war including: the capture of Taif (September 1924) and Mecca (October 1924) by Nejd; the departure of the ex-King Hussein from Jeddah; the fall of Medina and Jeddah and the surrender of the Hejaz to Sultan Abdul Aziz of Nejd [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd, also known as Ibn Saud] (December 1925); and the formal assumption of the title of King of the Hejaz and Sultan of Nejd and its Dependencies by Ibn Saud (8 January 1925).
The reports following the annexation of the Hejaz by Nejd cover internal affairs, including prohibitions introduced for religious reasons, the Hejaz Railway, the financial situation of the Hejaz-Nejd Government, and the Hejaz Air Force. They also report on foreign relations, including: the publication of an agreement, dated 21 October 1926, between Ibn Saud and Sayyid Hassan-el-Idrisi, establishing the suzerainty of Ibn Saud over Asir; relations between Ibn Saud and Imam Yahya of the Yemen; the situation on the frontiers between Nejd and Iraq, and Nejd and 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 ; and the Treaty of Jeddah between Hejaz-Nejd and Great Britain (20 May 1927). They also report Ibn Saud being proclaimed King of the Hejaz, Nejd and its Dependencies (4 April 1927).
In addition, other frequently occurring topics in the reports are: the Pilgrimage [Hajj], including the arrival of pilgrims in the Hejaz, from India, Java and elsewhere, arrangements for the pilgrimage, the welfare of pilgrims, and the repatriation of pilgrims; and the slave trade and slavery in the Hejaz, including the manumission and repatriation of slaves.
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 (445 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.
The subject 1707 (Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)) consists of one volume only.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 447; 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. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 4-444; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/1115
- Title
- File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:88v, 90r:104v, 106r:108v, 110r:124v, 126r:128v, 129v:132v, 133v, 134v:137v, 139r:145r, 146r:161v, 162v:180v, 183r:205v, 206v:267r, 269r:271v, 273r:288v, 291r:308v, 309v, 310v, 311v, 312v, 313v, 314v, 315v, 316v, 317v:321r, 324r:335r, 337r:378v, 379v:381v, 383v:389v, 391r:393v, 395v:397v, 399r:400r, 402r:446v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence