File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎408r] (820/898)

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for them they have so assiduously disseminated the opinion that King Hussein is a
cat’s paw of England, that an immediate reconciliation with him is impossible. It
would be natural, then, that they should put out feelers to test public opinion, and
Badshah Mian is possibly such a feeler. He goes back a strong supporter of King
Hussein as Caliph; he has enough influence to carry some people with him but
,p-^probably not enough to discredit the Caliphate Committee if he fails. Another
year or two of this kind of thing and King Hussein and the Indian Moslem leaders
might be ready to unite : the King might think he had enough backing in India to
warrant a breach with England, and a breach would itself increase his following.
I he breach would peihaps be a definite rupture of negotiations for a treaty on a
point where King Hussein nad a specious case for the Moslem world, e.g., the
impropriety of leaving Jerusalem, the third holy city of Islam, under a foreign
mandate. He would like to be King of the Arab countries and Caliph of Islam, too,
but there is no doubt that it is the second title he covets most keenly, and if he could
conciliate Indian Moslems by breaking with His Majesty’s Government, he would
have to pay for that valuable—indeed, decisive—support only an ambition which
by now he must realise it is impossible to attain.
This ambition must have received a check from the recent decision of His
Majesty’s Government to insist on adequate military and financial control in
Transjordania and to refuse to allow the Ma’an district, which is part of the
mandatory area, to continue to be administered from Mecca. In replying to
communications from His Majesty’s Government on these points, King Hussein
claims that the Amir Abdullah has been administering Transjordania on behalf of
‘ the Central Government,” i.e., the Hashimite Government at Mecca. He also deals
with the matter, in his usual way, in the press. Readers of the “ Kiblah ” are invited
to admire the efficiency of Hedjaz officials as shown by a power of attorney issued in
“ the Vilayet of Ma’an, which is directly dependent on the capital.” The document,
which is quoted in full, describes itself as being issued “ in the Hedjazian Vilayet of
Ma’an, which is dependent on the capital, Mecca.” In regard to the recent murder
of a French officer and his wife on the Syrian border—the incident which finally made
it impossible to leave to the Amir Abdullah full responsibility for the military control
of Transjordania—the “ Kiblah ” suggests that this odious crime, so contrary to the
religion and the customs of the Arabs, was committed by some enemy in order to bring
the Arabs into disrepute. However, the (probably royal) writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. does not seem to
believe in this theory himself very strongly (this is not surprising, since one of the
strongest Arab customs is the blood feud) for he goes on to advocate “ noble legal
steps ” for the vindication of “ Arab rights.”
/ A glowing communique was issued from Jeddah through Reuter reporting the
complete defeat of an enormous Wahabi army by the Transjordanian forces. There
was hardly a figure mentioned which was below a thousand. The Arab war
correspondent is the counterpart in anthropology of those savages who cannot
calculate beyond three : numbers below a thousand mean nothing to him.
Pilgrim ships leaving for India have carried in all 13,908 passengers. In order
to enable all the pilgrims waiting in Jeddah to leave, the two last boats—no other
being due for three weeks or more—were authorised by this agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. to carry about
10 per cent, over the certificate number. There are now probably a thousand Indian
pilgrims in the country, of whom nearly all left for Medina after the Hajj. Several
hundred of them are rich merchants who intend to go home via Palestine and Irak.
The others will have to get back to Jeddah somehow. It is encouraging to find that
a caravan of Afghans and frontier Indians has just arrived at Jeddah from Medina.
They travelled via Rabigh. They paid £4J a camel, i.e., only £2^ each, or less than
half the train fare from Medina to Ma’an. They saw no Bedouin, and paid no toll.
This successful trip and the high cost of the Akaba-Ma’an route will probably induce
many others to return by camel, though it is not to be expected that all will get
through without paying toll.
Last month it was reported that all the Indians who were in the abortive Medina
caravan had received £10 a camel as compensation. This statement needs
modification. All, or nearly all, gave receipts for £10, but some are believed to have
received only £8 or £9. How this happened is not quite clear. What is certain is
that the amount awarded was perfectly well known, and that all Indians who insisted
on having it received it. Whether the others were deluded or over-persuaded cannot
be said. Probably over-persuaded. This agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. recently took up strongly a case
where an Indian, according to his own statement and to other evidence, had been
swindled by a mutawwif over expenses for his father’s funeral The complainant
[724 p—2] b 2