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File 3666/1925 'ARABIA: PRINTED CORRESPONDENCE 1924-28' [‎20r] (50/792)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (388 folios). It was created in 27 Dec 1924-28 Oct 1929. 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. .

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194
Article 29.—The Viceroy has to take the necessary steps to have this
regulation applied together with Chapter 5 of the decree issued on the 14th
Safar 1346 regarding the organisation of the Sharia Courts.
(192)
Received on 14th January 1928, with Political Secretary's letter No. 52, dated
the 29th December 1927.)
Enclosure in Foreign Office covering letter, dated the 22nd December 1927.
Despatch from the Acting Vice-Consul, Jeddah, to the Foreign Office,
No. 125, dated Jeddah, the 22nd November 1927.
With reference to my telegram No. 65 (Serial No 190), I have the honour
to submit the following report on the recent stay in this port of the Soviet
steamship " Tomp ”.
2. My intention was first drawn to the intended visit by Haji Abdullah,
Kaimakam of Jeddah, when he returned the call I had paid him on my arrival
here. He appeared to have heard of a paragraph in the “ Times ” to the effect
that a Russian ship was bringing pilgrims, flour and sugar to Jeddah, and that
it was hoped to establish a regular commercial service between Odessa and the
Hedjaz. Haji Abdullah reminded me that last year a Russian vessel had called at
the height of the pilgrimage season when, apart from a little natural curiosity, she
had attracted no great attention. The flour she had brought had been easily
absorbed. The kaimakam went on to say, however, that the question of
establishing a regular service was a very different proposition, and if, as was
rumoured, the Russians intended to undersell the current market price, the
Jeddah merchants would sustain heavy losses on the stocks in hand and would
be compelled to place future orders in Russia instead of India. I agreed with
him that such a step would be lamentable but could suggest no remedy. I
pointed out the parallel case of petrol in England and the matter was soon
dropped.
3. It was next mentioned by the manager of Messrs. Gellatly Hankey
(Sudan) (Limited), who informed me that his firm had been asked to act as
agents to the “Tomp,” and wished to know whether there was any objection
to their accepting. I assured him that I saw none, and he therefore notified
the Soviet agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. of his willingness to undertake the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. on the distinct
understanding that no petrol was to be landed, a condition which is explained
by the fact that Messrs. Gellatly Hankey represent the Shell Company in
this country.
4. Almost immediately following came the disturbing news that a mem
ber of the Soviet agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. had been toutins the market for buyers, freely offering
flour and sugar at £1 a ton less than the current price, and adding that he was
prepared to undercut the market at any price.
5. As soon as this news reached the kaimakam’s ears he acted quickly.
Calling together the chief merchants of the town, he drew up a memorial lor
their signature and sent it off to Mecca, begging for protection. As a result
a meeting was arranged at Bahra, on the Mecca road, at which the Amir
Feisal, the Acting Assistant Viceroy and the Director for Foreign Affairs met
for discussion with the kaimakam and another representative Jeddah
merchant.
6. As a consequence of this meeting the Director for Foreign Affairs burst
into Jeddah on the morning of the arrival of the ship, the 11th November, to
inform the consuls concerned that the plan, of which there had been vague
rumours in the town, of levying some sort of discriminative tax on Soviet
goods which would bring their prices up to market level had been abandoned,
and it had been decided to impose a boycott on the goods. He therefore asked
for our co-operation.

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Content

This volume mainly relates to British policy in Arabia, and specifically concerns British relations with Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd, also referred to in the correspondence as Bin Saud]. The papers cover the Hejaz-Nejd War of 1924-25 and political affairs in Ibn Saud's Kingdom of Hejaz and Sultanate of Nejd [Najd] (or the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd, as it became in 1927).

The volume mainly consists of compiled sections of printed correspondence, with each section closing with a report from the British Agent and Consul at Jeddah. The most prominently featured correspondents are as follows: the British Agent and Consul, Jeddah; the Secretary of State for India; the Secretary of State for the Colonies; the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. , Aden; the High Commissioner, Egypt; the High Commissioner, Iraq; the High Commissioner, Palestine; officials of the Colonial Office, the Foreign Office, the Admiralty, 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. ; the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department. Also featured as correspondents are Ibn Saud, King Ali [‘Alī bin Ḥusayn al-Hāshimī], and British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.

Matters covered in the correspondence include the following:

  • Diplomatic relations between Ibn Saud and Britain, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Persia [Iran]
  • Information on developments in the Hejaz-Nejd War of 1924-25, mainly in the form of telegrams and letters from the British Agent and Consul at Jeddah, and British policy regarding the conflict
  • British policy in relation to the fate of the ex-King Hussein [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī]
  • Reports of Wahabi forces having damaged or destroyed holy sites in Mecca and Medina
  • The efforts of King Ali [‘Alī bin Ḥusayn al-Hāshimī] to raise money in Jeddah
  • Details of the Hadda Agreement and the Bahra Agreement, concluded between Sir Gilbert Clayton and Ibn Saud in late 1925
  • Details of King Ali's surrender and abdication on 19 December 1925, and arrangements for his passage out of Jeddah
  • Britain's recognition of Ibn Saud as King of the Hejaz in February 1926
  • British concerns regarding the spread of anti-British opinion in the Hejaz
  • Public outrage in the wider Muslim world regarding the desecration of holy sites by the Wahabis, and the British Government's refusal to become involved, owing to its stated policy of non-intervention in Muslim religious affairs
  • British efforts to ensure the Government of Hejaz's participation in the International Sanitary Convention of 1926
  • Arrangements for a private visit to London by Ibn Saud's son Faisal [Fayṣal bin ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd] in September 1926
  • British concerns regarding Ibn Saud's diplomatic relations with Soviet Russia [Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or USSR]
  • A change to Ibn Saud's title in 1927, from 'King of Hejaz and Sultan of Nejd' to 'King of Hejaz and Nejd'
  • The conclusion of the Treaty of Jeddah in June 1927
  • Relations between Ibn Saud and the Imam of Yemen [Yaḥyá Muḥammad Ḥamīd al-Dīn], and the former's suspicions that the Italian Government has been supplying the Imam with arms
  • Profiles of prominent figures in the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd
  • The number of pilgrims arriving each year for Hajj
  • Tense relations between Ibn Saud and the Iraqi Government, particularly concerning the Uqair Protocol.

Also included with the correspondence are the following: minutes of an interdepartmental conference held at the Colonial Office on 20 May 1926, to discuss matters arising out of Clayton's Mission to Ibn Saud (ff 178-179); a Colonial Office memorandum entitled 'British Interests in Arabia', dated 8 December 1926 (ff 111-113).

The volume includes a small amount of correspondence written in French.

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 (f 1).

Extent and format
1 volume (388 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 388; 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. A previous foliation sequence between ff 118-388, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.

Pagination: each of the various sections of printed correspondence has its own printed pagination sequence.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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File 3666/1925 'ARABIA: PRINTED CORRESPONDENCE 1924-28' [‎20r] (50/792), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1155, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100145454962.0x000033> [accessed 6 October 2024]

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