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File 3666/1925 'ARABIA: PRINTED CORRESPONDENCE 1924-28' [‎158v] (327/792)

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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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It is confidently rumoured that a Fatwa has been issued authorising the
destruction or demolition of the dome over the Prophet’s Tomb in Medina and
that Bin Saud is awaiting the departure of the pilgrims before he proceeds with
this further act of vandalism.
A great number of pilgrims were beaten by the police for smoking and other
slight irregularities of the Wahabi creed but what perhaps caused the greatest
indignation amongst the orthodox Moslems was the fact that on several occasions
the Haram was cleared of pilgrims making the ” Tawaf, i.e., the circumambulat
ing of the Kaaba seven times, in order that the Sultan’s women and other members
of his family, his father included, could perform this duty in comfort. Such pro
cedure has I believe never taken place since the time of the Prophet and caused
great indignation.
Further when Bin Saud approached the Kaaba to kiss the " Black Stone”
it was first carefully wiped over with a scented rag. 1 his also though undoubt
edly hygenic was considered a sacrilege.
Great inconvenience was caused to the pilgrims by the fact that one day
before the journey to Arafat many of the camelmen went away with their camels
as they were afraid that there would be a clash between the overseas pilgrims
and the Akhwan and this So reduced the number of animals available that many
of the pilgrims were forced to walk or pay an exorbitant sum for camel hire.
At Arafat and Mina and more particularly the latter place where the pilgrims
are supposed to stone the devil many pedestrians were trampled to death by the
camels of the Akhwan who forced their animals through the crowds to throw
a stone at the pillar.
The sanitary arrangements were non-existent and two days before the pil
grimage coinciding with the arrival of the bulk of the Nejdis the Ain Zebaida water-
supply was blocked and the pilgrims in Mecca could obtain little or no drinking
water and had to pay as much as 10 piasters for a tin of brackish well water.
At Arafat and Mina where the sacrifice of animals takes place no arrangements
whatever were made to dispose of the carcasses and after two or three days in the
hot sun I am informed, and can well believe, that the stench was awful.
Bin Saud talking to a representative of the International Quarantine Board
excused himself for the shortcomings of this pilgrimage by stating that they had
had no time to make all the arrangements that they should have liked to have made
and that long before next season he was appointing a committee to thoroughly
organise the sanitary and other necessary measures to assure the greater comfort
and well being of the pilgrims. Also that the Bedouin, i.e.,his own Nejdis would
be prevented from bringing their camels to Arafat and Mena and causing the damage
and harm that thev have done this year.
• •
Another fact which has not in any way added to the reputation of the present
regime is that now that the pilgrims are leaving the Hejaz and in contradiction
to Bin Saud’s assurances and published list of fees chargeable to pilgrims, a further
fee of 33 Egyptian piasters by way of quarantine tax is being charged.
A telegraphic protest against this fee being charged addressed to the King
personally by me some days ago has been ignored to date and the fee is still being
charged and collected by the Mutawwifs.
The incident of the Mahmal merely goes to show how essentially uncivilized
the Arab of the interior of Arabia really is.

The Mahmal with escort left Mecca on the afternoon of the 19th June to proceed
to Arafat and at about half past seven in the evening during a temporary halt
a crowd of Akhwan gathered around and using insulting language to the Emir-
ul-Haj and the escort of the Mahmal began to throw stones at the Mahmal itself
and the escort. It was only after the attitude of the Akhwan became threatening
that the Emir-ul-Haj formed up his escort and after several shots had been fired
by the Bedouin that he ordered his people to fire. It is estimated that at least
30 people were killed including seven sheikhs of the Akhwan.
The fortuitous arrival of Bin Saud on the scene calmed down both parties
and what might easily have degenerated into a general massacre was thereby
avoided.

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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' [‎158v] (327/792), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1155, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100145454963.0x000080> [accessed 6 October 2024]

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