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File 3666/1925 'ARABIA: PRINTED CORRESPONDENCE 1924-28' [‎359v] (729/792)

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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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90
part of Arabic and champions of the ice, that Islam should revert to the pristine
I urity in which it was vouchsafed by Allah and preserved by the first four Caliphs.
The Wahabis won, because they were fighting with a clear conscience and for
Islam. Now practically all the Hedjaz, except a few ports, is in their hands, and
King Hussein is reduced to seeking refuge at Akaba, where his life is in such im
minent danger that he always retires at night to a ship kept ready to convey him,
if need be, to England. It is an open secret that the Wahabi movement was en
tirely financed by Indian Moslems, who hate King Hussein, because he has plun
dered, not only his own people, but also the pilgrims resorting annually to Mecca
to fulfil their religious duties.
Now that this usurper has been driven from his capital, the Caliphate question
has assumed a more urgent aspect. Not long ago the Sheikh-es-Senussi, the Emir
I bn Saoud, and certain Indian Moslem emissaries assembled at Mecca to discuss the
measures necessary for the re-establishment of the holy office. It is not known
for certain whether representatives of Egypt were present. That the conference
was held with the cognisance and approval of Turkey is tolerably clear from the
presence of the Sheikh-es-Senussi, who had made his way from Africa to
Constantinople during the war and had supported Kemal Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. during his fight for
the independence of Turkey. On his way from Constantinople to Mecca he passed
through Syria with the consent of the French, the English having refused him
access to the regions under their administration. From Damascus he and his
suite proceeded in six motor-cars probably placed at their disposal by the Turkish
Government.
, J o'
The decisions adopted at the Mecca conference are not yet fully known, but
it would seem that the prevailing tendency was in favour of the re-establishment
of the Caliphate at Mecca with the assent and help of all Moslem States. Its
ultimate upkeep would be collectively undertaken by all Moslem States, each of
which would further contribute a small detachment of troops to form the Caliph’s
body-guard. Temporal power over all Arabia would be vested in Ibn Saoud,.
Sultan of Nejd.
The Sheikh-es-Senussi is mentioned as likely to be the first Caliph under the
new system.
Annexure III.
Letter from His Majesty’s Consul, Sarajevo, to His Majesty's Minister,
Belgrade, dated 29th April, 1925.
I have the honour to subjoin a translation of a mischievous article published
to-day in the Sarajevo " Pravda ”, the organ of the Yugoslav Moslem Organiza
tion, the evident purpose of which is to damage the reputation of Great Britain
in the eyes of the local Moslems, to contribute to friction between England and
France, and to enhance the prestige of the Angore Republicans.
It is not unlikely that both this article and the one mentioned in my despatch.
No. 36 of yesterday owe their inspiration to a party of four Arabs, two from
Damascus and two from Mecca, who are at present in Sarajevo and are believed
to have been in touch with Mohammed Effendi Mujiagio, one of the Kadies of the
Sher'iyyet Court, who was associated in my despatch No. 15 of February 27th
with a violent diatribe against England in connection with Palestine;
If it is a correct surmise that these individuals have been entrusted with a
mission of some kind, statements they are reported to have made taken in conjunc
tion with the tenor of the article described in my despatch No. 36 suggest that they
may be promoting the candidature of the Sheikh-es-Senussi for the Caliphate.
One of them is said to have the intention of proceeding shortly to Delhi and
another has mentioned Southern Russia as his next destination. Any further in
formation obtainable regarding their identity and activities shall be reported to
His Majesty's Legation.
British Policy in the East.-
" Political tendencies in the East have of late taken a turn very unfavourable
to Great Britain. The dream long cherished by the English of a route
from Egypt to India through Arabia, which was a cause of the Great War, seems-

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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' [‎359v] (729/792), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/1155, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100145454965.0x000082> [accessed 6 October 2024]

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