"تقارير إدارية ١٩٢٠-١٩٢٤" [و‎‎٨‎٧] (٤١٢/١٧٨)

PERSIAN GULF POLITICAL RESIDENCY, 1921.
6?
^proceeded via Khadhra and attacked the inhabitants of HaiyanijAh ; he had
then turned south aud defeated Ibn Rashid's force at Sakhariyat, killing 300;
the enemy had retired to Hail, and Muhammad had encamped at Yatib!
Eaisal had gone to Shu'aibah and made various attacks from there. In
another letter, dated four days later, he informed Shaikh Ahmad that Sa'ud
had advanced against Ibn Talal at Qaisumah ; he, however, had not awaited
his attack, but had retired and split up his force; Sa'ud had followed and
defeated one portion at Burait. These Shammar had all surrendered, and
Ibn Sa'ud had ordered them to encamp near the Tawal adh-Dhafir so as to
be well away from Hail. He said that his force was camping between Lainah
and Kharisah, where^ there was good grazing, with the object of investing
Hail, all the villages of Jabal Shammar having surrendered.
The blockade of Hail continued without any marked result till August;
it was not very close, however, and a certain amount of foodstuffs were got
into the town. In a letter, dated 6th August, Ibn Sa'ud informed the Shaikh
of Kuwait that he was shortly starting for Shu'aibah, north-east of Hail,
with a large force of Ikhwan, to personally conduct the siege of Hail.
Writing to the Political Agent on the 4th September, he said that Faisal
ad-Dawish was at Jathamiyah, ten miles north of Hail, facing Ibn Talal,
who was at Namsiyah, a few miles distant. Ibn Talal apparently did not
know^ that he (Ibn Sa'ud) was advancing against him, and he hoped to
surprise him.
In a subsequent letter, dated I4th September, Ibn Sa'ud informed the
Political Agent that Paisal ad-Hawish and Ibn Talal had fought an engage
ment on the 7th September, in which the latter was defeated and lost 200
killed. He himself had joined Paisal ad-Dawish at Jathamiyah on the 8th
and had ordered a general attack on the morning of the 9th. The enemy
had broken as soon as his artillery opened fire, and had split into two parties,
one of which made for Hail and the other took refuge in some forts. Ibn
Sa'ud's force had pursued the former right up to the town, and had shelled
the other party out of the forts and captured all their munitions, including
three guns and three machine guns. He estimated that the enemy had lost
500 killed in the two days 'fighting. Ibn Talal had sued for peace, but he had
demanded his unconditional surrender and the evacuation of the town, and
had not yet received his reply.
In the above letter Ibn Sa'ud made no mention of his own casualties,
but from subsequent reports it appears that they were extremely heavy; in
fact, the fighting appears to have resulted in a reverse for Ibn Sa'ud, rather
than the signal victory which he claimed.
In a letter, dated the 3rd November, Ibn Sa'ud informed the Political
Agent that the people of Hail had again sued for peace and had accepted all
his terms, and that the town was in his hands with all its defences and
garrison, as also were Ibn Talal and the rest of the Eashid family.
Ibn Sa'ud appointed Ibrahim bin Salim as-Subhan Governor of Hail on
his behalf, and himself returned to Riyadh, taking Ibn Talal and some other
members of the Rashid family with him.
The Boundaries of Kuwait.
The question of the boundary between Kuwait and Najd was one of the
chief causes of the quarrel between the late Shaikh Salim and Ibn Sa'ud, the
former claiming a frontier which started from the south side of the Khor
az-Zubair at its junction with the Khor 'Abdullah, and passed iust to the
south of Umm Qasr, Safwan and Jabal Sanam, and westward to the Batin •
then south-west along the Batin to Hafar al-Batin; then south-east so as to
include the wells of Safah, Qar'ah, Habah, and Wabrah, and the village
of Anta ; and thence eastwards to the coast. Ibn Sa'ud on the other hand
claimed the whole country up to the walls of Kuwait, all of which, he said
. . belonged to his grandfather and great-grandfather before the temporary
intrusion of the Turks. In 1920 both parties had asked His Majesty's
Government to arbitrate m the matter, but it had been impossible to arrange a
meeting between the two rulers.