"ملف 61/11 V (D 95) مسائل متنوعة خاصة بالحجاز ونجد" [ظ‎‎١‎٩‎٧] (٥٣٠/٤١١)

30
Lfl#
once as far as London. Quite a clever fellow and said to have amassed some 4$\
£20,000. Was recently reported to contemplate the creation of a canning industry Ltiie 1 '
at Wejh. Probably holds the speed record for Arabia, as he did the journey by
car between Riyadh and Mecca in thirty-one hours a year or two ago, and is said o!r
to have reduced this recently to twenty odd. Some feat for a distance of about ^
600 miles over Arabian cc roads." iffl*'
I |P
84. Salih ihn 'Abdul-Wahid. Lattt
Governor of Qaf. Transferred from the Governorship of Al-'Ala to his !i f ^
present post in 1931. A man of no great standing, but of some importance as s f
being the Sa'udi Governor nearest to the Transjordan frontier and not a nice Pti
neighbour by all accounts. Probably identical with man of the same name whose r B
appointment as Ibn Sa'ud's representative with the Idrisi was announced in June
1927 and who played an important role in the Idrisi's entourage, e.g., at the time ^
of the negotiations regarding the Red Sea Petroleum Company's concession in
the Farsan Islands.
85. Salih Ihn Ahu Bakr Shata.
a ^ 011 ^ ^ ponies of a learned family in Mecca, where he was born. W 80
Much employed on committees for Waqfs, grain distribution, &c., under the
Hashimite regime. Fled to Jedda after the Sa'udi capture of Taif. Was one itrf c
of the Hejazi notables who compelled the abdication of King Huseyn in October itW
1924 and rallied in due course to Ibn Sa'ud. Became one of two assistants to the
Aimr Faysal in his capacity as Viceroy. Spoken of in 1930 as a possible Minister
or Education in a Cabinet then rumoured to be in contemplation, but, if the
rumour was true, the project was not pursued. When the Cabinet was eventually
organised on its present lines early in 1932 and the Amir Faysal was given the
Ministry of the Interior, as well as others, Salih Shata was made his chief
assistant in that Ministry and is still the administrative head of it.
86. Sdayri Family.
Take their name from the district of Sdayr in Nejd. Are related to
Ibn Sa ud through the fact that his mother was a Sdayri. He has, moreover
taken two wives from the family. Three members of the family have come to
notice in recent years, viz. :—
(1) A hdullah as-Sdayri, Governor of Tebuk since about the beginning of
1931.
(2) TurU as-Sdayri, appointed at the same time Governor of Jauf or Skaka
to which the seat of government was transferred shortly before or after. Has
just been chosen as Governor-General of 'Asir to reside at 'Abha and will be
succeeded at Skaka by—
(3) 'Ahdul-'Aziz as-Sdayri, Governor designate of Jauf-Skaka.
Little is known of No. (3), but (1) and (2) have been men of might in their
setting.
87. Sha'ibi Family.
Important in Mecca as the Keeper ship of the Key of the Ka'aba is hereditary
in the family. The prerogative is very lucrative because all persons entering the
Ka aba are supposed to make a present to the Keeper according to their means.
The family are admittedly descendants of the Quraysh tribe, but not of the
Prophet. It is claimed that the pedigree is continuous from pre-Islamic times
and that the right to keep the key also dates from that early period. According
to one story, there was a blot on the escutcheon in the 19th century, when the male
descent failed and the succession passed through a lady of the family who married
a slave. The late Keeper's physical appearance suggested that this might be
true, but there is no proof of it. Another branch of the family, claiming similar
descent, formerly lived m Tunis, but now resides in Mecca. The present Keeper
of the Key is— F
(1) Muhammad ash-Sha'ihi, an elderly man, probably the nephew of the late
Keeper, who died in January last and whom this relative was appointed to
suce^rl