"ملف 61/11 IV (D 77) مسائل متنوعة خاصة بالحجاز ونجد" [و‎‎١‎٤‎٧] (٣٦٦/٣٠٩)

Q. What happened to you after you came to Jedda ?
A. I was playing with some other boys near Kandara. Some Bedouin came
and took me. They carried me off to Ganuna. They took me all the way by camel.
They sold me to somebody in Ganuna. The name of the man who bought me was
Ahmed-bin-Ghasin. I remained with him about three years and was all the time
at Ganuna. After three years Ahmed brought me to Mecca and sold me to
Shakir-abu-Jemal. I remained with Shakir in Mecca about five years. After
that Shakir sent me to Medina with his family at the beginning of the war of
Ibn Saud. Shakir himself stayed in Mecca. I stayed about one year in
Medina with the family of Shakir. Then the Amir Muhammad, son of Ibn
Saud, entered Medina and he took me. I remained with him three days. Then
he sent me as a gift to Ebn Musaad at Hail. I remained with Ibn Musaad at
Hail about six years. Ibn Musaad is the nephew of Ibn Jiluwi, who is in Hasa.
Ibn Musaad is the Amir of Hail. After those six years Ibn Musaad sent me to
Abdullah-bin-Suleiman at Mecca. I remained with Abdullah-bin-Suleiman
about one year and a half. Then I came to Jedda, having escaped from my
master. My master was not in Mecca when I ran away, but his brother
Hamad-as-Suleiman was there.
Q. In whose house were you just before you came to the Legation
A. I was in the house of Hamid-as-Suleiman. It is one house with the house
of Abdullah. My master was Abdullah.
Q. How long had you been in that house ?
A. I was in that house one year and a half'.
Q. Did your master buy you from anyone else, or were you given to him as
a present ?
A. I was given to Abdullah as a present.
Q. Why did you leave your master?
A. I left my master because if I asked him for anything he refused it.
Q. They say that you are a slave of the King. What do you say?
A. I was not sent to the King. I do not know the King and he does not
know me. I was never in the King's house. I was never in the house of any of
the King's sons or brothers after the Amir Muhammad sent me to Hail.
Q. But they say that Abdullah-bin-Suleiman brings many slaves for the
King, and that many of the slaves in the house of Abdullah-bin-Suleiman belong
to the King. What do you say ?
A. When Abdullah-bin-Suleiman brings slaves for the King he sends them
immediately to the King and they are kept in the King's house. The slaves that
are kept in the house of Abdullah-as-Suleiman belong to Abdullah-as-Suleiman.
Q. Do you know your age when you came from Suakin to Jedda?
A. I do not know at all my age. Some people tell me that my age was about
6 years.
Q. Were you always a Moslem as long as you remember ?
A. I know myself as a Moslem, and I always pray.
Q. But sometimes children who are born in Africa are not Moslems and are
made Moslems. If you were circumcised when you were a boy you would
remember it, because it hurts.
A. It is true. When I came I was young and I did not know anything about
myself. I do not remember anything about it or about being circumcised. When
I came to Jedda with Muhammad just before the pilgrimage time we went to
Mecca, and we came back to Jedda for about ten days, and then the Bedouin
stole we while I was playing.
Enclosure 3 in No. 1.
Minister for Foreign A ffairs to Sir A. Ryan.
(Translation.) Mecca, Ramadhan 10, 1350.
Your Excellency, {January 18, 1932.)
I HAVE the honour to acknowledge receipt of your Excellency's note dated
31st December (21st Sha'ban) regarding the male slave who sought refuge in the
British Legation.
[381 r—1] B 2