"الجزيرة العربية: العداء بين نجد والحجاز" [و‎‎١‎٣] (٨/٦)

APPENDIX L
Bin Saud's Claim to Khurma.
[Extract from Memorandum hij Mr. Philbtj, dated 13th August 1918.)
Ibii Sand most iiiidoubtedly claims Khurma as being within liis jurisdiction—he
does so not on y on relig.ous and territorial grounds but also on historical, admini-
stiative and tnha! grounds. He therefore considers tiie Sheriff's action as aggressive
and hostile to h.mself As I have said before, this is the chief disputed point between
the two parties, and Ibn Sand has again and again asserted his willingness that the
iJntish Crovernment should adjudicate on the dispute on its merits "it may be as
well to be a little more precise regarding the grounds of Ibn Saud's claim.
{a) miglous —The whole pojmlation of Khurma, Ashraf and Subai, Bada and
JJadlir are ot tlie VVahhabi persuasion, and, moreover, have joined the inner brother-
hood of that sect, namely the Akhwan. As such they regard all non -Wahhabis aa
Mnshnkm (heretics; and Kaffar (infidels), and look np to Ibn Sand as their Imam and
temporal ruler. As far as I can ascertain they have been Wahhabis (or Hanbalis)
liom all time they ha^e become Akhwan largely in self defence against the Sheriff's
aggression dating from some years back, and particularly since the Sheriff tried last
year to impose a Qadhi on them with a view to breaking up their Wahhabi tendencies.
As Wahhabis and Akhwan they have a religions claim on the protection of the people
of Najdand Ibn Sand.
. W Territorial.—High Commissioner points out that Khurma is only 80 miles in
a direct line from To if. That may be true, but scarcely proves that Khurma is in
the Iledjaz. 1 belie\o I am the only European who has ever seen Khurma and the
country round it; 1 speak, therefore, with a full sense of my responsibility, and my
considered view is that the boundary of the Iledjaz, in the widest sense in which that
term is capable of being used, runs (in the tract under consideration) along the
eastern edge of the Shaib Shaba south-westward to Tnraba. Ihis is undoubtedly the
recognised boundary between the Buqnm and Subai tribes, and a reference to my
route chart will show that it comes np to within 10 miles of Khurma. This is my
opinion, while Ibn Sand and others with whom 1 have had opportunities of discussing
the matter carry the boundary back 50 miles westward to the Wadi Aqiq. I believe
this latter boundary can be established by Turkish documentary evidence, as the line
of the Aqiq was agreed upon in the seventies between the Turkish authorities and
Ibn Rashid as being the natural boundary between the Hedjaz and Najd. However,
I should feel inclined to disregard this evidence as the Buqum and Shalassa are, to
my view, undoubtedly Hedjaz tribes. In my opinion, therefore, the Shaib Shaba is
the only possible natural boundary, and, if this view is accepted, Khurma (though
only 10 miles from the Hedjaz boundary) lies in Najd.
(c) Tribal. —The Khurma tract is peopled wholly by the Subai tribe, which is
essentially a tribe of Najd, and extends through its whole breadth from the Summan
to Wadi Subai. In view of this Ibn Sand claims jurisdiction over the Subai of
Khurma, but is prepared to renounce his claim if the Subai themselves express a
preference for Sheriffian rule; he is not, however, prepared to abandon them to the
tender mercies of the Sheriff so long as they claim his protection and acknowledge his
rule.
{d) Historical and Administrative. —These grounds may be considered together.
High Commissioner is informed that Khalid was nominated Amir of Khurma four
years ago by the Sheriff. This is improbable on the face of it, as Khalid, according to
my information, succeeded his cousin Ghalib on the latter's death in the ordinary
course of inheritance, and, like other Amirs of Najd, has regularly made his annual
visit to Riyadh to receive his subsidy and presents ever since as his predecessor did
before him. In any case if any formal appointment by the Sheriff took place, and
was acknowledged by Khalid himself, he ought .to be in a position to produce
documentary evidence. What he in all probability means (turning the circumstance
to suit his own present requirements) is that when Ghalib died his successor, Khalid,
was formally recorded in the Turkish registers as the rightful recipient of the Haj
Surra paid by the Turkish Government to all tribes in a position to annoy the annual
pilgrim caravans. That is a very different matter, and proves nothing, as the pages
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