Abstract: The file contains requests from a few individuals to the Political Agent, Bahrain for: approval of their plans to travel to Saudi Arabia; provision of letters of introduction; help in obtaining permission from the ruler or other relevant Arab authorities in the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz.The file also contains Government of India correspondence about the need to obtain approval from the Hedjaz Government, before granting a Pilgrim Pass to a British Indian subject living in the Punjab, who had converted to Islam and wanted to visit Mecca and Medina.There are several letters and messages in Arabic, mainly in connection with a request from exporters The Hills Brothers Company, Basra to visit date plantations in Hofuf.Physical description: Foliation: numbered 1-15, 17-23 and 25-40 in pencil in the top right hand corner. The numbers 16 and 24 have been omitted. The numbering starts at the front of the file, on the second file enclosure (f.1) and ends on the last file enclosure at the back of the file (f.40).
Abstract: Sketch map depicting the Hejaz-Transjordan frontier and the surrounding area. Indicates boundaries and the Hejaz railway line.Physical description: Materials: Manuscript; black ink on paper.Dimensions: 328 x 204mm, on sheet 335 x 214mm.
Abstract: This file mostly consists of copies of Foreign Office correspondence, which have been forwarded by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State for India. The correspondence, most of which is between Foreign Office officials and either the British Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, succeeded by Sir Reader William Bullard) or His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires at Jedda (Cecil Gervase Hope Gill, Albert Spencer Calvert, and Alan Charles Trott), relates to the economic development of the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia). Other correspondents include the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Trenchard Craven William Fowle) and officials of the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department.The opinion expressed by British correspondents near the beginning of the file is that the unsatisfactory state of the country's finances is a result of its complete dependence on the pilgrimage for income. Much of the file is concerned with various projects (such as water and mineral surveys) sanctioned by Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] in order to explore other sources of revenue.Items of discussion include the following:News that Ibn Saud intends to establish a power station for the purpose of providing Mecca and Jedda with electricity.Ibn Saud's wish to establish a state bank, preferably a British bank, to improve the financial situation in the country.Four reports on the country's water and mineral resources, produced by American engineer and geologist Karl Saben Twitchell in 1932 (copies of three of the four reports are included).The British Minister at Jedda's thoughts on how the economic unification of the newly-formed Saudi Arabia will progress.Proposed improvements to Jedda's water supply.The establishment of an 'Arabian Steam Navigation Company' by the Saudi Government.Details of the Saudi Arabian Mining Syndicate's concession with the Saudi Government for the exploitation of gold and other minerals, which was negotiated by Twitchell, signed in December 1934, and ratified by Ibn Saud in February 1935.Reports of anti-Ibn Saud propaganda in the Indian Muslim press.Details of the Saudi Arabian Mining Syndicate's activities in Saudi Arabia.The history of the Ahrar movement in India, its political party, Majlis-i-Ahrar-i-Islam, and its reported condemnation of the recent Saudi mining concession.The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 251; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-251; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This file concerns international sanitary arrangements in relation to the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia). The file consists almost entirely of copies of Foreign Office correspondence, which have been forwarded by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State for India. Most of the correspondence is between the British Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan) and various Foreign Office officials. Other correspondents include the Italian Ambassador and the Italian Chargé d’Affaires in London.The correspondence principally discusses the following:Reports of objections from the Hejazi Ministry of Foreign Affairs to quarantine measures taken by the Egyptian and Italian sanitary authorities, following suspected cases of cholera among pilgrims at Tor [El-Tor] and Massowa [Massawa, Eritrea].British efforts to persuade the Hejaz-Nejd Government to adhere to the Rome Convention of 1907, in order to secure the right to be represented at the meetings of the Office International d'Hygiène Publique (International Office of Public Hygiene).The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 39; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located at the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 3-39; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: The file concerns postal communications in the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd and, later, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.The file covers:Desire of Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] to establish wireless stations in Hejaz and Nejd, 1926-29Proposed wireless communication between Riyadh and Baghdad, to be provided by the Marconi Company, 1929Training of local subjects, 1931Contract with the Marconi Company, 1931Establishment of postal communications between Hasa [al-Aḥsā’] and foreign countries via Bahrain, 1933New wireless stations in Saudi Arabia, 1933Proposed establishment of wireless telecommunications between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia: negotiations between Cable and Wireless and the Saudi Government, 1934-35Saudi regulations regarding importation and licensing of wireless sets, 1935Proposed conference at Jedda regarding wireless communications in Saudi Arabia, 1935Discussion with Governor-General of Sudan and Cables and Wireless regarding the Jedda - Port Sudan Cable agreement, 1935-40Post and wireless experts required by Saudi Government, 1938Communications between Saudi Arabia and the United States for use of the Arabian American Oil Company, proposed wireless station at Dhahran, 1944.The file is composed of correspondence between: the British Legation to Jeddah; the Foreign Office; the India Office; the High Commissioner for Iraq; the Secretary of State for the Colonies; the Air Ministry; the General Post Office in London; the Legation of Hedjaz and Nejd to London; the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf; the Political Agency at Bahrain; the Viceroy and Governor-General of India in Council; Cable and Wireless, Limited (Imperial and International Communications Limited); the Committee of Imperial Defence; the Governor-General of Sudan; the British Embassy in Cairo; the Resident Minister in Cairo; the United States Embassy in London; the British Embassy in Washington DC; Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO); and the Commonwealth Relations Office.There is a newspaper cutting from
The Times,and extracts from
Um al-Quraand
Sawt al-Hijaz.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 515; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This file, which largely consists of copies of Foreign Office and Colonial Office correspondence, relates to the position and national status of British subjects and protected persons residing in the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia). The correspondence includes discussion of the following:The treatment of foreign chauffeurs employed by the Hejazi Government.Details of a proposed census of all male inhabitants of Hejazi towns, and the possible implications for foreign residents.Reports that the authorities in Mecca are demanding that foreign residents produce documentary proof of their foreign nationality within fifteen days, with the alternatives being either to adopt Saudi nationality or to leave the country within three months.The status in Saudi Arabia of natives of the Hadramaut.Reports of British protected persons of African origin being pressured to leave the country within a period of ten days (or in certain cases, to enter military service).Reports that British Indian chauffeurs and mechanics working in Saudi Arabia have been informed that they cannot continue working in their occupations unless they adopt Saudi nationality, on the grounds that cars which are engaged for military purposes cannot be driven or maintained by foreigners.The file features the following correspondents: His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires to Jedda (Cecil Gervase Hope Gill, succeeded by Albert Spencer Calvert); His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan); the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Saudi Arabia (Fayṣal bin ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd); officials of the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, and the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 2).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 87; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 3-86; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This file, which largely consists of copies of Foreign Office correspondence, discusses details of appointments in the Government of the Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia). Also included are profiles of prominent figures in the Hejazi and Nejdi kingdom. Related matters of discussion include the following:Harry St John Bridger Philby's presence in Jedda.Fuad Bey Hamza's role as Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs for the Hejaz and Nejd.The appointment of Amir Faisal [Fayṣal bin ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd] as Hejazi Minister for Foreign Affairs.The Political Resident in the Persian Gulf's frustration at the Foreign Office's refusal to provide a copy of a publication entitled 'Personalities in Saudi Arabia', on the grounds that such reports should not be distributed to officers who do not serve directly under the Foreign Office.The death of Abdulla bin Jiluwi [‘Abdullāh bin Jilūwī Āl Sa‘ūd], former Governor of Hassa [Hasa].The file features the following principal correspondents: His Majesty's Agent and Consul at Jedda (Hugh Stonehewer Bird, succeeded by William Linskill Bond); His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires to Jedda (William Linskill Bond, succeeded by Cecil Gervase Hope Gill); His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan); the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle); the Political Agent, Bahrain (Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch); officials of the India Office and Foreign Office; correspondents from the Hejazi/Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Amir Faisal in his new role as Minister for Foreign Affairs.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 2).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 74; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-73; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This file concerns personal salutes given by British naval ships to dignitaries in the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia).The correspondence, largely between officials of the Admiralty and the Foreign Office, begins with discussion about the number of gun salutes that should be accorded to members of the Hejazi ruling family and other ruling families in the Gulf. An interdepartmental conference for producing an agreed procedure for all cases is proposed and later deemed unnecessary.Later correspondence discusses which Hejazi dignitaries should be accorded gun salutes and how many gun salutes they should receive. A scale of salutes approved by the Admiralty in March 1931 states that ministerial heads of fighting services should receive seventeen guns, the Governor of Jedda thirteen guns, and governors of other ports seven. The correspondence also discusses whether the same number of salutes should be given to governors of ports in Yemen.Correspondents besides those from the Admiralty and the Foreign Office include the following: Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean; His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan); the British Agent and Consul, Jedda (Hugh Stonehewer Bird); the Viceroy of India; officials of the Colonial Office and the India Office.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 2).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 76; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This volume compiles printed copies of letters, telegrams, memoranda and newspaper extracts relating to Britain's involvement across the Arabian Peninsula during the period 1929-1938. Whilst the correspondence encompasses all matters concerning British interests in the region, much of it relates to Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia). Matters discussed in the correspondence include the following:Reports of unrest in the Hejaz.Relations between Imam Yeha Hamid-Ud-Din [Yaḥyá Muḥammad Ḥamīd al-Dīn, Imam of Yemen] and Ibn Saud.Reports of raids and arms trafficking on the Transjordan-Nejd frontier.Reports of the proceedings of British naval ships in the Red Sea.Details of the Akhwan [Ikhwan] revolt against Ibn Saud, including the movements of one of the revolt's leaders, Faisal Dawish [Fayṣal bin Sulṭān al-Dawīsh], and his surrender to the British in Kuwait.Relations between Kuwait and Nejd.Relations between Iraq and Nejd, including a proposed meeting between Ibn Saud and King Faisal [Fayṣal] of Iraq, and reports of a treaty of alliance between Iraq and Saudi Arabia.Objections from the Hejaz Government to Royal Air Force aircraft flying over Nejd territory.The purchase of arms by the Hejaz Government from Poland.Ibn Saud's annexation of Asir.The death of King Hussein [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī].Harry St John Bridger Philby's conversion to Islam, his mapping of Rub-al-Khali, and his reported spreading of Saudi propaganda in the Aden Protectorate.The currency exchange crisis in the Hejaz-Nejd and the financial situation in the kingdom generally.Reports on a survey of the water and mineral content of the Hejaz coastal area.Relations between Soviet Russia and Saudi Arabia.The emigration of Jews from Yemen to Palestine, via Aden.British fears that Italy might harbour ambitions to annex Yemen.Saudi oil concessions.Italian-Saudi relations.Prominent correspondents include the following: the British Agent (later His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires) at Jeddah; His Majesty's Minister at Jeddah; the High Commissioner for Egypt; the High Commissioner for Iraq; the High Commissioner for Transjordan; the Political Agent, Kuwait; the Political Resident (later Chief Commissioner, and later still, Governor), Aden; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; His Majesty's Ambassador to Iraq; His Majesty's Ambassador to Italy; the Secretary of State for the Colonies; the Minister (and Acting Minister) for Foreign Affairs for the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia); Ibn Saud; King Feisal of Iraq; the Prime Minister of Iraq; various officials of the Colonial Office, the Foreign Office, the Air Ministry, and the Admiralty.The French material in the volume consists of several items of correspondence and a copy of a treaty between France and Yemen, which was signed in April 1936.The volume includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 529; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.Pagination: each section of correspondence within the volume (as described in the arrangement field) has its own pagination sequence.
Abstract: This volume largely consists of copies of Foreign Office correspondence, which have been forwarded by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State for India. The correspondence, most of which is between Foreign Office officials and either the British Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan, succeeded by Sir Reader William Bullard) or His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires at Jedda (Cecil Gervase Hope Gill, succeeded by Albert Spencer Calvert), relates to financial and political matters in the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd (later Saudi Arabia).The correspondence discusses the following:The history of the Wahabi movement and Ibn Saud's [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd's] attitude towards Wahabism.The currency exchange crisis in the Hejaz.Requests from Ibn Saud for the British Government either to assist in establishing a British bank as a state bank in the Hejaz, or to provide a loan directly to the Hejazi Government (both requests are declined).The British Minister at Jedda's accounts of his meetings both with Ibn Saud and with various Hejazi/Saudi Government officials.A Hejazi-Soviet contract for the supply of Soviet benzine and relations between Soviet Russia and Hejaz-Nejd generally.Tensions within the Hejazi Government.The Hejazi Government's budgetary reforms.The prospect of a new Saudi state bank, possibly backed by the financial assistance of the former ex-Khedive of Egypt [ʿAbbās Ḥilmī II].The death of Emir Abdullah ibn Jiluwi [‘Abdullāh bin Jilūwī Āl Sa‘ūd].Saudi-Egyptian relations.The discovery of oil in Hasa.In addition to correspondence the volume includes the following:A copy of an economic survey of Saudi Arabia, produced by the British Legation at Jedda in June 1936.A copy of a note written by Frederick Gerard Peake, Commanding Officer of the Arab Legion, on the history of the Wahabi movement.A copy of a printed Government of India report entitled 'Confidential Report of the Haj Inquiry Committee on the Arrangements in the Hedjaz', dated 1930.A copy of a report by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Vincent Biscoe), recounting a visit to Ibn Saud at Hasa in early 1932.Copies of extracts from Kuwait intelligence summaries and Bahrain intelligence reports.The volume includes three dividers, which give a list of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 651; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 563-649 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: This file relates to the procedure for the deportation of persons to and from the Hejaz, particularly British subjects and British-protected persons. The file includes copies of Foreign Office correspondence, as well as copies of Government of India correspondence. Correspondents include the following: the British Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan); His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires, Jedda (Cecil Gervase Hope Gill); the Deputy Secretary to the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department; the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India; the Hejazi Minister for Foreign Affairs [Fayṣal bin ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd]; officials of the Colonial Office and Foreign Office.Matters discussed include the question of whether a local government should be required to verify a person's nationality before deporting that person to another country, and the question of which government should bear the cost of a person's deportation.Whilst the majority of the correspondence dates from 1930 to 1932 the file also contains copies of two letters dating from 1929.The file includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 55; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An external leather cover wraps around the documents. The front inside of the cover has been foliated as f 1; the back of the external cover has not been foliated. An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 2-54; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: This file relates to Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and the future of Arabia in the event of his death.The file largely consists of copies of Foreign Office correspondence, which have been forwarded by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State for India. Also included are copies of correspondence addressed to the India Office and the Government of India's Foreign and Political Department by the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle, succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Geoffrey Prior).The correspondence begins with the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf's response to the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India's remark that British influence in the Middle East seems largely to depend on the life of one man: Ibn Saud.Related matters discussed in the correspondence include the following:The effect that Ibn Saud's death, or fall from power, might have on Kuwait.The designation of Amir Saud [Sa‘ūd bin ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd] as Ibn Saud's heir apparent in 1933.Rumours of tense relations between Amir Saud and his brother Feisal [Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Sa'ud].Arab public opinion on Ibn Saud, following the Saudi-Yemeni war.Reports of Ibn Saud and Amir Saud having been attacked by would-be assassins in Mecca in 1935.Amir Saud's visit to India for medical treatment in 1940.Reports of the arrest of ninety persons suspected of being involved in a plot to assassinate Ibn Saud in 1940.Other prominent correspondents include the following: the Political Agent, Kuwait (Harold Richard Patrick Dickson, succeeded by Gerald Simpson de Gaury); the Political Agent, Bahrain (Hugh Weightman); the British Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan; Sir Reader William Bullard; Hugh Stonehewer Bird); His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires, Jedda (Albert Spencer Calvert); officials of the India Office, the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, and the Government of India's External Affairs Department.In addition to correspondence the file includes the following:A report by the Political Resident entitled 'The Future of Arabia', which discusses the present position of Ibn Saud and how Arabia might look without him.Extracts from Kuwait intelligence summaries.A copy of a report produced in 1937 by the Political Agent at Kuwait, Gerald Simpson de Gaury, on the history of the Shammar tribe and the Ibn Rashid [Āl Rashīd] family, which includes as enclosures a table of the Shammar confederation and a genealogical table of the Al Rashid family, both of which are printed in Arabic and English.A copy of a report, produced in 1938 by de Gaury, on the 'Anaza [‘Aniza] tribe, which includes a tribal table of the tribe.The file includes two dividers which give a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence for this description commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 219; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. An external leather cover wraps around the documents and the front inside of this cover has been foliated as folio 1. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 2-218 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.