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61. ‘I. Saudiyeh. (4.) Saudi Arms and Coast Guard Regulations. Vol. I’
- Description:
- Abstract: Correspondence and papers concerning regulations introduced by the Government of Saudi Arabia. Although reference is made in the file title to coastguard regulations, the majority of the file is dedicated to regulations introducing a prohibition on the import, sale and possession of firearms in Saudi Arabia. The correspondence, exchanged between British Government officials, discusses the introduction and implications of the firearms regulations for Saudi Arabia and its neighbours, specifically Kuwait, Bahrain, and the shaikhdoms of the Trucial Coast. The file includes an English translation of the firearms regulation, originally published in the Saudi newspaper Umm al Quraon 3 Sha‘bān 1354, equivalent to 31 October 1935 (ff 9-14).The file’s principal correspondents are: the Political Agent at Kuwait (Captain Gerald Simpson DeGaury); the British Minister at Jedda (Andrew Ryan); the Foreign Office (George William Rendel); the India Office (Maurice J Clauson).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 37; 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 3-35; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
62. ‘I. Saudiyeh. (5) Bin Saud’s Visit to Kuwait.’
- Description:
- Abstract: Correspondence concerning a visit made by Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] to Kuwait, for discussions with the Ruler of Kuwait (Shaikh Aḥmad al-Jābir Āl Ṣabāḥ) in January 1936. Papers cover:Initial rumours, surfacing in early January 1936, of Ibn Saud’s intention to visit Kuwait, and British officials’ attempts to ascertain concrete facts of any such visit, and whether it was to be of a political or personal nature.A report of the visit, prepared by the Political Agent at Kuwait (Captain Gerard Simpson DeGaury), dated 7 February 1936 (ff 41-43).Two telegrams at the end of the file (ff 57-58) relate to a visit by Ibn Saud (referred to as the Amir Saud) to Kuwait in 1940.The file’s principal correspondents are: the Political Agent at Kuwait (Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Richard Patrick Dickson; DeGaury); the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch).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 61; 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 3-60; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
63. Explaining al-Khansa’ in Delightful Stanzas
- Description:
- Abstract: This book is a printed collection of the verse of Tumāḍir bint ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥarth ibn al-Sharīd al-Sulamīyah entitled Anis al-Julasāʼ fī Sharḥ Dīwān al-Khansāʼ (Explaining al-Khansa’ in delightful stanzas). Known to history as al-Khansā’ (she of the snub-nose or of resemblance to a gazelle), the author is regarded as one of the leading poets of late pre-Islamic Arabia. After meeting the Prophet Muhammad, who is said to have admired her poetry, she became a Muslim. Contemporary and subsequent appreciation of her poetry owed much to the power of her panegyric laments. Her two brothers were killed in tribal strife before her conversion to Islam. After her conversion, her four sons died in battle for the new faith. Her Diwan (Collected poems) has been reprinted numerous times. In a flowery introductory paragraph, the editor of this 1895 edition, Father Louis Cheikho, states that the poetry of al-Khansa’ “ignited envy in the souls of [male] Arab poets and lifted the heads of all women in pride.” Cheikho began his study of her work with an earlier compilation published in 1888. The importance of this edition lies not only in its presenting a more complete compilation of her poetry and of classical commentary on it; the book also offers an intimate look at the methods used by a prominent Orientalist in tracing lost manuscripts, critically comparing them, and providing commentary that elucidates the text with comprehensive historical, literary, and lexical references. Cheikho was a teacher of the distinguished Russian Arabist I.Y. Kratchkovsky, who wrote in his memoirs about his surprised delight and later disappointment at discovering that both he and his mentor were working on the same pre-Islamic Arab poet.Physical description: 256 pages ; 24 centimeters
64. Thirty-two Years with Islam (1832-1864)
- Description:
- Abstract: Trente-deux ans a travers l'Islam (1832-1864) (Thirty-two years with Islam [1832-1864]) is a memoir by French soldier and diplomat Léon Roches (1809−1901), covering his career in North Africa and other parts of the Middle East, including a brief sojourn in Mecca. It is based on his diary and on correspondence that he reviewed following his retirement from government service. Beginning with his first arrival in French Algeria in 1832, the author recounts his diplomatic and military assignments in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Arabia. His mastery of Arabic was such that he was appointed interpreter to army headquarters. In this capacity, and later as advisor to generals, he participated in most of the dramatic events surrounding the revolt by ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza’iri (1808−83) against the expanding French occupation. Also included is an account of the vexed negotiations between Morocco and France. In 1841 Roches traveled to Medina and Mecca with acquaintances he made in Cairo, paying his share of expenses for transport and food. Despite his laisser-passer from religious authorities, he was arrested as a non-Muslim trespassing on holy ground reserved for the faithful. He was ultimately released and deported on orders of the sharif of Mecca. The memoir is an important document in the history of French colonialism in North Africa and sheds much light on Algerian leaders, especially ‘Abd al-Qadir. There are photographs and engravings throughout. The two volumes were published in Paris by the famous printer-publisher Firmin-Didot.Physical description: 2 volumes
65. The Nabhani Offering on the History of the Arabian Peninsula
- Description:
- Abstract: Al-Tuḥfat al-Nabhānīya fī tārīkh al-jazīra al-ʻArabīya (The Nabhani offering on the history of the Arabian Peninsula) is by Muḥammad ibn Kahlīfa ibn Ḥamd ibn Mūsā al-Nabhānī (1883 or 1884−1950 or 1951). The author was a teacher at the Masjid al-Ḥarām in Mecca (as was his father). The younger al-Nabhani started this work after his visit to Bahrain, and a request that he write a book treating the history of the current rulers of Bahrain, as well of its ancient emirs and their dealings with friend and foe. As the original plan had been to limit the work to the history of Bahrain, al-Nabhānī initially titled his work al-Nubdha al-laṭīfa fī al-ḥukkam min al-khalīfa (The charming fragment regarding the rulers of the house of al-Khalīfa). When the work was expanded to include the totality of the Arabian Peninsula, its name changed as well. Chapter nine of this work is a large section (with independently numbered pages) on Basra (present-day Iraq), in which al-Nabhani served briefly as judge, and in which he was imprisoned by the British during World War I. The present copy is a revised and expanded second edition, published in 1923−24 at the Maṭbaʻat al-maḥmūdīya publishing house in Cairo.Physical description: 3 volumes in 1 book ; 21 centimeters
66. A Current and Correct Depiction of Arabia Felix, Arabia Petraea, and Arabia Deserta
- Description:
- Abstract: This map from 1658 was published by Johannes Janssonius (1588-1664), or Jan Jansson. Jansson was born in Arnhem, the son of Jan Jansson the Elder, a publisher and bookseller. Jansson’s maps are similar to those of Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571-1638), the founder of the Blaeu cartographic firm, and Jansson is sometimes accused of copying from his rival, but many of his maps predate those of Blaeu or cover different regions. This map is very similar to an earlier Blaeu map. The map shows more rivers on the Arabian Peninsula, six in total, than on many other maps. Some town names are badly copied, such as “Bocealima,” which is Blaeu’s “Roccalima.” “Mascalat” is shown as a large and important town. There are dotted lines along the coast from “Calva” in the present-day United Arab Emirates (UAE) to beyond Bahrain Island. The Arabian Gulf is called “Mare elcatif olim Sinus Persicus” (Al Qatif Sea formerly known as the Persian Gulf) and the Strait of Hormuz called “Basora fretum” or Strait of Basra. The Red Sea is called “Mare Rubrum turcis Mare Mecca olim Sinus Arabicus” (Red Sea, named Sea of Mecca by Turks and formerly known as the Arabian Gulf).Physical description: 1 map; color; 42 x 49.50 centimeters
67. Pilgrimage to the Caaba and Charing Cross
- Description:
- Abstract: Hafiz Ahmed Hassan was an Indian Muslim, treasurer and advisor to the nawab of Tonk, Muhammad ‘Ali Khan (died 1895). Tonk was a principality in northwest India and is today part of the state of Rajasthan. When the nawab was deposed in 1867, the author accompanied him into exile, going first to Benares and then, in 1870, to the Muslim holy cities on pilgrimage. After completing the hajj, Hafiz proceeded to England where he spent a short time before returning to India. The focus of the book is his travel to Arabia on the hajj, with description of its rituals. It is a valuable record, in English, of the conditions and practices of his time. He describes the port of Jeddah, the buildings and surroundings of Mecca and Medina, and his fellow pilgrims, and he provides vivid descriptions of rapacious tax authorities and rough treatment by Bedouins on his journey. The book is an important companion to classic accounts in English of the holy cities by C. Snouck Hurgronje and Richard Burton. In addition to its Arabian chapters, the book details the unjust accusations against the nawab that led to his removal from the throne. The author concludes with a chapter about England and the English in which he, among other topics, contrasts the rigor of the British judicial system at home with the summary justice provided for Indian subjects, often at the whim of untrained British administrators. The book was published in London by W. H. Allen, a foremost publisher of works on India.Physical description: 174 pages ; 20 centimeters
68. Sixth Map of Asia
- Description:
- Abstract: Several editions of Ptolemy’s Geographia (Geography), translated into Latin from the original Greek, were published in Europe in the 15th century. This map is from the 1478 edition, which was published in Rome. Ptolemaic atlases included 12 maps of Asia. The “Sixth Map of Asia” covered the Arabian Peninsula. The outlines of this map are crude, but many geographic features, including the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and different features of the peninsula are clearly recognizable.Physical description: 1 map; 26 x 47 centimeters
69. Sixth Map of Asia: Which Includes Arabia Felix, Carmania, and the Persian Gulf
- Description:
- Abstract: This map from Ptolemy’s Geographia was published in 1578 and reprinted on many occasions between 1584 and 1704. It is much more finely engraved than maps in previous Ptolemy editions. The map mentions several places in present-day Qatar (Abucei, Leaniti, Themi, Asateni, and Aegei). Names added to this edition of the map include Mesmites Sinus, Idicar, and a second Idicar, located in present-day Kuwait. This name is similar to the island of “Ichara” found near Magorum Sinus. Contemporary research has confirmed that Kharj is the island known to the ancients as “Icara.” One of the major peninsulas shown on the map is named “Chersonesi Extrema,” near Catara. Modern scholarship has identified Chersonesos as Ras Rakn in present-day Qatar. Ichtyophagorium Sinus is the gulf inhabited by the people identified in ancient histories as the “Fish Eaters.” Claudius Ptolemaeus, known in English as Ptolemy, was an ancient mathematician, astronomer, geographer, and astrologer who was born sometime after 83 A.D., most likely in a town in the Thebaid called Ptolemais Hermiou in Roman Egypt. He lived in Egypt and died in Alexandria around the year 168.Physical description: 1 map : copperplate engraving, color ; 31 x 46 centimeters
70. Coll 38/18 ‘Anglo-Saudi Arabian Defensive Treaty’
- Description:
- Abstract: This file concerns the drafting process of an exchange of notes relating to the 1927 Jeddah Treaty. Issues discussed include United States interests in eastern Saudi Arabia in connection with the Dhahran airfield. It includes a ‘Draft for an Exchange of Notes between the British and Saudi Arabian Plenipotentiaries’ including draft letters between Ernest Bevin, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and Amir Faysal [Fayṣal bin ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd], as well as drafts of annexures on the stationing of British armed forces in Saudi Arabia. These annexures mainly relate to the conditions of access to the Dhahran airbase. The principal correspondents are as follows: the Secretary for State for Foreign Affairs; the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations; and the Government of Saudi Arabia.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 63; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
71. Coll 44/28 ‘Saudi Arabia: Attitude of Ibn Saud towards the European War, 1939.’
- Description:
- Abstract: The papers relate mainly to a discussion held in July 1940 by the War Cabinet Official Committee for Questions Concerning the Middle East on the neutrality of Saudi Arabia under Ibn Saud [Ibn Sa‘ūd, or ‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] during the Second World War. The main issue discussed is how the ‘benevolent neutrality’ of the King of Saudi Arabia, Ibn Saud might be maintained. Notable within the file (folio 2) is a telegram dated 28 February 1945 from the Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs informing the governments of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Africa that Ibn Saud will be declaring war on Germany and Japan from 1 March 1945. The principal correspondents are the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and HM Ambassador to Iraq.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 30; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
72. Travels in Arabia: Comprehending an Account of those Territories in Hedjaz which the Mohammedans Regard as Sacred
- Description:
- Abstract: John Lewis Burckhardt (1784−1817) was born Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in Lausanne, Switzerland. His accounts of his travels in the Middle East in the early 19th century are among the earliest modern European descriptions of Syria, Arabia, Egypt, and Sudan. Upon finishing university studies in Switzerland, he went to England to enroll in Cambridge University, where he studied Arabic and Islam in order to prepare himself for a career as an explorer-adventurer. As his acquaintance Muhammad ‘Ali Basha, ruler of Egypt, said of his adventurism, he possessed the “travelling madness.” Burckhardt spent his early twenties in Syria, where he perfected his Arabic and established himself as a scholar of Islam and a mendicant. In 1814−15 he travelled to the western Arabian Peninsula. Travels in Arabia is one of several anthropological and geographical works written by Burckhardt before his life was cut short at age 33 by an illness that he contracted in Cairo. The chapter entitled “Remarks on the inhabitants of Mekka and Djidda” is rich in detail and opinions regarding domestic customs, tribes, treatment of slaves, everyday commerce, feast days, relations with other nationalities, and intellectual life. At the time of Burckhardt’s visit, Mecca and the whole of the Hejaz region was under the control of the governor-general of the Ottoman sultan, Muhammad ‘Ali Basha. His defeat of the Wahhabi forces affected daily life in the region. Burckhardt’s other works include descriptions of Syria, the Levant, Sinai, and the Nile Valley; Notes on Bedouins and Wahabys; and a collection of Arabic, primarily Egyptian, proverbs compiled posthumously from his field diaries. This book is in two volumes and contains several maps and diagrams. Appendices give details of pilgrimage and trade routes emanating from Mecca. Burckhardt personally traveled some of these routes; others he learned about from descriptions by travelers and Bedouin. The book was published under the auspices of the African Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, which was founded in England in 1788 to foster the exploration of Africa and abolition of the African slave trade.Physical description: 2 volumes ; 22 centimeters