Abstract: This file concerns prospective Saudi oil concessions for Asir and the Farsan Islands.In a telegram to the Foreign Office, dated 4 June 1933, His Majesty's Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan) reports that the recent Hasa concession, which was granted by the Saudi Government to the California Arabian Standard Oil Company, has stimulated interest in the possibility of further oil concessions for other parts of Saudi Arabia, notably Asir and the Farsan Islands. Ryan's telegram also reports that King Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd], who has been approached by Italian oil companies, wishes to know whether any British oil companies would be interested.The remaining correspondence reports on communications between the British Government's Petroleum Department and various British oil companies (including the Iraq Petroleum Company, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, the Shell Group, and the Eastern and General Syndicate) regarding those companies' interest (or lack thereof) in pursuing a concession for either location.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 (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 21; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Part 11 concerns British policy regarding the dispute between Bin Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd, also referred to in the correspondence as Ibn Saud] and King Hussein of Hejaz [Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī, King of Hejaz] over Khurma and Tarabah [Turabah]. Much of the correspondence documents the efforts of the British to persuade the two leaders to agree to meet. It is initially proposed that the two should meet at Jeddah; however, it is reported by the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad, that Bin Saud refuses to meet King Hussein at Jeddah, Aden, or Cairo, and suggests a meeting at Baghdad instead. A number of other possibilities are discussed, including the following: the Secretary of State for India's proposal of a meeting of plenipotentiaries, either at Khurma or Tarabah, as an alternative to a meeting between the two leaders themselves; a suggestion by the High Commissioner, Egypt, that the two leaders meet in London; a proposal from Lord Curzon [George Nathaniel Curzon], Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, that Bin Saud should be induced to meet King Hussein on board a British ship at Jeddah, or, as is later suggested, at Aden.Also included are the following:an account from Captain Norman Napier Evelyn Bray, political officer in charge of the Nejd Mission, which recounts the last days of the mission's stay in Paris, in late December 1919;a report from the High Commissioner, Egypt, on his recent meeting with King Hussein, which relays the latter's views on the allocation of control of Syria to France;discussion regarding the growing power and influence of Bin Saud's Akhwan [Ikhwan] forces;a note on the dispute by Harry St John Bridger, in which he volunteers to induce Bin Saud to agree to a meeting at any place (outside of Hejaz) suggested by His Majesty's Government;memoranda and diary entries written by the Political Agent at Bahrain, Major Harold Richard Patrick Dickson, all of which discuss at length Dickson's interviews with Bin Saud at Hasa [Al Hasa] in January and February 1920;extracts from a report by the British Agent, Jeddah, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Edwin Vickery, which recounts his recent interviews with King Hussein and the King's son, Emir Abdullah [ʿAbdullāh bin Ḥusayn al-Hāshimī].The item features the following principal correspondents:Secretary to the India Office's Political Department (John Evelyn Shuckburgh);Civil Commissioner, Baghdad [held in an officiating capacity by Lieutenant-Colonel Arnold Talbot Wilson];High Commissioner, Egypt (Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby);Secretary of State for India [Edwin Samuel Montagu];Foreign Office;British Agent, Jeddah (Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Edwin Vickery);Political Agent, Bahrain (Major Harold Richard Patrick Dickson);Bin Saud;Admiralty;Viceroy of India [Frederic John Napier Thesiger].Physical description: 1 item (336 folios)
Abstract: The volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes, relating to the survey of the Persian Gulf by RIMS
Palinurus.The discussion in the volume relates to the objectives, route, and associated costs of the survey of the Persian Gulf.Further discussion surrounds the temporary administration of Basrah and proposed preliminary examination of irrigation projects, as well as Sir George William Buchanan's proposals for improving navigation of the Tigris river. The volume contains seven maps.The principal correspondents in the volume are: the Director of the Royal Indian Marine Department; the Under Secretary of State for India, India Office; the Hydrographic Department, Admiralty; the Government of India, Marine Department; the General Officer Commanding, Force 'D', Basrah; the Chief of the General Staff, Simla.Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at last folio with 252; 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; nor does it include the two leading and ending flyleaves.An additional foliation sequence is present in parallel between ff 23-248; these numbers are also written in pencil and circled, but are crossed through.