Abstract: This volume mostly contains copies of Foreign Office correspondence (forwarded by the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to the Under-Secretary of State for India) relating to the strained relations between Ibn Sa'ud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] and the Imam of Yemen [Yaḥyá Muḥammad Ḥamīd al-Dīn] and their respective claims to Najran. The volume concludes with reports on the outbreak of war between the two states and the war's early stages.The correspondence discusses the following:An offer, made to Ibn Sa'ud by King Faisal [Fayṣal bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī] of Iraq, to act as a mediator between Ibn Sa'ud and the Imam of Yemen.The Italian Government's refusal to recognise Ibn Sa'ud's annexation of Asir.An alleged oral agreement regarding the frontiers between Saudi Arabia (then the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Nejd) and Yemen, which is believed to have been concluded between Ibn Sa'ud and the Imam of Yemen in 1927.Reports of the occupation of Badr, Najran, by Yemeni troops.Reports of Saudi troops having crossed the Asir-Yemeni frontier.Anglo-Italian correspondence regarding the status of Asir.Reports of Ibn Sa'ud having issued an ultimatum to the Imam of Yemen.Treaty negotiations between Britain and Yemen.Reports of Saudi-Yemeni negotiations.Italian requests for 'projected discussions' with the British in Rome, regarding matters in Arabia.Details of the outbreak of war between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.The volume features the following principal correspondents: the Foreign Office; His Majesty's Chargé d’Affaires, Jedda (Albert Spencer Calvert); the British Minister at Jedda (Sir Andrew Ryan); His Majesty's Ambassador to Italy (Ronald William Graham, succeeded by James Eric Drummond); the Secretary of State for the Colonies [Philip Cunliffe-Lister]; the Minister for Foreign Affairs for Saudi Arabia [Fayṣal bin ‘Abd al-‘Azīz Āl Sa‘ūd]; King Faisal of Iraq [Fayṣal bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī]; Ibn Sa'ud; the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Also included are extracts from Aden and Kuwait Political Intelligence summaries, and copies of letters from the Political Agent at Kuwait (Lieutenant-Colonel Harold Richard Patrick Dickson) to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf [Lieutenant-Colonel Trenchard Craven William Fowle], regarding public opinion in Kuwait on the Saudi-Yemeni dispute.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 first folio with 1 and terminates at the last flyleaf with 394; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 327-392 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers.
Abstract: This volume concerns relations between the British Government and Imam Yehia bin Muhammad Hamid Uddin [Yaḥyá Muḥammad Ḥamīd al-Dīn, Imam of Yemen]. It largely consists of correspondence between the Political Resident at Aden (Sir George Stewart Symes, succeeded by Bernard Rawdon Reilly) and officials of the India Office, the Colonial Office and the Foreign Office. Also included are copies of correspondence between the Political Resident and the Imam.The correspondence includes the following subject matter:The Imam's wish to conclude a treaty between Yemen and Britain, and British objections to some of the Imam's terms for a proposed treaty, such as the Imam's demand for the recognition of his sovereignty over the tribes of the Aden Protectorate.The Imam's refusal to accept the boundaries of the Aden Protectorate, as laid down between Britain and the Ottoman Empire before the First World War.The possibility of sending a British official representative to visit the Imam, with the objective of establishing a 'clearer understanding of each other's policy and aims'.Discussion as to how the British should respond to reports that the Imam's troops have occupied Al 'Ain [Am ‘Ayn] (a group of villages in the Wadi Beihan [Wādī Bayḩān] region, deemed by the British to be part of the Aden Protectorate), with a threat of aerial bombardment being among the considered options.Discussion of matters that the British may wish to raise in treaty negotiations with the Imam, including the evacuation of the Imam's troops from the districts of Audhali and Sanah [Sanāh, near Qa‘ţabah], and the Sultan of Upper Yafa's claim to Rube'aten.Also included in the volume are the following:Copies of the Aden Residency's Political Intelligence Summaries.Minutes from meetings of the Imperial Defence Committee's Standing Official Sub-Committee for questions concerning the Middle East, which discuss British relations with Yemen.A copy of a report by Lieutenant-Colonel Morice Challoner Lake recounting his visit to the Wadi Beihan in March 1931.A copy of a translation of the Imam of Yemen's proposed terms for a treaty between Britain and Yemen, and several copies of a corresponding British counter draft treaty.Copies of memoranda from Air Ministry and War Office representatives.Five maps showing disputed territory.The French material in the volume consists of one letter. Most of the material in this volume covers the period 1931-1932; however, the volume also includes several maps dating from an earlier period, of which the earliest is dated 1906.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 for this volume commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 383; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. The front and back covers, along with the two leading and two ending flyleaves have not been foliated. A previous foliation sequence, which is present between ff 253-382 and is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.