Abstract: This file contains correspondence and documents related to the work of the Aden Boundary Commission, the British Government body tasked with the delineation of the borders of the British Protectorate of Aden. Much of the correspondence in the file relates specifically to the Subaihi border region.The file contains a number of letters from Colonel Robert Alexander Wahab, the Commissioner of the Aden Boundary Commission, sent to the Political and Secret Department of the India Office in London (and the British Political Residency in Aden). The file also contains extracts from Wahab's diary related to his work on the commission.The file contains a detailed report on the demarcation of the frontier entitled: 'Report on the Demarcation of the Frontier between the Tribes in the Protectorate of Aden and the Turkish Province of Yemen; by Major-General P. J. Maitland, C.B., Political Resident at Aden' (folios 25-44).The file contains a number of maps as follows:a printed map of the Sheikh Sa'id Peninsula (folio 94);a printed map of the border region of the British protectorate of Aden (folio 112);a printed map entitled 'Map of Haushabi and Subaihi Border' with list of place names in English and Arabic (folio 237);a printed map of the Sheikh Sa'id Peninsula (folio 239);a hand-drawn entitled 'Map Illustrating Southern Subaihi Frontier Proposals Referred to in Sir N O'Conor's Telegram No. 112' (folio 288);a printed sketch-map entitled 'Aden Boundary Commission Survey Sketch Accompanying No. 19 of 15th March 1904' (folio 291);a printed sketch entitled 'Aden Boundary Commission Survey Sketch Accompanying No. 21 of 15th March 1904' (folio 456);a printed map entitled 'Aden Frontier Survey, Subaihi Boundary in Wadi Ma'din' (folio 457).The file also contains correspondence related to French claims of ownership over Sheikh Said (Cheikh Said), a peninsula near the island of Perim on the Mandeb Strait at the entrance to the Red Sea. The file contains original copies of articles on this topic that were printed in the French newspaper
La Dépêche Colonialein September and October 1904
.The majority of the correspondence in the file is in English, but also enclosed is a limited amount of correspondence from the Ottoman Ambassador in London that is in French.The volume includes a divider which gives the year that the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in it arranged by year. This divider is placed at the front of the volume.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation commences at the inside front cover and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Correspondence, minutes, draft papers, and memoranda relating to the delineation of the boundary between the Kingdom of Nejd and Transjordan. The papers deal with matters such as the status of the Jauf [al-Jawf] region, the idea for a Baghdad-Haifa railway, numerous raids and counter raids along the border area, and the proposal and preparations for a conference in Kuwait to settle the boundary issue.Correspondence is principally between officials at the India Office, Colonial Office, Foreign Office, and Admiralty. Further correspondence, included as enclosures, comes from the High Commissioner in Iraq, HM Consul in Damascus, the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, the High Commissioner in Palestine, and Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] himself.Documents of note in the volume include:'Note on the Trans-Arabian Railway' by Major A C Griffin, Deputy Director of Railways, Iraq, 6 January 1922 (folios 385-405)Memorandum by Harry St John Bridger Philby on his visit to Jauf and his negotiations with tribal leaders there, 27 May 1922 (folios 367-375).Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part 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 422; 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 2-420; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: Correspondence, minute papers, and memoranda relating to proceedings at the 1923-1924 Kuwait Conference. The papers discuss matters dealt with at the conference, such as boundary delineation between Trans-Jordan and the Kingdom of Nejd, compensation for raids, the return of refugee tribesmen, and the proposal for a neutral buffer state at Wadi Sirhan. The correspondence also covers the discussion amongst British officials of concerns over representatives at the conference, the adjournment of the conference in early 1924, how to respond to an attack on Iraqi tribes by the Ikhwan in March 1924, and the proposals to make a visit to Ibn Saud's capital, Riyadh, by air and to blockade his sea ports.The correspondence is mostly from the Colonial Office with enclosures from Colonel Stuart George Knox and officials at the Political Residency in the Persian Gulf, giving updates on the progress of the conference.Physical description: 473 folios
Abstract: This volume contains two parts: IOR/L/PS/10/925/1 and IOR/L/PS/10/925/2.IOR/L/PS/10/925/1 concerns the Kuwait-Nejd boundary dispute.Correspondence discusses the arbitration of the British Government in the matter of the border of Kuwaiti territory under the Shaikh of Kuwait [Sālim bin Mubārak Āl Ṣabāḥ] with that of the Ruler of Nejd [Najd], Bin Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd, popularly known as Ibn Sa‘ūd]. Correspondents include: the Civil Commissioner, Baghdad; the High Commissioner, Mesopotamia; the Political Agent, Kuwait; the Political Agent, Bahrain; the Deputy Political Resident, Bushire; Bin Saud; Shaikh Salim, Shaikh of Kuwait; and Abdullah al Mut'ab Al-Rashid, Shaikh of Jabal Shammar.IOR/L/PS/10/925/2 concerns expenditure on the protection of Kuwait from attack by the Akhwan [Ikwhan], including costs incurred by the dispatch of the vessels and the share of expenditure to be borne by the India Office and the Colonial Office.Correspondents include: the High Commissioner, Iraq; the Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf; officials of the Accountant General's Department; and the Financial Secretary, India Office.Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 179; 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 2-177, these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: Correspondence and other papers concerning a Wahabi [Wahhabi] attack on Transjordan (or Trans Jordan [Jordan]) in August 1924. The papers cover: initial reports of an attempted raid by Wahabi troops on Amman on 14 August 1924; the repulsion of the attack by British ground and air forces; Ibn Saud’s [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd] protest at the British action against Wahabi troops, and the British Government’s rebuttal of this protest; discussion concerning the precise location of boundary between Transjordan, Hejaz, and Najd, with particular reference to the towns of Akaba [Aqaba] and Tebuk [Tabuk], and the Ma’an vilayet; a sketch map of the boundary, illustrating an India Office note written by John Percival Gibson (f 104).The item’s principal correspondents include: the Assistant Under Secretary of State at the Colonial Office, John Evelyn Shuckburgh; the Foreign Office; the Air Ministry; the Chief British Representative in Transjordan, Charles Henry Fortnom Cox; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Francis Beville Prideaux (through whom the British Government corresponded with Ibn Saud); the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Leopold Charles Maurice Stennett Amery.Physical description: 1 item (168 folios)
Abstract: The letter book consists of correspondence primarily between Lewis Pelly, Agent to the Governor General in Rajputana [Rājasthān], and the individuals who reported to him including his assistants Henry Byam Abbott, Charles Allan Baylay and William Howell Beynon; the Political Agents for Jaipur, Mewar, Bhartpur, Naseerabad and Haraoti; Leslie Seymour Saunders the Commissioner at Ajmer; William Carnell, James Dawson Macdonald and John Dobrée Woolcombe the Commandants of the irregular forces in Rajputana; and Charles Umpherston Aitchison as Foreign Secretary to the Government of India.The correspondence relates primarily to administrative affairs within Rajputana focusing on the settlement of boundary disputes and the ill-health and subsequent death of Shambhu Singh, Maharana of Mewar.Other correspondents include William Wilson Hunter who was at the time travelling across India compiling his Imperial Gazetteer (published in 1881) and Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant-Duff, formerly under-secretary of state for India who was visiting the country.There are also a number of letters between Pelly and the New Bank of Bombay regarding Pelly's finances, money transfers and accounts with various merchant companies.Most of the correspondence in the volume has been entered on Lewis Pelly's behalf by other individuals, primarily Charlotte Beynon, wife of William Howell Beynon, assistant to Pelly, as he was suffering from eyesight problems that prevented him from writing and copying his own correspondence.Physical description: The volume has been foliated in the front top right hand corner of each folio with a pencil number enclosed in a circle.