Abstract: The volume comprises telegrams, despatches, correspondence, memoranda, and notes for the period of February 1925 to December 1927 relating to the Najd-Transjordan boundary.Topics discussed include:The Najd-Transjordanian boundary and raiding between Iraq and Najd.The mission of Sir Gilbert Clayton Mission to Ibn Sa`ud.Najd-Iraq Frontier Agreement (Bahra Agreement), signed in 1925.Included in the volume is a copy of the English version (folios 36 to 37) of the ten articles of the Bahra Agreement signed by the Sultan of Najd and Dependencies and Sir Gilbert Clayton on behalf of the 'Mesopotamia Government' to regulate raiding. The file also includes letters in Arabic from Ibn Sa'ud to British officials.The principal correspondents include: the Secretary of State for the Colonies, London; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire (Francis Beville Prideaux); the High Commissioner, Baghdad; the Political Agent, Kuwait; HM Consul, Jeddah; and the Sultan of Najd and Dependencies (Ibn Sa'ud).Physical description: Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 177; 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 5-173; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
Abstract: Correspondence between British Government officials, and between the Political Agent at Bahrain (Captain Charles Geoffrey Prior) and the King of Nejd and Hejaz (Ibn Saud [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd]), concerning territorial transgressions and treaties associated with the borders between Nejd and Kuwait, Iraq and Trans Jordania [Jordan].Reference is made in the correspondence to: the presence of ‘rebellious subjects’ (associated with the Ikhwan), including Shaikh Faisal ed Dawish [Fayṣal al-Duwaysh], in Kuwait in late 1929; raids made by Ibn Mesaad in Trans Jordania in early 1930; arrangements for the signing of a
Bon Voisinage(good neighbourly relations) treaty between the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz and Iraq at Baghdad in March 1930, following the meeting of King of Iraq [Fayṣal al-Awwal ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ‘Alī al-Hāshimī] and Ibn Saud, on board the British vessel HMS
Lupinin February 1930.Other correspondents in the file, to which reference is made in the file’s title, are: the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf (Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Vincent Biscoe, referred to as ‘the P.R.’), and his Excellency (‘H.E.’) the High Commissioner (‘H.C.’) for Iraq (Sir Francis Henry Humphrys).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1 and terminates at the inside back cover with 40; 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 contains the Intelligence Reports of Sir Percy Cox, High Commissioner for Mesopotamia [also written as Iraq in this volume], based in Baghdad, covering the period 15 November 1920 to 15 September 1921. They largely relate to: the political situation in Mesopotamia and the surrounding region; the formation and proceedings of the provisional government; the events leading up to the creation of Mandatory Iraq [also known as the Kingdom of Iraq under British Administration] and the election and appointment of Faisal [Fayṣal bin Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī] as the first King of Iraq [Fayṣal I].The Intelligence Reports are numbered and appear to have been issued at two-week intervals. This volume contains the reports numbered 1-3, 9-19 and 21. There is no explanation in the volume regarding the reason for the absent reports. The format of the reports is a mixture of printed and copy typescript. Each report is preceded by a covering circular issued by the office of the High Commissioner indicating the British Government departments and the officers and departments in the Middle East to which the report was copied.Report Nos. 1-3 are preceded by an assessment of the political situation described in the Intelligence Report, written by Major R Marrs.The reports generally comprise the following sections:A summary of the report (from report No. 14 onwards only)An account of the proceedings of the Council of MinistersAnalysis of current public opinion and allegiances, (notably an analysis of public opinion on the Amir [Emir] Faisal and his arrival in Mesopotamia, including a reference to his 'personal magnetism', f 88), in report Nos 16-19Notes on provincial affairsNotes on the situation at the frontiersExtracts of 'Iraq Police Abstracts of Intelligence' (reports No. 9-14 only).Other subjects notably covered in various reports include:Assyrian, Armenian and Urumiyan [Urmian] refugees (report Nos. 2 and 19)Perceived foreign influences in Iraq (report Nos. 2 and 3)The withdrawal of Saiyid [Sayyid] Talib Pasha [Sayyid Ṭālib bin Rajab al-Naqīb] from the Government and Baghdad (report No. 12)Kurdistan (report Nos. 12-14)Turkish and Kurdish Frontiers (report No. 12)Dair al Zor [Deir ez-Zor] (report Nos. 1 and 12)Notes on 'Internal Affairs' (Nos. 18 and 19)Analysis of the referendum result which confirmed the election of Faisal as Iraq's first monarch (report No. 19)The formation of King Faisal's first cabinet (report No. 21).Appendices are included with some reports, usually comprising copies of the High Commissioner's proclamations or communications 'to the people of Iraq' or documents relevant to the particular report (notably 'Provisional scheme for the re-organisation of the law courts' and 'Report of the committee constituted for studying the irrigation problem in Mesopotamia' in report No. 9).Each report is concluded with a Supplement or Press Bureau Report, comprising extensive summaries and extracts of newspaper articles published in the local and 'foreign' (local region mainly) press. Notable publications cited are:
Al 'Iraq,
Al Fallah,
Al Dijlah, and (Syrian publication)
Lissan al 'Arab.The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence (front of the volume).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 284; 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 two ending flyleaves. The sequence contains one foliation anomaly: f 267a.
Abstract: The file contains papers relating to the Treaty of Alliance (Anglo-Iraqi Treaty) of 1930 between the United Kingdom and Iraq, and the revised Treaty of Alliance of 1948.Papers dated January 1933 to December 1934 mostly concern the following: the attitude and policy of King Feisal and the Iraqi Cabinet towards the Treaty of 1930; complaints by George Arthur Ogilvie-Forbes, HM Representative, Baghdad, on behalf of the British Government, to the Government of Iraq about the hostile attitude of the Iraqi press towards the 1930 Treaty and the United Kingdom; the death of King Feisal [Faysal I] and the attitude of the new King, King Ghazi [Ghazi I]; and the desire of the Iraqi Government to publish certain explanatory notes on the Treaty of 1930.Papers dated from March 1946 to February 1948 relate to the revision of the Treaty of 1930, and the signing of the new Treaty of Alliance of 1948. They include papers concerning the political consequences of the signing of the Treaty, including ‘rioting’ in Baghdad and the resignation of the Iraqi Prime Minister Saleh Jabr [Salih Jabr].The file does not include any papers for the period January 1935 to February 1946.The papers dated 1933 to 1934 largely consist of copy correspondence between Sir Francis Humphreys, HM Ambassador to Iraq, and the Foreign Office (including letters addressed to Sir John Simon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs). The papers dated 1946 to 1948 largely consist of correspondence and copy correspondence between the following: HM Embassy, Baghdad, and the Foreign Office; the India Office and the Board of Trade; the Commonwealth Relations Office and the governments of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Newfoundland, and Southern Rhodesia; and Saiyid Saleh Jabr, Prime Minister of Iraq, and Ernest Bevin, British Foreign Secretary.The file also includes a copy of the Draft Anglo-Iraqi Treaty dated 9 January 1948, and a published copy of the Treaty of Alliance between the United Kingdom and Iraq, dated 15 January 1948.The file includes a letter in Arabic from Mohamed Fadhil Al Jamali, Iraqi Ministry for Foreign Affairs, to Hugh Stonehewer-Bird, HM Ambassador to Iraq, 2 August 1946 (folio 74), for which there is an English translation.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 152; these numbers are written in pencil and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Correspondence relating to a proposal by the Ruler of Iraq, King Feisal [Fayṣal al-Awwal ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ‘Alī al-Hāshimī], to organise a conference of rulers from the Islamic world, in order to settle the future administration of Islam’s holy cities. The proposal was in response to the invasion of Hejaz by Wahabi [Wahhabi] troops under the Sultan of Najd [‘Abd al-‘Azīz bin ‘Abd al-Raḥmān bin Fayṣal Āl Sa‘ūd]. The correspondence covers: the British Government’s disapproval of King Feisal’s plan; reports on Muslim opinion in Morocco over the deposition of King Hussein [Ḥusayn ibn ‘Alī al-Hāshimī]; the despatch of a Hejaz Government delegation to India; the proposed visit of a Wahabi (or Najd) delegation to India, the East Indies, and Egypt.The item’s principal correspondents include: the High Commissioner of Iraq, Henry Robert Conway Dobbs; the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Leopold Charles Maurice Stennett Amery; the Acting British Consul at Jeddah, S R Jordan; the Foreign Office; the Foreign and Political Department of the Government of India.Physical description: 1 item (89 folios)