IOR/R/15/1/581

The volume contains telegrams, letters, and reports relating to affairs between Najd, Kuwait, and Iraq. Most of the correspondence is between Lionel Haworth, the Political Resident in Bushire, Henry Dobbs, the High Commissioner in Baghdad, Ibn Sa'ud, the King of the Hejaz and Najd, Leo Amery, the Secretary of State for the Colonies in London, James More, the Political Agent in Kuwait, Cyril Barrett, the Political Agent in Bahrain, Edward Ellington, the Air Officer Commanding in Iraq, George Ambrose Lloyd, High Commissioner in Cairo, Herbert Plumer, High Commissioner in Jerusalem, H. G. C. Franklin, Senior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf, Bertram Thesiger, Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies Station, and the Government of India.

The volume covers the British response to the crisis following the Ikhwan rebellion and the threat of attack on Kuwaiti and Iraqi territory. Documents relate to:

• military measures taken to defend Kuwait and Iraq and counter the Ikhwan threat, including air reconnaissance and attacks, naval deployments (HMS Emerald, HMS Lupin, HMS Crocus, the Triad, HMS Enterprise, HMS Patrick Stewart, and the Bandra are all mentioned) frontier forts, and the supply of armoured cars and guns to Kuwait;
• rumours and reports of tribal movements in the region, usually coming from shepherds, merchants, travellers and other local sources;
• the thoughts and actions of Ibn Sa'ud himself, including his relations with the Ikhwan leadership;
• the endeavour to arrange a meeting between Ibn Sa'ud and either Gilbert Clayton or the Agent at Sharjah (a Muslim).

Other subjects that emerge from the file are:

• a concern about the large amount of cypher work that needs to be done and the need for a cypher clerk from India;
• the situation in Yemen, including a rumoured meeting between Ibn Sa'ud and Imam Yahya, and the measures taken by the British to prevent further incursions into the Aden Protectorate by the Imam's forces;
• the official objection to a proposed visit by the Basra Times correspondent to Riyadh to meet Ibn Sa'ud.

Notable within the volume are the following documents:

• a series of intelligence reports by Gerald de Gaury, who was appointed to gather such information, including information on a Mutair informant, the topography of the Batin frontier, and the Roqah division of the 'Ataibah (‘Utaiba) tribe (folios 249-269);
• Report by Barrett on Ibn Sa'ud's position, frame of mind, and actions (folios 268-274).